Shortly after releasing Impossible Nuggets as well as Impossible Sausage in grocery stores, the California-based company is introducing yet another faux meat product. It’s called Impossible Meatballs, and unlike the others, it’s actually debuting in retail before restaurants. Impossible Meatballs will be available at Walmart stores this month and at additional retailers later this year. They’re priced at around $6.48 per pack.
Instead of being made out of one “animal,” the Impossible Meatball was designed to be a mix of both “beef” and “pork.” According to the company, each meatball is a custom mix of Impossible Burger and Impossible Sausage along with a “homestyle meatball” seasoning blend that includes dried onions and garlic. They come in a resealable freezer bag, and each contains around 14 or so meatballs. There’s around 12 grams of protein per serving.
I received a sample of the meatballs over the weekend. They come already cooked so all you need to do is reheat them via the oven, microwave, stovetop or air fryer. The oven method was listed as recommended so I baked them in a single layer on a baking tray in a 350-degree oven for 17 minutes. The end result is quite delicious — very savory and moist. I could still tell they weren’t really made out of meat though; they lacked a certain texture that I missed. But when I doused them in marinara sauce, that didn’t quite matter as much.
In addition to selling Impossible Meatballs, Walmart will also introduce a dedicated plant-based section of its frozen aisle that will feature various Impossible Foods products. That includes Impossible Chicken Nuggets, Impossible Sausage in spicy and savory flavors, Impossible Burger and the aforementioned Impossible Meatballs.
According to the company, Impossible Meatballs is a retail-led product aimed at grocery shoppers. That’s a slightly different strategy than the company’s previous faux meat products, which debuted at restaurants first before being rolled out to grocery stores. However, Impossible Meatballs will still be available for restaurants later this month.
