The best plant-based sausages.
Sausages are a funny one, aren’t they? In the meaty world, they’re not the most appealing thing if you think about them for too long. So, how has the plant based world answered the call of random mashed meaty bits thrown into a sausage-y sleeve? Quite well, actually! But sometimes, quite badly.
This is a list of the best plant based sausages available. We have ranked them, as always, on taste, texture, value for money, packaging, and our PBFG Feel-Good Factor!
1. Fry’s, Smoked hot dogs
When I was little, my mom loved packing me a hot lunch, but cooking a hot meal at 6am is a LOT. Her solution was to make a quick, tasty (and oh-so-easy) spaghetti and sliced hotdogs. I loved that meal so much. When I went vegan, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to scratch that nostalgic itch. Fry’s Smoked Hot Dogs changed that. I LOVE these hot dogs. They’re exactly what you want on a lazy evening. The Feel-Good Factor was absolutely made for these sausages. I scored them a 9 as they are soy-based and that can sometimes turn people off.
When it comes to other areas where these hot dogs lost points: they certainly could be a bit more spiced to imitate classic hot dogs, if that’s what you’re into. In the same vein, they’re also a bit less versatile than a regular fancier/chunkier sausage that you might have at a Sunday Roast. But boy, do they scratch that itch! Plus, who can beat heating these up for a minute in the microwave?
-
Taste: 8
Texture: 10
Value for money: 9
Packaging: 4
Feel Good Factor: 9
2. Quorn, Brilliant Bangers!
Basically the same as the original Quorn sausage, but a little bit chunkier with a slightly better texture. The reason this scores a bit higher is that it has the ideal 100% recyclable cardboard box packaging.
-
Taste: 6
Texture: 9
Value for money: 9
Packaging: 10
Feel Good Factor: 5
3. Garden Gourmet, Sensational Plant-Based Cumberland Sausages
These are the first veggie sausages that have the X factor. Something particularly tasty. Most others are plain pork sausage imitations, these really do taste like Cumberlands. Bonus points for the health-conscious among us: for a sausage, it seems fairly healthy.
-
Taste: 10
Texture: 9
Value for money: 7
Packaging: 4
Feel Good Factor: 8
4. Fry’s, Original hot dogs
I've gotta say, these hot dogs lose in texture where the Fry's smoked hot dogs win. We prefer this cardboard box, but there’s just something about them that doesn’t quite hit the mark. They also don't have that bite or that skin that meat sausages do.
-
Taste: 7
Texture: 6
Value for money: 7
Packaging: 8
Feel Good Factor: 7
5. Richmond, Meat-free sausages
Perhaps this is a little snobbish of me to say, but I wasn't expecting much from the Richmond meat-free sausage. However, I was pleasantly surprised. If you're looking for a plain sausage that tastes like a regular pork sausage, these will certainly do the trick. Great to see Richmond producing meat-free products and keeping costs down as they do with their meat products (but, you know, without the animal cruelty).
-
Taste: 8
Texture: 8
Value for money: 10
Packaging: 2
Feel Good Factor: 4
6. THIS, Isn’t Pork Sausages
Some of the best sausages available. The have nailed the plain pork sausage, both in terms of taste (something that many competitors have done as well) but also in terms of texture which is a rarer achievement. This product keeps its form and could easily fool a carnivore.
-
Taste: 8
Texture: 9
Value for money: 4
Packaging: 3
Feel Good Factor: 8
7. Meatless Farm, chipolata sausages
Delicious. These have a really interesting and complex flavour. Pretty much a perfect sausage, the only thing is they are quite mushy and a often broken in the pack in the supermarket.
Great mouth-feel when cooked but mushy when raw, which does detract from the product a little as it's quite off putting in the pack.
-
Taste: 9
Texture: 7
Value for money: 8
Packaging: 4
Feel Good Factor: 3
8. Quorn, Sausages
Quorn get the basics done right. Similar to the chicken pieces, the orginal quorn sausage is the measuring stick by which I judge other sausages. They taste good and they have a fantastic texture, but they also are brilliant value for money and entirely versatile. If you want a regular sausage these will never let you down. An easy thing to keep in the freezer. Their plastic bag packaging lets them down though.
-
Taste: 6
Texture: 8
Value for money: 10
Packaging: 0
Feel Good Factor: 4
9. Future Farm, Future Sausage
So realistic! A fantastic plain pork sausage substitute. They look, feel, and taste just like a plain pork sausage. I'm sure these would work just as well on a BBQ as they do baked or fried. However, they are expensive and really taste no better than their more reasonably priced competitors.
-
Taste: 8
Texture: 9
Value for money: 2
Packaging: 3
Feel Good Factor: 6
10. Plant Kitchen, Bangers
A great tasting sausage. Really quite delicious actually. Many brands seem to have nailed the plain pork sausage flavour. These Plant Kitchen sausages will treat you well whether you are using them in a fry-up, for bangers and mash, or tossing them on a barbecue. They are a little soft and the skins peel rather easily, but they do taste great.
When it comes to FGF, I don't feel great about M&S, but not bad either, per se. The plastic and fat content lets these down.
-
Taste: 10
Texture: 6
Value for money: 6
Packaging: 2
Feel Good Factor: 2
11. Fry’s, Meat-Free Polony Slicing Sausage
This product tasted fantastic. I don't think you'll be able to find it everywhere, but it's definitely worth trying if you see it. We used it in a creamy pasta and sliced on toast. The texture was ever-so-slightly too soft, but if you fried it like bacon you wouldn't notice. This sausage scored low on packaging, as the foil was that slightly annoying packaging that you would get on a black pudding, but that sort of is what it is. It was also plastic, and really difficult to reseal.
We love the brand and that they are trying something new, but we weren't sure if this sausage was meant to be kept it in the freezer or not, which with the unusual packaging, made us think we had to eat it all within a day or two.
-
Taste: 9
Texture: 8
Value for money: 7
Packaging: 2
Feel Good Factor: 5
12. Linda McCartney’s, Vegetarian Sausages
Credit where credit is due, Linda McCartney is one of the OGs of the plant-based meat substitute game. But we have to admit, these sausages didn’t deliver. If, like us, you first had these long ago at the beginning of the plant-based meat renaissance, you might’ve thought they were nice, but as time has gone on, competitors have come up with much more realistic and tasty sausages. Now we’re really not fans. They taste like the brilliant 100% recyclable cardboard packaging they come in.
(They are also quite expensive, like a a lot of Linda McCartney's products.)
-
Taste: 2
Texture: 1
Value for money: 2
Packaging: 10
Feel Good Factor: 5
13. Plant Pioneers, Chorizo Shroomdogs
Better than the original flavour because some of the additional spice covers the horrible after taste, but don't for a second think these aren't still horrible. I made a substitute chicken and chorizo, tomato rice dish - I was forcing myself to eat the chorizo pieces first to get rid of them, and to save it from ruining the rest of my meal. A fake photograph has been used to save us having to buy these awful sausages again.
-
Taste: 1
Texture: 4
Value for money: 9
Packaging: 3
Feel Good Factor: 0
14. Plant Pioneers, Cumberland Shroomdogs
There was a time, a few years ago, when plant based food first boomed, that these shroomdogs seemed to have a moment in the sun. Everyone seemed to be talking about them - reportedly, they were the tastiest, most meat like sausages anyone had ever eaten. I don't know what was happening in 2017, but these are the worst meat free sausages I have ever eaten. I would much rather one of those mushed up vegetable ones from the 90s. They make me feel physically sick. Hence the fake photograph… I couldn’t face buying these again.
(Good value for money, if you ignore the vomit-inducing nature.)
-
Taste: 0
Texture: 3
Value for money: 9
Packaging: 3
Feel Good Factor: 0