Burger King Is Testing An Impossible Whopper In Missouri

Burger King is taking a page out of White Castle's book with its own, much bigger Impossible Burger. On April 1, the fast food chain will begin testing the Impossible Whopper, a plant-based version of the chain's regular Whopper. Yes, this product is dropping on April Fool's Day, but The Daily Meal has confirmed that this is not a joke. There is a catch, though. Only 59 BK restaurants will serve the no-beef burger, and they're all in St. Louis, Missouri.

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Apart from the patty, all toppings remain the same — lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, mayo and ketchup between a toasted sesame seed bun. The patty itself is made by Impossible Foods, purveyor of the famous "bleeding" meatless burger on more than 5,000 menus at places like Momofuku Nishi and Bareburger. Instead of using beef, it's made primarily from plant protein (the formula originally used wheat protein, but Impossible switched to soy protein earlier in 2019) along with coconut oil, sunflower oil and natural flavors. Its star ingredient is a compound called heme, which mimics the flavor and aroma of meat. Heme is most prominent in animal muscle, but Impossible derives it from plants.

To prove that Impossible "meat" tastes like the real deal, Burger King tricked diners into thinking they were eating beef when they were actually fed the plant-based patty. The sample group featured a handful of self-proclaimed beef lovers, including a guy who claims to have eaten two Whoppers a week for the last 20 years and another who has "turned Burger King into a crime scene a time or two" — whatever that means.

"If it's not beef, I don't want it. First bite I would know the difference between beef and whatever else you have," one said before biting into the non-beef burger and not being able to tell the difference.

"I'm confused," he later said. "I'm reevaluating my life."

The Impossible Whopper is available in St. Louis for a limited time only for a suggested retail price of $5.49. If all goes according to plan, we could see a nationwide rollout. Until then, herbivores can get some delicious plant-based eats at America's best vegan restaurants.