Starbucks Beyond Meat Breakfast Sandwich (plant based)

The Starbucks Beyond Meat Breakfast Sandwich costs £6.70 and carries 432 calories with 21g of protein and 5.3g of fibre. A Beyond Meat pea protein patty with tomato relish, turmeric tofu egg alternative and coconut oil based cheese alternative.

21g of protein from a plant based sandwich is the headline and it is a genuine achievement. That matches the bacon roll exactly and beats the sausage sandwich, which is not something most meat free breakfast products manage. Pea protein isolate is the reason, and it is why the patty is doing the work rather than the bread.

Fibre at 5.3g is the highest figure anywhere in the breakfast category, close to double the wrap and nearly nine times the ham and cheese croissant. Anyone choosing breakfast on fibre rather than protein has an unusually clear answer here.

Salt is the weak point at 2.1g, over a third of an adult daily maximum and only just below the bacon roll. Processed meat alternatives carry salt for the same reason processed meat does, which is flavour and preservation, so plant based does not mean low salt. Saturated fat is 8.9g, mostly from the coconut oil cheese, and it sits above every meat breakfast except the ham and cheese croissant.

Rye in the allergen list is the detail that catches people, since nothing in the description mentions it. It comes from the bread rather than the patty, and it means anyone avoiding gluten has no plant based breakfast option here at all: this sandwich carries wheat and rye, and the vegan overnight oats carry oats without a gluten free label.

It carries a vegan label and lists soya, wheat and rye as allergens. At £6.70 it is the most expensive breakfast on the menu, reaching £7.10 on delivery. The overnight oats are the other vegan breakfast at 254 calories.