Homemade Vegetarian Sausages
Homemade Vegetarian Sausages, firm & crisp on the outside & packed full of flavour.
Healthy & low in fat – they make the tastiest ever Veggie Hotdogs, Breakfast Sausage or Bangers & Mash.
This Vegetarian sausage recipe is dairy free and can be made egg free too.
I’ve been working on a veggie sausage recipe for a while because my last attempt wasn’t quite up to the mark and the sausages fell apart when cooked on the BBQ. This year I was determined to perfect the recipe.
My homemade vegetarian sausages had their first taste test at our Sunday breakfast with a big thumbs up from our son, phew!
They held up in the frying pan and I was able to serve a sausage that didn’t break up whilst cooking or transferring to the plate.
What Is Vegetarian Sausage Made Of ?
I don’t know about you but I’m not overly keen on all those unecessary added extras you get in shop bought vegetarian sausages.
Our Homemade Vegetarian Sausages are packed full of tasty natural ingredients which deliver on flavour.
Green lentils, walnuts, fresh breadcrumbs and, for an added unami rich flavour, dried mushrooms and tomato puree. All blended with seasonings to give the most delicious vegetarian sausage.
For seasonings I’ve used thyme, oregano and vegan Worcester sauce. But the recipe could easily take chilli, chipotle or, something we’re going to try later in the summer, basil and sun dried tomatoes.
Recipe Variations
Chilli Veggie Sausage – Add a couple of teaspoons of chilli flakes or chipotle paste.
Italian Style Veggie Sausage – Replace thyme with freshly chopped basil and add sun dried tomatoes.
Indian Style – Replace Worcester sauce with 1 tablespoon of curry powder or curry paste.
Make It Allergy Friendly
This recipe is dairy free and can be made egg free or soy free too.
How To Make The Best Homemade Vegetarian Sausage
Veggie sausages are easy to make and can be ready to cook in around 30 minutes or less. The recipe makes 12 large or 18 medium sausages so you can make ahead and keep in the fridge or freezer.
Dried mushrooms are soaked in hot water before being chopped.
Dried green lentils are cooked in the reserved mushroom soaking liquid and water.
Onions and garlic are fried gently until softened.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the mushrooms, cooked lentils, onion and garlic and mix together in a large mixing bowl.
Shape into sausages and wrap with food safe cling film, twisting the ends like a sweet wrapper or Christmas cracker. Alternatively, wrap with baking parchment and foil instead of cling film.
Chill in the fridge for half an hour.
Important note for Homemade Vegetarian Sausages:
Use food safe cling film. In the UK this is often labelled microwave safe.
Make It Vegan Or Egg Free
Replacing the eggs in the recipe to make Homemade Vegan Sausages is really easy to do.
Soak 2 tablespoons of ground chia seeds in 6 tablespoons of water and leave for 15 minutes.
Make It Soy Free
Replace Vegan Worcester sauce with 2 teaspoons of yeast flakes.
How To Cook Homemade Vegetarian Sausage
Vegetarian sausages are cooked in two stages:
Steam for 20 minutes.
Pan fry in oil or cook on the BBQ or griddle for 10 minutes.
How To Serve Homemade Vegetarian Sausage
Serve as the star of your veggie breakfast or brunch with hash browns, mushrooms, eggs and beans or tomatoes.
With creamy mashed potatoes and onion gravy for the ultimate Bangers and Mash.
In a homemade bread roll with fried onions and your favourite toppings for the best Veggie Hot Dog.
How To Store Homemade Vegetarian Sausage
Keep in the fridge for up to four days.
How To Freeze
Open freeze in cling or baking parchment before transferring to a large freezer bag. Will keep for up to three months in the freezer.
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Homemade Vegetarian Sausages
Equipment
- Steamer
- Cling film for shaping sausages or baking parchment and foil. Use food safe cling film. In the UK this is often labelled microwave safe.
Ingredients
- 10 g dried mushrooms
- 350 g dried green lentils
- 2 tablespoons rapeseed oil
- 2 onions diced
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 teaspoons freshly chopped thyme
- 2 tablespoons freshly chopped oregano
- 250 g ground walnuts
- 250 g fresh breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 2 tsp vegan Worcester Sauce
- 2 tsp celery salt
- Plenty of freshly ground black pepper
- 2 eggs whisked
Instructions
- Rehydrate mushrooms by soaking them in very hot water for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Use the mushroom soaking liquid and water to cook the dried lentils for 25 minutes until soft. Drain and roughly mash the lentils.
- Soften onions by gently frying in a pan.
- Add crushed garlic to the softened onions and cook for a couple of minutes.
- Finely chop the rehydrated mushrooms.
- In a large bowl, add the onion mixture, chopped mushrooms and the rest of the ingredients and mix together.
- Divide into 18 portions and shape into sausages.
- Wrap each sausage in a piece of cling film large enough to roll out each piece leaving enough for twisting at the ends like a cracker (see photo)
- Steam for 20 minutes and leave to cool.
- Place in the fridge for a couple of hours. Remove cling film before frying or cooking on the BBQ for 10 minutes.
Notes
- Makes approximately 18 large vegetarian sausages or 22 medium sized.
- MAKE IT VEGAN OR EGG FREE – Soak 2 tablespoons of ground chia seeds in 6 tablespoons of water and leave for 15 minutes.
- MAKE IT SOY FREE – Replace Vegan Worcester sauce with 2 teaspoons of yeast flakes.
- HOW TO STORE – Keep in the fridge for up to four days.
- HOW TO FREEZE – Open freeze in cling or baking parchment before transferring to a large freezer bag. Will keep for up to three months in the freezer.
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
PIN FOR LATER
I’m linking Homemade Vegetarian Sausages to:
- Meat Free Mondays hosted by Jac over at Tinned Tomatoes.
- Cook Blog Share hosted this week by Jacqui over at Recipes Made Easy.
- Fiesta Friday hosted by Angie over at Fiesta Friday and co hosts this week are Jhuls @ The Not So creative Cook & Su @Su’s Healthy Living.
- Cook Once Eat Twice over at Corina’s Searching For Spice.
As a veggie sausage lover living in France who has always had Cauldron foods veggie sausages shipped from the UK, a massive thank you to you. I used sage and increased the onion as I am fond of Lincolnshire sausages and they are amazing – and they didn’t fall apart. What a clever recipe. Thanks again Sarah
Thanks Chris and it’s a pleasure to share the recipe. Sage and extra onion is a great idea, one we haven’t tried yet. I know how difficult it is to find vegetarian food in France. Our friends have even more difficulty as they are vegan and like you have make a regular order to the UK.
I haven’t read all the comments so my apologies if it has already been asked. Could I substitute almonds for the walnuts? My husband can”take eat walnuts.
Hello Sarah, I haven’t tried almonds in the recipe, ground walnuts have a coarser texture than almonds but I can’t see that almonds won’t work. Obviously the taste will change using almonds and maybe hazelnuts would be another alternative you could try. Do let me know how you get on.
I don’t think I have EVER left a comment on a blog/website or reviewed anything. But having used this recipe I had to. I was NOT disappointed. I wanted the sausages to be part of a veggie buffet/feast as some of my friends are vegetarian. They came out amazing and taste SO GOOD! And that is coming from a meat eater.
Perfect and easy recipe to follow, thanks Sarah! 🙂
Thanks Fiona for taking the time to leave a review. It’s great to get feedback from readers who have made the recipe and I’m so pleased you enjoyed them.
Can’t wait to try this for my sons birthday this weekend! Quick question, my father is allergic to egg yokes, would it still work if I just used egg whites? Thanks!
Hi Adam, sorry I’m late in replying. I’ve had a busy Bank Holiday at markets and not had time to sit at my desk. Leaving the egg yolks out should be fine, the whites should still act as a binder. Do let me know how you got on.
The recipe sounds delicious but I do not eat eggs or breadcrumbs, could I use chia as an egg substitute and say chickpea flour instead of the bread crumbs.
Hi Jan, I haven’t worked with chia seeds before but in theory it should be a good substitute. I should imagine as chickpea flour works so well in bhajis it would work in the sausages. Let me know how you get on and I can add the ingredients to the recipe as a vegan alternative. Thanks for getting in touch.
Hi there, I came across this while searching for vegetarian sausage recipes as we aren’t veggies, but I feel we eat too much meat, cheese etc… and could do with cutting back! Do you think it would work without the celery salt? I’d like to try these, but not keen to buy another ingredient that will probably then just sit unused for anything else in the ‘herb and spice’ drawer 🙂
Hi Sarah, the sausages will be fine without celery salt just make sure you add some salt. Sometimes we change the flavours around ourselves by adding different herbs or spices for a change. Thanks for popping by and let me know how you get on.
Please can you tell me if you steam them in the cling film..
Hi Barbara, yes I do steam them in the cling film, I think most cling film is heat safe and suitable for cooking with these days. Just make sure you check the label on your cling film.
Fantastic looking sausages. Do you add the rapeseed oil to the mix or is it used for frying the sausages?
Hi Denny, I don’t add any to the mix but the onions are fried and softened in the oil first.
Fantastic sausages, I had to tweak the recipe as i have a nut allergy, i replaced the nuts with red kidney beans and chick peas
It worked perfectly well, what a great recipe
That’s great to hear Martin, I appreciate the feedback. I bet the sausages were tasty with the red kidney beans and chickpeas.
Hi Sarah. Just returned back from New Zealand after visiting our daiughter and she makes these sausages all the time. Absolutely delicious. Best I have ever tasted. So filling too. She gave me your website addresss. I am going to make my first batch today. Looking forward to eating them.
Hi Lorraine, that’s great to hear. It’s lovely to think our family recipe is being shared around the world. Thanks for letting me know.