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
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:
- Vegan Goulash with Homemade Sausages
- Vegan Hot Dogs with Homemade Seitan Sausages
- Vegan Breakfast Pizza
- 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)
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
- ½ tablespoon canola oil
- ½ large white onion chopped
- 1 garlic clove chopped
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
- ¼ cup cooked chickpeas
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon thyme
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ¼ cup sparkling water
- ¾ 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.
Rosie says
I do want to try this. I'm trying my first seitan recipe that I happened to have the ingredients for, finish the recipe tomorrow. We'll see! I haven't tried the store bought, too expensive, and I also don't want all those weird ingredients. I do miss sausage flavors, so I would want the Italian spice, too.
Bianca says
Honestly, I find store-bought seitan way too hard and chewy. I prefer the homemade ones! :) Hope you enjoyed this one!
Denise says
I would love to make this recipe , but my food processor broke. I can blend the first part of the ingredients in the blender to make the ''sauce'' . But I think adding the vital gluten go well in my blender. I think kneeding it by hand will work as well ? What do you suggest ?
Bianca says
I wouldn't recommend adding the gluten flour into the blender, I think it will be a sticky mess. You can totally make the sauce in the blender. Then just knead the dough by hand for a couple of minutes! :) That should turn out just fine!
Terrianne says
I've just completed veganuary and this is only the second seitan recipe I've tried. I made sausages with this and they do taste amazing. This will definitely be my go to from now on.. the parchment paper did stick . So any helpful hints to avoid this will be muchly appreciated.
Could I use this same recipe to make a loaf? Lining the loaf tin in parchment and foil ?
Beverly says
This is an easy seitan sausage recipe that tastes great and has a great texture. The inclusion of sparkling water is sheer genius. It's also the secret ingredient to making great, fluffy, light matzo balls, so it didn't surprise me that it works so well to make seitan. This has become my go to recipe for everyday seitan meals.
Bianca says
Awesome! I'm so glad to hear that, Beverly! :)
Angela says
This recipe is a keeper! The flavor and texture is perfect. My only regret is not making more of them :) Thank you!
KP says
I'm curious - would this recipe work as a substitute for sausage in a traditional sausage gravy where the sausage is more crumbly and not needed to be in "log" form? Thank you!
Jacqueline says
I’d like to know too. I like using crumbled sausage in spaghetti.
Melissa Anderson says
Hi Bianca,
This is my favorite go to recipe for vegan sausage, have you ever tried rolling them into cellulose casings?
Antonette says
I would love a gluten free version!
Holly B. says
I love the texture of these sausages! I didn't have sparkling water, so I used Corona Beer. They still turned out amazing with a great beer-sausage flavor! I made them a bit smaller than recommended and my son stood at the counter and ate 5 of them in a row. He's a skinny, teenage, eating machine! These are fantastic! I'm going to make these to take on vacation with us. Thanks for the recipe!
Lisa says
Everyone in my family loves these! I omit the oil, add sun dried tomatoes and a little more spice. I also used these silicon sausage molds and steam them. They work beautifully:
https://www.amazon.ca/OHYESS-Silicone-Handmade-Bakeware-Accessories/dp/B078TG6JP6/ref=asc_df_B078TG6JP6/?tag=googlemobshop-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=292944040466&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17661527438288752069&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9001537&hvtargid=pla-524768356937&psc=1
Sorcia says
I love the silicon mold idea! I do not like using tin foil so this is a great option. Thanks! :D
Susan says
Lisa - Thanks for mentioning you left out the oil - that was my question.
A. Corro says
I'd like to try this recipe with sweat potato mash, carrot, parsnip, coliflower, broccoli, onion, garlic &cheese, if I wrapped up all these ingredients in the vital wheat gluten would they stick together, & would I have to add the chickpeas to it.
David says
BI
BIGOS!!!
My vegab bigos recipe uses these, plus other homemade seitan (beef-, chicken-, pork-style) to create a bigos which even my Polish carnivoew friends enjoy and ask for again and again.
These are also very good if made with the diameter of a Wiejska or Krakowska whole sausage and then sliced. specially if you have an electric slicer.
Thank you!
Bianca says
sounds delicious!!
Joe says
First, try this foil... it's parchment on one side and foil on the other, so you don't need two products and do two wraps.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0145I67PO/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=joebyer99-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B0145I67PO&linkId=18eaf7d5feaac11179369e2f36a487e2
Second, great recipe! I like to cook up some lentils, wheat berries, and kalmut in a little veggie stock and stir into the mix. The little globular textures randomly stirred around the mix gives a great mouthfeel like ground meat. Also, I heated up my oil (and was a little more generous with it) and added all my spices and herbs to the warm oil to infuse for a few minutes before adding into the mix. The toasty flavor of fennel and everything else really blooms in the hot oil. Next time, I'm going to do a carribean jerk version; can't wait!!
Thanks!
leigh says
the provided link for 3 rolls of the parchment/foil on amazon is $99.99???????????? think i will stick with the parchment paper and foil separately. would have been a fantastic idea though.
Suzie says
Thank you for this fantastic recipe! I will try it soon! :)
Also, I shared it on my blog. :)
https://suzinspire.com/how-to-replace-meat-on-a-vegan-diet-best-protein-sources/
Keep up the great work!
Andrea says
This recipe is brilliant! I could not believe how good the sausages came out. I can’t wait to make them as meatballs or fry them up with peppers and onions. I’ll definitely double the recipe next time. I skipped the parchment paper and just oiled the foil a bit before rolling. I just can’t get over how good this turned out. Thank you!!