One of the simplest meat alternatives I have found that packs the most flavour is sunflower seed sausage patties. I know you might be saying “how can you make a sausage out of sunflower seeds?” but I assure you this is well worth trying.
One of the greatest things about this sunflower seed sausage is the convenience. Once you have blended together the ingredients you can leave it in a bowl in the fridge and take out what you need, as and when you need it.
There are a variety of ways to serve these sausages and calling them sausages doesn’t really do them justice. I have called them sausage but really it would be more of a patty or sausage crumble. In fact, you could also use this sunflower seed mixture as a minced meat substitute with a few tweaks.
Being made of sunflower seeds there is, of course, all the nutritional benefits of eating such a nutrient-packed food.
Adding Flavour To Sunflower Seeds
The real key to this recipe is adding layers of flavour to the sunflower seeds which are already quite flavourful.
Rich, savoury flavours like miso paste, soy sauce, onion, sun-dried tomatoes and herbs combine to bring a meaty and sausage-like flavour.
Depending on what spices and herbs you use you can tweak the sausage to your liking. You may want to add lots of garlic and smoked paprika to make a chorizo style sausage or use dried sage, nutmeg and mace for a traditional English sausage. The flavours are completely up to you.
Getting The Texture Right
The trick to making this sunflower sausage is creating a texture that can be formed and shaped into patties or crumbles that can then be fried and still hold their shape.
To do this you will need a food processor and you can basically combine all the ingredients along with the sunflower seeds and blitz them into a firm paste-like consistency with all the seeds broken into small pieces.
It is this consistency that gives you a firm and malleable texture that can be shaped by hand into patties or pressed, crumbled or rolled.
Sunflower Seed Sausage Patties
A flavourful and versatile sauage patty or crumble mix that can be shaped and cooked really simply.
Ingredients
- 250g sunflower seeds
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 onion (diced)
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 30g sundried tomatoes (in oil is fine)
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp miso paste
- 1 tsp dried sage
- 1 tsp fennel seeds (crushed)
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a pan and cook the diced onion for 5 - 6 minutes until softened. Turn off the heat and allow to cool
- In the bowl of a food processor combine the sunflower seeds along with the onions and all of the other ingredients.
- Pulse the food processor to break up the seeds and form almost a firm ball of the sunflower mix. Scrape the sides as required and make sure no piece is really bigger than a grain of rice.
- The sunflower seed sausage is now ready. Take out a spoon full and shape into a patty or use a press to shape them (use a plastic wrap in the press to prevent them sticking). Heat a little oil on a pan and fry for a minute or two on each side.
- Alternatively, fry the sunflower sausage without shaping it to make sausage crumbles.
Notes
The sunflower seed mix can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Take out and shape and cook as needed. It will last around a week
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
10Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 163Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 1761mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 3gSugar: 2gProtein: 6g
How To Use Sunflower Seed Sausage
The beauty of this recipe is that there are so many ways to use these seed sausages.
You can shape the mix into patties either by hand or using a burger press. The patties can then be fried for a minute or so on each side to heat through and served as is.
the mix can be crumbled into a hot pan and lightly browned. The sausage crumbles can then be used almost like a seasoning to sprinkle on salads, soups, stews and so on.