These vegan sausages are so good! They have the perfect ‘meaty’ texture and heaps of flavor. They’re also really easy to make.
We really enjoy seitan recipes around these parts. We’ve made vegan steaks, vegan chicken, vegan bacon, vegan pepperoni and vegan salami.
And we’re just getting started.
These vegan sausages are so delicious (and easy) that they may well become weekly favorites in your house just as they are in ours.
Enjoy them alongside some vegan mashed potatoes (bangers and mash) or on hotdog rolls with mustard, ketchup and fried onions for some awesome vegan hot dogs.
Ingredients You’ll Need:
Ingredient Notes
- Vital wheat gluten – this is pure gluten powder. It is responsible for the meaty texture of these vegan sausages. There is NO substitute for this.
- Chickpeas – we used canned chickpeas in this recipe, but any cooked chickpeas will work fine.
- Vegetable stock – can be replaced with vegetable broth, whichever is easiest.
How To Make Vegan Sausages
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Add chickpeas, soy sauce, maple syrup, tomato paste, vegetable stock, dijon mustard, liquid smoke, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, coriander powder, oregano, smoked paprika, salt, ground black pepper and cayenne pepper to the food processor and process until well mixed.
- Transfer it to a mixing bowl and add in vital wheat gluten.
- Stir in briefly with a spoon.
- Now get in there with your hands and form it into a dough. Don’t knead it. You just want it to be mixed and form into a dough.
- Transfer the dough to a wooden board.
- Cut it into four pieces and roll each piece roughly into a sausage shape (it doesn’t need to be perfect, the shape forms really well while they are steaming).
- Now roll each sausage in parchment paper and then in foil and close up the foil on each end. Don’t wrap them too tight, they need a little room to expand while they’re steaming.
- Place them into a steamer basket over a pot of boiling water (or any kind of steamer that you have) and steam for 20 minutes.
- After steaming place them back onto the wooden board and open the tinfoil (be careful of the steam escaping).
- Heat up a grill pan and brush it with a high heat oil (we used grapeseed oil).
- Place the sausages onto the hot grill pan and let them cook for a few minutes so that the grill lines sear into the sausages before turning them and cooking on the other side.
- In the last minute of grilling, brush the sausages with vegan barbecue sauce (optional).
Recipe Tips
There is no need to knead. You don’t need to knead the dough. Mixing the ingredients briefly, forming it into a dough and then the minimal handling of the dough while you cut it into four pieces and form those pieces into sausage shapes, is enough to activate the gluten sufficiently to get the perfect texture for these sausages. They are firm and ‘meaty’ without being too chewy. If you do want firmer sausages then you can knead the dough just a few times and that is sufficient to firm them up even more.
Steaming. The best way to steam these sausages is in a steamer pot, which is a steamer basket that fits over a pot of boiling water. The water must already be boiling when you place the steamer basket on top and then you start your timer for 20 minutes of steaming.
Grill pan. You can fry these on a grill pan as we did to get the pretty grill lines seared into the sausages. OR you can just fry them up in any frying pan or skillet. The sausages are actually cooked after steaming, so if you just want to slice them up at that point and place them on pizza or use them in another dish, that works too.
Recipe FAQ
What is seitan? Seitan is also called ‘wheat meat’ and it’s made from the gluten found in wheat. The starch in the wheat is removed, leaving just the gluten behind. You can do this yourself but it’s a very time consuming and complicated process. Vital wheat gluten is pure gluten powder that has already had all the starch removed. It has a meaty texture that works great in making vegan meats.
Can you make these sausages gluten-free? Since these are seitan sausages it is not possible to make them gluten-free. The main ingredient is vital wheat gluten which is pure gluten powder. If you’re looking for a good gluten-free vegan sausage recipe then I recommend this recipe from Ela Vegan.
How to store vegan sausages? Keep leftover sausages stored in a covered container in the fridge for up to a week.
Can you freeze them? You can freeze the sausages after steaming them. Let them cool completely and then transfer to a freezer safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. Let them thaw in the fridge and then use them as you like, grill them, fry them, slice them etc.
More Seitan Recipes
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Sausages
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup Chickpeas (55g) Canned, Drained
- 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
- ⅓ cup Tomato Paste (87g)
- ⅓ cup Vegetable Stock (80ml)
- 1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
- ¼ tsp Liquid Smoke
- 2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
- ½ tsp Garlic Powder
- ½ tsp Onion Powder
- ⅛ tsp Cumin
- ⅛ tsp Coriander Powder
- ¼ tsp Oregano
- 1 tsp Smoked Paprika
- ½ tsp Salt
- ⅛ tsp Ground Black Pepper
- ¼ tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 1 cup Vital Wheat Gluten (150g)
For Grilling/Frying:
- ½ Tbsp Grapeseed Oil or other high heat oil
- Vegan Barbecue Sauce Optional, for brushing
Instructions
- Add chickpeas, soy sauce, maple syrup, tomato paste, vegetable stock, dijon mustard, liquid smoke, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, coriander powder, oregano, smoked paprika, salt, ground black pepper and cayenne pepper to the food processor and process until well mixed.
- Transfer it to a mixing bowl and add in vital wheat gluten.
- Stir in briefly with a spoon.
- Now get in there with your hands and form it into a dough. Don’t knead it. You just want it to be mixed and formed into a dough.
- Transfer the dough to a wooden board.
- Cut it into four pieces and roll each piece roughly into a sausage shape (it doesn’t need to be perfect, the shape forms really well while they are steaming).
- Now roll each sausage in parchment paper and then in foil and close up the foil on each end. Don’t wrap them too tight, they need a little room to expand while they’re steaming.
- Place them into a steamer basket over a pot of boiling water (or any kind of steamer that you have) and steam for 20 minutes.
- After steaming place them back onto the wooden board and open the tinfoil (be careful of the steam escaping). They are now cooked and ready to use! But if you’d like to grill them (as we did) then keep reading.
- Heat up a grill pan and brush it with grapeseed oil or another high heat oil.
- Place the sausages onto the hot grill pan and let them cook for a few minutes so that the grill lines sear into the sausages before turning them and cooking on the other side.
- In the last minute of grilling, brush the sausages with vegan barbecue sauce (optional).
Notes
- Chickpeas – we used canned chickpeas in this recipe, but any cooked chickpeas will work fine.
- Vital wheat gluten – this is pure gluten powder. It is responsible for the meaty texture of these vegan sausages. There is NO substitute for this.
- Vegetable stock – can be replaced with vegetable broth, whichever is easiest.
- There is no need to knead. You don’t need to knead the dough. Mixing the ingredients briefly, forming it into a dough and then the minimal handling of the dough while you cut it into four pieces and form those pieces into sausage shapes, is enough to activate the gluten sufficiently to get the perfect texture for these sausages. They are firm and ‘meaty’ without being too chewy. If you do want firmer sausages then you can knead the dough just a few times and that is sufficient to firm them up even more.
- Grill pan – You can fry these on a grill pan as we did to get the pretty grill lines seared into the sausages. OR you can just fry them up in any frying pan or skillet. The sausages are actually cooked after steaming, so if you just want to slice them up at that point and place them on pizza or use them in another dish, that works too.
- Storing: Keep leftover sausages stored in a covered container in the fridge for up to a week.
- Freezing: You can freeze the sausages after steaming them. Let them cool completely and then transfer to a freezer safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. Let them thaw in the fridge and then use them as you like, grill them, fry them, slice them etc.
I so badly want to love this recipe because the taste is identical to how I remember sausage being. However, I have attempted this recipe multiple times and the texture still continues to be gummy and not as firm as it should be. I have made seitan before and have not come across this issue with other recipes. Unless anyone has advice I will have to give up on this one.
Hi Cierra. Sorry to hear yu’re struggling with gummy seitan. Seitan usually turns out gummy, soft, or rubbery primarily due to excess moisture in the dough, undercooking, or improper cooking techniques that trap steam. The texture often improves significantly after cooling or resting in the refrigerator, as the gluten stabilizes. Then continue to grill the sausage as per the instructions.
We just made these and loved them! Thank you for sharing!
Yay! Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe Jen! Thanks for the great review!
These are as good or better than store bought sausages. I was out of tomato paste so i used ketchup instead, and they were still tasty. I baked mine instead of steaming, so that may have contributed to my next step which is… I had to chill mine overnight to get my parchment paper off. Worth the wait! Keeper recipe for many future sausage dinners! Thanks!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing your tip and for your great review Kristy!