Do you ever have one of those experimental recipes that randomly comes to you out of no where and leaves you crossing your fingers it comes out?
That’s exactly what happened with these Vegan Sausage Balls.
And you know what? No finger crossing was needed. They came out awesome! Maybe I’m a real cook after all. 
The inspiration began with this package of Tempeh I had in the fridge.
I’ve been toying with the idea of creating tempeh sausage patties for a while. I have a new love affair with Fennel Seeds and was convinced I could create a faux sausage using the fennel seeds to season the tempeh. Of course, just creating sausage patties wasn’t enough for me. I had to take it one step further. Enter Vegan Sausage Balls.
You’re going to want to bookmark this recipe – it’s good one.
Vegan Sausage Balls
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 1 package Tempeh
- 1/2 chopped Red Onion
- 1.5 tbsp Fennel Seeds
- 3 minced cloves of Garlic
- 2 + 1 tsp Salt
- 3 tsp Pepper
- Dash Red Pepper
- 1 tbsp Thyme
- 3/4 cup WW Flour
- 3/4 cup AP Flour
- 2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 cup Nutri-Yeast
- 1/4 + 1/2 cup Water
Preheat the oven to 350
Begin by adding the vegetable oil to a hot pan
Crumble the tempeh
Add the red onion and garlic
Let the onion sweat a little before adding the fennel, 2 tsp of salt, pepper, and thyme.
The ‘sausage’ mix should cook for 5-10 minutes or until the crumbles have a little color. Feel free to add a little water if mix looks too dry.
Once the ‘sausage’ is complete you can start on the rest of the sausage ball batter by combining all the dry ingredients (flours, 1 tsp of salt, & baking powder) in a big bowl.
To give the vegan version of sausage balls a slight cheesy taste mix a 1/2 cup of nutri-yeast in a separate bowl with a 1/4 cup of water.
Add the nutri-yeast to the flour mix, as well as another 1/2 cup of water and the ‘sausage’
Mix well! And don’t be afraid to add more water as needed.
You want a slight doughy texture – not too wet and not too dry. Just enough to be able to form ping pong size balls.
The dough should make just over a dozen and a half balls. Give or take depending on how you size them
Bake at 350 for 18 minutes.
Voila! Vegan Sausage Balls!
I told you it was a good one!
Now hand one to the closet family member and see if they can tell if there’s tempeh or sausage in there.
Ok, so they probably will know the difference, but I promise they won’t spit it out! These babies are good!
I had four for dinner this evening on top of a mix of Spinach, Tomato, and Mushrooms with a homemade dressing of Deli Mustard + EVOO + Balsamic Vinegar.
I thought the sausage flavor really came through on these. If you don’t have fennel seeds, I think sage leaves would work too.
For dessert I had a mini German Chocolate Cupcake and 1/2 a Chocolate Mousse Cupcake left over from our Sweet! run last night.
I forgot how much I love creating new recipes. I need to do more real recipes on here. Maybe that will be a new goal for 2011?
Good night friends!
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