Vegan Apple Sausage Sandwich (Gluten-Free)
Vegan Apple Sausage Sandwiches begin with healthy, gluten-free ingredients such as chickpeas and aquafaba (bean broth) and classic savory spices such as fennel, sage & garlic!
When planning a quick and casual healthy lunch or dinner that I know my family will like, I almost always land on one of our favorite sandwiches or wraps. There’s just something about a meal you can hold in your hands without looking like a barbarian that says, relax, stay awhile, enjoy yourself!
To me, sandwiches are the epitome of comfort and ease, and that’s what I find myself craving more often than not – familiar, comfortable, ease.
In this recipe article, we’re going to explore classic sausage spices because those are the ones we use in our vegan apple sausage patties.
We’ll also discuss using the aquafaba (bean broth) from the can of chickpeas; aquafaba acts a binder in this vegan sausage recipe.
After that, we’ll head right into the subject of how to cook your naturally gluten-free apple sausage patties to build your very first vegan apple sausage sandwich. By the way, once you try this recipe, it will become the only apple sausage recipe you’ll ever need!
And then we’ll dive into that all-time trendy topic of meal planning. I know, I know! But just as we mentioned last time in our recipe post sharing our crowd-pleasing breakfast of, quick and easy, blueberry baked oatmeal, planning is everything when it comes to staying on the track of choosing to eat nutritious foods that optimally fuel the body.
Once we’ve covered all there is to say about how to use this vegan apple sausage sandwich recipe as a part of healthy meal planning, we’ll share a couple of other ways we’ve thought of to use these satisfying, vegan and gluten-free sausages.
And last but never least, we’ll leave you with a few suggestions for more healthy recipes we believe you’ll enjoy!
Classic Sausage Spices Make Vegan Apple Sausage Sandwiches Sing!
When you read through the recipes we share; you may notice the common thread of seasonings and spices.
No matter how tempted Mike and I have been to post recipes using three ingredients to catch a few views and likes on social media, the truth is that flavor is something you have to build in a dish. Building fabulous flavor requires an ingredient or two that serves to introduce taste.
Here’s a simple example of what I mean: it takes more than salt and potato to make a genuinely memorable side of mashed potatoes. Not that there’s anything wrong with potatoes seasoned only with salt, it’s just they’re hardly noteworthy or memorable mashed potatoes.
But even when you know good and well that it requires more than salt and potatoes, it still excites something inside of you when we see that gorgeous food pic and recipe suggesting only two ingredients.
Most of us have an unmentioned hope where we want to believe that admirable outcomes are somehow effortless.
Like most tasty dishes, the truth is that delicious mashed potatoes, as simple as they are, require more than potatoes and salt. So in our chickpea sausages, we use various classic sausage spices to season our veggie sausage patties.
Most of the time, to make a praise-worthy, jaw-dropping, tastebud-exciting dish, it takes more than two or three ingredients.
What elements do you need to look for in a recipe to decide if it is going to be worth trying? Herbs, spices, and seasonings!
In the gluten-free sausage patties for this sandwich, we use classic sausage spices such as fennel, sage, and garlic.
Additionally, we also use red pepper flakes, a squirt of Bragg’s liquid aminos, fresh rosemary, sage, and poultry seasoning.
I know that last one may have your compassionate vegan and plant-based nutrition mind racing, so allow me to explain.
Flavor Packed Poultry Seasoning
First of all, poultry seasoning is simply a blend of herbs know to pair well with poultry. There are no chickens or animal products in the poultry seasoning in this delicious apple and chickpea sausage recipe.
The list of ingredients in Frontier Poultry Seasoning is as follows: organic sage, organic thyme, organic onion, organic black pepper, organic marjoram, organic celery seed, and organic cayenne.
Even though the very first ingredient in this poultry seasoning blend is sage, you’ll notice that we include the option of adding even more sage to this apple and chickpea sausage recipe. That’s because we happen to adore the flavor of sage in sausage!
We do suggest that you season the uncooked sausage mix with a bit of restraint. The characteristics of the classic sausage spices will intensify as the vegan and gluten-free sausage patties cook.
So, there’s a fantastic explanation for why our sausage recipe lists more than two or three ingredients; it’s called flavor!
We prefer for our plant-based vegan recipes to overflow with gush-worthy good flavors to create memorable taste!
Aquafaba (Bean Broth) Works Its Magic in this Vegan Apple Sausage Sandwich Recipe!
Though we mention the use of aquafaba in other recipe articles and realize it is no longer the newest buzz topic in plant-based cooking, it’s still rather fascinating! I’d even go so far as to say that whenever I use aquafaba bean broth in a recipe, the word magic tends to come to mind.
I mean, for years, and I’m talking decades, I dutifully drained and rinsed every drop of liquid from any can of beans I planned to eat. Now that I’m thinking about it, that’s odd when you realize that when you make homemade beans from dried beans, the broth is one of the tastiest parts!
Guess what holds the ingredients together in the chickpea sausage patties for our vegan apple sausage sandwich? That’s right – good old aquafaba bean broth makes everything take shape and stick together beautifully!
By the way, you can usually count on about six tablespoons worth of aquafaba in one average fifteen ounce can of chickpeas.
How to Cook Healthy Gluten-Free Sausage Patties
In this recipe, we chose to cook the patties on the stovetop rather than bake as we so often do as a means of oil-free cooking.
We chose to cook these on the stovetop because we wanted to be sure that our oil-free and gluten-free chickpea sausage came out juicy. I also think we were craving some good old stovetop sizzle!
So, here’s what you do to make gluten-free sausage patties. First, combine all of the ingredients, other than the cooking liquid, as the recipe below details.
Next, you shape the oat and chickpea sausage mixture into large balls, using about two tablespoons worth of sausage mix or more, and pat them into round patties. Think burger-size patties so that the bread to sausage ratio has balance.
You will find that the mixture binds together without much effort, and for that, we give another shout out to the aquafaba bean broth!
Then you get your lidded skillet /pan hot, add the cooking liquid, put in the round patties and a stem or two fresh rosemary if you have it. Alternatively, you could use just a bit of dried rosemary to infuse some more lovely flavor in the cooking liquid.
Flip the patties halfway through the cooking time, and there you have it; get ready to enjoy a wonderfully comforting plant-based, oil-free, gluten-free, vegan apple sausage sandwich!
Complete cooking instructions are detailed below in the recipe portion of this article.
Meal Planning is Easy with this Vegan Apple Sausage Sandwich Recipe!
In the article introducing our Blueberry Baked Oatmeal recipe, we share the idea of thinking ahead and meal planning as helpful management tools towards reaching the goal of eating healthier meals.
We’re happy to share that these apple sausages are ideal for meal planning since they freeze and reheat beautifully.
If you like, make a batch of gluten-free sausages on the weekend to use in various recipes throughout the week. Planning and having methods on hand, ready to go, make eating mindfully doable even when time is limited!
Beyond the Sandwich: 7-Fabulous Ways to Enjoy Delicious Apple and Chickpea Sausages!
In our recipe post for Creamy Vegan Rosemary Potatoes and Pasta, we gathered an extensive list of plant-based vegan comfort food recipes. Along with that list of comfort foods, we told you why those foods fell into the comfort food category even though they’re all recipes with a healthy-minded list of ingredients.
The list that follows includes ways that we imagine these gluten-free sausages will work beautifully to create more healthy meal options for you!
- A healthier version of biscuits and vegan sausage gravy is a stone’s throw away when you combine this sausage recipe, a recipe for biscuits of your choosing, and the deliciously creamy low-fat oil-free gravy in this recipe.
- Mix this healthy gluten-free sausage recipe with our stuffing muffin recipe to create sausage stuffing muffins for a hearty stuffing muffin-like no other!
- To switch up this vegan apple sausage sandwich recipe, add sweet peppers, mushrooms, and onions to the pan when cooking the plant-based sausages.
- Or maybe top your cooked patties with a little sauerkraut and crispy raw onions.
- You could also crumble your cooked gluten-free sausage and use it as a filling for tacos or burritos.
- Or serve these sausage patties alongside your favorite tofu scramble – breakfast style!
- And who can say no to a healthy gluten-free sausage meatball? Not me, especially if you package those meatless balls in a gluten-free bun and some no-cook sun-dried tomato sauce!
Since we mentioned gluten-free buns, we want to share that we get many of our gluten-free bread from DeLand Bakery. We do not receive any compensation for mentioning this bakery; we just like to refer it to share some gluten-free plant-based vegan love.
21-Tasty Recipes to Pair with Your Vegan Apple Sausage Sandwich!
Condiments and Spreads to Dress Your Sausage Sandwich:
Oil-Free Cashew Mayonnaise
Vegan Sunflower Seed Mayo
Cashew Parmesan Cheese Topping
Oil-Free Spinach Walnut Oregano Pesto
Maple Mustard Dressing, Dip, or Sauce
Creamy Cashew Garlic Cheese
Quick Pickle Cucumber Slices with Fresh Dill
Excellent Vegan Sandwich Worthy Sides:
Tarragon Dill Potato Salad
Jicama Slaw with Fresh Herbs & Arugula
Cucumber, Mint & Tomato Salad
Greek Chickpea Pasta Salad
Raw Broccoli Green Detox Salad & Avocado Dressing
Oil-Free Confetti Macaroni Salad
Mama’s Vegan Southern-Style Potato Salad
More Cozy Sandwiches and Wraps for You:
Pumpkin Seed Veggie Burgers
Vegan Tofu Egg Salad Sandwich
Tofu Curry in a Hurry
Carrot Hot Dogs with Crazy-Good Slaw
Green Veggie Sandwich with Cucumber, Sprouts & Avocado
Coconut Curry Salad Wrap
Vegan Tofu Lobster Rolls
Thank You For Sharing Your Valuable Time With Us!
There are at least a million and one places to read about plant-based vegan recipes and topics like sausage spices , yet you found your way to us, and we’re grateful!
If you ever have a question or helpful comment to share about our recipe post, please do! We love hearing from you, and your feedback is important to us.
Happy Eating!
Vegan Apple Sausage Sandwich (Gluten-Free)
- 10Prep:
- 20Cook Time:
- Yield: 8 Servings
Finally, there’s a delicious sausage sandwich you can feel good about eating! This vegan, plant-based, gluten-free, and oil-free apple sausage patty is a recipe you’ll treasure forever. It’s a simple dish to make – adjust the classic seasonings as you please to personalize your veggie sausage patties. Then, top your lovely sausage sandwiches with our suggested sandwich fixings to enjoy a hearty, satisfying meal! For even more tasty ways to use this easy, make-ahead-able veggie sausage, check out the helpful recipe ideas shared in the article above.
Ingredients
one medium-sized apple, cored and finely chopped
1 cup of old fashioned rolled oats, gluten-free certified, if needed
1 can of chickpeas, drained and liquid reserved
1/2 cup of walnuts, finely chopped - This is a terrific deal on three pounds of organic walnuts. We like to buy in bulk and store in the freezer to use as needed.
2 tsp of poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp of paprika
1/2 - 1 tsp of sage, to taste
1 tsp of fennel seeds, crushed - We use a mortar and pestle, like this one, to crush our herbs which releases flavor.
1 tsp of garlic powder - If you like the idea of having plenty of organic garlic powder on hand, try this one-pound bag.
- 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes, more or less to preference
4 to 6 tbsp of aquafaba (reserved bean broth), as needed
optional fresh lemon juice, just a squeeze, or about 1/2 tbsp or so - We have started keeping this brand of organic lemon juice on hand for times when we run out of fresh lemons.
- a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste - We always use this brand of pink Himalayan sea salt.
- BRAISING LIQUID:
1 to 2 cups of water or organic vegetable broth for braising
2 tsp of Bragg's Liquid Aminos, or tamari, or coconut aminos, or soy sauce, if gluten is not a concern
optional slices of sweet pepper to cook on the side of your patties
optional sprigs of fresh rosemary, or a pinch of ground rosemary
- SANDWICH FIXINGS: bread of choice, toasted if you like, mayo, tomato, sprouts, and lettuce - We love this sandwich with arugula lettuce and sprouts on toasted gluten-free bread that's smeared with our homemade oil-free cashew mayo or oil-free sunflower mayonnaise.
Instructions
In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients except the lemon juice, aquafaba bean broth, braising ingredients, and sandwich toppings.
After stirring to distribute the spices throughout the mix, add a bit of aquafaba until everything is moist and moldable. Taste and see if you'd like to add the optional squeeze of lemon. Add salt and pepper according to preference.
Shape the patties by pressing about two tablespoon's worth of oat mixture into a ball using your hands, and then flattening into a patty. (Getting your hands a little wet makes handling the ingredients easier.) Add just a little of the braising liquid, which is the water, or broth to a hot skillet and gently place the round patty into the skillet. After a minute or so, flip the patties while adding a bit more liquid to keep the patties from sticking. Add in the rosemary if using.
Then, lower the heat and add about one cup or so of water or vegetable broth and the GF liquid aminos, or GF tamari soy sauce, or regular soy sauce, or GF coconut aminos - whichever one you're using. Cover and simmer up to 15 minutes, keeping watch that the patties stay moist. You may opt to flip your patties halfway through to keep the heat even.
At the end of 15 minutes, for a crispier patty, discard any cooking liquid and crisp them up. Get the now empty pan hot and briefly brown the patties on each side. We tend to skip that part unless we're craving edges because, by this time, the moist and juicy browned patties smell amazing and look absolutely devour-able! Make your sandwiches on your bread of choice and top with the suggested ingredients or personalize them how you please. You may also cool to room temp and store in a covered container in the freezer and use as needed. It's helpful to separate the cooled patties with a sheet of parchment paper before freezing so that you can remove the patties one at a time, as needed, with ease.
Notes
In this recipe, we suggest adding a bit of lemon juice when tasting and adjusting the seasonings to preference before cooking. If you like, you could also use a bit of whole lemon puree as described in this recipe.
Since this is a very forgiving recipe, so do not fret about things such as apple size. When you taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking, you can compensate for more or fewer pieces of chopped apple. Trust me; you've got this!
We use this lidded iron skillet pan for cooking our vegan and gluten-free apple sausages.
And this is the food processor we use to chop the apples for this vegan sausage recipe.
To squeeze the lemon, this is our favorite tool on the planet. We went through two of the bright yellow ones before finding this one, which seems like it will last longer than either of us.
- The nutritional info below is for the patties alone since everyone is free to make their sandwich as they please.
Nutrition
% DV
- Total Fat 5.5 g 8 %
- Saturated Fat 0.5 g 3 %
- Cholesterol 0 mg 0 %
- Sodium 126 mg 5 %
- Carbohydrates 23.2 g 8 %
- Fiber 4.8 g 19 %
- Sugar 3.1 g ---
- Protein 6.1 g 12 %
- Vitamin A 2 %
- Vitamin C 1 %
- Iron 9 %
- Calcium 5 %
Vegan Apple Sausage Sandwich (Gluten-Free)
BY VEEG.CO
Ingredients
one medium-sized apple, cored and finely chopped
1 cup of old fashioned rolled oats, gluten-free certified, if needed
1 can of chickpeas, drained and liquid reserved
1/2 cup of walnuts, finely chopped - This is a terrific deal on three pounds of organic walnuts. We like to buy in bulk and store in the freezer to use as needed.
2 tsp of poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp of paprika
1/2 - 1 tsp of sage, to taste
1 tsp of fennel seeds, crushed - We use a mortar and pestle, like this one, to crush our herbs which releases flavor.
1 tsp of garlic powder - If you like the idea of having plenty of organic garlic powder on hand, try this one-pound bag.
- 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes, more or less to preference
4 to 6 tbsp of aquafaba (reserved bean broth), as needed
optional fresh lemon juice, just a squeeze, or about 1/2 tbsp or so - We have started keeping this brand of organic lemon juice on hand for times when we run out of fresh lemons.
- a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste - We always use this brand of pink Himalayan sea salt.
- BRAISING LIQUID:
1 to 2 cups of water or organic vegetable broth for braising
2 tsp of Bragg's Liquid Aminos, or tamari, or coconut aminos, or soy sauce, if gluten is not a concern
optional slices of sweet pepper to cook on the side of your patties
optional sprigs of fresh rosemary, or a pinch of ground rosemary
- SANDWICH FIXINGS: bread of choice, toasted if you like, mayo, tomato, sprouts, and lettuce - We love this sandwich with arugula lettuce and sprouts on toasted gluten-free bread that's smeared with our homemade oil-free cashew mayo or oil-free sunflower mayonnaise.
Instructions
In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients except the lemon juice, aquafaba bean broth, braising ingredients, and sandwich toppings.
After stirring to distribute the spices throughout the mix, add a bit of aquafaba until everything is moist and moldable. Taste and see if you'd like to add the optional squeeze of lemon. Add salt and pepper according to preference.
Shape the patties by pressing about two tablespoon's worth of oat mixture into a ball using your hands, and then flattening into a patty. (Getting your hands a little wet makes handling the ingredients easier.) Add just a little of the braising liquid, which is the water, or broth to a hot skillet and gently place the round patty into the skillet. After a minute or so, flip the patties while adding a bit more liquid to keep the patties from sticking. Add in the rosemary if using.
Then, lower the heat and add about one cup or so of water or vegetable broth and the GF liquid aminos, or GF tamari soy sauce, or regular soy sauce, or GF coconut aminos - whichever one you're using. Cover and simmer up to 15 minutes, keeping watch that the patties stay moist. You may opt to flip your patties halfway through to keep the heat even.
At the end of 15 minutes, for a crispier patty, discard any cooking liquid and crisp them up. Get the now empty pan hot and briefly brown the patties on each side. We tend to skip that part unless we're craving edges because, by this time, the moist and juicy browned patties smell amazing and look absolutely devour-able! Make your sandwiches on your bread of choice and top with the suggested ingredients or personalize them how you please. You may also cool to room temp and store in a covered container in the freezer and use as needed. It's helpful to separate the cooled patties with a sheet of parchment paper before freezing so that you can remove the patties one at a time, as needed, with ease.
Notes
In this recipe, we suggest adding a bit of lemon juice when tasting and adjusting the seasonings to preference before cooking. If you like, you could also use a bit of whole lemon puree as described in this recipe.
Since this is a very forgiving recipe, so do not fret about things such as apple size. When you taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking, you can compensate for more or fewer pieces of chopped apple. Trust me; you've got this!
We use this lidded iron skillet pan for cooking our vegan and gluten-free apple sausages.
And this is the food processor we use to chop the apples for this vegan sausage recipe.
To squeeze the lemon, this is our favorite tool on the planet. We went through two of the bright yellow ones before finding this one, which seems like it will last longer than either of us.
- The nutritional info below is for the patties alone since everyone is free to make their sandwich as they please.
Leave a Comment
Comments
it’s amazing
I made it for lunch, and I got the same taste of a meat patty
but I missed simmering it for 15 minutes.
I sautéed it with soy sauce, water, and olive oil for 2 minutes each side
Thank you for sharing your method, Fatima; so glad to hear how much you enjoyed this recipe!