The Daring Original Plant Chicken Pieces meets
the MorningStar Farms Chick'n Nuggets
Soy protein that pulls apart like real chicken breast, and nobody can explain how. We tested it head-to-head against the MorningStar Farms Chick'n Nuggets ($4.69) across 6 key dimensions.
Daring Original Plant Chicken Pieces
“Soy protein that pulls apart like real chicken breast, and nobody can explain how”
MorningStar Farms Chick'n Nuggets
“The $4 nugget box that beat expensive brands in a blind taste test”
Head-to-Head Breakdown
Strengths & Weaknesses
Daring Original Plant Chicken Pieces
- The only vegan chicken to earn a perfect 10/10 from Sporked's taste panel, beating every nugget, strip, and wing they tested
- Pull-apart texture that multiple reviewers independently compared to real chicken breast, a quality no other soy-based product matches
- Completely unseasoned, which means it works in any cuisine or preparation without fighting a pre-set flavor profile
- Premium pricing at ~$7 for 8 oz puts it well above budget options like MorningStar or store brands
- Requires actual cooking (stovetop or oven); no breading means there's no crispy shortcut like with nuggets
- Distribution is still patchy outside major metro areas; smaller grocery chains may not carry it yet
MorningStar Farms Chick'n Nuggets
- Make It Dairy Free's #1 pick in a blind taste test of 15 brands, beating products that cost twice as much
- Available at every major grocery chain in America, including family-size bags for bulk buying
- Under $5 per bag, making it roughly half the per-ounce cost of Daring or Impossible products
- Less convincing chicken texture than Daring or Impossible; fine for nuggets but won't fool anyone expecting real chicken
- Longer ingredient list with methylcellulose and modified starches; not the cleanest label in the category
- Nugget-only format means limited cooking applications; you can't toss these into a stir-fry or on a salad
The Verdict
Our Bottom Line
Daring won because of texture. Every other plant-based chicken brand is fighting over flavor, seasoning blends, and breading crunch. Daring skipped that race entirely and solved the one problem nobody else has: making soy protein pull apart like chicken breast.
Daring Original Plant Chicken Pieces
Daring won because of texture. Every other plant-based chicken brand is fighting over flavor, seasoning blends, and breading crunch. Daring skipped that race entirely and solved the one problem nobody else has: making soy protein pull apart like chicken breast.
- You cook dinner from scratch and want a plant-based protein that behaves like actual chicken in a pan
- Texture is your dealbreaker, and you've been disappointed by mushy, uniform, or rubbery alternatives
- You want unseasoned pieces that adapt to any cuisine without fighting a pre-set flavor
- You prioritize clean ingredients and short labels over bargain pricing
- You're feeding omnivores who will judge the texture before they judge the packaging
MorningStar Farms Chick'n Nuggets
MorningStar Farms took the #1 spot in Make It Dairy Free's blind taste test of 15 vegan chicken brands. That's not a ranked review or an editorial pick; that's Larisha Bernard and her co-tester eating 15 different nuggets side by side and picking MorningStar as the best one. The MIDF review specifically praised the crispiness and the interior texture: 'crispy on the outside, great meat-like texture on the inside that isn't too soft or mushy, but not overly chewy.'
- You need a freezer staple under $5 that the whole household will eat without complaint
- You shop at Target, Walmart, or Kroger and want guaranteed availability every trip
- Quick meals matter more than gourmet texture; you're heating nuggets, not searing strips
- You're feeding kids, and 'tastes like processed chicken nuggets' is a compliment, not a criticism
- You buy vegan chicken weekly and the per-ounce math on premium brands doesn't work for your budget