No need to buy expensive veggie sausages anymore! These Homemade Vegan Sausages are easy to make and delicious. Thanks to two tricks, they are not tough and rubbery like seitan often is.
Veggie sausages like all the other meat alternatives and processed vegan products are quite $$$. Making your own vegan sausages at home can be quite daunting. I get it. I’ve been there. It took me a couple of years of being vegan to finally figure out a vegan sausage recipe that I’m happy with.
These vegan Seitan Sausages are
- easy to make (soften the onions and garlic, then add all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse, form the sausages, roll them in parchment paper and aluminum foil and steam – no need to knead seitan until your arms hurt!)
- quick to make (you’ll only need about 20 minutes of preparation time to make these, then steam)
- super versatile (you can use them in any dish you would have used regular sausages in)
- soft and firm (if you’ve had rubbery and tough seitan before, you know what I’m talking about. These do not have the texture of a rubber mallet!)
Tricks for making Vegan Sausages that aren’t spongy/rubbery/tough?
My #1 super secret ingredient for these sausages that have just the right balance of soft and firm is sparkling water! It’s just a simple substitution with a huge effect. Trick #2 is to use canned chickpeas instead of chickpea flour. This makes the seitan soft (even the next day or the day after!).
How to make Vegan Seitan Sausages
Step 1: Cook onion and garlic until slightly browning. Add fennel and cumin.
Step 2: Add all the ingredients in a food processor (except the vital wheat gluten): chickpeas, thyme, salt, tomato paste, smoked paprika, onion-garlic-mixture, soy sauce, and sparkling water. Pulse.
Step 3: Now add the vital wheat gluten. Pulse again.
Step 4: The seitan should come together in the food processor.
Step 5: Cut the seitan into 4 equal pieces and form the sausages. Then roll the sausages in a piece of parchment paper (prevents sticking to the foil) and aluminum foil – tightly.
Step 6: And steam! I’m using a large pot with a steaming basket. If you have a steamer, great, use that!
Step 7: Remove the foil and paper. Enjoy!
Uses for the Seitan Sausages
Basically, you can use these Seitan Sausages in any dish that would use regular sausages. They are very versatile! Here are a couple of ideas:
- Corn Dogs (coat them in a batter of cornmeal, flour, spices, and plant-based milk and fry)
- Paella (cut into slices)
- serve them with mashed potatoes and gravy
- Breakfast Sausages with tofu scramble
- Pigs in a Blanket (wrap with puff pastry and bake)
- add it to Goulash or any kind of stews
- in Hot Dogs
Homemade Seitan Sausages are delicious in Hot Dogs!
Can you freeze Seitan Sausages?
Yes, I’ve tried it with this seitan recipe and it works great! Remove the foil, let the sausages cool off completely, place them in a freezer-safe container or ziplock bag, freeze. When you’re ready to eat the frozen sausages, let them thaw at room temperature for a few hours, then grill/cook/roast/whatever you want to do with it! They are good as new!
Homemade Vegan Sausages
Ingredients
- 1/2 tablespoon canola oil
- 1/2 large white onion chopped
- 1 garlic clove chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1/4 cup cooked chickpeas
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1/4 cup sparkling water
- 3/4 cup vital wheat gluten
Instructions
- In a large pan with canola oil, sautée the chopped onion and garlic cloves until soft. Add the cumin and fennel seeds. Let it cook for another minute until the spices are toasted.
- In a food processor, add the chickpeas, onion-garlic-spices mixture, tomato paste, salt, thyme, smoked paprika, soy sauce, and sparkling water. Pulse until it’s saucy. Then add the vital wheat gluten and pulse again until it comes together in a ball.
- Prepare a large pot (filled with a couple of inches of water) with a steaming basket and bring it to high heat.
- Divide the seitan into 4 equal chunks. Roll and press the seitan into a sausage shape. Roll each sausage in parchment paper and aluminum foil (roll it tightly). Twist the ends so that the seitan is completely covered in foil. Add the seitan sausages into the steaming basket and let them steam for about 40 minutes, flipping them after 20 minutes.
- Let them cool off a bit before removing the aluminum foil and parchment paper.
- You can use them in various recipes (Hot Dogs, Corn Dogs, serve them with mashed potatoes etc.). To warm them up, cook them in a pan or contact griller. You can store them in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Estimated Nutrition Info
Did you make these Vegan Sausages? Leave a comment and please rate the recipe for other users! If you post a photo on instagram, use the hashtag #elephantasticvegan and tag me via @elephantasticvegan to make sure I’ll see it ^.^ I love to see all your lovely creations! Thanks! <3
We made these for Fathers Day today. Took them right out of the parchment and foil wrappers and finished them on the grill. Wow is all we could say. Just wow! They completely satisfied that craving for a grilled sausage. The taste was great and the mouthfeel and texture were amazingly close to any veggie sausage you can buy. They were MUCH more satisfying, though, because we made them at home. What a wonderful recipe and one that is going in our summer rotation for grilling. I evidently couldn’t get them rolled as tight as yours because they were not smooth like your pictures, but that didn’t matter one iota! These are fantastic. Thank you SO much.
One question: How well do you think they would freeze? I’d like to make a large batch and freeze some to pull out and throw on the grill when we have people over.
Wow, thank you so much for the amazing review, Scott!! :) I’m so glad you all enjoyed them!
Although I haven’t tried freezing them, I would think that it would work just fine. It’s definitely worth a try! :)
What a great recipe. We inhaled them. :) I usually have to knead the seitan for 8 minutes in my electric mixer to get this kind of tenderness. Fantastic!
Thank you so much, Alocasia, I’m so glad to hear that! They are so easy to make, right?!
What role does the vital wheat gluten play? I have all the other ingredients and would love to make them without it.
The vital wheat gluten is the most important ingredient in this recipe. It makes the sausages meaty and holds everything together.
Hey Bianca
sounds like a yummy recipe. Can you tell me if I have to use sparkling water or if this could be substituted?
Look forward to hear back from you.
Antje
You can use regular water BUT I found that sparkling water makes the seitan softer, so I really recommend it.
Hi Bianca, this recipe is great! I ended up tripling the recipe… Can you freeze the sausages?
I have seitan frozen right now. I’ll let you know later today how it will turn out! :)
Okay, so I’ve tried freezing them! It works perfectly! Keep in mind to remove the foil, let them cool off completely, then freeze them in a freezer-friendly container or ziplock bag. If you want to use them take them out a couple of hours before, let them thaw at room temperature (haven’t tried the microwave as I don’t have one), then grill/roast/cook whatever you want to do with them. They are good as new! :) Hope you enjoy!
Hi Bianca
This look amazing! We’re having people over for a housewarming end of this month and plan to serve hot dos on the grill. Do you if they will hold up on the grill?
/Kat
Absolutely, you can grill them as well! They hold together really well!
Hi Bianca,
Awesome! I’ve been trying to find recipes like these and bingo! I’m going to try and make these soon – The question I have is can these be made in an Instapot? If so, what would the instructions be for that? Thank you!!
Oh, I’ve never tried steaming them in the instant pot. Interesting idea! I will have to try that the next time!
HI Bianca,
An update – I steamed the sausages for 40 minutes in the instapot and they came out AWESOME!! My boyfriend said that this recipe is the best one yet!! Thanks for sharing :)
Perfect! Thank you so much for letting me know! I steamed the seitan in the instant pot too (after you telling me about it) and I loved the results! :)
I also made a new batch this morning – Yup, that’s how good they are folks! Tried something new tho – Substituted the tomato paste for bbq sauce, the soy sauce for liquid smoke and instead of a white onion, I used red. In the instapot now and we shall see! Am hoping for a bbq smokey flavor this go around –
Bianca, do you have other spices / flavors for the sausages that would suit this recipe as well?
I will have to try different varieties! I’ve been meaning to make a spicy chorizo-style sausage. I’ve been using liquid smoke in the sausages and that has been working great. I haven’t tried bbq sauce but I have been thinking about it. I think that would turn out great :) Can’t wait to hear what you say!
Thank you for replying Bianca! An update on the 2nd batch with the substitutions – Honestly, sticking with the first batch and ingredients is better. The flavor in the 2nd batch wasn’t as tasty as the first. Look forward to trying out more of your recipes!
Thank you for letting me know! :)
I tried them. They are wonderful
Hi bianca.
I’m from south africa and of indian descent. I just recently became a pescatarian and I enjoy soya meals but the shop ones are plain. I plan to spicy it up so I’m definitely gonna try this recipe and will let you know how it tastes.
Regards
Clinton R
That’s the beauty of making things from scratch :)
If making Vegan sausages why on earth would the author suggest using “Milk” in the Corn Dog batter?
Quote “Corn Dogs (coat them in a batter of cornmeal, flour, spices and milk and fry)”
I saw that too – I’m guessing she meant “your favourite plant milk”?
Of course, I meant plant-based milk! :) Unsweetened rice milk or soy milk would be a great choice.
I made these and they turned out incredibly well. Easy to make and very tasty. Will definitely be making again. Thank you for the recipe!
Yeay! I’m so glad to hear that, Sandy!
Hi- I plan to make sausage rolls with these. Should I cook them (steam them) first,
Then wrap in the puff pasty and bake, or do you think I could use the raw mixture in the pastry then bake?
I’ve used dried sausage mix before and just put that in raw without pre- cooking.
Many thanks
Sam
I’d definitely recommend steaming them first. Otherwise, they might not cook all the way through.
Thank you! Will let you know how they turn out!
Hi, I’m looking forward to trying this recipe. I have tried a few attempts at vegan sausage, and they always come out rubbery. These don’t? And do you know why that happens? Will report in when I’ve made these!