To find the best-tasting options around, we asked a large consumer panel to blind-taste 10 vegan sausages from the freezer aisle.
We tested branded and supermarket own-label sausages including Aldi and M&S. Less well-known brand Miami nabbed the top spot, out-performing bigger brands including Beyond Meat, This, Meatless Farm and Future Farm.
Read on to find out how the supermarket versions compare, and what to know about vegan sausages before you buy.
Eat well, live better and stay healthy -Best vegan sausages
Only one vegan sausage brand impressed our testers enough to get our Best Buy recommendation, but several others weren't too far behind. Some of these are more widely available, so you might find them easier to track down.
Best Buy: Miami Plant-based Lincolnshire Sausages - 71%£3.50 per pack (£1.46 per 100g)
Miami sausages take the top spot in our frozen sausage taste test, with 64% of tasters saying they'd happily eat this sausage in place of a meat one.
Despite receiving an average score for their aroma, these sausages were the only ones that scored top marks for appearance, with some tasters highlighting the nice crispy skin. Tasters also loved the colour and moistness of these sausages.
Beyond Meat Plant Based Sausage - 68%£4 per pack (£2 per 100g)
Beyond Meat's plant sausage comes in just a couple of percentage points behind our Best Buy, and with good scores across the board.
As with Miami's sausages, 64% of tasters said they'd eat this in place of a meat sausage.
Tasters particularly enjoyed the thickness of these sausages, with an overwhelming 89% of them claiming they were ‘just right’.
Future Farm Vegan Sausages - 68% £3.50 per pack (£1.40 per 100g)
Scoring a joint 68% with Beyond are Future Farm’s vegan sausages, which come in a bit cheaper at £3.50 a pack.
They scored well for flavour, texture, aroma and appearance. Tasters particularly liked the thickness and colour of the sausages.
How vegan sausages from Aldi, Linda McCartney and more compare
Several other vegan bangers were considered decent by our tasters, although supermarket own labels tended to fall further down the table, and Linda McCartney's offering didn't impress tasters at all.
Meatless Farm Plant Based Sausages - 65%Currently out of stock, due to return soonThis Isn't Pork Plant Based Sausages - 65%Available from and .Aldi Plant Menu Ultimate No Pork Vegan Sausages - 63%Available from . Moving Mountains Plant-Based Sausages - 62%Available from Morrisons Plant Revolution Meat Free Sausages - 61%Available from M&S Vegan Plant Sausages Frozen - 57%Available from Linda McCartney Vegetarian Sausages - 45%Available from , , and *Meatless Farm sausages are currently unavailable in stores due to the brand being acquired by a larger company. Products should return to stores soon. Lidl sausages weren't available at the time of testing. - discover the tastiest meat-free optionsWhat are vegan sausages made of?
Vegan sausages are typically made from pea or soya protein, although some are mushroom based.
While most pork sausages these days are gluten free, we noticed that many vegan sausages weren't, so check the label before you buy if you have an allergy or intolerance.
Are vegan sausages healthier than pork sausages?
Vegan sausages aren't necessarily good for you just because they're plant based. They can have quite high levels of salt and sodium, and a different nutritional profile from the meat version (although these aren't exactly healthy either).
For example, our Best Buy vegan sausages have 1.81g of salt per 100g, compared with our Best Buy pork sausages from Tesco, which have 1.3g of salt per 100g.
However, when you compare fat content, Tesco’s pork sausages have a whopping 25.3g of fat per 100g, whereas the vegan sausages have around half that, at 12.6g of fat per 100g.
Can you get enough protein from vegan sausages?Yes - they typically have a little less than a pork sausage, but still a decent amount.
The recommended protein intake in the UK is 0.75g of protein per 1kg of body weight, making it on average 56g for men and 45g for women.
A couple of vegan sausages will help you towards this – most have around 11-13g protein for two sausages, versus around 15-26g for two pork sausages.
- see which supermarkets triumphed in our 2023 taste testAre vegan sausages more sustainable?
The general consensus among experts is that eating less meat is better for the planet.
Plant-based meat alternatives use less water in the manufacturing process than regular meat products, and emits less greenhouse gas into the atmosphere.
However, soya farming also has some issues. As a crop, soya has high demand for resources such as water, soil, energy and agrochemicals. Its growth and cultivation also contribute to deforestation in tropical South American countries, although this is partly to do with its use for animal feed.
Pea or mushroom protein-based sausages might be a better option if you're buying primarily because of environmental concerns.
For more on making great-value choices at the supermarket, head to our guide to the How we tested vegan sausages
The sausages were tested in June 2023 by a panel of 76 consumers who regularly buy and consume vegan sausages. The make-up of the panel broadly represented the demographic profile of adults in the UK.
The panellists rated the appearance, aroma, flavour and texture of each product and told us what they liked and disliked, whether they found the substitute to be convincing and if they would be happy to eat it in place of a meat sausage.
The taste test was blind, so the panellists didn’t know which brand they were trying. The order they sampled the sausages in was fully rotated to avoid any bias. Each panellist had a private booth so they couldn’t discuss what they were tasting or be influenced by others.
The overall score is based on:
Prices correct as of 21 July 2023
source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/best-vegan-sausages-aycxu3I0kv01