Contents » Recipe : Tips : Substitutions : Variations : Budget : Inspiration
These vegan sausage rolls are easily the best sausage rolls I’ve ever tasted.
No, they’re not raw, and yes, they are amazing.
And if you’re trying to get your kids to eat a little healthier, these vegan sausage rolls are one heck of an addition to your arsenal of “healthy but so delicious they don’t care” recipes.
I adapted this recipe from a vegetarian sausage roll recipe in my friend’s Thermomix recipe book.
They take a little more time and effort than my preferred “chuck it in the blender” approach, but they’re well worth it.
I just make a whole bunch of them at once, chuck ’em in the freezer, and they’re ready to use at a moment’s notice.
I was also fortunate enough to discover a brand of vegan puff pastry in my local family-owned, health-conscious supermarket.
Because there’s no way I have the patience (or the skill) to even attempt making my own vegan puff pastry. (At least, not yet.)
Way back when I was still eating meat, I tried making regular sausage rolls, and I’d have to say they were something of a disaster: dry, flavourless and they cooked unevenly.
An all-round flop.
In fact, I was so discouraged that I’d given up on ever making a good sausage roll.
Until I created these.
And frankly, I think my vegan sausage roll recipe taste better than any other sausage roll I’ve ever had.
And what’s even cooler, is that they look just like sausage rolls.
By the time the walnut & onion mix is all processed and cooked, you really can’t tell the difference.
OK, if you’re a sausage roll connoisseur, then you might notice that these are not your typical sausage roll.
But maybe that’s a good thing.
Because these are most definitely not just your typical sausage roll.
And I’m thrilled to be able to share them with you.
Enjoy!
How to Make Homemade Vegan Sausage Rolls
Make sure to read the tips below the recipe to get the most out of this amazing vegan sausage rolls recipe.
Vegan Sausage Rolls
Ingredients
Vegan almond feta cheese
Vegan sausage roll mix
- 1/8 cup flaxseed / linseed meal (12g)
- 1/4 cup water (65g)
- 1 large brown onion (200g)
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley (20g)
- 1 cup walnuts (140g)
- 200 g Almond Feta Cheese (from above)
- 4 tsp braggs OR tamari OR soy sauce OR coconut aminos (20ml) *
- 2 cups rolled oats OR 1.5 cups oats and 0.5 cups breadcrumbs (200g) *
- 1 tsp savoury / nutritional yeast flakes
Vegan sausage rolls
- 8 sheets vegan puff pastry *
- 2 tbsp almond milk (40ml)
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds (40ml)
Method
Vegan almond feta cheese
- Soak almonds overnight (optional).
- Blend all ingredients until smooth.
Vegan sausage roll mix
- Mix flax and water in a small bowl and allow to thicken.
- Process onion, parsley and walnuts until chunky.
- Add almond feta cheese (from above), braggs, flax mix, breadcrumbs (if using), oats and yeast and process until smooth.
- Put mix in the fridge for an hour or two to thicken up.
Vegan sausage rolls
- Cut a sheet of thawed puff pastry in half, and spread 3tbsp (60g) of mix along one long edge.
- Roll pastry around mix and seal with milk.
- Cut into four, brush with milk and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
- Cook immediately at 210°C (410°F) for 20 minutes or freeze and cook later at 210°C (410°F) for 25 minutes.
Preparation
- Before: Soak almonds overnight (8 to 16 hours, optional)
- During: 20 mins for mix, 40 mins for rolls, 20 mins for cooking
- After: None OR 12+ hours (to freeze)
- Need: Blender, food processor, oven
Notes
^ If you don't presoak your almonds, use 75ml (1/3 cup) of water instead of 5 tsp * To make these vegan sausage rolls gluten-free, use Braggs or tamari instead of soy sauce, make sure your oats are gluten-free, and make or use a gluten-free pastry.Nutrition Information
Tips for making homemade vegan sausage rolls
Here’s some handy tips that will make it even easier to whip up a batch of these amazing sausage rolls:
- You’ll need a high-speed blender and a tamper to get the almond feta really smooth. However, it will just be mixed up with everything to make the sausage roll mix, so it’s probably not critical if it’s not super smooth. You could also make this recipe in a Thermomix, because that’s where the recipe was adapted from.
- I’m lucky enough to have a neighbour with a massive lemon tree, so I always use fresh lemon juice in my recipes. If you don’t have access to fresh lemons, then you can use bottle lemon juice, but you may need to adjust the amount to suit your taste buds.
- If you want to make this more wholefood, you could experiment with using whole lemon segments. I find that they still impart a great lemony taste, and mean you’re getting the whole lemon and not just the juice. For this amount of lemon juice, I’d use the flesh (not the peel) of half a small lemon.
- If you don’t have any whole garlic cloves handy, you can also use ready-made minced garlic from a jar. It’s not quite as wholefood as using a raw garlic clove, but sometimes it can be a bit more convenient.
- I use pink Himalayan crystal salt in my dishes because it contains lots of trace minerals that are good for you, and apparently it tastes better too. So if you’re going to use salt at all, the pink stuff is the best!
- If you don’t remember (or can’t be bothered) to pre-soak your almonds, it will still work fine. Just use 1/3 cup (75ml) of water instead.
- Once you’ve made the almond feta cheese, you can put it into the fridge while you work on the rest of the recipe, and this will help it to thicken up a bit, which will make a stiffer sausage roll filling. Just make sure you remember to actually put it into the mix (I don’t know what you’re talking about!) before you start making your sausage rolls.
- Leftover almond feta is a delicious spread or dip with veggies or flax crackers. In fact, it’s great in and on all kinds of things. Check out my raw vegan almond feta recipe post for more ideas.
- You can buy flax meal at supermarkets, but unless it’s been refrigerated I wouldn’t recommend it as the sensitive omega 3 fats in the flax geing breaking down within minutes of the seeds being ground.
- You can make your own flax meal by grinding whole flax seeds in a coffee or spice grinder. I’ve also done it successfully in the dry jug of my Vitamix blender, and in my mini Tribest personal blender. Just make sure you use enough flax seeds to get a good grind happening, otherwise they just fly around everywhere and don’t actually break up. And don’t put too much in or you’ll get a big lump of powder mixed in with whole flax seeds that won’t grind at all. Generally I find that 1/4 cup is not quite enough and 1 cup is too much, so 1/2 cup of flax seeds might be about right, depending on your kitchen gadget of choice.
- The flax and water mix will take about 20 minutes to fully thicken up, and it should be like thick egg whites in consistency (but brown in colour). Keep mixing it occasionally as you work on preparing the rest of the ingredients to make sure it’s well mixed and evenly thick.
- You just need to peel and roughly chop the brown onion before putting it in the food processor (i.e. into quarters or eigths). The food processor will take care of the rest, but if you leave them whole, it will be hard to get them chopped evenly.
- You can use just the leaves from the parsley if you like, but it also works if you throw it all in, stalks and all. I’ve done it both ways, and it always works. Using the stalks is especially useful if you’re running a bit low on parsley, because you still get the parsley flavour, and by the time it’s all processed up, no-one will ever know! And you end up wasting less of your ingredients, which is always good.
- I normally use organic raw walnuts to make my sausage rolls, but any walnuts will be fine.
- Make sure you sort through your walnuts before using them, to make sure there are no pieces of shell left. I’ve had this happen a couple of times, and chewed on something extremely hard, so now I pick through every single walnut before putting it in. It’s time consuming, but the last thing I want is for someone to break their tooth on a piece of walnut shell.
- If you’re concerned about phytic acid, you could activate your walnuts before using them, by soaking them overnight (8-16 hours) and then drying them in a dehydrator for 12-24 hours. This will increase the availability of the nutrients in the walnuts, and may also slightly decrease their bitter taste. You could also probably get away with soaking them and then using them wet in the recipe, although I’d suggest increasing the amount of rolled oats, to helps absorb the extra water.
- The oats in this recipe are traditional rolled oats, the kind you’d use to make porridge on the stove, and would take 5-10 minutes to cook and thicken up, and not quick oats. As much as possible I try to use ingredients as close to their original unmodified state as possible.
- The rolled oats give the sausage rolls a great texture, add bulk and help the mixture to thicken up, especially if you can leave the mix in the fridge for an hour or two. Having a slightly stiffer texture for the sausage roll filling makes it easier to roll up the sausage rolls.
- If you’re making your own breadcrumbs, process them in your food processor first, before you add your onion and walnuts and parsley, to save you having to empty your processor in between steps.
- The yeast flakes help to give these vegan sausage rolls a slightly cheesy, definitely savoury taste, so do your best to find some and use them in this recipe.
- If you want to give your sausage roll mix a slightly pink tine, like one of my readers did, just add a few slices of (non-vinegared) beetroot to the food processor with the other ingredients before processing everything.
- You don’t need to over-process your sausage roll mix. If you like it chunky, stop as soon as everything is well combined. But if your kids like texture-free food (like mine), then it won’t hurt to process it until it’s super smooth.
- Leaving the mix in the fridge for a couple of hours makes it easier to shape your rolls, but if you’re in a hurry, you can just go straight from processing to rolling. Your sausage roll mix – and the resultant sausage rolls – will just be a little softer and squishier when handling.
- You may need to roll your pastry loosely to avoid exploding sausage rolls, depending on how your pastry behaves when cooked. I’ve had sausage rolls where the filling spewed out of the ends of the rolls because I didn’t leave enough space for it to expand as the puff pastry puffed into the filling.
- You don’t have to cut your rolls into 4. You can make them as short or as long as you like. Chop them into 5 and make 25% more rolls ;) My kids like calling them “short” and “long” sausage rolls, and I prefer the shorter ones because psychologically it seems like you’re eating more of them!
- If you have leftover mix, you can use it to make ‘sausage shapes’. Just shape it using (simple shaped) cookie cutter as a guide and cook it on a tray alongside the regular sausage rolls. I do find that the flavour of the mix is quite strong if you have too much at once, especially without the pastry to balance out the flavour. I’d suggest eating your vegan “sausages” with rice or potatoes or some other carb to avoid them overpowering the whole meal.
- As I mentioned above, I was lucky enough to come across vegan puff pastry at my local supermarket, that uses vegan margarine and wheat flour. So it’s not gluten free or especially healthy, being so heavily processed. I think I’m going to experiment with healthier pastry recipes at some point.
- You don’t have to make this into “rolls” if you don’t want to. I’m sure it’d be just as great as a filling in other pastry shapes, so feel free to get creative, especially if you’re making them for a party or to impress someone special ;)
- If you have leftover pastry, you can slice it into strips, brush them with milk and sprinkle them with garlic, and then twist them around each other in pairs. Cook at 210°C for 10 mins for ‘garlic twists’.
- These sausage rolls can be cooked straight from fresh or frozen. When I make this, I generally make a double-batch and then freeze them all, because it’s more efficient. But my kids prefer to freeze the mix, and then thaw a small amount to make a small batch more often, and then cook some and freeze the rest. So the mix is pretty forgiving.
- I’ve never tried cooking them and freezing them, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. My kids take them for school lunches by cooking them the night before, refrigerating them overnight and then taking them cold to school. They really are awesome sausage rolls!
Substitutes for sausage roll recipe ingredients
If you find yourself out of a key ingredient for these sausage rolls, here’s some ideas on what you could use instead:
- Olive Oil: I use cold-pressed organic olive oil in my recipes, but you could substitute this with melted coconut oil, or even flax seed oil or walnut oil if you prefer. Just make sure to choose an oil whose flavour works well with the other ingredients.
- Almonds: You could probably make the nut feta recipe with almost any nut, and it would still turn out well. Cashews, macadamias or brazil nuts would be the best to start with, because they have the most neutral flavour. Sunflower seeds, or maybe even hemp seeds would be worth trying too.
- Whole Almonds: You can also substitute almond pulp instead of whole almonds in the almond feta, to save having to waste the leftovers from making your own almond milk. If you only have almond butter on hand, this can make a suitable substitute for the whole almonds.
- Nuts & Seeds: If you want stay away from nuts and seeds in the almond feta, and you’re happy using soy, you could adapt the recipe to make a “tofu feta” cheese instead.
- Walnuts: You could probably make this recipe with pecans instead of walnuts if you want, and I suspect that soaked sunflower seeds would also work quote well, as would almonds, chestnuts or even pine nuts. Something for me to experiment with!
- Flax: If you don’t have any flax seeds handy, you could try substituting them with chia seeds. Ground chia seeds in water create a similar texture to flax meal in water, and will help to bind the sausage roll mixture together. Try using about 2 tbsp chia to 1/4 cup water to create a similarly egg-like consistency.
- Salt: The salt is not absolutely necessary in this recipe, so if you’re trying to eat a low-sodium diet, you can reduce it, swap it for potassium salt or leave it out altogether.
- Braggs / Soy Sauce: The braggs / soy sauce / aminos are mainly for the salty and savoury taste, so if you want to make this recipe soy free, you could probably use 1-2 tsp of salt instead, or perhaps some coconut aminos. You could also use yeast extract, the soak water from sundried tomatoes with a pinch of salt, a stock cube dissolved in water, the brine from a jar of olives, or even some balsamic vinegar with added salt. These all give a salty, umami flavour, in their own unique ways.
- Soy & Salt: If you want to make this recipe both soy-free and salt-free, I suggest leaving out the salt in the feta cheese and the Braggs aminos, and increasing the nutritional yeast flakes from 1 tsp to 4 to 6 tsp, according to taste. Nutritional yeast adds a savoury, cheesy taste that should balance the absence of the other salty ingredients.
- Gluten: If you want to make this vegan sausage roll recipe gluten-free, you’ll need to make sure you use gluten-free rolled oats, and find or make a gluten-free puff pastry.
- Breadcrumbs: The breadcrumbs are totally optional in this recipe, and we stopped using them a long time ago, and have just been using all rolled oats, which reduces the amount of gluten in the sausage roll mix, especially if you can get your hands on gluten-free rolled oats.
- Oats: The oats in this recipe do two main things – add bulk and absorb moisture – so if you don’t want to use the oats, you’ll need to find substitutes that do these two things, like psyllium husk, ground flax, chia seeds, rice bran, quinoa flakes, ground buckwheat , tapicoa or gluten-free breadcrumbs.
- Whole Oats: If you don’t have whole rolled oats on hand, you might be able to substitute them with oat flour. I would use less oat flour than rolled oats, as it’s likely to be more effective at absorbing water. Start with 1 cup or less and just start adding more until the consistency is about right (nice and firm).
- Pastry: Feel free to use any pastry that you prefer with this recipe. The key is to make this recipe with what you can, and as healthy as you can manage, and that will be light years better than the alternative supermarket-bought variety of sausage rolls.
- Almond Milk: The almond milk is used to help the pastry stick to itself more firmly. If you don’t have any handy, you can use any dairy-free milk, or even water.
- Seasme Seeds: The sesame seeds are there to help garnish the vegan sausage rolls and make them look more like the original version. But you can top them off with whatever you like (see below for some ideas).
Vegan sausage roll variations
My kids have had a lot of fun experimenting with variations on these vegan sausage rolls, so hopefully they’ll inspire you to come up with your own creations:
- Cheesy sausage rolls: Add a slice of vegan cheese on top of the sausage roll mix, before rolling it in the puff pastry. Mmmmm, melted cheese.
- Cheese & Vegemite sausage rolls: Before adding your sausage roll mix, spread a thin layer of Vegemite (or equivalent) over the pasty and sprinkle with grated vegan cheese for a classically Australian-tasting vegan sausage roll.
- Herby sausage rolls: Sprinkle your favourite dried herbs on top of the sausage rolls, and create an amazing taste sensation. My kids often used mixed herbs or Italian herbs on top of their sausage rolls. You could also add these to the mix itself for a really herby vegan sausage roll.
- Poppy seed sausage rolls: This one is pretty self-explanatory. Instead of the sesame seeds, use poppy seeds to garnish your sausage rolls.
- Pastry-free sausage rolls: We’ve turned this sausage roll mix into pseudo-burgers, and baked or fried them. We used a cookie cutter to make interesting shapes, or just shaped them into rounds, and then cooked them. Be warned though, the flavour of the mix can be a bit strong just on its own.
- Super long and super short sausage rolls: My kids loving making tiny sausage rolls and especially super-long sausage rolls, so experiment with the length. Seems like a simple enough change, but it can add variety and fun to otherwise ordinary vegan sausage rolls.
- Smoky sausage rolls: You could add some smoked paprika to the sausage roll mix for a slightly spicer, smoky experience.
- Spicy sausage rolls: Try adding some chili powder or even some chili sauce to the mix before making your sausage rolls and blow people away!
- Nut-free sausage rolls: Swap the walnuts for pecans, sunflower seeds or even hemp seeds to make a nut-free version.
- Sweet-potato sausage rolls: Swap the oats for mashed oven-roasted sweet potato and double the flax meal to help bind the mix more firmly. I haven’t tried this myself, but it sounds amazing.
- Curried sausage rolls. Try adding some of your favourite curry powder to the mix to add an “Indian spice” style to your vegan sausage rolls.
- Apple sausage rolls: If you find the standard taste of sausage rolls to strong and savoury, try adding some apple to the food processor with the onions, walnuts and parsley to add a sweet, lighter flavour to your sausage rolls. I haven’t done this one yet, but it sounds like fun.
- Sun-dried tomato sausage rolls: Add in some chopped sun-dried tomatoes to the sausage roll mix. Make sure you use oil-soaked ones, or soak your dried ones in water for a few hours before using.
- Vegetable sausage rolls: Increase the veggie count by adding your favourite vegetable to the sausage roll mix. You could try corn kernels, zucchini, mushrooms, leeks or even beetroot! Just adjust the water balance, especially with the wetter veggies, to make sure your mix doesn’t get too soft to handle.
Have fun experimenting!
Budget for my vegan sausage rolls
Here’s roughly how much my sausage rolls cost me to make:
| Ingredient | Amount | Price | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Almond Feta | |||
| Almonds | 100g | $30 / kg | $3.00 |
| Lemon juice | 40g (2 tbsp) | $10 / kg | $0.80 |
| Olive oil | 25ml | $28 / L | $0.70 |
| Garlic cloves | 2 small (6g) | $35 / kg | $0.21 |
| Salt | 1.25 g (5/8 tsp) | $10 / kg | $0.01 |
| Water | 25ml | 0.4c / L | $0.00 |
| Vegan Sausage Roll Mix | |||
| Flax meal | 12g (18/ cup) | $15 / kg | $0.18 |
| Water | 65g | 0.4c / L | $0.03 |
| Onion | 200g (1 large) | $7.90 / kg | $1.58 |
| Parsley | 20g (2 tbsp) | $3.90 / 150g bunch | $0.52 |
| Walnuts | 140g (1 cup) | $40 / kg | $4.32 |
| Almond Feta (from above) | - | - | - |
| Braggs aminos | 20ml (4 tsp) | $19.90 / 946 ml | $0.42 |
| Rolled oats | 200g (2 cups) | $8 / kg | $1.60 |
| Nutritional yeast | 3g (1 tsp) | $40 / kg | $0.12 |
| Vegan Sausage Rolls | |||
| Puff pastry | 8 sheets @ 158g | $4 / 6 sheets | $5.33 |
| Almond milk | 40ml (2 tbsp) | $6.70 / L | $0.27 |
| Sesame seeds | 30g (2 tbsp) | $6.50 / 200g | $0.98 |
| TOTAL | 2.19kg | $11.90 / kg | $26.07 |
- All prices are in Australian dollars
- Your costs may vary quite a bit depending on whether you buy in small or large quantities, as conventional or organic, which supplier, and the time of year.
Reducing the cost of this recipe
- The ingredients that contribute the most to the cost of this recipe are the walnuts, the puff pastry and the almonds. You can reduce the cost of your walnuts and almonds by buying in bulk, buying cheaper forms (e.g. pieces), using pesticide-free or conventional nuts or by using something cheaper per kilo, like sunflower seeds. To reduce the cost of the puff pastry, your best bet is top shop around for a vegan puff pastry in your local stores, and then buy it in bulk.
- The onion and rolled oats contribute some of the base costs as well, so try to buy in bulk.
- If you’re lucky enough to have a lemon tree (or your neighbour does) then your lemon juice won’t cost you a cent.
- Parsley is one of the easiest herbs to grow, and self-sows like crazy, so find a variety that suits your local conditions, and you’ll never need to pay for it again!
- You can swap the Braggs aminos for regular salt, which will save a little more in costs, and the same for the nutritional yeast.
- You can use any vegetable oil you like, or even leave it out of the feta entirely, which could shave a few more cents off the cost of this recipe.
- You can just use water instead of almond milk for sealing up and “glazing” your sausage rolls.
FAQs about vegan sausage rolls
- Are the breadcrumbs dry or fresh?
- Do I need to remove the almond skins?
- What gluten-free pastry options can I use?
- Can these sausage rolls be frozen?
- Can I freeze these sausage rolls after cooking?
- What dips or sauces go well with vegan sausage rolls?
- Is a vegan sausage roll healthier?
- What are vegan sausage rolls made of?
- What do vegan sausage rolls taste like?
If you decide to use the optional breadcrumbs in this recipe, it doesn’t matter too much whether they are dry or fresh.
Generally, when I use breadcrumbs in my recipes, I take the crusts of many loaves of bread that no-one has eaten and that I’ve stored in the freezer for months. I process the crusts in my food processor into a fine crumb and then use these breadcrumbs in my recipe.
So my homemade breadcrumbs are neither fully dry nor fresh – they’ve been sitting around for a while in the freezer, so they’re quite dried out, but they also still have moisture in them, so they’re not fully dry either.
This means that it’s not super critical whether your breadcrumbs are dry or fresh. It may just mean that you need to adjust the water in your sausage roll mix to suit the moisture content of your breadcrumbs.
If you’re using purchased breadcrumbs, then they are usually very dry, so you’ll want to add a little extra moisture – perhaps in your flax mix – to ensure that the sausage roll mix doesn’t get too dry.
Alternatively, if you want to use fresh bread, then it will have more moisture in it, but that shouldn’t affect your mix too much, and you’ll probably find that you don’t need to reduce your additional water input much, if at all.
If you’re making your own homemade breadcrumbs, the best bread to make these with is generally bread that’s a few days old and has been left out on the bench to dry out and harden up a little.
If you only have fresh bread, then you can dry it out first by slicing it and toasting it, before allowing it to cool. Then you can process it as normal to make fantastic, fresh, homemade breadcrumbs,
Of course, the breadcrumbs in this recipe are totally optional, and these days I just replace them entirely with rolled oats.
Do I need to remove the almond skins?
No, when you’re making the almond feta for this recipe, it’s not necessary that you remove the skins from the almonds.
The almonds are blended up into a paste with water, salt, olive oil and garlic to make a vegan feta substitute, so the skins basically disappear into the mix, and give the almond feta a nice texture.
However if you would prefer to remove the skins from your almonds, then the almond feta will still turn out just fine.
To remove your skins, you’ll need to blanch your almonds in boiling water for about a minute, drain them and rinse them with cool water, and blot them dry. You should be able to remove the almond skins by gently squeezing each almond between your thumb and forefinger, leaving you with the white almond flesh, minus the brown skin.
Peeling your almonds will give you a much whiter almond feta cheese, but does also involve heating your almonds in boiling water, making them more processed and less raw. It may also remove some of the enzymes in the almond skins that can reduce nutrient absorption, but this can also be addressed by pre-soaking your almonds in water for several hours before using them.
But of course, whether you choose to remove your almond skins or not, you’ll find that the almond feta is completely mixed into the sausage roll mix, so that you can’t see how white or brown it is either way, so visually there’s no difference.
Some of my readers have chosen to keep the feta separate, and add it alongside the remaining mixed ingredients, in which case, the appearance of the almond feta with or without skin might become more important.
I leave it up to you!
What gluten-free pastry options can I use?
If you’re looking for some gluten-free pastry ideas for these sausage rolls, here’s some different options for you to consider.
Firstly, you can try making your own gluten-free puff pastry. This generally involves finding the right flour blend that will hold together as a pastry, and using something like coconut oil or vegan margarine in place of the usual butter.
And then the usual process of rolling and folding the pastry over itself in order to create that layered pastry effect.
Here’s some recipes – that are vegan, gluten-free or both – to get you started:
- How To Make Vegan Puff Pastry @ Vegan Baking (not gluten free)
- Gluten and Dairy free Puff Pastry (Vegan,sugar free)
- Step-by-Step Gluten Free Puff Pastry @ Bob’s Red Mill (uses butter, but you should be able to substitute a vegan butter)
You can also buy vegan puff pastry from some health food shops, so it’s definitely worth taking a look at your local store to see what they have to offer. It’s certainly a lot less effort than making your own!
We’ve found that some of these pastry products can be less than fabulous, so be sure to test them out with a small batch of sausage rolls to see if you like it before using it for your entire batch of sausage roll mix.
If you’re not set on the idea of having to use puff-pastry, then there are lots of gluten-free and vegan pastry recipes out there that are more like a shortcrust pastry, often used as a pie crust.
One of my readers used a vegan, gluten-free and paleo pastry made from sunflower seeds, almonds, tapioca starch and psyllium husks, to make these sausage rolls, and they turned out really well.
Many of these recipes use almond flour or gluten-free flour, and often suggest using a pre-made vegan butter. Just try to choose a recipe that uses ingredients that are a bit healthier (ie less processed), to maximise the nutrients you’re getting from it.
Here’s some vegan and gluten-free pie crust recipes to get you started:
- Healthy Vegan Pie Crust (Gluten-free, Oil-free) @ My Quiet Kitchen
- Gluten Free, Vegan Shortcrust Pastry @ FriFran
- Easy Healthy Pie Crust (Vegan/Gluten Free/Oil Free) @ Nora Cooks
You may also be able to find vegan gluten-free shortcrust pastry at your local health food store, so it’s worth a look if you don’t want to make your own.
And finally, one of my readers used filo pastry for her sausage rolls, instead of puff pastry, so this is another option for you.
You can make your own:
- Gluten Free Phyllo Dough (Fillo) and Spanakopita @ Gluten Free on a Shoestring
- Gluten Free Vegan Filo Pastry @ Vegans Have Superpowers
or see if you can buy a ready-made vegan gluten-free version.
Don’t forget that the pastry on these sausage rolls is also optional, and the mix works quite well made into sausages or burgers and cooked that way instead, so you should be able to find a way to enjoy this recipe regardless.
Can these sausage rolls be frozen?
Absolutely, yes! In fact that’s exactly what I do when I make a batch.
There are actually three different points where you might want to freeze this recipe:
- The sausage roll mix
- The uncooked sausage rolls
- The cooked sausage rolls
I prefer to freeze mine as finished, uncooked sausage rolls.
I’m all for being efficient in the kitchen, so I make a double batch of sausage roll mixture (which barely fits in my food processor), and then make all of the mix up into sausage rolls (about 120 to 140 of them).
I put them into big square, flat plastic food storage containers, that I can fit about 20 rolls into, and then chuck them straight into the freezer.
When my kids want to make themselves some sausage rolls, they just grab some out of the freezer, and put them straight onto an oven tray and into the oven, and they turn out beautifully.
On the other hand, my kids prefer to make a batch of mix, and then freeze the filling, so they can make a small batch more often.
The first batch will use fresh mix, and then they’ll put them in the freezer like I do, but the subsequent batches require thawing the mix overnight in the fridge. They then make up the sausage rolls as per normal, and put them back in the freezer.
Yes, this means the mix has been frozen twice and they still turn out perfectly!
Can I freeze these sausage rolls after cooking?
Your final option is to cook the sausage rolls and then freeze them, ready to be thawed (and possibly reheated) for a quick meal another day.
This is the only option I haven’t actually tried myself, but my readers have certainly experimented with it, and it seems to have worked out OK.
But, what my kids often do that’s close to this, is to cook some sausage rolls the night before, and then put them in a container in the fridge, and then take them cold for school lunches, which also works really well, so there’s a good chance that freezing them post-cooking would also be fine.
So basically, yes, you can freeze these sausage rolls, and it works well!
What dips or sauces go well with vegan sausage rolls?
These vegan sausage rolls taste great on their own, and our favourite condiment to have with them is your classic tomato sauce / ketchup.
And because these vegan sausage rolls taste so much like the original meat-filled version of them, you can basically pair them with anything that you’d normally have with sausage rolls.
If you’re looking for some more creative ideas for dips and sauces to pair with your batch of delicious vegan sausage rolls, here’s a list to get you inspired.
- Sweet chili sauce – Try making your own healthier version with fresh chilies, vinegar, coconut sugar and garlic
- Sweet mustard sauce – These often use honey, but you can substitute any liquid sweetener to make it vegan
- Spicy mayonnaise
- Tomato salsa
- Apple sauce
- Beetroot chutney
- Barbecue sauce
The sky really is the limit when it comes to what to pair with your sausage rolls.
Just try to choose a healthy vegan product or ingredient to maximise nutrition and minimise processed foods.
Is a vegan sausage roll healthier?
A vegan sausage roll is not automatically healthier than a meat-based alternative, because the healthiness of dishes comes from the ingredients used to make them.
A plant-based sausage roll may generally be healthier than an animal-based one, because of the absence of inflammatory animal products, but it’s not possible to make a blanket statement about all vegan sausage rolls.
My recipe for vegan sausage rolls is definitely healthier than a regular meat-based sausage roll, because it is:
- Homemade
- Plant-based
- Contains lots of wholefood ingredients
At the same time, my recipe is not the healthiest possible recipe, because it does make use of store-bought puff pastry, which is more processed than I would normally like.
Equally, if you’re looking at a vegan sausage roll recipe that uses lots of highly processed, refined ingredients, like white flour and margarine, then it may not be especially healthy.
If you’re interested in store-bought vegan sausage rolls, then you really need to read the ingredient panel and understand what ingredients they use, and whether you’re happy to eat those ingredients.
So, take a look at the ingredients in your sausage rolls, and ask yourself:
- How plant-based are they?
- How unprocessed are they?
- How few additives do they have?
and the better the answer for each of those questions, the healthier they will generally be.
What are vegan sausage rolls made of?
Vegan sausage rolls can be made from lots of different ingredients, but of course they’re always plant-based.
They might contain things like nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds, cashews), seeds (flaxseeds, sesame seeds), grains (oats, breadcrumbs), vegetables (onions, garlic, carrots, mushrooms, celery), legumes (lentils, tofu), herbs & spices (pepper, parsley, mustard, sage, thyme, basil).
Some vegan sausage rolls, like Greggs, use a Quorn-based filling which is a new mycoprotein-based protein. This is a protein derived from fungi, which is not technically a plant or an animal, and may be suitable for your body’s needs.
We have tried Quorn-based products and found them to be enjoyable and very “meat like” in flavour and texture, but also create a mild inflammatory response in our bodies, so we’re using a “wait and see” approach with these foods.
My vegan sausage roll recipe uses onions and walnuts, along with almond feta cheese and rolled oats, to create a hearty, filling and delicious sausage roll substitute.
What do vegan sausage rolls taste like?
Vegan sausage rolls are generally made to taste very similar to their meat-based counterparts. They typically have a strong savoury, meaty flavour, with a good soft but chewy texture.
In fact, when I came up with my sausage roll recipe, I thought they tasted exactly the same as the original thing, only slightly better!
And many of my readers have said that their meat-eating friends can’t tell that my sausage rolls are meat-free, and just love them, which is so awesome to hear.
So if you’re looking to help your meat-eating friends enjoy more plant-based foods, then my sausage roll recipe is a brilliant place to start.
We’ve also tried a number of store-bought vegan sausage rolls, like Linda McCartney’s and Quorn’s, and they all have a very similar meaty, savoury flavour and texture.
Vegan sausage roll resources
I’ve put together some resources to help you make the most of my sausage roll recipe.
Here’s a great article on the nutritional benefits of walnuts:
- 13 Proven Health Benefits of Walnuts @ Healthline
Read more about Borg’s vegan puff pastry:
- Puff Pastry @ Borg’s
Learn about the best ways to store flax seeds and flax meal:
- Flax Meal @ Flax Council of Canada
For tips on growing and harvesting parsley:
- Planting, growing & harvesting parsley @ The Old Farmer’s Almanac
- How to Grow and Harvest Parsley @ Happy DIY Home
Here’s a handy trick to help separate walnuts from shell pieces:
If you debating whether to pre-soak your nuts, here’s some articles to check out
- Do I Really Have to Soak Almonds? Pros and Cons @ Tatyana Deniz
And for making your own vegan and gluten-free pastry, here’s some recipes to get you started:
- How To Make Vegan Puff Pastry @ Vegan Baking
- Gluten and Dairy free Puff Pastry (Vegan,sugar free)
- Step-by-Step Gluten Free Puff Pastry @ Bob’s Red Mill (uses butter, but you should be able to substitute a vegan butter)
My inspiration for making this easy vegan sausage rolls
A friend of mine bought a Thermomix a while back and shared a great recipe with me from the Thermomix cookbook for vegetarian sausage rolls, which looked amazing, but still contained dairy products.
So I got my thinking cap on, and adapted the recipe to be fully vegan, and as wholefood as I could manage.
(I think there’s some more I can do though. Time to experiment!)
I was also pretty excited when I discovered vegan puff pastry at my local supermarket, and even though it’s a little more processed that I’d normally like, it’s a compromise I’m willing to make for these amazing vegan sausage rolls that everyone loves, especially my kids.
And that typifies my approach to plant-based healthy eating:
Get as close as you can, but don’t stress about the parts that are too hard right now.
Just keep taking steps in the right direction every day and you’ll get there before you know it!
Have an awesome day!
120 comments
Phil Hubbard
I followed the recipe exactly (I soaked the almonds, used oats + bread crumbs and soy sauce). The results were amazing!! Next time (which will be soon), I may experiment by adding some additional spices e.g. Mustard powder, fennel seed, etc.).
Thanks so much for this recipe.
Nikki , Eating Vibrantly
Hi Phil,
I’m so glad to hear that you loved the results. They’re definitely a family favourite in our house.
I like the idea of mixing it up with different spices too!
Elizabeth Conlan
Hi
for the Fett’s cheese mix do you use 100gr of Almonds or is it 100grms of water and do you empty the water out or use that water
Nikki Stokes, Eating Vibrantly
Hi Elizabeth,
I use 100g of almonds, optionally soaked overnight in as much water as needed to cover them.
I then discard the soaking water and add them to the blender with the rest of the ingredients for the feta, which includes 5 teaspoons of fresh water.
it’s best not to reuse the soaking water, because it contains some of the phytates and enzyme inhibitors that you’re trying to remove by soaking the almonds.
Elizabeth Conlan
Can they be cooked in the air fryer
Nikki Stokes, Eating Vibrantly
Hi Elizabeth,
That’s a very good question! I don’t know because I don’t own an air fryer and so I’ve never tried it.
But if you can cook things in the air fryer that you would normally bake in the oven, I don’t see why not.
Here’s a useful guide on adapting oven baked recipes for the air fryer: https://bakestarters.com/blogs/education/guide-to-baking-with-airfryer
If you do try it, I’d love to know how it goes.
Doffy
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Jodie Grant
I have never felt compelled to rate a recipe regardless of how delicious it was in my two years of eating plant based… these sausage rolls blew my socks off…
Nikki Stokes, Eating Vibrantly
Hi Jodie,
I’m so glad to hear it! Hope you can find your socks again…
Danny Milbrook
So. I am not a vegan or a veggy. Probably make a lion look like a veggy.
Most veggy foods I’ve tried are tastless or just boring. But, do have vegan friends and one of them was throwing a party. Thought about taking a couple of good steaks for myself, but decided not out of respect.
Decided to take some finger-food and just alcohol to numb the pain of having no decent meat-based foods. Only so much mushroom flavoured ‘fake meat’ a tongue can taste :-)
Came across this recipe and followed it, sceptically, exactly. Talk about a lot of work!!! That is not a criticism as vegan/veggie CAN taste good; it does just take more work/skill than meat-based.
Well. How good are these!!!! I ended up eating about a quarter of them there and then. I have never seen carnivours devour veggie (let along vegan!!) food with such enthusiam. EVERY person loved them. Including the kid; those with terrible KFC McDiets as well the better fed ones…
Full marks guys, this is great!
Nikki Stokes, Eating Vibrantly
Hi Danny,
I’m so glad to hear that you loved these. Thanks so much for sharing, and I’m glad that your veggie and carnivorous friends loved them too!
Alysha
First time trying vegan sausage rolls, and these are incredible!!
Even my non-vegan parents loved them,
will definitely make again
Nikki Stokes, Eating Vibrantly
Hi Alysha,
I’m so thrilled to hear it. Enjoy!
Stacey
Hi Nikki, your sausage rolls were served as the starter for our progressive dinner. We served them with spicy tomato chutney, and sweet chili. Everyone loved them and were so surprised l hadn’t used meat, or mock meat in them, and that pastry is so good. A couple of my meat eating friends even took the recipe home. Thanks again.
Nikki Stokes
Woo hoo! Thanks for letting me know, Stacey.
Stacey
Hi Nikki, lm wondering if these could be baked and then frozen for my daughters work lunches. She doesn’t have time to cook them at work. Thanks.
Nikki Stokes
Hi Stacey,
To be honest, I’ve never tried baking them and then freezing them, but it’s definitely worth a try.
My kids tend to cook them from frozen the night before, then put them in the fridge overnight and take them for lunch the next day and that seems to work.
But if you do try cooking and then freezing, I’d love to know how they go. They’re pretty robust as things go, so I expect they’ll be fine.
Stacey
Hi, I’ve made these a few times now and everyone loves them. I’m making them as a starter for a progressive dinner and wonder if you could suggest a dip / sauce l could serve with them. Thanks Stacey
Nikki Stokes
Hi Stacey,
In my house, people eat these with tomato sauce / ketchup, but if you’re looking for something fancier, how about a sweet mustard sauce, a spicy mayonnaise sauce or even a sweet chili sauce?
Stacey
Yes we usually have them with tomato sauce. Thanks for the suggestions. Maybe I’ll make a few as all the ones you have suggested sound great. Thanks Nikki
Nikki Stokes
You’re very welcome. I’d love to know what you end up doing and how they are received!
Gill Barker
Hi Nikki. I’m doing a charity drop-in event for a dog charity soon and aim to serve some of these alongside some other vegan treats. Can you tell me about freezing please as I’d like to make them in advance. Do you freeze them prior to cooking? And if so how then do you cook (what temp, how long etc?)? And if you freeze them after cooking do you just defrost or do you heat up in the oven? And at what temp/how long? Many thanks, can’t wait to try them.
Nikki Stokes
Hi Gill,
When I make these, I put them in big flat containers, one high (ie not stacked), with a small gap between them, so they don’t stick together. I get them to the point of being rolled and sliced, into small sausage rolls, ready to be cooked.
I put them straight into the freezer in this form and let them freeze overnight or longer. I store them frozen for up to 6 months (although they never last that long).
When I want to eat some, I put them straight onto an oven tray, and cook them at 210°C (410°F) for 25 minutes, or until they start turning golden brown. We turn them halfway to help them cook evenly (because we have a cheap gas oven).
I haven’t tried freezing them after I cook them, so I can’t say what the best way would be. You might have to experiment with either defrosting them in the fridge first and them warming them in the oven, or putting them back into the oven from frozen, and see which gives you the best result.
Let me know how you go, and all the best with your charity event!
Gill Barker
Thank you so much for your really comprehensive reply Nikki, I can’t wait to make them. And freezing them beforehand will make life so much easier. :)
Nikki Stokes
You’re most welcome!
Fiona
Thank you Nikki for this marvellous recipe.
This has become our extended family favourite. I keep a bag of the mix in the freezer at all times!
The one addition I made is a couple of slices of beetroot, to give the sausage a pink colour, seems to be the Australia/New Zealand way!
We don’t eat grains, so I use buckwheat breadcrumbs and tapioca in place of the rolled oats/crumbs. The recipe is really adaptable and is able to take a variety of flavourings. We like basil or nutmeg too.
The grandchildren love this as sausage rolls (made with an extremely simple ground sunflower seed pastry recipe), and they also love thin burger patties made from the mixture. A plateful disappear really quickly. I even made this for a family wedding, and people couldn’t believe the sausage rolls were meatless.
A long term vegan friend became very excited and said she would sell them for me in the health shop she worked at, she couldn’t believe how flavourful they were. But I declined, we were moving away.
So when we moved to this new rural area, and were invited to meet all the neighbours and I took a plate of these “sausage rolls”. Next thing I know, all the farming ladies were asking me about them and one wanted me to produce an “elegant country” version for a fabulous family ball! Which I did, was a heap of fun making different elegant shapes with the vegan sunflower seed pastry and vegan sausage filling!
All thanks to you Nikki, thank you so much.
Nikki Stokes
Hi Fiona,
I’m so glad that this recipe has worked out so well for you. I love the idea of adding beetroot for a slightly pinker colour.
I like the buckwheat/tapioca substitution for the rolled oats (and or breadcrumbs). How do you make your sunflower seed pastry?
It’s so gratifying to be able to spread the joy of plant-based food through this recipe and the hard work of people like you. Thanks for sharing!
Ute
Really, really good, thank you. As is the almond feta.
Tried sausage rolls with veggie sausages – disappointment.
It’s lovely to know the ingredients are recognisable plants :)
Made these with chestnuts in place of the walnuts due to an allergy and used x3 medium onions, and a mix of thyme, hyssop and savory (mostly thyme), and some black pepper.
Had some filling left over and baked it, just like a mini nutloaf/meatloaf.
Now that gave me an idea – the consistency is absolutely fabulous. My dad used to make meat balls (still does, though I more often than not say no) – I think I can now create a vegan alternative! Cumin and onion mini nutloaves, with mustard … Perfect picnic food for a hike!
Thanks again!!
Nikki Stokes
Hi Ute,
I’m glad you enjoyed the recipes. I’ve used the filling to make burgers and other veggie treats. I love the idea of making it into meatballs!
Lia Williams
These are the best. Ive been making them for parties for the last 4 years!
Nikki Stokes
Wow, Lia. That’s so great to hear! Thanks for sharing.
Stacey
Hi, l can’t wait to make these. I couldn’t find flaxseed meal at our supermarket. Is there anything else l can use instead? Thank you
Nikki Stokes
Hi Stacey,
The flaxseed email in these is used for binding, basically as an egg substitute. If you can find whole flax seeds (also called linseeds), you can make your own flax meal using a coffee or spice grinder.
But if you can’t find flax in any form, you can use chia meal instead. You can use chia seeds in a similar way to flax seeds, Just grind them up, and soak them in water for at least 15 minutes, using around 2 tbsp chia to 1/4 cup water to create a similarly “eggy” mix. You might need to play with the amounts to get a mix that’s not too stiff or too runny, as I haven’t done this myself before, but it’s also likely to be pretty forgiving.
Let me know how it goes!
Stacey
Thanks, l found whole flax seeds and ground them. This is a brilliant recipe. All the family at our Mother’s Day lunch loved them. We thought they tasted similar, but better than meat sausage rolls. I will definitely make these again.
Nikki Stokes
Hi Stacey,
I’m so glad you found a good alternative to the flaxmeal. And I’m also thrilled that everyone loved them!
Donna
Hi, Nikki,
Can’t wait to make these! Can I use gluten free oat flour instead of rolled oats, or will that impact on the consistency too much?
I hope this question finds you well!
Donna
Nikki
Hi Donna,
I’ve never made this recipe with oat flour, but it should work.
From my experience with oat flour, you’ll need less of it than if you use whole oats.
Perhaps just start with less than the recipe states and see how the consistency of the mix is.
Enjoy making these yummy vegan sausage rolls :)
Donna
Hi, Nikki,
I made these yesterday for a gathering (and used oatmeal instead of oat flour, with a hand blender instead of a food processor, because my processor was too small to accommodate all of the ingredients) and I had to write to tell you how impressed I am with this recipe. The ‘sausage meat’ is incredible, and I know I am going to be making this recipe again and again. I was nervous that it would be complicated (to the extent of having dreams about it!) but thankfully found this to be the opposite. I couldn’t be happier. Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe!
Nikki
Hi Donna,
I’m so glad they turned out so well for you, despite your apprehensions.
I’m a big fan of low-fuss recipes, so I’m pleased that you found it straightforward, as well as delicious.
I’m sure you’ll be enjoying the vegan sausage rolls for years to come!
Suzy Bernatchez
The vegan sausage rolls are absolutely delicious. I prefer them to meet sausage rolls. All of my non vegan family loved them too. Leaves a wonderful after taste as well. Excellent recipe!!!
Nikki
Hi Suzy,
I’m so glad you loved them, thanks for letting me know!
Lois
Just made these for a Christmas lunch, and they turned out really well, and quite delicious.
I doubted the 1-1/2 cups of oats, as by the time I added 1/2 c breadcrumbs and 1/2 cup of oatmeal, the texture seemed perfect.
And they worked out well, held their shape, and are delicious. So I will stick to 1/2 cup instead of 1-1.2 cups of oats.
I rested the filling ingredients overnight, then rolled it in a light dusting of flour before laying them on the pastry.
I am serving them with a honey mustard dip.
Thanks for this recipe. I will be sure to be using it again and again and posted a like to the recipe on my Facebook page.
Nikki
Hi Lois,
I’m glad you liked them. The whole rolled oats would work very differently from oatmeal, so perhaps that’s why you didn’t need as much. I find I need the full 1.5 cups of traditional rolled oats (or 2 cups when I’m not using the breadcrumbs) to get the filling to the right consistency.
Thanks for the share on Facebook.
Anne-Marie
This looks like a great recipe however my daughter is allergic to walnuts. What would be the best nut to substitute in to the sausage roll mixture.
Nikki
Hi Anne-Marie,
Pecans are probably the closest in texture and flavour to walnuts, if your daughter can tolerate those. Otherwise, perhaps you could use almonds, hazelnuts or pine nuts.
Richard
I am so glad I found this recipe — these sausage rolls are amazing! Thank you for sharing. I used macadamia cheese instead of almond cheese and added a bit of liquid smoke which goes down a treat.
Nikki
Hi Richard,
I’m glad you found it too. The macadamia cheese sounds amazing!
Michelle
Hi
This is a great recipe. Thanks so much for sharing it. They taste delicious and the texture is spot on (from what I recall). My non Vegan son and husband loved them too.
Nikki
Hi Michelle,
I’m so glad that you all loved these vegan sausage rolls. They really are amazing, aren’t they?
In fact, my kids are currently in the kitchen making a batch together!
KT
Doesn’t Puff pastry have butter in it?
Nikki
Hi KT,
That depends on what brand you buy. We’re lucky enough to have found a local manufacturer who uses a vegan butter substitute in their puff pastry, so ours is butter-free.
KT
Oh!!! Where??? Because I live in Australia and didn’t think I could ever eat puff pastry again since I’m dairy intolerant
Nikki
Hi KT,
The brand is “Borg’s” and I found it in my local independent supermarket.
Vegan Puff Pastry packet
Alex
Hey guys,
I’m wondering if there’s a substitution for flax meal?
It’s a holiday here so all the shops are shut and I have none ?
Thankyou!
Nikki
Hi Alex,
Sorry for the delayed reply. The only other thing that might work is chia seeds, but you’d need to grind them into a powder first. I haven’t actually tried this myself, so I can’t say for sure how it will affect the end result.
Mez
Hi Nikki,
You’ve done me a tremendous favour with this recipe. I actually used almond pulp in place of the almonds (I’ll try anything to avoid it being wasted) and just omitted the water. They were fantastic! I can now make a much loved meal with the ‘by product’ that once gave me a headache. Many thanks!
Nikki
Hi Mez,
I love the idea of using leftover almond milk pulp for the almond feta. I’m definitely going to have to try doing that!
Thanks for sharing and I’m so glad you loved the end result.
Bianca
Hi Nikki,
I am planning to make this recipe tonight, and was thinking to bypass the soaking and blending of almonds (as i don’t have a great blender or food processor) i could just use freshly bought almond butter…it shouldn’t make a difference right? it would be perfectly smooth!
Thanks,
Bianca
Nikki
Hi Bianca,
Sorry for not replying sooner. Yes, I agree that you should be able to try almond butter in the almond feta.
I’ve never done it myself, but it does end up pretty smooth after the blending, so it’s definitely worth a try. Let me know how it goes!
Alex Lyons
Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you – these are amazing!! This is an absolutely fabulous recipe. The only negative perhaps is that my local vegan store will no longer have my custom as these are better than theirs!!! Just of note I chucked in a few chestnut mushrooms and am out of whole almonds so used sliced; used a variety of left ofter shelled (de-shelled) Christmas nuts; i had no parsley either – i’m excited to taste the full recipe with all of your ingredients. I’m also very excited to look at your site and recipes etc.
LoVe, alex xx
Nikki
Hi Alex,
You’re welcome, you’re welcome, you’re welcome!
I’m so glad that you love this recipe. It is pretty amazing, isn’t it? I do feel sorry for your local vegan store, but only a little ;)
I love your variations and I’m pleased that they tasted great. Almonds are almonds after all, and I’m sure that mushrooms would be a great addition to this recipe. Hopefully the parsley will make it taste even better for you.
Enjoy your browsing and experimenting.
Alexandra Gow
This recipe is amazing! I have been using it for years. Any chance I can write a blog post about it and link to you so people can get the recipe? Everyone always asks me for it :)
Nikki
Hi Alexandra,
Thank you for your kind words. I’m so glad that this recipe has become a staple in your kitchen.
Feel free to write a blog post about it and link back to the recipe. I love to share the joys of plant-based dishes with as many people as possible.
Have an awesome day!
lea
Wow! People are still commenting after 4 years! I made these a couple of days ago…didnt think it would be that good…I was wrong. I didn’t have any puff pastry so I put them in small tart shells ….. really good. Then I thought….why not use the sausage mixture as a sandwich spread ….soooo that’s what I had today. And probably tomorrow… Great recipe!….Thanx!!
Nikki
Hi Lea,
I guess it’s a sign that people continue to love this recipe, and we sure do too!
I love how creative you got with using your mix, It really is a very versatile recipe. So glad you’re loving it ♥
Renee
These are just sooo good! I used chia seeds made into a paste as I couldn’t get the flax. The kids loved them too! So much appreciation right now for your recipe!
Nikki
Hi Renee,
So glad you’re loving them. The chia seeds are a great substitution for flax seeds.
Isn’t it so great when kids lap up such healthy food? Thanks for letting me know ♥
Kristy Kirkwood
Hi Nikki,
This recipe is amazing. I have been making them for a while now. So healthy and a big hit with my meat eating family. The almond fetta is a big hit in itself. I have been using it with beetroot on pizza. Thank you!
Nikki
Hi Kirsty,
Thank you so much for letting me know. I’m really, really pleased that they’ve been such a success with your carnivorous family. Your almond feta and beetroot pizza sounds delicious!
Leigh N
I too came across your site while looking for a nut milk bag on line and I am so glad I did. I have been looking through many of your recipes and can’t wait to start trying them on the weekend. I will post once I do but wanted to say thanks for such a great site!
Nikki
Hi Leigh,
Thank you for stumbling onto me ;) Have fun playing with my recipes!
elizabeth
Im doing a professional traditional patisserie course at the moment. I made these the other night and took them to school.
The teacher is a seasoned chef had a taste and asked me for the recipe they were so good!!!!!!
Thanks for this fabulous recipe
Nikki
Hi Elizabeth,
You’re very welcome.
That’s fantastic to hear. Good to know that my recipes measure up :)
Lizzie K
Making these shortly but wonder what I could use to replace the oats as my son is coaeliac. Any ideas? Would quinoa flakes work perhaps? Thanks!
Nikki
Hi Lizzie,
The oats mainly do two things – add bulk and absorb moisture – so if you can find neutral-tasting alternatives that do this, you should be fine.
You could try things like psyllium husk, gluten-free breadcrumbs, ground flax, chia seeds, rice bran or quinoa flakes, as you suggest.
Each one will create a slightly different taste and texture, so you might have to experiment a little to find what works best for you.
I have also read that it is possible to source gluten-free oats, so if you can’t make it work with the other options, this might be worth a try as well.
justine
Hi, your recipe looks great and something I’m really wanting to give a try for my daughter’s 4th birthday where she has some vegan friends coming. The only issue I have is my son is allergic to almonds (also hazelnuts) do you think I could substitute the almond feta with something else?
Nikki
Hi Justine,
I think you could use any nut in the feta recipe, and it would still turn out well. Cashews, macadamias or brazil nuts would be the best to start with, because they have the most neutral flavour.
You could also try sunflower seeds, although they do have a slightly stronger flavour.
You really just need something with a tangy, salty, cheese-like flavour and texture, to add richness and body.
Do any of those options work for you?
justine
I’ve decided to go with a tofu “feta” and hope for the best. There will be a lot of hoping actually as my local store no longer sells borgs puff. I’ve had to go with filo and will be winging it a bit to keep it vegan. Will let you know how I go
Nikki
Hi Justine,
I’m sure it will be delicious! I look forward to hearing how they turn out.
Sometimes the best discoveries come from winging it ;)
Caroline
5 stars, I will definitely make these again
Nikki
Hi Caroline,
You are very welcome. I’m so pleased you enjoyed them. They’re definitely favourites around our house too!
Caroline
Thank you Nikki, these are brilliant, yummy sausage roll taste:)
Cathy
I’m half way through making these and I’m trying to work out what to do with the flax/water mix. It doesn’t say to add it to the sausage roll mix, but seeing as it is listed in the ingredients, I guess that’s what I should do. Am I the only one who found this confusing?
I’m really looking forward to tasting these and hope that my daughter, who recently took up the Vegan lifestyle, will love them too!
Nikki
Hi Cathy,
Sorry you found that bit unclear. Yes, you add the flax/water mix to the sausage roll mix along with the braggs, oats, etc. I’ve updated the recipe to clarify this. Thanks for pointing it out.
Hope your daughter enjoys them!
ampy
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe, I absolutely adore them and my non vegan husband thinks they are delicious!! I had to put them away otherwise they will be gone by tonight and I want them for snacks on Christmas Eve.
Nikki
Hi Ampy,
They are very more-ish, aren’t they? I’m so glad you both enjoyed them so much. :D
Sue
Thank you for giving your ingredients by weight as well as in cups. Very helpful for the British! I haven’t yet made them, but after all these glowing comments, I’m off to my health food store to see if I can get hold of GF puff pastry in the UK. Fingers crossed.
Nikki
Hi Sue,
You’re very welcome. I like to make things as easy as possible for everyone.
And I don’t think you’ll regret giving these a go. We still love them around here – I even made another batch just yesterday!
Sue
Unfortunately I couldn’t find any GF puff pastry, so I haven’t been able to make them. I’ll keep trying though.
Nikki
Hi Sue,
That’s a shame.
Have you considered making your own?
I don’t have the patience for it, but if you can’t find it in any of your local health food shops and you’re willing to give it a go, here’s a few recipes to get you going in the right direction:
Caroline
Thank you for this recipe! These are absolutely delicious and taste better than I remember non vegan sausage rolls tasting.
Nikki
Hi Caroline,
You’re most welcome. I’m so glad you enjoyed them :)
Helen
Hi Nikki, sorry if this is a silly question but should the almonds be with skins or without? I’m hoping to make these for my son’s joint 3rd birthday party with his friend next weekend. We are vegetarian and he has a dairy and soy allergy so I thought these looked great. I’m going to substitute the soy sauce for yeast extract, which should hopefully give the same salty and umami flavour.
Nikki
Hi Helen,
I always use raw almonds, which means they still have their skins on. I’m too lazy to bother removing them, and the only way to do it is to blanch them, and then rub them off etc, and that just sounds like to much work for this cook. But if you want to remove them, feel free.
Other ideas for subsitutions for the soy sauce are coconut aminos, the soak water from sundried tomatoes with added salt, a stock cube in water, olive brine, or even balsamic vinegar with added salt. These all give a salty, umami flavour, in their own unique ways.
All the best for your son’s birthday party.
Steve
Hi Nikki,
Been vegan 3yrs and after eating one of these I had to check I was still vegan. Seriously amazing sausage roll. The only thing I changed was to use filo instead of puff pastry (only cause I don’t like some of the ingredients of puff pastry). Granted it made it not gluten free but 2 sheets of filo only a couple of grams so didn’t bother me much. To keep it healthy I used coconut oil to stick filo sheets and it turned out perfect. If you have any other gf vegan pastry ideas I’d love to hear them too. Anyway these now a permanent feature in my menu planning. Cheers.
Nikki
Hi Steve,
They are pretty amazing, aren’t they? I’m thrilled you enjoyed them and I love the filo pastry idea with the coconut oil.
To be honest I haven’t explored other pastry options much, partly because I don’t have the patience to make my own, and partly because having been gluten-intolerant for 30 years (and then cured by my homeopath) I like to revel in the fact that I can eat regular ol’ store-bought pastry.
Here’s some links to some vegan and gluten-free pastry recipes to get you inspired, and I highly recommend asking your local health food store as well.
Hope this gets you going in the right direction.
Steve
Thanks so much Nikki for the pastry links, I’ll definitely check them out
Heather
Hello – i am looking forward to making these for my wedding in September. Can i make them in advance and freeze them? Thanks!
Nikki
Hi Heather,
Absolutely, yes. In fact, that’s what we do all the time – make a big batch and then freeze them. Then we just cook a few each night for dinner, straight from the freezer, and they work beautifully this way.
All the best for a fantastic wedding :)
Rod
Just got my first batch out of the oven (3pm), Nikki, and I couldn’t wait till dinner to try one. Absolutely delicious and well-worth the time it took to make them. After making the rolls, I just cut them in half and ended up with 8 which was only 2 sheets of pastry.
Definitely the best sausage rolls I’ve made and tried a lot recipes. Thank you, Nikki.
Nikki
Hi Rod,
Wow! Thank you so much. I’m so glad you like them. You’ve made my day. Bless you ♥
Julie
Hi Nikki,
I came across your site looking online because I was going to buy a nut milk bag. So yes, it was worth telling people about, as it got you in the google search for nut milk bags!! I will be using your idea as I think that looks a lot better. But also, all these wonderful recipes. Thank you for sharing all this information. I will definitely be back.
Nikki
Hi Julie,
You are most welcome. Thanks for letting me know how you found me. It’s lovely to hear how much you’re enjoying my ideas. See you again very soon ;)
Kim
There is no feta listed in the ingredients for the almond feta cheese. How much feta do I use?
Nikki
Hi Kim,
That’s because it’s “feta” cheese i.e. it’s not really feta. The almond feta cheese (that you make as part of this recipe) is a substitute for feta cheese in the sausage roll recipe, so it can be completely vegan. And you use all 200g of almond feta cheese that you make.
Hope this helps :)
Rod
My sincerest apologies, Nikki. Despite reading the recipe several times, I missed “200g almond feta cheese (from above)”. I’m totally happy if you delete these two comments.
(Slinks away totally embarrassed.)
Nikki
Hi Rod,
If it’s OK with you, I’m going to leave your comments here, because it may help someone else who is confused by my recipe. Please don’t be embarrassed by being wonderfully human!
I’ve updated the recipe and my comments to make it clearer, so hopefully it won’t trip anyone else up.
Thanks for helping me to make my recipes even better :)
Rod
Hi there, do you use the all the almond feta that you make in step one in the sausage roll mix? That may have been what Kim was asking too. All the best and thank you.
Kelly
Fantastic recipe. The next time I make them I’m going to add nutmeg to satisfy my Dutch Canadian husband. One word- Yummy!
Nikki
Hi Kelly,
I’m so glad you liked them. And hopefully your husband will like them even more with nutmeg. I haven’t come across that flavour combination before, but it certainly sounds like it would be delicious.
Johnny
Wow, you nailed this one! Well done to you.
This make soooo many sausage rolls, its awesome. Depending on where you live, the ingredients might seem slightly expensive, but rest assured, it makes loads of them.
Because sausage rolled use that sort of “whipped” meat in them, this recipe lends perfectly to being made vegan and between some tomato sauce and pastry, these are as close to meat based sausage rolls as you’re going to get.
I’m going to play around and maybe keep the “feta” separate so i can layer the filling with feta and spinach to try that too.
Again, well done, its a great recipe. Thank you.
Nikki Stokes
Hi Johhny.
I’m really glad to hear that they’re working so well for you. I like the idea of the separate feta and spinach too!
Carmen
These are fantastic! Thank you for the recipe. I can’t get over how similar they look and taste like meat sausage rolls. It even fools non vegans. Love it!!!
Nikki
I know, isn’t it awesome?! You’re most welcome.
Heather
Hi Nikki,
Would you please clarify whether the breadcrumbs are dry or fresh and whether the rolled oats are rolled oats or quick oats.
BTW the almond feta cheese is the best!
Love your recipes.
Nikki
Hi Heather,
I’m glad you’re enjoying my recipes, and I must say that I love a bit of almond feta on a fresh mushroom or a flax cracker. Mmmm.
I made my breadcrumbs from old crusts from organic wholemeal bread that I stored in the freezer, and then processed to crumbs in my food processor. Sometimes I make them just before I use them, other times I make more than I need and store the crumbs back in the freezer until I’m making a batch of sausage rolls. I’ve never tried using fresh breadcrumbs, but if I ever do, I’ll let you know how it goes.
I used rolled oats that are as unprocessed as possible. I’ve even confirmed with the supplier that they are unstabilised (i.e. unheated), so they’re definitely just rolled oats, and not quick oats.
HTH :)
Caroline
I made these and they were amazing, thank you!
Susan
These were delicious! I ate them cold the next day. They came out perfect my first try. I’m very grateful I bumped onto this web site. It’s also nice to be able to ask a question, because sometimes recipes aren’t clear. This is a great forum.
Nikki
I’m so glad! I agree that they are very good cold too.
I hope you find even more delicious things to try on my site, and ask away because I love answering your questions :)
Nikki
Hi Caroline,
I’m so pleased you loved them. Thanks for letting me know <3