These Tofurky sausages were actually my initial gateway to a world of vegan and vegetarian eating. I’d long seem them at shelves in various stores and had been perennially intrigued. Coupled with a personal desire to eat a little more healthily in general I thought I’d give them a try. I’m glad I did.
I remember initially not being exactly blown away, and if anything a little disappointed. It required a little bit of an expectation adjustment on my part. These weren’t drop in replacements for sausages, they are their own unique product, albeit handily in the same shape as a sausage. But curiously, I enjoyed the second much more than the first, likewise the third and fourth. Its telling that since then I’ve bought them again and again, and branched out to other brands and meat substitutes.
Taste wise, I am always surprised these are tofu based, they have much more of a seitan/wheat gluten make up than I’d expect from tofu. If you hate tofu – certainly give these a try, they are nothing like you’d expect; certainly not immediately identifiable as tofu to me. They have a very bold flavor actually, though despite these listed as Italian in flavor, I would exactly say they have a pronounced flavor of any particular merit. I find pan cooking helps over microwaving, to add a little crisp and char.
Texturally these are very meaty and exceptionally hearty. I once ate two for lunch and probably snoozed the rest of the day away. The robust texture would make these fine for dicing up into a pasta dish too. If I were to do that, I’d probably slice them, fry them separately (maximize those crisp edges!) and add to my dish at the end, with maybe an extra min or cooking in a sauce if needed.
Tofurky Original Sausage Italian – what’s in the package?
Remove the exterior cardboard and you will find four sausages sealed in the same plastic wrapper. Inside the plastic wrapper the sausages are in a little liquid, presumably to keep the tofu from drying out. As such, opening them can be a little messy. As you can’t reseal this plastic packaging I like to transfer them to a sandwich bag or similar in the fridge. I’m not sure how long you could keep these once opened, but I wouldn’t go too long, again they’d probably dry out.
Tofurky Original Sausage Italian
Here are a few different ideas for your Tofurky sausages. You’ll notice I haven’t particularly tried to stick with the general Italian theme as frankly I don’t think those flavors are overtly prominent to work with. In order here we have: a basic sausage on a pretzel bun with mustard and ketchup; a cross section of the same sausage; a Mexican themed sausage with pico de gallo and cilantro-jalapeno ranch; an Indian flavored sausage with cilantro and vibrant mango pickle.
Tofurky Original Sausage Italian – cooking instructions, nutrition, ingredients
These do more than fine in the microwave but like everything else, adding a little crisp and sear in the frying [an really does help. I’ve never tried the grilling option but I would be cautious. They’re robust to be sure, but do start to crumble as they heat and dry out; if you do grill I’d go with a high heat for a limited time – just char and heat through quickly.
Nutritionally these are surprisingly high in fat, so do keep an eye on that. Sodium is a little high as you will find in most products of this type – but wow – 30g of protein per sausage!
Tofurky Original Sausage Italian – packaging
Tofurky Original Sausage Italian – whats a fair price?
At the time of writing my local Walmart has these for $3.96 for the four pack. Priced at $1 per sausage or lower feels like a fair price to me.
Are Tofurky Original Sausage Italian good?
As long as you’re not expecting a like for like meat sausage experience, you might like these. They offer a robust, meaty texture and work just as well sliced up in a pasta dish as they do on a bun with your choice of toppings. Each of these sausages offers a huge amount of protein too, which definitely helps in adjusting to a meat free diet.
Hi, I’m Stuart, nice to meet you! I’m the founder, writer and wrangler at Gastronomic SLC – Utah’s biggest and oldest online food magazine; I’m also a former restaurant critic of more than five years, working for the Salt Lake Tribune. I’ve worked extensively with multiple local publications from Visit Salt Lake to Salt Lake Magazine, not least helped to consult on national TV shows.
I’m a multiple-award winning journalist and have covered the Utah dining scene for the better part of fifteen years. I’m largely fueled by a critical obsession with rice, alliteration and the use of big words I don’t understand. I started Shop Smart to catalogue my adventures in the grocery store and kitchen. Follow along on Instagram too!