This article was written 23.03.08, I’ve since learned these sausages have undergone a name change! They’re now called Field Roast Italian Garlic and Fennel Sausage. They’ve also got a new look.
Out of Field Roast’s limited sausage flavours, these Italian sausages were my favourite.
I’m not exactly sure when it happened, but at some point ‘Italian’ started to mean ‘spicy’, so I’m less eager to try Italian flavoured foods now.
That said, these sausages are pretty good! They actually remind me of the Tofurky Italian sausages (which are now also spicy?), though if you can definitely tell the difference between them.
For starters, these sausages are definitely spicier than Tofurky’s. That’s not to say they’re overtly spicy – someone with a higher spice tolerance might not even be able to taste it – but with the Tofurky ones, you don’t get the spiciness until you go to swallow. These ones, you can tell they’re spicy while you’re chewing.
If you were to stab these with a fork and hold them up, they’d definitely sag, but they wouldn’t break like the Tofurky ones. Their firmness is somewhere between the Tofurky and Beyond Meat sausages. This also means they’re fairly soft to bite through. Their firmness is about on par with firm tofu.
They also don’t have a ‘skin’ you need to break through, so if realness is something you’re looking to avoid, you’ll want to grab these over the Beyond Meat ones.
These Field Roast sausages are also pretty light colour. Similar to their Smoked Apple and Sage flavour, they’re more grey-brown than dark ‘meat’ brown.
With only 4 to a pack, their $8.99 price (Good Rebel) is a tad on the expensive side, but if you wait until they go on sale, or buy them as a special occasion instead of a staple, that shouldn’t be a problem.
All in all, these sausages get the job done and are sure to satisfy your craving, even if they won’t fool a meat eater.
If you’ve been around here before, you’ll know I can not handle spicy foods. I have a very low spicy tolerance, and very, very rarely eat spicy foods willingly.
That said, when the Beyond Meat Hot Italian Sausages came to Canada, I knew I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to review them.
I first tried these sausages back in March of last year (2021), and I have to say, I was actually pleasantly surprised!
Similar to the Beyond Meat Burgers, these sausages had a very similar texture to meat sausages (or at least, from what I remember) and even seemed to have a ‘skin’ or casing on them.
These sausages are very meaty tasting, and smelling. Which is great, if that’s your thing! If you’re looking for a plant-based alternative to replace meat products without compromising on taste or texture, these are definitely the sausages for you!
As I’ve said in previous reviews, I’m a fan of plants that taste like plants. Give me a mushroom burger that tastes like mushrooms, and I won’t complain. These sausages, as well as the Beyond Meat burgers… honestly, I think it’s amazing that we can make plants taste that close to meat products, but it’s just not really my thing.
I don’t know quite what it is, but even just smelling the ‘meat’ smell makes me mildly nauseous. Like my body is screaming no, don’t eat that! at me, even though I know it’s made out of plants, and is not a dead body.
For me personally, it’s too close to meat for me to be a big fan of them, or to add them to my regular shopping list. Once in a while is fine, but I really can’t handle them more than that. I just don’t crave that meaty taste – even back before I went vegan, I stayed away from pretty much every meat that wasn’t chicken/turkey, because I just didn’t like the taste – so it’s actually not surprising that I still don’t really dig that flavour.
Beyond Sausage close up
Not only were these sausages super meaty, but they also definitely lived up to their Hot name. They were spicy. Like, take three bites and burn the back of my throat spicy. Now, as said above, I have a very low spice tolerance, so you may not find them that spicy, but honestly, these messed up my digestion I imagine the same way eating hot wings messes with other people. It was not pretty, nor fun.
Even just thinking back to eating them is making me want to chug a bunch of water. I definitely am a bigger fan of the Mild sausages, though I also found those spicy. Not as bad, but they definitely still had a kick.
I did notice however, that if I chopped up the sausages and mixed them into something else, it did significantly reduce the spicy effects. So, that’s also an option, if you’re worried about how spicy they are.
Beyond Sausage cut up in a Mr. Noodle stir fry
One thing I definitely don’t like about these sausages, is the packaging. They come in a cardboard container, that’s wrapped in plastic. Also, they only come 4 to a package. I’ve complained about this in other reviews, but seriously, if you want to offer that little in a package, at least have a bigger packaging option. Why not make them available in an 8, or hell, even a 6 pack would be better.
Beyond Meat now makes Breakfast Sausages that come in an 8 pack, so I don’t understand why these big ones can’t also. I’m not for sure on this, but the breakfast links also appear to come in a cardboard box, instead of plastic, which again begs the question: why can’t the big sausages come the same?
I know this review may seem like it’s negative, so I want to be clear: I’m in no way trying to trash this product. I think it’s amazing and crazy that Beyond Meat has figured out a way to make plants taste that close to meat products. It’s truly an incredible achievement, and said above, if you’re someone who’s looking to quell your meat cravings without eating the real thing, you would be hard pressed to find a better sausage than these.
These sausages aren’t something I personally will be buying very often, but I’m still definitely recommending them!
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These cute little sausage rounds are perfect for breakfast sandwiches!
Gardein makes 2 kinds of these breakfast sausage patties: original, or maple. And, with me being in Canada and all, I figured I should probably test out the maple ones first. I’ve seen tried both and love both flavours, but the maple beats out the original when talking strictly about breakfast.
There’s just something very pleasing about sliding one of these maple-y goodness rounds onto a freshly toasted English muffin, and topping with cheese. The flavour combo is amazing, and if you haven’t tried them, I definitely recommend doing so!
… Sorry, I just really love maple sausages.
Getting back on track: 5 patties come in one bag, and considering how small they are – and how big the bags Gardein uses – they could easily fit more than 5 in these bags. In fact, to save freezer space, I’ve actually done this. 8 patties comfortably fit, and if you really try, you can fit 10 in one bag. That said, considering they’re usually about $6.99 (Loblaws) and they’re often on sale, it makes them a pretty good deal, in terms of vegan food.
One down side of these patties is that since they’re loose in a bag, they freeze together, which usually wouldn’t be that much of a problem. Except, that because these are covered in maple syrup, it makes it harder to pull them apart when you want to use them. Also, because of the maple syrup coating, it will leave a sticky residue in your frying pan when cooking. This isn’t that much of a big deal, but if you’ve never cooked anything with maple syrup on it before, be warned: you’ll want to immediately soak the pan with some water. Dried maple syrup is very hard to get off of things.
Don’t let that discourage you, though! The maple flavour is more than worth the little bit of extra effort!
Now, it’s been a long time since I last had ‘real’ maple breakfast sausages, but from my (6 year) memory of them, these patties taste the same. The only difference being, they’re in a patty form, instead of cylinders. The texture is nice and not overly chewy, and if you wait long enough not to burn your tongue, the maple syrup adds a nice sweet flavour to whatever breakfast sandwich you’re eating.
Your house will also smell amazingly maple-y after cooking them, so you get breakfast, and a bonus! Who needs candles?
There’s not really much else I can say about these, other than that you definitely need to try them, and the Original flavour, too. (Though those ones will be getting their own review in the future)
Gardein Maple Breakfast Sausages: have you tried them? What’s your favourite way to eat them? Let me know in the comments below!
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