A brief review of USC’s free vegan meals

By: Ngai Yeung ‘23

Every Tuesday from 12-1pm, USC students can grab a vegan meal from the pop-up Jubilee Vegan Cafe at the University Religious Center. The free meal service is run by student volunteers at Progressive Christians at USC in partnership with the Office of Religious Life in order to promote a plant-based diet and to provide food for students. 

I’m lucky enough to not have class during that time slot, and being a huge fan of free food, I’m there pretty much every Tuesday. Here’s my review of some of the fascinating meals they’ve served throughout this semester.

For where to find more free food around campus, check out this article.

Vegan shrimp or chicken with beans and Spanish rice 

Forget vegan chicken — have you ever wondered what vegan shrimp tastes like? The doppelganger looks eerily like a shrimp; it’s the same size and marked by two color segments of white and orange=pink, not unlike a real shrimp. Here’s what my friends said in an attempt to describe it:

It’s, like, jiggly but firm at the same time. It’s kinda like a fish cake too, and it’s kind of dense. Tastes mildly salty without being too seafood-y.

- Alana (who would prefer to not eat it again)

It reminds me of chicken cartilage.

- Deborah (who would not eat it again)

It tastes like I don’t know. I’m really impressed. I think it’s really creepily accurate. Why is this so real though?

- Gaby (who would not eat it again)

Dude, that shrimp was really good ngl.

- Celine (who would eat it again)

The controversial vegan shrimp (or chicken, as you’re given two protein options for today’s meal) was the main star in an otherwise generic bowl of chopped up lettuce, tomatoes, pinto beans, corn with Spanish rice. I grabbed a sugar cookie threw it in my box too on the way out. 

And no, I still don’t have any idea what the shrimp is made out of.

Choose your (vegan) protein!

Spaghetti Bolognese with vegan minced meat served with vegan drumstick 

The next mystery to tackle is the vegan drumstick! The texture and taste appears to be just like the vegan chicken cubes but more dense and impaled with a mini sugar cane stick in an attempt to imitate the drumstick bone. Both the juice from when you bite into the sugar cane stick and the barbeque glaze on the soy-based meat gives off a hint of sweetness. 

“It’s a little strange. I think my mind doesn’t know what to do with it because it doesn’t taste like meat, but then it looks kind of like meat,” said my friend Alana, who described the meat as “weirdly chewy and stringy.” She wasn’t a fan of the fake bone, though. “I feel like they’re trying too hard to make it the actual thing. They should just stick with chicken strips.”

The drumstick was served with a side of salad with a small piece of garlic bread, sugar cookie for dessert, and spaghetti bolognese with vegan minced meat, which was like rough soy bits heavily seasoned with oregano. This was definitely one of my favorite vegan meals this semester because of how loaded it was!

Barbeque Chickpea, Red Cabbage and Onion Rice Bowl with Wonton Strips (Southwest Chickpea Bowl?)

I was hangry this particular Tuesday afternoon and thus was extra disappointed after seeing my meal. It’s a bed of lettuce and red cabbage topped with corn, raw red onion bits, and chickpeas tossed in barbecue sauce with wonton strips sprinkled on top. We got to drizzle whatever mayo, ranch, and hot sauce combo we liked. It wasn’t filling at all as it lacked protein and carbs, but hey, free food is free food. My friends and I will always be grateful the Jubilee Vegan Cafe exists no matter what they serve. 

If I paid for this, I would not be happy, but because it’s free, I’m like :)

- Alana

Vegan barbeque spread

This lunch box is extremely straightforward. It’s divided into four squares that kind of remind me of the four seasons: On the top left corner, we have green beans to signal the trees coming back to life in spring. Next to it is bits of vegan shrimp and chicken smothered in a fiery red barbeque sauce, symbolic of the intense heat in the summer. Below that are pinto beans that share the same autumnal color as the dried up leaves trees shed in the fall. And finally, we have a heap of corn, whose yellow reflects the… uh… yellow beanies people wear in the winter??

Anyway, I thought the vegan version of barbeque was funny. The corn was flat and tasteless, and the beans were bland, but that made it go well with the barbeque sauced bits. I just wish there was some kind of carb to make it more filling.

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