I like sausages! It’s nice to be able to make your own vegan sausages. You know all the ingredients in them, and you can have vegan sausages any time – no need to go to the store.

The secret to the perfect texture is to steam the sausages. Steaming makes them chewy, just like sausages should be.

Other cooking methods will not work. I have tried boiling (the sausages fall apart and become mush), sautéing or frying (they become tough, dry, and bread-like), and cooking in the oven (they become light, airy, leathery, and bread-like).

After steaming, you can use the sausages right away or refrigerate them for later. My favourite ways to use these vegan sausages are:

• Fry or barbecue until browned on all sides. Serve on their own or on a bun.
• Slice and add to pasta sauce or a stir fry.
• Slice, fry the slices, and eat as a side dish.
• Refrigerate, slice, and eat cold as an appetizer.

Vegan Sausage Ingredients

The base of these sausages is chickpea flour or corn flour, vital wheat gluten, and rehydrated soy mince (optional). The ingredients are:

• 2/3 cup corn flour or chickpea flour
• 2/3 cup vital wheat gluten
• 1/2 cup rehydrated soy mince (use vegetable broth to rehydrate)
• 1 tsp each:
  • Garlic powder
  • Onion powder
  • Smoked paprika
  • Maple syrup
• 2 tsp Onion flakes
• 3 tsp Soy sauce
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1/4 tsp anise seed
• 1/4 tsp fennel seed
• 1/2 tsp each:
  • Oregano
  • Parsley
  • Cumin
• Water (add 1/4 cup at a time until the mixture forms a sticky dough – about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of water in total).

Feel free to customize the spices according to your preferences. You can make the sausages spicy by adding red pepper flakes. The above seasoning mix is a nice general sausage seasoning that works well as a stand-alone breakfast sausage or for a hot dog type sausage served on a bun. These sausages are slightly smoky with a touch of sweet.

Instructions for preparing vegan sausages

Making vegan sausages is quite simple. Begin by mixing all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add the soy mince and wet ingredients to the bowl, and stir, folding the mixture over until everything is fully combined. Add the water bit by bit until the texture is just right.

The sausage dough should stick to itself well and spring back when stretched. It should be moist but firm. If the dough is too wet it will separate easily when pressed with your hand or a spoon. Add more vital wheat gluten 1 tbsp at a time if this happens. There should be no dry spots or stringy-looking dough (which would mean it is too dry), and if the mixture is too dry it will tear quickly when stretched. If the mixture is too dry, add water 1 tbsp at a time.

Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a sausage shape. Make the sausages thinner than the desired final size, because they will expand when steamed.

Place each sausage into the basket of a steamer. Try to avoid having the sausages touch (because they will stick together). You can wrap each sausage in foil for steaming, but this is not necessary. I prefer to steam them unwrapped, and I think this makes the best texture.

Steam for 35 minutes, and the sausages are ready to fry or barbecue and eat immediately, or refrigerate for later.