Gardenburger BBQ Riblets

May 11, 2006 | Reviewer: Guest Reviewers

This Thursday we present Anna, the first guest reviewer on www.HeatEatReview.com. She’s the winner of the Pillsbury Bake-Off and documents her obsession at Cookie Madness. Anna’s in the middle of a kitchen remodel, which means that she’s eating frozen food and contributing (at least once) to Heat Eat Review.

Price: 1 box for $3.69
Serving: 1 riblet, 5 oz.
Calories: 160
Fat: 7%, 4.5g
Sodium: 41%, 990mg
Protein: 32%, 17g
WW Points: 4 Winning Points

Gardenburger says: Juicy and tender veggie riblets with a slow-cooked, hickory-smoked flavor. And don’t forget the smoky BBQ sauce. Cowboys never ate this good.

Gardenburger BBQ Riblets

Anna says: You may have noticed Garden Burger Riblets in passing. Perhaps you stopped to read the box. Or maybe, like me, you moved on past the riblets withthe image of some funky vegetarian version of the meat component of the old McDonald’s McRib sandwich. Remember that? If you don’t, you are lucky. What brought me to finally buying riblets was an enthusiastic recommendation by Hungry Girl, who gave riblets a big thumbs up.

My thumbs are slightly tilted. The best I can describe riblets is as a soy burger that has been molded into little ribs and smothered in sweet barbecue sauce. Riblets are good if your expectations are in check. They’re about as similar to pork ribs as a cheese sandwich, but with 16 grams of protein and 230 calories, they’re a good way to get some protein under your belt before moving on to cookies or dessert.

You can cook riblets in the microwave or wrap them in foil and bake them in the oven the same way you might bake actual ribs, which is what I did. Here is a picture of an actual riblet -the one I ate. Will I buy these again? Maybe. I’ll decide after I eat the second one. They come two in a box.

comments

23 Responses to “Gardenburger BBQ Riblets”

Heather on June 20th, 2006

I heart these Gardenburger riblets. My roommate thinks they taste like cardboard smothered in barbecue sauce, but then his idea of culinary adventure is opening a can of green beans. So what does that say? In any case, these are tasty. Buy them!
Rudy Miles on July 22nd, 2006

I had these riblets at Aveda’s organic restaurant, Organica, and they were fantastic! The chef added teriyaki sauce to the sauce. From someone who grew up in good ol’ bbq and soul food, they completely satisfy the bbq craving. Unfortunately, I am having a hard time finding them in NYC so that I can make them at home.
Rosie on September 7th, 2006

I am a huge fan of these ribs! I am thrilled that I can get them out here because I live in rural Alaska. We do have a grocery store and they stock them for me. Other folks in our town (population 4,000) buy them, too! I feel very sorry for the person from NYC who can’t find them. I thought you could get anything in New York!

I think that they are pretty realistic texture-wise to real ribs, but of course there’s not the stringiness that usually accompanies cooked intracostal muscles of dead animals Heh!

Being from Colorado I love BBQ sauce in this dish, and being frozen they heat in the microwave in seconds. I think that these ribs are a great vegan dish with lots of protein. I guess that Gardenburger remade their recipe so that the ribs only contain 165 calories per serving, and 17 grams of protein. That’s what my box says, anyway.
John Dudeck on January 20th, 2007

Trying to find a store in the Tampa / St Petersburg Florida area that sells the BBQ Riblets. Can you help us??? Thank you.
Lenore on February 7th, 2007

Riblets. Absolutely YUM!!! After hearing great comments about them, I bought them the other day at Trader Joes (Ardmore, PA). I think this is a recent purchase for them. Being totally market driven, I pray that others catch on and buy Riblets, so they will keep them in stock. Had them for the first time tonight and I licked the entire package in private. As a person who has stayed away from ribs for years, this product totally sated my craving for BBQ in these frigid temps!

For those in NYC or Tampa, you can probably buy them at Whole Foods (esp. Washington Square), and if they don’t have it, I am sure you can order it through customer service.

PS-Re-Rose’s comment about the lack of stringiness. Too true. Yes, it does have more of a tempeh texure, but I am wondering about pairing the bbque sauce with seitan, to give it that meat-in-your-teeth (yuck) feel that you may be looking for.
Meredith on March 27th, 2007

These are incredible! I love them!
Joy on April 2nd, 2007

I too am a HUGE fan of ye olde Riblets. It’s true you must be a fan of SWEET barbecue sauce to enjoy them… I like to add a healthy dose of Mezzetta’s Habanero Hot Sauce for a taste treat that satisfies like no other!
Brenda on May 25th, 2007

I drive miles to buy Riblets!!! They are AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ami on June 5th, 2007

Wonderful, but. I wish sauce was sweetened with agave so it would be lower glycemic,Hmmm…guess you can’t have everything. I really did not see much diffference between this and the old McRib I had when I was 10. We ate ours with oven fries and homemade cole slaw.
Gary on June 6th, 2007

I have fallen in love with these. I am singing with a summer opera company and they had these at the cafeteria where we eat lunch. I found myself going back for seconds.
I have been vegetarian for 15 years and remember the days where the only option in most stores was the original Gardenburger (which grew old pretty fast) which used to be quite pricy. The prices are still pretty high compared to some meat products, but they are coming down nicely.
Bravo Gardenburger! Keep it up (the quality, not the prices.
Melvin on June 22nd, 2007

I don’t know about NY, but we used to be able to get them in Honolulu. I bought some at Safeway, only to have the kids declare them a big hit. Luckily I bought all that were on the shelf when I found them (like 6 boxes) as I haven’t found them since. I checked EVERY Safeway on the island, only to find that the company has once again let me down with their latest shuffling of the freezer department. Checking the local vegetarian markets, I find other Gardenburger products, but not the ribs. Why can’t these specialty companies offer up mail order for those of us who got hooked and then had the rug pulled from under us. Yes, I know you end up paying a premium, but that’s something anyone trying to do a vegetarian diet should be used to since it’s not the mainstream’s highest volume seller.

As for getting customer service to order some for me, Safeway reported that they don’t do that, the local vegetarian store reports that they never heard of them and they aren’t on their order sheets so it’s not available from their distributors. I guess we just are left with trying to emulate them ourselves.
Adam on January 10th, 2008

I’ve lost 48 pounds by eating the riblets daily with no regular excercise just on my feet most all day is all. These go great with Flat-Out brand wraps. They have a fun site as well.-
Adam on January 10th, 2008

I’ve lost 48 pounds by eating the riblets daily with no regular excercise just on my feet most all day is all. These go great with Flat-Out brand wraps. They have a fun site as well.- My dog Rusty loves gobbling down a riblet. I’ve never had such enthusiasm over a food in my entire life. Maybe when I loved eating lucky charms for breakfast before school but that’s a big maybe. Today before work riblet then Asian salad from mc’d’s then Riblet @ 10p.m. Be liberated from dinnertime pressure. You are free and don’t have to have a big’ol sit down meal.
People I look forward to meeting @ SXSW :: Jones. Abi Jones. on April 14th, 2008

[…] The Queen of Cookie Madness, Anna’s made me a better baker and she’s even done a guest review on Heat Eat Review. She’s not attending SXSW, but since she lives in the Austin area we’re getting […]
Danni on April 16th, 2008

I am utterly disgusted I live in Tulsa and I am guessing they don;t think people here eat vegan foods I love the riblets there fabulous but finding them is getting very difficult I have called walmart as well as Garden Burger about where they have gone and nobody can give me a straight answer : ( I just hope this is not the demise of this fabulous entree!

Danni!
Evie on July 21st, 2008

Well, I would like to add my laments and compliments regarding the RIBLETS. I have been successfully and happily dieting on them by eating them for dinner every night coupled with home made cooked cabbage with onions. That with a salad is very satisfying. Now, the sad part…I can’t find them. Trader Joe’s had them for $2.99 which is about $2.00 LESS than the normal price. They are all out and don’t know when they ever get them again. So I go to three more stores yesterday…no one has them. I am so sad and here is the best excuse ever for going off my diet. Sad.
Margaret Landry on July 31st, 2008

Hi,
I live in Las Vegas and I’ve looked everywhere for more riblets. I even called CA. and they don’t have any either. I decided to go on the internet to find you, but I don’t see an address or telephone number so that I can drive or place a phone order.
Why aren’t there anymore riblets in the stores? I hope they are not being discontinued.
dolores Buttitta on August 3rd, 2008

cannot find the riblets in Chicago area. Why not? have you discontinued them?
dolores Buttitta on August 3rd, 2008

I cannot find the riblets in Chicago area. Why not? have you discontinued them?
Dody on August 12th, 2008

Love these!!!!! Soooo gooooood!

Fear not those of you who can’t locate this product any longer. I, too, have gone three long months w/out a single one! They disappeared from every store in my area along with every other Gardenburger product. I finally broke down and called Gardenburger yesterday to see if the product had been discontinued. I was told that Gardenburger was recently acquired by Kelloggs. Upon the acquisition, Kelloggs shut down the facility for inspection, etc. I suppose Kellogg’s no longer wanted any Gardenburger products on the shelves until their inspections, etc. were complete due to the fact that they were now liable for the products. I was told we should see the products, including RIBLETS (!!!!) back on the shelves by the end of this month. YAY!
Dody on August 26th, 2008

They are now back on the shelves! Yippeeee! Picked some up just last Friday at Wal-Mart.
Linda Steele on August 27th, 2008

Hello,
I want to order some packages of vegetarian riblets from garden burger. But I can’t find an address or phone number. There is no stores in Maine that carry them any longer. Thank you Linda
Lauren on November 17th, 2008

I love these ribs! The sauce us super delicious and the texture is so close to real rib meat you could fool a carnivore! I had these for the first time last week and can’t wait to have them again.