I’ve teamed up with Morningstar and BlogHer to bring you this post.
Here is the dialogue that took place between my husband and I after I handed him a plate of this and he took his first bite:
Todd: “Very, very good. Better than most sausage gravies you find in restaurants.”
Me: “Really?”Todd: “This gravy just has so much more flavor, much richer than a lot of the restaurant versions.”Me: “Awesome. It’s vegetarian.”
Todd: [Pauses and looks up] “Really? Wow, I wouldn’t have guessed it.”
So there you have it. The verdict of my official recipe-tester.
So now the challenge is on you: Judge for yourself! Make this fabulous meatless dish and then come back and tell us what you think!
Wholesome eating has always played a central part of my life. I married a physician and we continue to emphasize a healthy lifestyle (with the occasional indulgences for sanity sake – that’s where my philosophy as a mental health counselor comes in). And especially now that we have children, eating healthy is a priority. Not just in terms of what we do eat, but what we don’t eat. And that includes meat. We’re not vegetarians, but we do limit our meat intake and regularly incorporate meatless meals in our diet.
I’ve tried a variety of brands that feature meatless options and what I’ve found all too often is that with many meatless products you end up sacrificing flavor and texture. That has not been my experience with MorningStar Farms. Not only do they have a “clean” ingredients list (which is super important to me) and come packed with protein, their products taste great! And they’re very versatile in the wide range of meals you can make with them.
With over 30 different products and over 600 recipes, MorningStar Farms offers more ways to eat smart. Their vegetarian products come in the form of patties and links, but no need to limit yourself to… patties and links. The sky’s the limit in terms of what you can create with them. You just need to think outside the box (or scroll through their vast collection of recipes).
To give you a few examples, I recently used their Spicy Black Bean Burger patties to make a quick, healthy, satisfying, meatless Southwestern salad. I cut the patties into strips like I would with chicken, grilled them in the toaster oven, and then served them on a bed of lettuce with kidney beans, corn, and a spicy creamy Southwestern dressing. Another way I like to incorporate them into a meatless meal is to make breakfast burritos. I dice up the Spicy Black Bean Burger patties, scramble some eggs, saute some bell peppers and onions with spices, fry up some hash browns, and then assemble all of the goodness into a burrito shell, top it off with some salsa and sour cream, and roll it on up! One product, so many ways to use it.
Or, have you tried their Mediterranean Chickpea Burger? Slice it into strips and fry it up with onions, garlic and Greek seasoning, pile it into some fresh pita or flatbread with shredded lettuce, red cabbage and red onions, top it off with fresh tzatiki sauce and – voila! – you’ve got yourself a healthy, tasty vegetarian gyros!
MorningStar Farms is constantly creating new products and flavors and has recently introduced include their Roasted Garlic & Quinoa Burger, Buffalo Chik Patties, and Parmesan Garlic Wings.
Today I’m going to share a classic comfort dish that’s quick and easy to make and uses MorningStar Farms Original Veggie Sausage Patties.
Let’s get started!
Finely chop up the veggie sausages, onion, garlic, parsley, sage and thyme.
Heat the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat and cook the onions 8-10 minutes until golden and beginning to brown.
Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
Add the veggie sausage and cook for 4-5 minutes until lightly browned.
Sprinkle the flour over the mixture, stir to incorporate, and cook for a minute.
Pour in the milk (and heavy cream, if using), stirring constantly to prevent lumps.
Stir until smooth and add the vegetable bouillon, salt, pepper and cayenne. Bring to a simmer, stirring regularly, and cook until the sauce is thickened.
Add the parsley, sage and thyme and simmer for another minute. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve immediately over freshly baked biscuits and garnish with chopped fresh parsley.
Enjoy!
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 (8 ounce) package Morningstar Farms Original Veggie Sausage Patties, thawed and finely chopped
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2½ cups whole milk (for extra creaminess use 2 cups milk and ½ cup heavy cream)
- 1 cube vegetable bouillon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage (or ⅛ teaspoon dried ground sage)
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme (or ¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves)
- 8 freshly baked biscuits, cut in half (click here for Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits recipe)
- Heat the butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat and cook the onions 8-10 minutes until golden and beginning to brown. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the veggie sausage and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir to incorporate, cooking for another minute.
- While stirring constantly to prevent lumps, pour in the milk and heavy cream. Stir until smooth. Add the vegetable bouillon, salt, pepper and cayenne. Bring to a simmer and stir until thickened. Add the parsley, sage and thyme and simmer for another 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve immediately over the biscuits. Garnish with some chopped fresh parsley.
Chelsea says
I very rarely take the time to review recipes, but this definitely deserves the effort! I made it for a party and everyone enjoyed it, including the vegetarian hostess who requested the recipe.
For the liquid portion, I used the milk + cream option, and the texture was lovely – even despite the fact I only had 2% milk.
The only things I did off-book were to the veggie sausage: I massaged a little MCT oil into it to add back some of the fat that was lost from my milk being 2%. And because the flavor of these patties is good, but not quite ‘real sausage’ good, I rubbed it with a little extra sage, paprika, and black pepper (sprinkled it with probably no more than 1/8 tsp of each) before adding incorporating it into the gravy mixture.
The texture of Morningstar worked really well here. I also purchased Beyond patties as an accompaniment; they worked well as biscuit toppers, and while I’ll have to try it to be sure, my expectation is that they won’t work as well in the gravy as Morningstar because Morningstar inherently has a softer texture that lends really well to this application. It plays its part in the gravy, but doesn’t overpower it or feel like a separate component.
Lastly, the spice combo and measurements that the creator used here are just top notch. I had concerns about the chopped onion being too clumpy/noticeable in the mixture, but it blended very well with the sausage and the liquid to solid ratio was excellent. Apart from the spices I rubbed on the sausage itself (which wasn’t a necessary improvement so much as my approach to veggie sausage in general; I’ll have to make this again without them to know if they contributed any meaningful value, lol), I genuinely did have to add ANYthing else for flavor – not even salt! It was a weird moment when I tasted the finished product and just turned off the burner to prepare it for travel because I was completely satisfied with how it turned out.
Bonus: This recipe was super simple to double since all the units were single part. I even found the Morningstar patties in a 16 oz. box! And the directions (both written and photo) were very clear clear easy to follow.
5/5 will definitely make again!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Chelsea, I’m thrilled that you enjoyed this recipe and really appreciate you taking the time to leave this feedback – thank you!
Neil J says
Delicious! Great recipe to reduce my meat sausage consumption. Thank you😀
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thank you, Neil, I’m happy you enjoyed it!
Jessica says
If u have acid reflux like me use less cayenne. I learned the hard way. Also the sauce wasn’t thick so I had to add a mixture of water and cornstarch to thicken up. Aside from it being too spicy it was good
Margo says
We had been looking for something to fill the biscuits and gravy void after going vegetarian and this recipe was PERFECT! We doubled the amount of cayenne and used vegan chickenless seasoning salt and breakfast sausages from Trader Joe’s. It was delicious! Would highly recommend it to anyone.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Margo, thank you!
Brin says
I used cashew milk and avocado butter… It turned out great! This is a keeper.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Fantastic, Brin, thanks so much!
Chris W. says
I’m not vegetarian but my wife is. I make these for her every now and then and it has become a tradition to “make those veggie biscuits and gravy” now! She loves them and I can’t even tell that they’re vegetarian! Awesome!!!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
That’s wonderful, Chris, I’m so glad you both enjoy this recipe, thank you!
Anonymous says
AMAZING! it’s a family fave now
Susan O says
I had a taste for B&G, but I am trying to get to a mostly plant-based diet for hubby and me. I usually use a recipe triangulation involving the most stars combined with the most reviews. Seldom do I trust so few reviews: there are so few good vegiterian/vegan recipes that ACTUALLY taste good. THIS RECIPE IS AWESOME!! Hubby agrees. I’ve already passed it to family who like to cook. I’ll have to inspect this site for more awesomeness. If this recipe was that good, I hope to find more! I’ll be testing with non-dairy milk-products to make it vegan. Some tummies don’t like the dairy in this house.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m absolutely thrilled to hear that, Susan, thank you so much!
Susan O says
I made this the second time using almond milk, it was super-duper and NO GUT BUST! I kept the butter, but if made with a plant-based butter alternative can easily be made vegan. I encourage everyone to try it!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
So awesome, Susan, thanks so much!
LAURA says
Amazing recipe, easy to make and tasty spices, yum! My meat eating husband was scraping his plate clean. Exactly the recipe I was looking for, Thanks :)
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Fantastic, Laura, I’m so glad you both enjoyed it, thank you!
Elizabeth says
Delicious! This is going to be the go to gravy recipe in our house. So good!
I used a beef bouillon cube since that’s what I had, and it ended up being a touch overwhelming. I’ll probably only use part of a cube next time.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thank you, Elizabeth, I’m happy you enjoyed it!