Makes 4 Sausages
Time: 50 minutes || Active time: 10 minutes
I realized I don’t have a super basic sausage recipe on the site and so here it is! The now classic, always magical, seitan and bean steamed-in-tinfoil sausage. Perfect for grilling, sauteeing or tossing into stews.
In case this is your first time making a vegan sausage, here’s what’s going down: You’re going to mash some beans in a mixing bowl and then throw in the other ingredients and mix. Then you’re going to roll ’em in tinfoil like a Tootsie Roll, and steam them. And then, like magic, you will have vegan sausages. Easiest thing in the world! A few versions of these sausages appear in Vegan Brunch.
1/2 cup cooked white beans (great northern or navy), rinsed and drained
1 cup vegetable broth
1 tablespoon olive oil *or* 1 tablespoon 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 teaspoons fennel seed, crushed *or* 1 teaspoon 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
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. 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 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.
Place wrapped sausages in steamer and steam for 40 minutes. That’s it! You can unwrap and enjoy immediately or refrigerate until ready to use.
Very nice flavour on these!
ALL non-vegans should try this recipe! These sausages are cheaper, healthier, and yummier than regular sausages or poultry sausages. This is my first vegan recipe to date, and it came out perfectly! I sauted in coconut oil with cubed up yams! sooooo delicious and easy! Thank you!
Any way to make this a gluten free recipe?
This is a winner!!
Ok, just made these and then sauteed one sliced up in some olive oil and served over angelhair pasta with marinara sauce, and let me just say its 5 stars!! The best seitan sausage I’ve ever had, beats tofurkey hands down and was easy and cheap to make too:)
These were great! My omni family loved them with spaghetti and on sandwiches! I did halve the crushed red pepper and add a half teaspoon of salt to suit our tastes. I think even without this modification it would be yummy.
So I make seitan cutlets regularly using mashed white beans. But I usually have to knead the mixture for about 3 to 5 minutes for them to come out with a nice chewy texture after steaming. You say to just mix with a fork, so I just want to clarify if it seemed necessary to knead these a bit to get a great texture in the end? Thanks so much!!
Took these to a party a few weeks back. Sliced them up and served with apple slices, crackers, and some spicy mustard. This was not a vegan party, meaning there were mostly meat eaters there. I turned around to talk for a few minutes and when I turned back the sausages were gone!
I make a triple batch of this pretty much once a week and then use it in scrambles, on salads, and pretty much everything except for dessert, but I am close to that as well.
I’m almost embarrassed by how much I like these! I have too many friends who think gluten is a four letter word, I just won’t share the recipe with them. I made a double batch after the initial batch to freeze, I ended up having to increase the cooking time to compensate. Thanks for the recipe!
This was my first time making vegan sausages. I am hooked. I can’t wait to try different flavor combinations! The first one I unwrapped when into a pan to sautée, then was sliced promptly and devoured with yellow mustard. As a fan of field roast, I have to say, these are just as yummy. And I made them. Thanks Isa!!!!
Holy crap these are good! I made them to try in my favorite red beans and rice but Im not sure how they will last until tomorrow. Thanks for this!
could I use the foundation of this recipe and change up the seasonings to make a smoky chorizo or pepperoni? Your recipes are great by the way!!
Hi, would the time be different if a pressure cooker steamer was used to make these
Ok, have my first ever vegan sausages in the steamer, 16 minutes to go. You’re right, they come together beautifully. So, I’ll give you an update in a tick or two. Really excited to taste them.
I don’t believe how good these sausages are. They even have the right texture. SO glad I attempted these. Thanks Isa. You’re a marvel!!
Just made these yummy sausages! Thanks for the recipe!
THE BEST vegan sausages ever- store bought or home made. I have already had these for breakfast and with spaghetti sauce. I can’t wait to make sausage sandwiches, gumbo, quiche…These are very easy to put together & freeze well. Thanks for a keeper!
I tried this last night and it worked really well. Turns out I really don’t like fennel so I’ll be making them again with different seasonings. I put all the ingredients into a food processor for a quick mix, and it was super fast.
Since I don’t have a steamer, I used a 4qt slow cooker and a small steel colander, with two cups of water inside that didn’t come near the bottom of the colander. Turned it on high and closed it while making the sausages, then put them in and since the lid didn’t close entirely due to the colander handles, I used foil to close the gap. Put a dishtowel over it and then a pot to weigh it down. It took an hour instead of 40 mins, probably because I didn’t turn it on soon enough, but they came out the perfect texture, consistency, etc.
These are an easy and great tasting alternative to store bought field roast or tofurkey, and they taste AWESOME. Be sure to keep all the liquids cold, including the broth, for best results.
Is there any way to bake these in the oven instead of steaming them? I have burned pots trying to steam things for as little as ten minutes, so I fear this will be a disaster if I attempt it.
I just made this and substituted 1/2 cup of lentils instead of white beans. It worked perfectly and tastes magical. Thank you!!!!
I made these last night, but made a few changes. I used smoked paprika instead of sweet, I may’ve put a little more crushed pepper flakes (I like it spicey!), and I didn’t steam them. I didn’t think there’d be enough room in the steamer basket so I looked at other sausage seitan recipes and they were also cooked in the oven at 350. I tried 1.5 hours, which they didn’t seam to be cooked quite enough in the middle, so put them back in for a half hour. I went to bed before I could try them, so did so this morning; they may’ve been slightly overcooked, but hard to tell since they were right out of the fridge. May be softer/more tender after being heated? I will find out tonight! 🙂 Taste: top notch! I can see how significant others could be fooled (per some of the comments on this page). WILL MAKE AGAIN, AND AGAIN, AND AGAIN! Note: make sure to have enough foil to actually twist. I just pinched the ends and one actually expanded enough to force it’s way out a bit. Not a big deal, just was a little tough.
just made these sausages couldnt find nutri yeast tho, came out good gut just alittle soft.thinking the yeast.still very good thank you.
Like others I wanted to avoid aluminium/tin foil so thought I’d experiment and do half in the aluminium foil and half in organic cotton muslins (like you use over your shoulder when holding a baby). There was no difference in consistency, size or taste, only that the aluminium foil ones looked very slightly browned, as if grilled for 30 seconds or so. (I could tell because mine didn’t have paprika etc in so were quite a pallid colour.) So I’d recommend using (organic, so you don’t get any leftover chemical trace seeping in to the sausages) muslins to wrap them in if you don’t want to use the foil. Don’t know if it makes a difference, but I dampened the muslin first. I didn’t have white beans so I used chickpeas and they turned out fine. I’ll roll them thinner next time as all mine turned out the size of haggis not sausage! Thanks for this recipe, wish I’d been able to find organic vital wheat gluten years ago…
SO excited to try this, I was wondering, can I use coconut oil or rice bran oil, instead of olive oil? Sorry if someone already asked.
Thanks!
Just made these. Sliced, then sautéed, and put them on top of your Roasted Red Pepper Mac…. And uh yeah…. BOMB!
These sausages. THESE SAUSAGES, PEOPLE.
I first pulled up this recipe about a year ago. Looked good, so I bought all the stuff and let it rot in my cupboard because I was lazy.
I went vegan again about seven months ago, and am always on the lookout for new dishes to try. Today was free, and I was hungry, so I thought I’d round up the stuff and try it for realsies this time. My plan was to make the sausages, then use them in the Seitan Porcini stew*. My luck with homemade seitan has been iffy; a few successes, a few more failures. So I figured if it went pear-shaped, I had a couple of vegan italian sausages in the freezer that I could use in a pinch.
When the timer went off, it was like Christmas morning. I got all excited, pulled my wrapped little bundles of bean out of my MacGyver’ed steamer, and steeled myself for tragedy as I eagerly ripped one open.
It is fortunate that the recipe makes 4 sausages, since I ate that one immediately. I ate the whole sausage. I COULD NOT STOP. And now I am full as a freakin’ tick, wondering why I let a whole year go by without these in my life. SO MUCH TIME WASTED THAT COULD HAVE SPENT EATING SAUSAGES.
Make your life better. Whip these up. Now. Don’t let another day go by. Life is too short to not eat these delicious logs of awesome.
*also INCREDIBLE, by the way.
a couple of questions- I made your recipie for the stew and sausages and it was wonderful- however I do have 2 questions you use low or rapid boil or? I could not tell if or when the sausage were done and what they should look like for sure. Mine were a little chewy but the flavor good…..
Thank you
hmm…now say i want to make a big night style timpano…could this be used in place of the sausage? opinions? if anyone knows what i am talking about, that is…
And the “active” time include prepping the beans? I dont think so.
I work in a kitchen that just bought sausage stuffer. As a vegetarian, I am looking for alternatives to our new product. Can these be par cooked and frozen for mass production and serving?
While everybody else has already said it, I just had to chime in: These are magic and you are a Genius!!!
Ok, first things first. I’ve made these twice now and all I can say is WOWZERS!!! This recipe turns out every time and to make things even easier, I used regular ol’ canned brown beans. I am MORE than thrilled to have this recipe and she isn’t kidding when she says its easy. Do yourself a favour and try these immediately. You won’t be sorry!!!!
Wow! This could be one particular of the most useful blogs We’ve ever arrive across on this subject. Actually Excellent. I’m also an expert in this topic so I can understand your hard work. addaaedbdfag
if I am making my own seitan, how would I do that?
Is there a way to pre-cook these without steaming? Maybe form and poach in plastic wrap? Since I’m normally just cooking for myself if I can cook and then cool and store in one package things would be a little more streamlined. Thanks for a great recipe!
Hi,
Will this work with chick peas (pois de chiches) ?
thank you
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