Beyond Meat is well known for being something both carnivores and vegans can agree on. This original style sausage is sure to be among one of those things.
Now available nationwide at Whole Foods, this sausage is a brat-sized, very authentic plant-based meat product, and like the Beyond Burger, you’ll find it in the meat section of the grocery store (a section most vegans don’t want to visit, but it’s well worth it for the Beyond Meat products).
In fact, it’s a little freaky how meat-like these sausages are; they are pink and very pork-like in the package, and they sizzle and crisp in the pan (they’d be even better cooked outside on a grill).
As you can see in the photo above, the sausages come with a casing, made of alginate (derived from algae). It is, as the Beyond Meat website reads, “a natural product and 100% plant-based.” The casing allows the outside of the sausage to crisp, while inside the “meat” (the protein in these sausages comes from pea protein, as well as fava and rice proteins) is juicy and satisfyingly fatty.
As a vegan who doesn’t miss meat products, I enjoyed these sausages a lot, despite their authenticity. I would bet omnivores could not tell the difference if they were not told they were made from plants. Either way, they are a great way to make an easy dinner — and they would be fabulous on the grill, when weather allows.