Sausage rolls are one of England’s favourite snacks. But of course in a country of 60 million people, it’s not possible for everyone to eat free-range. So even if you’re not vegan, it’s good to reduce meat intake (good for your cholesterol too). These vegan sausage rolls with sage & red onion (The Veg Space) are made with grated vegan cheese in the sausage meat to add a creamy richness and light texture.
Keep sausages away from children or people with swallowing difficulties (or at least slice lengthwise and again, to help prevent choking). Keep faux meats away from pets as they smell/taste/look like meat, but contain unsafe ingredients like onion, mushrooms etc. Read more on food safety for people & pets.
The problem with most vegan sausage rolls on sale is that the pastry contains palm oil. So it makes sense to learn how to make your own pastry (simple with just a few ingredients, and you can freeze the rest). This frees you up to make all kinds of baked treats.
These vegan sausage rolls (Jo’s Kitchen Larder) are designed to be a ‘Gregg’s vegan sausage roll’ copycat! Better for your pocket too.
Apple ‘pork’ Sausage Rolls (Lucy & Lentils) use caramelised apple along with a red onion and vegan sausages to create a simple recipe that’s sure to go down a treat.
These sweet potato chickpea sausage rolls (Cupful of Kale) are obviously better for you, as they forgo faux meat, and instead use veggies and protein-rich chickpeas.
can you buy vegan sausage rolls without palm oil?
Yes! We found one! And even better, they are packed in cardboard (the plastic tray insert is in the process of moving to something more sustainable, so recycle that for now at supermarket bag bins). The No Meat Company makes super-tasty sausage rolls with a sage onion meat-free sausage filling in dairy-free puff pastry. Made with textured soya and seasonings, find them in Iceland and The Food Warehouse (also online at Ocado). If they can do it – why can’t the others? They also make no-meat pies to serve alongside!
what’s with Gregg’s vegan sausage rolls?
The problem now in England is that we tend to live our lives by marketing. So why the media rave about a vegan sausage roll that is very high in fat, tasteless and contains palm oil? One French chef says ‘the crust tastes like cardboard that was passed through a food blender and then compressed together into a puff pastry. The sausage sometimes feels like mushy gelatin, sometimes it’s spicy. Yet I chewed through it and bite after bite, I could see its intrinsic value’.
France may not be the nation we think of when it comes to vegan food or animal welfare, but we know these folks can cook and they know good tasting food. Perhaps we need to show as much passion as them, and refuse to partake in spending money on yuk food made for profit, just to keep up with fashion trends (go vegan for the animals and planet, not because an influencer tells you to).
There are even online reviews of the Gregg’s vegan sausage roll, as if Lloyd Grossman was tasting a gourmet dish. But they are just a cheap mix of wheat flour, palm oil, textured wheat protein and all the usuals, there’s nothing special at all about them, other than that you can buy them instantly from a shop. Make your own (above) and stick them in a reusable lunch box!
