Simple Seitan & Bean Italian Sausages

Makes 4 sausages / Active time: 20 minutes / Total time: about an hour

These vegan Italian sausages are just absolutely delicious. They slice beautifully, sear up with a golden crust, hold their shape on the grill, and crumble into pasta just right. They’re also great eaten whole, sliced down the middle, or tucked into a bun. Savory with fennel and herby with the warmth of oregano, thyme, and a smidge of red pepper flakes. They taste like the sausage you remember and the sausage vegans deserve.

They’re also super easy to make. A little mashing, a few minutes of mixing, forty minutes of hands-off steaming, and you’ve got four big sausages ready to go. No casings, no special equipment, no long kneading. You mash beans in a bowl, stir in the spices and gluten, roll the dough up like a Tootsie Roll, and steam.

And they’re so economical. A batch of four sausages costs less than a single package of name-brand store-bought vegan sausages, and they taste so much better. Plus they’re a good source of protein from both the seitan and the beans.

These have been kicking around the Post Punk Kitchen for a few decades and they’re only getting more popular.

A brief history of the steamed vegan sausage

Steamed vegan sausages have been around since the early 2000s, but they really hit their stride when chef Julie Hasson came up with the foil-wrap-and-steam method. Hers was vital wheat gluten with sausage seasoning, rolled in foil and steamed. It was a revelation. Finally, a homemade vegan sausage with a real sausage texture, no casing required.

My contribution to the vegan sausage game was adding beans. Most seitan recipes are all gluten, which is yummy, but can be dense. Mashing beans into the dough breaks up the gluten structure and creates a marbled, varied texture that actually feels like sausage. Tender pockets against the chew of the seitan. The kind of bite that can fool someone, if that’s your thing.

This recipe took off when I first posted it back in the 2000s, and since then a million vegan sausages have sprung up. It’s fun to see all the variations out there and how much they’ve evolved. But we always come back home.

The history of vegan sausage is mostly lost to time. Forums went down. Blogs went under. Message boards turned into corporate social media. Recipes got passed around without credit. So here’s a small contribution to the record.

Ingredient breakdown: the anatomy of a vegan seitan sausage

Eight ingredients (plus water) and you’re all set. Here’s what each ingredient is doing:

• Vital wheat gluten. It’s all about the VWG. This is what gives sausage its texture and chew. It’s the protein from wheat flour, separated and dried into a powder. You’ll find it in the baking aisle or natural foods section. There’s no swap for it.
• White beans. Mashed beans break up the gluten matrix, giving you that varied sausage texture. Other beans work too. Great northern, navy, or pinto are all great in this recipe.
• Vegetable broth. The hydration AND a flavor builder. A good broth makes a noticeable difference. Use one with depth: Better Than Bouillon, homemade stock, or a flavorful boxed broth.
• Soy sauce. The salty savory backbone. A couple tablespoons of soy sauce gives the sausages real meaty depth. Tamari works too.
• Olive oil (or tomato paste). The richness. Olive oil reads more like classic Italian sausage. Tomato paste is the low-fat option and adds a subtle sweetness that’s really nice. Both work great. Pick your fighter.
• Nutritional yeast. A little parmesan-like flavor. You can leave it out and sub a 1/4 cup AP flour to keep the texture, but the truth is, it tastes better with it.
• Fennel, herbs, and spices. Crushed fennel seeds plus oregano, thyme, sweet paprika, red pepper flakes, granulated garlic, and black pepper. The Italian sausage flavor profile, all in one bowl. Crush the fennel slightly with a knife or mortar to release more aroma. If you only have ground fennel, use half the amount.

The method: it’s surprisingly easy to make vegan sausages

Get the steamer basket going, mix, divide, wrap, walk away for 40 minutes. That’s the whole thing.

The dough comes together in one bowl with a fork. No long kneading, no futzing, no worries. Perfection need not apply. Divide it into four equal portions, then shape each one into a log. Wrap each log in parchment first and then foil. The parchment keeps the dough from sticking and the foil holds the shape.

Wrap them snug but not tight, since they expand a little as they cook.

Some folks use silicone sausage molds. I haven’t tried them, but readers say they work for getting more uniform shapes if you’re after the look.

You’ve made vegan sausages, now what?

Anything a sausage can do these can do better. Or something like that. Here are a few of my favorite things:

Pan-fried. Slice how you like (I always favor a bias), get a hot frying pan over medium heat, add a drizzle of oil, and sear until the outside is crispy and golden. The steamed exterior turns chewier with real bite, and the edges caramelize. From there, sliced pan-fried sausages work in just about any pasta sauces — alfredo, marinara, a quick sauté with veggies and white wine, anywhere sliced sausage belongs.

Grilled. They hold up beautifully on the grill. Slice down the middle if you want maximum char, or leave whole for the classic sausage-on-the-grill look. Brush with a little oil first. You can also slice into skewers — that’s a real cute look.

Sausage and peppers. A classic Italian dinner. Slice the sausages, sear them up, and pile them with sautéed bell peppers and onions. I like red ones.

Vegan pizza. Crumble or slice for vegan pizza before baking. Drizzle with a little oil. Perfection.

Red sauce. Crumble and sauté a little, then add to your favorite marinara or other pasta sauces.

Subs. Sliced sausages, sautéed peppers and onions, vegan mozzarella, a hoagie roll. Dinner is served.

Vegan breakfast burritos. Crumble cooked sausage into a tofu scramble, wrap in a tortilla with potatoes, beans, and cheese. Great for a make-ahead morning.

Soups and stews. Slice into rounds and add to bean soups, lentil stews, or tomato-based braises. Try Seitan Porcini Beef Stew for a heartier version.

Biscuits and gravy. Crumble into a peppery white gravy and serve over biscuits. Brunch upgrade.

On a cutting board with mustard. Sometimes that’s all you need.

How to store and freeze vegan sausages

Fridge. Don’t unwrap them. Cooled sausages keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Leave them whole until you’re ready to use them.

Freezer. Let them cool completely, then wrap each sausage individually in parchment and stash in a freezer bag or sealed container. They keep for up to 3 months.

Reheating from frozen. Thaw overnight in the fridge. They’re kinda difficult to use from frozen.

Make-ahead tip. Steam a double or triple batch on a Sunday and you’ve got dinner protein ready for the week. They reheat beautifully and only get better after a day in the fridge. This is great if your steamer is big enough — otherwise you’ll have to do it in batches.

Vegan Italian Sausage FAQ

Why parchment AND foil? Parchment keeps the dough off direct foil contact. Steaming acidic ingredients in aluminum can cause leaching from the foil or something. We didn’t realize that back in the day, oops. Now I always use parchment first, then foil for shape. The foil-only method still works if it’s all you have, but the parchment-plus-foil combo is what I’d recommend.

Why did my sausages come out mushy? A few things could be going on. Make sure you’re steaming for the full 40 minutes with the steamer covered. The beans should be well-drained and not waterlogged. Make sure the steamer is hot enough and actually steaming, not just simmering. They also firm up significantly as they cool, so what feels soft right out of the steamer will set up in another 10 minutes on the counter.

Can I use an Instant Pot or pressure cooker? I don’t have one myself, but plenty of readers do. Use the steam setting for the full 40 minutes and quick release at the end. That’s the consensus from the comments.

Is there a gluten-free version? Not for this recipe — vital wheat gluten is the entire structural backbone. If gluten-free is what you need, you’re looking for a tempeh-based or bean-based recipe instead. Try Tempeh Bacon, or my Walnut Chorizo for a similar savory, meaty payoff.

Simple Seitan & Bean Italian Sausages

Isa Chandra

Easy homemade vegan Italian sausages with seitan and beans. Mash, mix, roll in foil, and steam. Perfect for grilling, pasta, subs, and stews.

5 from 6 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

1 hour hr

Course Lunch, Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine Italian

Servings 4 sausages

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1/2 cup cooked white beans (great northern or navy) rinsed and drained
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon olive oil OR tomato paste (tomato paste is a great fat replacement)
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 1/4 cups vital wheat gluten
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic OR 2 cloves fresh garlic finely grated
• 1 1/2 teaspoon fennel seed, crushed OR 1 tsp ground fennel seed
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• Several dashes fresh black pepper

Instructions

 

• Before mixing your ingredients, get the steaming apparatus ready, bringing water to a full boil. The rest of the recipe comes together very quickly.
• Have ready 4 square sheets of tin foil and parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, mash the beans until no whole ones are left. Throw all the other ingredients together in the order listed and mix with a fork. Divide dough into 4 even parts (an easy way to do this: split the dough in half and then into quarters).
• Place one part of dough into tin foil lined with parchment and mold into about a 5 inch log. Wrap dough in tin foil, like a tootsie roll. Don’t worry too much about shaping it, it will snap into shape while it’s steaming because this recipe is awesome. Trim the edges of the parchment if needed.
• Place wrapped sausages in steamer and steam for 40 minutes. Let cool before using. See serving suggestions above.

Keyword Seitan, Seitan Sausage

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