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These delicious, wholesome, vegan sausages are the perfect addition to a mid-week meal, BBQ, or potluck. With a soft and flavorful interior and slightly crisp exterior, this vegan Italian sausage is sure to leave an impression. Plus, this recipe is meat-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, low-fat, plant-based, and can be made nut-free, too, if preferred!
Gluten Free Vegan Sausage
When it comes to meat alternatives, I err on the side of ‘it doesn’t have to taste exactly the same to be delicious.’ This vegan sausage recipe (aka vegan Bratwurst) combines beans, nuts, oats, and several seasonings to create a delicious vegetarian sausage that definitely isn’t trying to emulate meat, but doesn’t need to when it tastes this good.
This recipe is everything that a veggie sausage needs to be in my eyes; hearty, healthy, and packed with flavor! It’s amazing what white beans, walnuts, oats, and seasonings can do for creating a meatless sausage.
Plus, this recipe doesn’t contain wheat gluten (seitan) like most other vegan recipes which makes it perfectly safe for people who have a gluten allergy!
This vegetarian sausage recipe is also incredibly versatile – allowing you to adjust the seasonings to your own tastes too and even swap out ingredients for your dietary needs (such as swapping the nuts for seeds). Want sausages that are spicier, or smokier? – No problem!
And, of course, they taste delicious anywhere that you would use any other sausage (or vegan Bratwurst, as I call them). Serve as a vegan hot dog, at a BBQ, in wraps, with mash, etc. In fact, there are so many options that I’ve included a list of potential serving ideas below if you want some ideas.
This Recipe Is:
- Meat-free
- Dairy-free
- Vegan
- Gluten-free
- Can be made soy-free
- Low-fat
- Can be also made nut-free
- Packed with fiber, protein, and several vitamins & minerals (from the white beans)
- Healthy
- Hearty & satisfying
- Versatile
How To Make The Best Vegan Sausage
The recipe simply relies on some blending, forming, steaming, and frying! There are even different ways of cooking these veggie sausages, depending on how you prefer them.
Step 1: Mix the ground chia seeds and ¼ cup water in a small bowl and allow to thicken for five minutes. If you don’t have ground chia seeds, then you can grind them yourself with an electric spice/coffee grinder or blender for a few seconds.
Step 2: Meanwhile, rinse the canned white beans thoroughly in a sieve, then drain and pat dry with a paper towel.
Step 3: Pulse the oats and walnuts in a food processor or blender. Only pulse, rather than run the machine continuously as you want the ingredients to retain texture rather than turning into a ‘flour.’
Step 4: Add all the remaining ingredients to the food processor/blender and pulse again to combine.
Step 5: Form 6-7 sausages with your hands. The mixture shouldn’t be too sticky, but if it is, then a sprinkling of oat flour should help. Once formed, place the vegan brats on a dish lined with parchment paper and leave to chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Step 6: Wrap each sausage in some parchment paper and tin foil and twist the ends, like a candy wrapper. Then, place in a steamer basket/pan (I cooked them in a large pot with a sieve and lid on) and steam for around 35 minutes. See step-by-step photos.
Once cooked, you can serve immediately, pan-fry, or even grill for a crispy result! You could also add a vegan sausage casing (see method below).
Pan-Fry Method:
Brush the sausages with a little oil on each side and then add to your preheated skillet. Lightly fry for around 7-10 minutes, turning a few times, until lightly browned and enjoy!
For sausages that really hold up to BBQ grilling:
After steaming the sausages, allow to cool to room temperature. Chill in the fridge for a bit until they firm up, and then grill. This method really helps them to maintain a firm texture and not fall apart on the grill.
Vegan Sausage Casing
This step is totally optional, however, you can easily make a sausage casing with rice paper sheets!
Yes, the same ingredient used to make delicious summer rolls/spring rolls can also be used as a fantastic vegan sausage casing.
Rice paper sheets completely transform in texture, when fried, and add that delicious light crisp. Plus, rice paper wrappers are gluten-free! Meaning this will still remain a gluten free vegan sausage, to fit multiple dietary needs.
You have the choice of using the classic white rice paper or brown rice paper wrappers that will affect the look and, subtly, the taste of the sausages.
How To Make The Casing (Optional Method)
Follow steps 1-6 as stated above.
- To make the casing add lukewarm water to a large bowl. Dip a rice paper sheet into the water, one at a time, for 5 seconds, and allow the excess water to drip off. Then place the sheet on a cutting board lined with oiled parchment paper.
- Place a steamed sausage onto the damp ripe paper sheet and fold it over the sausage once, then fold the sides in and continue to roll it, like a cigar. Repeat this step with the remaining sausages.
- Preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Brush the sausages with a little oil on each side and then add to the pan. Lightly fry for around 7-10 minutes, turning every minute or so, until heated through.
How To Serve
If you want to serve these ‘vegetarian bratwurst’ style, then you can serve as a sandwich or vegan hot dog in a bun with mustard (lots of it!), onions, and several other options of toppings and sides.
Some of my favorites for serving alongside vegetarian brats include German Sauerkraut, Potato Salad, and this Keto Coleslaw.
You can also serve these veggie sausages for breakfast and brunch dishes. Such as alongside Vegan Scrambled Eggs, and with other breakfast favorites.
I also often add them to a number of my favorite hearty mid-week meals, including this Vegan Mushroom Risotto, Lentil Stew with mashed potatoes, and alongside this Quinoa Pilaf with vegetables.
You could also slice and serve with salads and pasta dishes, on top of pizza, or prepare and vegan casserole dish, along with tons of other options!
How To Store
Store any leftover vegan sausages in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to six days.
I haven’t yet tried to freeze these, so I can’t guarantee results upon thawing. However, they should be freezer-friendly (just make sure that they’re steamed and not touching when being frozen).
Recipe Notes & Variations
- You can use canned beans or soak and cook dry beans, e.g. in an Instant Pot. See this method, how to cook dry beans.
- You could also experiment with the type of bean you use. I love white beans for their neutral flavor and versatility. However, kidney beans or pinto beans could also be delicious.
- Replace the walnuts with another nut or seed of your choice, i.e., sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds.
- You could also use breadcrumbs (regular or gluten-free) in place of the oats. Buckwheat groats should be fine too.
- Feel free to adjust the seasonings to your taste. For more spice: add some crushed chili or more cayenne pepper. More smokiness: add a few drops of liquid smoke.
- For even more of a vegan Italian sausage flavor, then you could add some sun-dried tomatoes alongside the tomato puree.
- You can also serve these as burger patties by shaping into patties. In fact, this recipe was adapted from my Vegan Black Bean Burger.
If you give this vegan sausage recipe a try, I’d love a comment and recipe rating below. Also, don’t forget to tag me in re-creations on Instagram or Facebook with @elavegan and #elavegan – I love seeing your recreations.
Vegan Sausage
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (270 g) white beans from one 15 oz can, drained and rinsed (*see notes)
- 1 cup (90 g) oats (gluten-free if needed)
- 1/2 cup (60 g) walnuts (*see notes)
- 1/2 medium (60 g) onion chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 3 chia eggs (3 tbsp ground chia seeds + 1/4 cup water)
- 1 flat tbsp tomato paste
- 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce or tamari or coconut aminos
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 3/4 tsp sea salt or less/more to taste
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 pinch of cayenne pepper or more to taste
- Black pepper to taste
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds optional
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix the ground chia seeds with 1/4 cup of water and set the mixture aside for 5 minutes to thicken. Note: You can blend whole chia seeds in an electric spice/coffee grinder or blender for a few seconds if you don't have ground chia seeds.
- In the meantime, rinse the canned white beans very well in a sieve, then drain them and pat dry with a paper towel.
- Process the oats and the walnuts in a food processor or blender (use the pulse function, as they should still have some texture and not turn into fine flour).
- Add all the other ingredients to the food processor and pulse again.
- Form 6-7 sausages with your hands (I used 1/3 cup of the mixture per sausage). The mixture shouldn't be sticky, but if it is, simply add a little oat flour. Place the sausages on a large plate lined with parchment paper and put the plate into the fridge for about 20 minutes.
- Wrap each sausage in some parchment paper and tin foil and twist the ends, like a candy wrapper. Then, place in a steamer basket/pan (I used a large pot with a sieve) and steam for around 35 minutes. See step-by-step photos in the blog post. Do not throw away the tin foil and use it again in the future.
- Once cooked, you can serve immediately, pan-fry, or even grill for a crispy result!Pan-Fry: Preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Brush the sausages with a little oil on each side and add them to the pan. Fry for around 7-10 minutes, turning occasionally until browned and heated through.
- Enjoy with mustard, BBQ sauce, or serve in a burger bun like a hot dog! Read the blog post to find out how you can grill them or make a vegan sausage casing.
Notes
- Beans: You can use canned beans that are already cooked or cook dry beans until soft.
- Walnuts: You can use nuts of choice or seeds like sunflower seeds.
- Chia eggs: Flax eggs (3 tbsp ground flax seeds with 1/4 cup water) should be fine too but you'll most likely need to add a little more oat flour because chia seeds absorb more water.
- Oats: You could use buckwheat groats instead of oats.
- Add a few drops of liquid smoke for a smoky flavor.
- Store leftover sausages in an airtight container in the refrigerator (up to 6 days).
- Read the blog post above for more helpful tips, serving suggestions, step-by-step photos, etc.
- Recipe adapted from my Vegan Black Bean Burger. Rice wrapper inspiration (optional method) from Nutmegnotebook
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What can I use instead of parchment paper? That is not sold where I live.
You can use wax paper or any other type of baking paper (I don’t know what’s available where you live).
I can’t wait to try these! Do you think they would hold up in a stew? Let me know what you think! Thanks!
Yes, that will be fine! 🙂
These froze really well. And cooked from frozen in the oven in about 20 minutes. Tasted really good, can’t wait to make again.
Yay, that’s amazing, Sarah! Thanks for your great feedback. 🙂
I´ve made many of your recipes and they never fail to impress me and my family… this was just another GREAT recipe. Best vegan sausages, even tastier than store-bought.
I made them with almonds and bbq sauce instead of tomato paste. It was a hit!
You are definitely part of the vegan starter-pack haha. Thanks a lot for the recipes!!!!! love from El Salvador <3
Thanks so much for your lovely comment, Ximena! I am so glad you like my recipes. 🙂
Ela
We are allergic to onion and garlic, could I substitute some celery to give moisture to the mix. I have done it with falafels and it worked quite well.
Thank you so much for all your wonderful research in putting these recipes together. I am immensely grateful.
Thanks for your lovely comment! Yes, celery should work fine. 🙂
I formed them into burgers and used canned lentils instead of beans.. Did everything else the way it says in the recipe and OMG the’re fabulous texture & flavour-wise!! This is my go-to “bean” (actually lentil haha) burger recipe from now on, thank you so much!
You are very welcome dear Maja! I am so glad they turned out delicious with lentils. 🙂
Da li stavljaš luk u pljesku?
My family just tried these yesterday and they are a hit! I am wondering if I were to make them into pattys if I would still steam them or if I would cook them in a different way? Thank you for a super great, healthy recipe that my whole family loves and I will use often! I can always count on your recipes being amazing! Peace.
Hi Monica, I am so glad they were a hit! If you make patties, you could just pan-fry them with some oil but the inside of the patties will be quite soft. For a crispier result, you could also bake them afterward for about 15 minutes. I hope this helps. 🙂
Hello Ela, this looks so great!
I’d like to make a vegetarian pie next week and was thinking of making it as a filling. Do you think it would work, cooked in a pie not in water? (I guess so but want your opinion 😉 )
Also, 3 chia eggs means three regular eggs I guess?
Thanks a lot Ela! Keep going with the AMAZING work!
Hello Eva, I am so glad you like my recipes. 🙂
As regards the vegetarian pie, that’s really difficult to answer. It might work fine but I never tried it.
I used the 3 chia eggs just as a binder, not as an egg replacement. But you can most likely use regular eggs.
Hey there thank you for the recipe
Could you sub beans for chickpeas
Hey! Yes, that should be fine. 🙂
Thank you can’t wait to try the recipe out x
My pleasure, I hope you will like it! 🙂
Hi, I’m not sure that 1 1/2 cooked beans is 270g. Which metric should I stick to if I’m not sure if your conversion?
Hi! One 15 oz can drained is 270 g or 1 1/2 cups. Always follow the metric measurements. 🙂
Hey Ela! These look delicious!! I have one question, do you think I could substitute the chia egg with an aquafaba egg? Thank you very much 🙂
Hi Lola, I never tried it, but I think it could work. Please report back if you give it a try. 🙂
Hello again! I tried it and it worked perfectly fine. I really liked them, thank you!!
That’s awesome! Thanks so much for reporting back. 🙂
Hello!
Do you think it’s not unhealthy to cook them on the aluminium? Or the fact we are using paper also it helps? Thank you 😊
That’s why I use the parchment paper! 😊
Great to know that helps! Thank you very much! I made them today and it was delicious! The reason I haven’t posted it’s because I was in a hurry and they’re not so pretty 😂, but I will definitely do it again. Thank you. 💚
I am glad they turned out delicious. Thanks for your feedback, Adriana. 🙂
This was truly amazing! The texture was great and they stayed together so well. Definitely will be making these again! Thank you!
Awesome! I am so glad you liked the recipe. 🙂
Hey Ella!
These look amazing and I’ve actually been struggling to use up our heaps of rice paper from the pantry! Do these compare in taste to tofu sausages you can buy in the supermarket?
Hi Hannah, I think that depends, as there are so many brands out there and they all taste differently. 🙂 You can easily change the taste by adding different herbs of choice though. And if you want them to have a similar texture to tofu-based sausages, you could actually also used soaked textured soy protein instead of beans. I hope this helps. 🙂
Just tried this recipe! They turned out perfect! I used sunflower seeds and cashew instead of walnuts.
Going to cook a lot of them and freeze, so that there is always an opportunity to eat them!
That’s awesome, Polin! I am so happy they turned out perfect. Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
Hi Ela!!
These look amazing, and I’m so ready to give them a try! Is there a way I can omit the walnuts? We have nut allergies in our home. Thank you in advance!!
Hi Tiffany! Sure, it’s actually mentioned in the recipe notes 🙂
These look so yummy and real! 😍 Would love to try one of your hotdogs (without dog 😅)!
Hehe, thank you very much, Bianca. I hope you will give them a try. 😍
I just made these and they’re fabulous! I used cooked pinto beans and sunflower seeds because that’s all I had. I used lots of sage and some thyme to try and get that ‘sausage’ taste. I forgot to chill them first and I didn’t wrap them individually in foil but formed them, rolled in a bit of cornmeal and put them on a rack on top of a pan of boiling water and covered them all with foil. They didn’t stick and held their shape really well. Will fry one up tomorrow, cant wait. I’ve been looking to eat less processed vegan food and this is ace!!!
That’s awesome! I love that you added sage and thyme, sounds very delicious. Thanks so much for your helpful feedback. Happy they turned out great with pinto beans and sunflower seeds. 🙂
Hello! I’m very interested in trying these sausages, however I’m not a fan of a chunky texture. I know the recipe stated to not blend the oats and walnuts into a flour, but are we able to if that’s the texture we prefer? Thank you for all your amazing recipes!
Hi Zoey! Yes, you can do that, no problem. However, you will most likely need to add more flour, otherwise, they might get a bit too soft. 🙂
Hi, I’ve been following for a while now and enjoy your recipes! I want to try this one but I’m not fond of using tin foil paper.
Do you or anyone else looking in the comment section know of an alternative?
I respect the recipe and will try it, but we’re trying to minimalize single use items.
Greetings from Belgium
Hello Gilles, as mentioned in the recipe instructions, I don’t use it as a single-use item. You can use it multiple times. However, I don’t know of an alternative that will reject water as good as tin foil. Maybe someone will have an idea and can comment below. 🙂
Hi Zoey and Ela! I make vegan sausages regularly and got myself a food-grade silicone sausage mold that I put into my steamer. It has a lid and works very nicely.
I’m going to make these tomorrow. They look delicious and I’m so glad there’s no vital wheat gluten. Thank you for the recipe Ela.
That’s awesome, Sabine! Thanks so much for sharing, I will check if I can buy something similar. 🙂
Thanks for your comment Sabine! I had the same dilemma.
Hi! I would be curious wether if I can freeze them?
Hello 🙂 As mentioned in the post, I haven’t tried it yet, but I am pretty sure they will freeze well. I have some sausages left, so will freeze one later and update the post tomorrow. 🙂