Vegetarian Sausage Rolls with Puff Pastry (Without Cheese!)

Rich and delicious Vegetarian Sausage Rolls made with buttery puff pastry and not a lentil in sight – hallelujah! There are no meat substitutes in this easy recipe either, just breadcrumbs, veggies and lots and lots of flavour.

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I wanted to create this recipe to round out my collection of sausage roll recipes. I’m not veggie and I’m obsessed with actual sausage rolls. But like most of us, I bake and cater for other people too and not everyone shares my omnivore tendencies.

I have eaten vegetarian rolls in the past and I’ve very rarely been excited – bland and a bit dry seems to be the overriding issue. So I did lots of research and testing to create this recipe which has a lovely texture and all the umami flavour they needed. And I have to say I’m very pleasantly surprised at the result – I ate pretty much the whole batch I photographed in a few days.

These veggie rolls are ideal for a buffet, party or everyday snack. Anytime you don’t want to be serving or eating actual sausage. They’re not vegan because of the egg but that’s easily solved by substituting the egg in the recipe for olive oil and brushing with a plant milk instead of egg wash.

How to Serve Vegetarian Sausage Rolls

It is difficult to be swayed from the idea that fresh-from-the-oven is the greatest way that any pastry based snack can be enjoyed. And these really aren’t any exception. Extra crisp on the outside but soft and yielding on the inside is just sublime.

But life is not always kind enough to allow us these luxuries of prefect timing! And luckily, these veggie rolls are still perfectly delicious served cold.

Or room temperature anyway. I feel like a broken record writing this on a vast majority of my recipes, but cold from the fridge food is rarely going to be at its best. Just allow them 20 minutes to lose that flavour-dulling chill and then dig in.

As for where to serve sausage rolls, well the options really are endless. As a snack or side, they’re great for buffets, lunchboxes, picnics or grabbing as a mid-afternoon pick me up. To make the presentation fun or festive, use the shaping instructions to make a veggie version of my Sausage Roll Wreath with Puff Pastry.

But they can be the basis of a meal too. These would be great as part of a veggie ploughman’s lunch with pickle, salad, cheese and crusty bread. Or served hot with chips and beans for a quick lunch or dinner.

Ingredients for Vegetarian Sausage Rolls

Pastry

I’ve created this recipe using puff pastry because I have a little obsession. But it could just as easily be made with shortcrust pastry. Now I do on occasion make my own puff pastry from scratch which is just magnificent. But like I suspect you will, I more often than not use the shop bought ready rolled sheets.

I have developed a preference with shop bought pastry – I like the good stuff. After years of buying the supermarket own-brand versions, I finally realised that the jus-rol brand stuff was actually much better. The all-butter version the best still. So if you can go branded (look for when its on offer), please do. And if you can’t – any pastry is better than no pastry!

Vegetables

Leek, carrot, onion and mushrooms make up the main bulk of these vegetarian rolls. You don’t need anything special or fancy, but you need need to make sure that they’re chopped very fine.

I used fresh veg but frozen would work well. As you are going to chop it in the processor, you will largely need to allow it to thaw first.

Seasonings

The recipe uses fresh garlic paste, ground paprika, fresh or dried oregano, sea salt and a vegetable stock cube. This adds interest and a deep rich flavour to the rolls.

You can vary this to suit tastes but I would beg you to use either a veg or mushroom stock cube (or stock pot) as the base.

I use garlic paste that I buy in a jar but you can make your own by peeling fresh garlic and mashing it on a chopping board with the flat side of a large knife. A sprinkle of sea salt will help with this process.

Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs provide some extra bulk in the filling but also serve to make it a little lighter and have a better texture than if the whole thing was made from veg. Plus along with the egg, it helps to bind everything together.

Fresh white breadcrumbs, dried breadcrumbs or panko all work in this recipe. What I do need you to avoid is the very powdery kind that come in tubs – this isn’t going to help the texture or flavour!

Make these Sausage Rolls Vegan

The clue is in the name with this one, these Vegetarian Sausage Rolls are indeed vegetarian. Although to be fair, the word sausage is a little misleading.

They are not however vegan. I do have a dedicated recipe for Vegan Sausage Rolls which is a copycat of the Greggs bakery version. But that uses fake meat rather than this veg based option. So you may well look to veganise this recipe instead.

Most standard bought puff pastry is actually vegan – check the packaging and avoid the all-butter type and you should be fine.

The only true non vegan ingredient is egg but it is used in two ways, each which needs to be replaced differently. Firstly the egg in the filling can be replaced with some vegetable or olive oil – half a tablespoon for each half egg. Secondly the pastry can be brushed with a plant based milk or cream rather than egg-wash.

Allergy Friendly Veggie Sausage Rolls

This recipe is free from nuts and dairy.

Gluten Free Vegetarian Sausage Rolls

Gluten free pastry is relatively easy to get hold of nowadays. If you can’t find it in the fridge section, you can usually find it in the freezer. So that is the place to start.

The breadcrumbs in the recipe will also need to be replaced with a gluten-free version. You can increasingly buy ready made breadcrumbs but you may need to make them yourself. Simply blitz dry gluten free bread in the food processor to make homemade crumbs.

The last thing to be cautious about is the stock cube – please don’t assume that they are gluten free as they sometimes are not – just check the packaging to be sure.

Egg Free Vegetarian Sausage Rolls

The substitutions that you need to make here are exactly the same as if you are looking to make a vegan version – check the notes above. Except the pasty bit – you can still use the good buttery stuff.

Equipment Notes for Veggie Sausage Rolls

Any sausage rolls are generally pretty simple to make. But as we’re making the filling for these from scratch, we do need to use a few more bits and bobs to get there.

The biggest of which is a food processor. I’ve recommended using a processor to make quick work of chopping all the veg. If you don’t have a full size processor, you can get the job done using a nutribullet type blender or a mini chopper. You might have to work in batches this way.

If you have no electrical assistance, you can chop by hand but you will need to make sure you take your time and chop everything extremely fine.

You can cook the filling in any saucepan, frying pan or even cast-iron skillet. The thing to consider is that everything cooks much faster in a thinner layer. So as you’ll be able to see in the recipe below, a shallower larger pan is better in this case than a smaller, deeper pan.

A silicone pastry brush is my preferred way to brush the egg over the pastry. You can use a more traditional pastry brush with hair. Just make sure that you don’t lose any of the hairs as you go. I have certainly been known to use a new and clean paintbrush to speed up the job!

A comprehensive list of the equipment used to make this recipe is included in the main recipe card below. Click on any item to see an example. There are no hard and fast rules so many items can be sensibly substituted to achieve the same results.

Get Ahead

Any sausage roll is brilliant to get ahead with. There are several options about how far you do it, and to what stage.

Firstly you can make and freeze the filling. Making a big batch and freezing it flat in bags marked with the number of rolls the filling will make would be a very smart move.

Next you can make the rolls to the point just before baking. Free freeze the rolls on a tray then move to a smaller airtight container or bag. You can cook the frozen rolls from frozen (reduce the oven temp by 20c and bake for longer, you’ll see when they’re ready).

You can also allow them to thaw then cook as normal.

Lastly you can freeze the finished baked product. Simply allow to thaw and then they’re ready to eat cold or be warmed up.

If you don’t need to get that far ahead, you can make the rolls and store them covered in the fridge for anything up to 48 hours.

Leftover Veggie Rolls

Leftovers can be snacked on for several days after baking. Store covered in the fridge. They will lose some of their crunch.

To reheat leftovers, you can use the microwave – again this will not keep them crunchy. So you can also heat them through in the oven. My favourite way is to heat them in my airfryer.

Puff Pastry Vegetarian Sausage Roll Tips

You do need to keep your pastry cold. If by the time you have been able to roll out the pastry sheet, if it is feeling especially soft, pop it back in the fridge (flat) for 10 or 15 minutes. Or the freezer for no more than 5.

This recipe makes 12 well stuffed veggie rolls. So you need to make sure that your pastry rectangles and filling are as even as possible along their whole length. Bulbous bits of filling might mean that the pastry will struggle to meet itself. And the same is true if the pastry is cut too thin.

Talking of stretching the pastry, this is fine to do to make sure that the seal is secure. Make sure to follow the instructions in the recipe to seal the seam. It might seem like a faff but it takes no time at all.

Wet your hands when mixing handling the veg filling. This will stop it sticking to you like crazy.

Don’t forget to let me know in the comments if you try making this recipe – I want to know what you think and if you made any substitutions, how did it turn out?

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The Recipe

Vegetarian Sausage Rolls with Puff Pastry (Without Cheese!)

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Rich and delicious Vegetarian Sausage Rolls made with buttery puff pastry and not a lentil in sight – hallelujah! There are no meat substitutes in this easy recipe either, just breadcrumbs, veggies and lots and lots of flavour.

5 from 10 votes

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KEEP SCREEN ON

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Chilling Time30 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Servings 12

Author Chloe

Equipment

• Wooden Board
• Rolling Pin
• Mixing Bowl – Extra Small
• Food Processor
• Sharp Knife – Large
• Silicone Pastry Brush
• Baking Tray – Large
• Baking Parchment
• Frying Pan – Medium
• Measuring Spoons
• Measuring Scales

Ingredients

 

MetricUSA Measurements

 

0.5x1x2x4x

For the Filling

• 100 g Onion
• 100 g Carrot
• 100 g Leek
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 tsp Sea Salt Flakes
• 120 ml Water - divided in half
• 200 g Mushrooms
• 1 Vegetable Stock (Bouillon) Cube
• 2 tsp Garlic Paste
• 2 tsp Paprika
• 2 tsp Dried Oregano
• 50 g Dried Breadcrumbs - not the orange powdery kind
• 1 Egg

For the Veggie Rolls

• 320 g Puff Pastry
• Dried Oregano

Instructions

 

Prepare the Filling

• Peel and roughly chop 100g Onion and 100g Carrot. Wash and roughly chop 100g Leek.
  
• Place the vegetables into a food processor or nitribullet type blender and blitz until everything is finely chopped.
  
• Place a frying pan or skillet over a medium heat and add 1 tbsp Olive Oil Tip in the chopped veg and stir to coat it in the oil. Add 60ml Water and 1 tsp Sea Salt Flakes. Fry gently for around 3 to 4 minutes until veg is starting to soften. The water will evaopate off as it cooks.
  
• Meanwhile, add 200g Mushrooms to the same food processor (no need to wash it) and blitx until chopped.
  
• Add the mushrooms to the frying pan along with 1 Vegetable Stock/Bouillon Cube, 2 tsp Garlic Paste, 2 tsp Paprika and 2 tsp Dried Oregano.
  
• Continue frying over a gentle heat for another 3 to 4 minutes. The mixture will feel quite dry and this is fine. Keep moving it around the pan so it doesn't stick.
• Add 50g Dried Breadcrumbs and 60ml Water to the vegeatables. Stir well until everything is combined.
  
• Turn the filling mix out into a small mixing bowl or plate, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes until the filling is no longer warm.
  

Make & Bake The Vegetarian Rolls

• Preheat the oven to 200 °C 220 °C or equivalent.
• Roll 370g Puff Pastry out on a floured surface to about 0.25 inch thickness. Or unroll a sheet of ready rolled pastry.
  
• Cut the sheet into half lengthways with a sharp knife.
  
• Crack 1 Egg into a small bowl and whisk well. Carefully pour half of the egg into the cool filling mixture. Stir well to combine.

  Note – If you have increased the serving quantity of this recipe. you will not need as many eggs as the recipe is going to adjust to. You will need ½ an egg for every 12 sausage rolls. And another ½ egg for glazing.
• Spoon the veg mixture around ⅔ of the way along each pastry strip. Make sure it reaches from end to end. You can mold the mix into the right shape. Try to make sure the mix is evenly split between the pastry pieces and along the length of each pastry strip.
  
• Use a pastry brush to cover the large side of exposed pastry with the remaining beaten egg.
  
• Start to roll the pastry around the veg mix starting with the unwashed smaller top section. Keep the pastry nice and tight to the filling.
  
• Continue to roll until the filling is totally sealed. Wet your finger a little and gently press along with pastry seam – this will allow the pastry to meld together and reduce the likelihood of the pastry coming apart as it cooks.
  
• Use a sharp knife to cut the end off of each roll to neaten it up if needed. Cut each roll in half and then each half into three. Use the knife to saw rather than press down or you will squash the rolls.
  
• Use a sharp knife score incisions along the top of each roll. This will allow the pastry to expand and air to escape.
  
• Move each roll to a lined baking tray, seam side down. Make sure the rolls each have ample room to expand.
  
• Generously egg wash the top and sides of each veggie roll. Make sure to not wash the exposed ends or filling.
  
• Sprinkle a little Dried Oregano over the rolls.
  
• Bake for 15 minutes until light golden brown. They may need slightly longer depending on your oven. Use your eyes and judgement. If your oven does not cook evenly, turn the tray midway through cooking.
  
• Carefully move the rolls to a cooking rack, allow them to cool a little before digging in!
  

Notes

If you don’t have a food processor, you can hand chop the vegetables instead – just make sure to take your time and get everything chopped as small as possible.  .

Nutrition (Approx)

Calories: 176kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 352mg | Potassium: 158mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 1721IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 1mg

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