I've made seitan steaks, I've made seitan chicken inspired tenders, I've made seitan wing inspired bites, I've made seitan pepperoni, and now it's time to share my recipe for Vegan Italian Seitan Sausages. Clearly, I'm obsessed with seitan recipes. These Italian style sausages have that perfect meaty texture, that classic sausage shape, that burst of Italian seasoning flavor, and they're just really damn good!
It's actually a bit weird how meaty these turn out but because I made them in my own kitchen, I know they are also 100% vegan! There is even an oil-free option for those who prefer it.
The secret to taking these vegan sausages from good to really damn good is to add bits of sun-dried tomato and sautéed onion. You know how traditional sausages have those little fat speckles throughout that help add texture and flavor, well that's exactly what the sun-dried tomatoes and sautéd onions do. Even though they are just bits of veg it provides a very similar texture. So cool!
These sausages are best made the day ahead and chilled in the fridge overnight for the ideal texture. When they are cold they will be quite firm, but when you heat them- grill, fry, etc.- they will soften slightly for the most amazingly perfect texture. Then you can use them anywhere you like!
Where to use vegan sausages:
- Grill the sausages and serve on a bun, hot dog style.
- Fry and serve with potatoes and vegan gravy.
- Cut into thick slices or small chunks and top on soups, salad, or pasta.
- Toss into pasta sauces.
- Slice thinly or crumble to use on pizza.
- Prepare sausages with peppers and onions.
- Anywhere else you want to use these vegan sausages!
How To Make Vegan Italian Sausages:
Heat the olive oil in a medium frying pan or skillet over medium heat and when hot add the onions and garlic. Sauté until the onions turn translucent and begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a large bowl whisk together the vegetable broth, tomato paste, and white miso pasted until smooth. Now add the sun-dried tomatoes, nutritional yeast, dried basil, brown sugar, fennel seeds, dried rosemary, salt, crushed red pepper flakes, liquid smoke, and all of the sautéd onions and garlic along with any oil leftover in the pan, and stir to combine.
Oil-Free Option:
If you prefer to make oil-free vegan Italian sausages simply sauté the onions and garlic in water or broth. Then for the sun-dried tomatoes, use the dry kind that aren't in oil. Chop them up and then soak them in hot water for about 20 minutes to soften the tomato bits. Drain, and proceed with the recipe as normal.
Lastly, add the vital wheat gluten and combine to make a dough. Knead the dough to make sure it's all combined, but once combined, stop kneading. The more you knead the tougher the sausages will get so only do as much as is needed to incorporate the vital wheat gluten.
Cut the dough into 6 equal-sized pieces. Take one of the pieces of dough and place it on a sheet of aluminium foil. Shape the dough into a rough sausage shape, but don't worry about making it look pretty or neat. Some pieces of onion and sun-dried tomato may fall out but just tuck them near the dough and it will all incorporate and shape up nicely as it cooks.
Roll the sausage up loosely in a piece of aluminium foil then twist the ends closed. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough to make 6 sausages.
How To Cook Vegan Italian Sausages:
Add several inches of water to a large pot with a steamer basket and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the sausages to the steamer basket and steam for 40 minutes. After steaming remove the sausages from the steamer and allow to cool completely in the fridge, overnight is best. The logs will have puffed up in the foil and become tight.
Once cooled, remove the foil and they are ready to enjoy as is. When it comes to cooking these Vegan Italian Seitan Sausages, you have some options. You can BBQ, fry, or grill them. Once they are finished cooking you can slice them up and put on a pasta, pizza, or salad. Or enjoy them whole on a bun. In other words: enjoy them any way you like!
Bon appetegan!
Sam.
(click stars to vote)
Vegan Italian Seitan Sausages
Servings: sausages
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Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, (see notes for oil-free version)
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ¾ cup vegetable broth
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- ¼ cup white miso paste
- ¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes, (the kind in oil) finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, (optional for spice)
- ¼ teaspoon liquid smoke
- 2 cups vital wheat gluten
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a medium frying pan or skillet over medium heat and when hot add the onions and garlic. Sauté until the onions turn translucent and begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a large bowl whisk together the vegetable broth, tomato paste, and white miso pasted until smooth. Now add the sun-dried tomatoes, nutritional yeast, dried basil, brown sugar, fennel seeds, dried rosemary, salt, crushed red pepper flakes, liquid smoke, and all of the sautéd onions and garlic along with any oil leftover in the pan, and stir to combine.
- Lastly, add the vital wheat gluten and combine to make a dough. Knead the dough to make sure it’s all combined, but once combined, stop kneading. The more you knead the tougher the sausages will get so only do as much as is needed to incorporate the vital wheat gluten.
- Cut the dough into 6 equal-sized pieces. Take one of the pieces of dough and place it on a sheet of aluminium foil. Shape the dough into a rough sausage shape, but don’t worry about making it look pretty or neat. Some pieces of onion and sun-dried tomato may fall out but just tuck them near the dough and it will all incorporate and shape up nicely as it cooks. Roll the sausage up in a piece of aluminium foil then twist the ends closed. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough to make 6 sausages.
- Add several inches of water to a large pot with a steamer basket and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the sausages to the steamer basket and steam for 40 minutes or until its internal temperature reaches at least 160°F (71°C) when tested with an instant-read thermometer. If the temperature goes higher, that's perfectly fine—you can't really oversteam seitan. The sausages will have puffed up in the foil and become tight. After steaming remove the sausages from the steamer and allow to cool completely in the fridge, overnight is best.
- Once cooled, remove the foil and they are ready to enjoy as is or you can fry, grill, slice, or enjoy them any way you like.* Learn my secret tricks to making perfect seitan in my free masterclass. Click here to learn more and register.
Notes
Nutrition
Meg says
This was great. I did it in the Thermomix. I just use (compostable) baking paper. I’m thinking that fresh herbs might serve to keep them moist? I didn’t have died basil or rosemary so just used Italian herb mix.
Sam Turnbull @ It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken says
Hi Meg, I am not sure how the recipe would change based on the Thermomix, but the sausages are usually very moist so maybe the thermomix dried them out a bit? Either way, glad you enjoyed it!
Brooklyn says
This was AMAZING!!!! These seitan sausages are so yummy.
Jess @ It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken says
Wonderful! We're happy you enjoyed them!
Jim Viola says
I made the Vegan Italian Seitan sausages for a cardo rehab dinner. Made Sausage and peppers. Got rave reviews, even from the meat eaters. Had to make 25 copies of the recipe to hand out at our next meeting.
Katherine Fenstermaker says
I've made this recipe a few times now and they are quite tasty. Even my non vegan daughter gave thumbs up for these.
Amy says
I can't wait to make these! However, I have CKD and was wondering, is there anything I can sub for the miso paste that's much lower in sodium? I'm already planning on leaving out the salt, but the miso is still pretty high in it.
Gary says
I use reduced sodium miso. I use no sodium bouillon powder which i make. I use the no oil lowest sodium sun-dried tomatoes I can find. This makes each sausage about 250 mg of sodium.
Amy says
Thanks, Gary! Only 250mg?! that's amazing! what brand of low sodium miso do you use? And any specific recipe suggestions for the homemade bouillon? thanks again!
Gary says
Wegmans has a white miso that is 320 mg sodium per tbsp.
Google vegan chicken bouillon powder for a recipe and leave the salt out.
Jess @ It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken says
Gary had some great suggestions for you! But you could also omit or reduce the miso to the appropriate amount for your needs.
Maria says
5☆ from a non-vegan!
I LOVE cooking for people that appreciate it. I'm not a vegan but my daughter is. As a seasoned cook I've converted quite a few of my favorites to a vegan version. With that said, here are a few of my adjustments making this for the 1st time -Divided the fennel seed in half and sautéed half with the onion and garlic
-Added 1t. baking soda to cut the "wheaty" flavor
-Added 1T. homemade Italian sausage seasoning with all the other seasoning
-Added 1 can of rinsed/dried chick peas, processed in the food processor. (Could probably use only half the can.) Wisk in with the wet mixture before the wheat gluten. This will be thick.
-Add the wheat gluten and mix gently by hand to combine.
-When rolling it in the foil, make sure to twist the ends securely! A few of mine blew out! Which I cut off after steaming and sautéed.
OMG! I'll definitely make this again! And add it to my homemade pasta sauce!
Miss lizzy says
Agree with 1/2 can white beans or half block of firm tofu added as well as the extra tablespoon of seasoning….Fab recipe
Suzanne says
Maria thanks so much for the tips! Did everything you suggested and they turned out perfect.