These healthy and high-protein homemade Vegan Sausages are the best alternative to the ultra-processed store-bought ones! Packed with real, whole food ingredients and more protein than any other one you can buy. Gluten-free, nut-free.

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👆🏻Watch how to make Vegan Sausages on my YouTube channel, and don’t forget to subscribe! 👆🏻

Ingredients & Inspiration

Before I get to raving about these incredible homemade Vegan Sausages, let me just preface this by saying it is amazing that in this day and age we have access now to ready-made plant-based sausages (Beyond Meat, Field Roast, Light Life, etc) and other meat alternatives. The world is catching up and vegans deserve to have convenience items like this! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

But… the harsh reality is that despite how convenient and delish these processed meats are, they’re probably not the most healthy thing ever (many are high-sodium and contain emulsifiers, protein isolates, oils and other ingredients that are hard to pronounce). So I made it my mission to create an easy-to-make, inexpensive and accessible recipe that anyone can make with common pantry and fridge essentials… and I DID IT!

These Vegan Sausages are truly the tastiest sausage, vegan or non-vegan, that I’ve ever had in my life. Crispy on the outside, chewy and meaty on the inside and absolutely packed with flavour and subtle sweetness. Where have these been all my life?!

The best part is most of the ingredients are probably already in your kitchen right now! Here’s what you need:

Tofu & Apple Crumbles

extra firm tofu
small apple
nutritional yeast
ketchup
balsamic vinegar
onion powder
garlic powder
smoked paprika
dried sage
salt & pepper

Sausage ingredients

unflavoured protein powder (mung bean, pea, sunflower seed)
textured vegetable protein
medium-grit cornmeal
garlic powder
chili flakes
onion powder
chili powder
Italian seasoning
balsamic vinegar
red wine vinegar
soy sauce or tamari
rice paper sheets

How to Make Vegan Sausage

These homemade Vegan Sausages are an easy 3-step dance: Bake or air fry the tofu crumbles, mix up the sausage filling, and roll into a rice paper sausage casing and fry!

Preheat oven to 400°F or air fryer to 375°F.
Crumble the block of tofu into a large mixing bowl, and add the finely chopped apple. Toss with all remaining tofu crumble ingredients until well combined.
Transfer to a lined baking tray or air fryer basket, spread into an even layer, and air fry for 23 minutes, or bake 40 mins. Toss and flip halfway through cooking time.
Back in the mixing bowl, add the remaining sausage ingredients and mix until well incorporated. Fold in the tofu and apple crumbles and let stand for 20 to 30 minutes to allow the mixture to fully absorb and thicken.
Once cooled and rested, roll the mixture into 4 equal sausage shapes. Then fill a plate with water and stir in the soy sauce and balsamic vinegar.
Dip a sheet of rice paper into the water mix, and gently shake off any remaining liquid. Immediately place onto a dry cutting board. Add the sausage into the centre of the rice paper sheet and roll it up, twist the ends and pinch or cut off any excess.
Cook the sausages in a well oiled frying pan over medium heat for 4 to 6 minutes, cooking on all sides, until golden brown and slightly crispy. Alternatively, air fry in a lightly oiled basket (can lightly oil the sausages, too, but you can omit that if you wish) for 10 to 12 minutes.

Life of the Sausage Party

These sausages can be eaten as a main protein in a meal (say, with some pierogies and sauerkraut), sliced and added to pasta dishes, or eaten as hotdogs. The seasonings are truly customizable and can really change up the flavour of the sausages!

If you’re looking for a great neutral flavoured protein powder to use in this recipe, definitely give Complement’s clean-ingredient Unflavoured Protein Powder a go, and you can use my code STEAMYVEGAN at checkout to save 15% off on your entire order on their website while you’re at it!

If you enjoyed this recipe you might also like some other recipes that use sausage like Vegan Scarpariello Pasta or Vegan Paella! My Lentil Loaf is also pretty incredible, too!

Lastly, if you made any of these recipes and decide to share them on Facebook or Instagram, don’t forget to tag me @SteamyVegan and use hashtag #SteamyVegan! I seriously love seeing what you’re cooking up! Plus make sure to check me out on YouTube — I have HUNDREDS of recipe videos to give you limitless plant-based inspiration!

Janelle Carss

Vegan Sausages

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 30

Resting Time 20

Total Time 1 5

Servings: 4 sausages

Course: Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch, Main Course

Calories: 249

Ingredients Method Video Notes

Ingredients

Tofu Crumbles

1 12-oz block extra firm tofu, crumbled
1 small apple, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp dried sage (or 1 tbsp fresh, minced)
1 tsp salt
black pepper to taste

Sausage Ingredients

¼ cup mung bean protein powder (sub any neutral flavoured protein powder, like pea, sunflower seed, pumpkin seed, or an unflavoured one)
¼ cup textured vegetable protein
2 tbsp medium-grit cornmeal
2 tsp Italian seasoning (or ½ tsp each dried basil, oregano, thyme, parsley)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chili flakes
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp chili powder
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
½ to ¾ cup water

Rice Paper Sausage Casing

4 round rice paper sheets
1 plate of water
1 tsp soy sauce or tamari
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 to 3 tbsp neutral oil for frying

Method

Preheat oven to 400F or air fryer to 375F.
Crumble the block of tofu into a large mixing bowl, and add the finely chopped apple. Toss with all remaining tofu crumble ingredients until well combined.
Transfer to a lined baking tray or air fryer basket, spread into an even layer, and air fry for 23 minutes, or bake 40 mins. Toss and flip halfway through cooking time.
Back in the mixing bowl, add the remaining sausage ingredients and mix until well incorporated. Fold in the tofu and apple crumbles, then pour in ½ cup of the water and stir again until absorbed. If the mixture is still quite dry add in the remaining ¼ cup of water. Let stand for 20 to 30 minutes to allow the mixture to fully absorb and thicken into a ground meat-like texture.
Roll the mixture into 4 equal sausage shapes, or large meatballs (at this moment the shape of it doesn't matter). Then fill a plate with water and stir in the soy sauce and balsamic vinegar.
Dip a sheet of rice paper into the water mix, and gently shake off any remaining liquid. Immediately place onto a dry cutting board. Add the sausage portions into the centre of the rice paper sheet, shape into a sausage shape using your hands, and roll it up, twist the ends and pinch or cut off any excess. You can also just tuck the rolled end under the sausage.
Cook the sausages in a well oiled frying pan over medium heat for 4 to 6 minutes, cooking on all sides, until golden brown and slightly crispy. Enjoy hot!
**Air fryer option: If you wish to use less oil, you can simply brush the outsides of the sausage with oil, or use a spray oil, and air fry for 10 to 12 minutes at 400℉. Just make sure you lightly oil the air fryer basket before placing down the sausages to make sure the rice paper casing doesn't stick.
If you wish, you can skip oiling the sausages, but they may not get quite as crispy and golden brown.

Video

Notes

Macros per sausage (makes 4):

Calories: 249
Protein: 26g
Carbs: 20g
Fats: 7g