This easy vegan Italian sausage is made from meaty seitan and seasoned to perfection. Toss these vegan sausages on the grill, have a sausage sandwich, or cut it up and serve it with spaghetti, lasagna, or pizza. You can use this sausage in place of regular Italian sausage in nearly any recipe. It’s firm and holds up to cooking like traditional sausages.

Five vegan Italian sausages on a white plate after they have been grilled.

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These flavorful sausages can be whipped up in about 10 minutes of your time (plus time to steam them). Once steamed, they can be eaten plain, added to other recipes, or pan-fried. You can even toss them on the grill with some grilled tofu, vegan hot dogs, or vegan burgers at your next cookout.

They’ll keep well in the freezer, so feel free to double or even triple a batch so you always have some homemade vegan sausage on hand to use in your favorite recipes.

Wow! I made these last night along with some pasta for dinner. It was so good! I’ll never need to buy the store bought kind again! Thanks for the recipe!

—Carla

This recipe is

  • quick and easy to make.
  • full of flavor.
  • great to make ahead and keep in the fridge or freezer.
  • perfect to toss on the grill and use for camping or barbecues.
A top view of spaghetti with tomatoes and basil with vegan sausage on the side with a few pieces cut off.

Ingredients and substitutions

  • Water– or low-sodium broth for more flavor if you choose.
  • Soy Sauce – for flavor. You can use Bragg’s Liquid Amino or Tamari instead.
  • Salt – for flavor.
  • Fennel Seeds – for an authentic Italian sausage flavor.
  • Italian Herbs – or any dried herbs that you want like basil, oregano, marjoram, rosemary, thyme, savory, or sage.
  • Garlic Powder – for flavor. You can also use 1 clove of fresh garlic.
  • Onion Powder – for flavor.
  • Cayenne Pepper – or red pepper flakes. Omit this for mild sausages or add more for hot sausages.
  • Smoked Paprika – for color and slight smoky flavor. You can also use regular paprika and a teaspoon of liquid smoke.
  • Tomato Paste – for flavor and color. You can omit this if you don’t have any. You can also add 1/4 cup of sundried tomatoes along with or instead of the tomato paste.
  • Oil – any neutral-flavored cooking oil works well. You can omit it for an oil-free vegan sausage, but it helps to keep it moist and keeps the seitan soft and less chewy.
  • Tofu – to cut the chewiness of the gluten and balance the texture. You can also use 3/4 cup of beans like white beans, chickpeas, or kidney beans instead of tofu.
  • Vital Wheat Gluten – this is high-protein wheat flour. You must use this to make quick and easy seitan. You can also use plain white flour and make washed flour seitan and cook it in the sausage-flavored broth, but this is a longer and more labor-intensive method.

Helpful tools

  • Food Processor or Blender – to blend the tofu and broth.
  • Foil – for wrapping the vegan sausages in before steaming them.
  • Steam Basket – You can use any method to steam the sausages. If you don’t have a steam basket, you can use jelly jar rings at the bottom of a pot and just fill the water to the top of the rings. You just need a way to hold the sausages out of the water.

How to make seitan sausages

Step 1 – Add water, oil, soy sauce, salt, and spices to a saucepan and heat until it starts to boil, then turn off the heat and allow it to cool for about 10 minutes.

Step 2 – Press 1/2 a block (7 oz.) of tofu and crumble it into a food processor or blender, then pour in the spiced broth.

Step 3 – Blend until it turns into a creamy thick liquid, then pour into a glass mixing bowl.

A collage of four images showing the process of making a broth, blending it with tofu, and pouring it into a glass bowl to make vegan sausage.

Step 4 – Add 1 cup of vital wheat gluten and mix well until a thick dough forms.

Step 5 – Add another 1/3 cup of vital wheat gluten and knead it into the dough until all of the wheat gluten has been absorbed and no longer feels wet.

Step 6 – Form the dough into the shape of a sausage, and wrap the sausage tightly in foil twisting the ends to hold it in place.

A collage of 4 images showing the steps of adding gluten flour to the tofu and broth and kneading into a dough before shaping it into a sausage shape and wrapping it in foil.

Step 7 – Steam the wrapped sausages in a large pot with a steamer basket for 45 minutes. (You can also use a pressure cooker or Instant Pot. Cook under pressure for 30 minutes and then allow steam to release naturally.)

Step 8 – Take them out of the pot with tongs and allow them to cool for about 10 minutes before opening the packets. (I always get too excited to see my sausages and get burnt with the steam when I open the foil too soon.)

Step 9 – At this point, they are ready to eat, or you can grill or fry them. You can also cut them up and add them to your favorite Italian meals.

Pro Tips

  • Use a glass bowl and a silicone spatula to mix your seitan.  Vital wheat gluten is very sticky once it gets wet and will stick like glue to a plastic bowl or a wooden spoon.
  • Be sure to press the tofu well to get out as much liquid as possible.  I like to cut the block into quarters and squeeze it with my hands like I’m packing a snowball over the sink to get out all the excess water.
  • Wheat gluten is a very fine powder that will get everywhere if you are not careful with it.  Pour it low down and slowly over the tofu mixture so it doesn’t splash out of your bowl.
  • Knead the seitan until all of the gluten flour is incorporated and you have a dough that’s a little firmer than you would have for bread. Only knead it for about 30- 60 seconds so your wheat meat doesn’t get too chewy.

Forming the sausages

  • If you want perfectly formed sausages, wrap the dough in the desired shape in plastic wrap and allow it to rest for 30 minutes before taking off the plastic and wrapping it in foil.
  • If you don’t want the foil to touch your food, you can wrap the sausage in parchment paper first, and then wrap the foil around that.
A pile of seitan sausages on a white plate with a fork in one of them.

Frequently asked questions?

How can I make gluten-free vegan sausages?

Unfortunately, there is no way to make these seitan sausages gluten-free since the primary ingredient is gluten flour. However, I have wonderful recipes for vegan gluten-free sausage links and vegan sausage crumbles that use TVP instead of wheat gluten and are gluten-free.

Do vegan sausages have to be cooked?

After these seitan sausages have been steamed, they are cooked enough to eat, however, you may choose to panfry them with some onions and peppers and serve them on a hot dog bun or as a side dish. These seitan sausages hold up to grilling, so they’re perfect for summer barbecues or camping.

How to use the sausages

You can also cut up the sausages and add them to your favorite Italian dishes. I love to toss them into the following meals.

Simple tomato and bail pasta with slices of homemade vegan sausage on a white plate.
Simple tomato basil pasta with vegan sausage.

Storage and reheating

Refrigerate: These vegan Italian sausages will keep well in the fridge for 3 – 5 days in a sealed container.

Freeze: Seitan freezes well and can be stored in an airtight bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. Put them in the fridge overnight to defrost them.

Reheating: Reheat the sausages in the microwave for about 2 minutes, pan-fry in a little oil, or toss them on a grill for a few minutes until warm.

A plate of spaghetti with tomatoes and slices of vegan Italian sausages.

More seitan recipes

We love seitan in our house and make a ton of mock meats like vegan beef, ham, turkey, and chicken. Be sure to check out all of my seitan recipes or my seitan-making cookbook!

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Vegan sausage recipe

Five vegan Italian sausages on a plate after being grilled with tongs on them.
Diet
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5 from 12 rating

Vegan Italian Sausage (Seitan Sausages)

Yield: 5 sausages
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 45 minutes
Total: 55 minutes
Author: Monica Davis
A homemade vegan sausage made from vital wheat gluten and spices to taste like an authentic Italain sausage.
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Ingredients

  • 1 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste, (or 1/4 cup sun-dried tomaotes)
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
  • 2 teaspoons Italian herbs mix
  • 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 7 oz. tofu, (1/2 of a 14 oz block of tofu- pressed)
  • 1 1/3 cup vital wheat gluten
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (Use less or omit if you don't want spicy sausages.)

Equipment

Instructions
 

  • Add water, oil, soy sauce, salt, and spices to a saucepan and heat until it starts to boil, then turn off the heat and allow it to cool for about 10 minutes.
  • Press 1/2 a block (7 oz.) of tofu and crumble it into a food processor or blender, then pour in the spiced broth.
  • Blend until it turns to a creamy thick liquid.
  • Pour into a glass bowl.
  • Add 1 cup of vital wheat gluten and mix well until a thick dough forms.
  • Add another 1/3 cup of vital wheat gluten and knead it into the dough until all of the wheat gluten has been absorbed and no longer feels wet.
  • Form the dough into the shape of a sausage, and wrap the sausage tightly in foil.
  • Steam the wrapped sausages in a large pot with a steamer basket for 45 minutes. (You can also use a pressure cooker on Instant Pot. Cook under pressure for 30 minutes and then allow steam to release naturally.)
  • Take them out of the pot with tongs and allow them to cool for about 10 minutes before opening the packets. (I always get too excited to see my sausages and get burnt with the steam when I open the foil too soon.)
  • At this point, they are ready to eat or you can grill or fry them. You can also cut them up and add them to your favorite Italian meals.

Notes

  • Knead the seitan until all of the gluten flour is incorporated and you have a dough that’s a little firmer than you would have for bread. Only knead it for about 30- 60 seconds so your wheat meat doesn’t get too chewy.
  • If you want perfectly formed sausages, wrap the dough in the desired shape in plastic wrap and allow to rest for 30 minutes before taking off the plastic and wrapping it in foil.
  • If you don’t want the foil to touch your food, you can wrap the sausage in parchment paper first, and then wrap the foil around that.
Serving: 1sausage, Calories: 217kcal, Carbohydrates: 9g, Protein: 29g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 1g, Sodium: 267mg, Potassium: 152mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 506IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 125mg, Iron: 3mg
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