itsu and Meatless Farm team up to create UK’s first vegan friendly Asian meatballs

Asian-inspired food brand itsu has partnered with plant-based food company, Meatless Farm, to launch a new meatless meatball rice’bowl, featuring the UK’s first vegan Asian meatballs.

Wanting to offer its shoppers a meat-free alternative, itsu called on the expertise of Meatless Farm to create a hearty lunch bowl to appeal to meat-eaters as well as vegans. The new addition to itsu’s rice’bowl line-up features five eatless meatballs, served on a bed of rice and topped with teriyaki sauce and pumpkin seeds.

The meatless meatballs benefit from 24g of protein compared to 26g in beef.

The new meatballs are a bespoke creation by Meatless Farm, which has crafted the meaty taste from plants, using the latest green technology to make the meatball texture from natural plant-protein. The meatless meatballs are then cooked with lemongrass, tamarind, coriander, chilli and garlic to create their unique Asian flavour, and naturally coloured with beetroot, radish, tomato and caramelised carrots.

Commenting on the launch, Jemima Ferguson, group brand & marketing director said, “We’re proud of our menu being a third plant based and our vision at itsu is to make 50% of our menu plant-based. Consumers are moving beyond veganuary to make vegan options a long-term lifestyle choice. We believe this partnership truly demonstrates how itsu is pioneering a brighter future for fast food, providing credible plant-based options that are healthy, conveneint and flavoursome. We are thrilled to be bringing the first plant-based Asian meatballs to the UK market as part of our mission to give new and exciting vegan options to the masses.”

Morten Toft Bech, at Meatless Farm’s founder, said, “itsu is the perfect partnership for us and really shares our commitment to innovation and ethos of making quality plant-based options readily available to all. It’s been great to work together to add new flavours to our plant-based products, showing that vegan options can be exciting, satisfying and delicious.”

itsu meatless meatball rice’bowl is available in itsu restaurants now for an introductory price of £5.99