You won’t find Trader Joe’s Italian Sausage-Less Sausage in the freezer aisle. It’s located in the refrigerated of the grocery store, alongside other, meatier sausages. That said, this is a dish that any frozen food fan will want to try. These sausage links are tasty, meat-free, and incredibly easy to prepare.
Each package includes four meat-free sausages. The sausages aren’t massive, but they’re definitely larger than your average grocery store hot dog. You have the option of heating each sausage in a pan or warming them up in the microwave. Both options take just minutes.
Our favorite thing about these sausages is how flexible they are. Because the links are pre-seasoned, they can easily be eaten on their own. A single sausage and a scrambled egg make for a fantastic high-protein breakfast. The sausages can also be sliced up and added to other frozen meals. We’ve tried them with Trader Joe’s Fettuccine with Mushrooms and Trader Joe’s Penne Arrabbiata and were impressed with the results both times.
Like most faux meats, this sausage-less sausage isn’t a perfect match for the real deal. Still, we think it’s pretty convincing, especially when it’s mixed in with other ingredients. The consistency is a lot sturdier than many of the other imitation meats we’ve tried, and the Italian seasoning combo gives it a strong, pleasant flavor. There’s no unappealing aftertaste here; we enjoyed every bite of every link we’ve eaten.
That said, the seasoning does mean that these sausages don’t go with everything. We’ve tried them in a stir-fry and didn’t love how they blend with soy sauce. We don’t like the way they taste with barbeque sauce either. Still, if you’re willing to stick to Italian food — or eat these sausages plain — they could easily become a vegetarian staple.
To learn more about the nutrition content, cooking instructions, or ingredients in these Trader Joe’s vegetarian sausages, check out our package scan below.
