Best Vegan Breakfast Sausage Recipe **No Tofu, No Seitan, No TVP**

I've been working on the perfect whole food plant-based breakfast sausage recipe and it's finally ready to share with you all. These sausages don't contain all the processed ingredients that shop-bought ones have and they're quick to make and really nutritious. Instead of those processed ingredients, we've got nutritious goodness like walnuts, mushrooms, we've got some oats, nutritional yeast and lots of other delicious ingredients. Oh, and by the way, my name is George, I've been a chef for 10 years and every week I post a new plant-based cooking or recipe video, so be sure to subscribe and stick around. Let's get into the cooking. To start these sausages, we're going to soak some nuts in boiling water. I'm using peanuts and walnuts which, once soaked, will soften a little and add texture to the sausages. For a nut-free option, you could use some sunflower and pumpkin seeds instead. Next, just finely slice one white onion or any variety of onion that you have. Then three cloves of garlic. Use the back of your knife to crush the garlic, helping to remove the peel, or if you don't like the idea of putting your hand on the blade, then just use the palm of your hand to crush the garlic and then we're just going to finely chop it. You could also use a zester, which is my favourite, or a garlic press. For the mushrooms, I'm going to dice them into small cubes. Personally, I wouldn't use the food processor as it's easy to overblend them which results in a very mushy sausage. By chopping them, you get small, juicy and chewy bits of mushroom throughout the sausage. It's also a good time to practice your knife skills and feel free to use other varieties of mushrooms. Oyster mushrooms would be great for adding even more chewiness. Hey George, why are you trying to imitate meat products? Well, believe it or not, I did not go plant-based because I hate the taste of chicken, bacon, steak, etc. I did it for the animals, for the environment and for my own health. I also have fond memories associated with certain foods, whether that's sitting down for a roast dinner with family on a Sunday or going out for a fry-up with friends. So every now and again, I like to recreate a meat, fish or dairy-based product such as sausages so I can reminisce about the old times with friends and family without using such unethical produce. Next we're going to grate one apple. For the apple, we're going for a sort of spiced sage and apple sausage vibe here. Give the grated apple a good squeeze to remove as much moisture as possible. Oh that's good, that is really tasty. Before we prepare the aromatic spice mix, drain one can of green or brown lentils or any firm variety. We'll also drain the walnuts and the peanuts which after 30 minutes should have softened up and will be ready to drain. For the spice mix we're going to start with some fennel and mustard seeds, flavours that both work really well in sausages. Toast them on a low to medium heat until they release their aromas and start to brown ever so slightly. Then just tip out into a pestle and mortar or into a spice grinder and leave to cool then we'll just grind it into a powder. Using whole spices is definitely the way to go for maximum flavour. Next we'll add a few other seasonings including smoked paprika, sage, thyme, oregano and some mace. Don't worry if you don't have all of these seasonings, as long as you've got a few then the sausages will turn out great. I'm also adding a good grating of fresh nutmeg which goes really well with the apple and the mushrooms. Now we're going to heat up a medium frying pan with an oil of your choice or no oil if you like and we're going to add in the onion and the mushrooms. Cook until nearly all the moisture has evaporated, once the mushrooms start to stick to the pan that's a good sign that they're nearly ready. Then just add in the minced garlic and cook for a couple more minutes. I love using mushrooms in this sort of dish for their slightly chewy and juicy texture but also their umami rich flavour. Finally that delicious spice mix and just cook for one more minute. Add this to a bowl and we'll get the other ingredients ready. Into a food processor we're going to add the lentils, the nuts that we soaked and drained earlier, some oats to help bind the sausages and nutritional yeast for some savoury goodness. Blend for about 30 seconds then scrape down the sides and repeat. I like to keep some texture in there but make sure it's been blended enough so that can easily be compacted together. Then just add into the mushroom and onion mix. We'll also add the apple now and a couple more seasonings. First soy sauce or tamari if you want them to be gluten free and some marmite, a British classic and an umami powerhouse. Leave this out or replace it with more tamari if you're gluten free. I'm also adding a touch of liquid smoke and I know liquid smoke and marmite aren't exactly unprocessed but they're also not too unhealthy and marmite in fact is actually quite healthy, it's full of vitamin b12 so it's up to you if you want to add them. I'm going to add even more black pepper just because I like a really peppery sausage and then just mix to combine. You can start with a spoon and then I'll definitely advise switching to your hands and getting involved. So I weighed out the mix and it came to around 700 grams so I decided to make about 10 sausages at 70 grams each. You of course don't have to weigh them out, you can just eyeball it if you want. I always like to have a little bowl of water nearby to help stop the mix from sticking to my hands, this is also a good tip when making falafels or veggie burgers, anything involving shaping veggies with your hands really. These sausages freeze really well so they're great to make in bulk and then just defrost when needed. I like to refrigerate them for about 30 minutes to firm them up but also it creates sort of dry outside on the sausages which almost forms a crust when frying. To cook them we're going to heat up a frying pan with an oil of your choice over a medium high heat. Once hot add in the sausages and if you don't hear a sizzle then take it out immediately and just wait a minute or so for it to heat up. If you add them when the oil is cold they'll just soak up all the oil and I promise you you don't want that. Once they are beautifully golden all over then they're good to go. I have another plant-based sausage video where I use rice paper to create a wrapping around the sausage, you're welcome to do the same with these ones and I'll link that video in the description box. As you can see they've got a lovely golden crust which is essential for a good sausage in my opinion. I did also try air frying them, I brushed them with oil and then I cooked them at 200 degrees for about 12 minutes, turning them halfway through. You could of course also do them in the oven, they'll probably take a few extra minutes but I'm sure they'll turn out just as good as the air fried ones. Definitely a good option if you want to use a little bit less oil in this recipe. So good, absolutely packed with flavour. The texture of these sausages is just absolutely beautiful, on the outside the walnuts and the peanuts have gone crisp and golden and then inside they have a nice bit of texture and bite. You've also got the mushrooms adding some juiciness so they're not dry and then in terms of the flavour they're just so delicious, umami and then you get the spices and the herbs, definitely give these sausages a go. I hope you enjoyed today's video, if you did be sure to subscribe and check out this video here for some more plant-based goodness.