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.
Can this recipe be run thru an electric meat grinder to fill casings?
Hi Diane, thanks for getting in touch. I wouldn’t put this mixture through a meat grinder, as it would make the lentils too fine and you’d lose the texture that makes these sausages work so well. If you’d like to use casings, a piping bag or sausage stuffer (without the grinding part) would work much better and keep the texture just right. Hope this helps, Sarah.
Cannot have mushrooms.
What can I replace with?
hi Jo, thanks for getting in touch. I would use an extra teaspoon of vegan Worcester sauce, hope this helps, Sarah.
Hello, my green lentils say they need soaking overnight before cooking for 30-40 minutes. Is that not the first step to take?
Hello Clare, thanks for getting in touch. I’ve always cooked my green lentils for 20 to 30 minutes without prior soaking and they’ve been fine. The lentils need to be cooked until they’re soft but not mushy for this recipe. Soaking can reduce the cooking time and improve digestibility. Hope this helps, Sarah.
Steaming these is a game changer!!! They don’t fall apart when you fry from fresh or frozen and they taste great
Glad to hear you tried steaming the sausages, even better that you enjoyed them, Sarah.