When The Irish News was in Donegall Street in Belfast, it had a great canteen where I’d lose count of the number of sausages I ate daily.
This was during my pre-vegetarian phase and as I slowly removed meat from my diet, sausages were last to go.
The idea of plant-based anything appears baffling to many - why eat something that pretends to be meat and is ultimately not as tasty?
I’ve tried enough in the last five years to conclude they can be as appetising, provided eaten almost straight from the grill.
Most supermarkets carry their own plant-based brands, so I tried the following on my sausage quest.
Tesco Plant Chef Cumberland Style Meat-Free Bangers - Rating ♦♦♦
I’m a big fan of Tesco’s plant and veggie range. Its frozen Herby Bangers are the best for a sausage sandwich, while for years it had exclusivity on the Wicked Kitchen range, which boasts great chorizo-style bangers.
Its Plant Chef Cumberlands are herby, peppery and brown nicely. £2.30.
Read more: The comfort foods our journalists swear by
Asda OMV! Deliciously Vegan Butcher Inspired No Pork Sausages - Rating ♦♦♦♦
There was a moment of terror, when it was apparent Asda’s Plant Based range has been downsized, given a colourless makeover and the only sausages are mushroom-based. I cannot abide mushrooms.
After deciding I’d try a couple of bites to suffer for my art, I learned Asda has a vegan ‘sub brand’ called OMV!.
Its no-pork sausages are made from soya protein “blended with a pinch of classic spices”, which are more subtle than overpowering. £2.95.
M&S Plant Kitchen Vegan British Bangers - Rating ♦♦♦
Another shop to scale back its vegan range is M&S. Its Plant Kitchen range no longer has its own section. Instead, each product sits beside its meat or dairy counterpart.
Provided you have the patience to seek them out, the British Bangers are succulent and flavour-packed. They are made with soya and seasoned with black pepper and sage. While I enjoyed the flavour, they were quite soft. £3.75.
Read more: We tested own-brand biscuits for a brew
Sainsbury’s Plant Pioneers chorizo style sausages - Rating ♦♦
My luck ran out at Sainsbury’s where all three Plant Pioneers options are mushroom heavy. After scrutinising the three labels, I opted for chorizo style on account of them only having 24% mushrooms.
I figured the paprika might mask any mushroom flavour, which it did very well, but my loathing of fungi extends to texture. So while there was a nice, smoky flavour, I struggled with the texture. £2.50.
Why no fifth sausage?
While the original plan was to try five different shop own brands, ‘Veganuary’ no longer seems to be a big deal.
Lidl’s big push for the month appeared to be ‘protein’ as opposed to vegan products. Its offer leaflets are packed full of foods with ‘protein’ slapped onto the labels.
In October 2024, Lidl announced that it would more than triple its plant-based food offering after seeing a huge growth in sales, but in “select UK stores”.
After searching three stores for its Vemondo Cumberland-style sausages, I came away empty-handed.
Similarly, Co-Op’s Gro range is hit and miss and my local shop had nothing.
The bigger supermarkets carry plenty of other meat-free brands, with Richmond (both frozen and fresh) among the best of the lot. They could pass easily for ‘real’ meat.
