These vegan currywurst are a meat-free take on the popular German street food. Slices of steamed seitan bratwurst are served in a rich curry ketchup sauce for a devilishly delicious delight.
Nicola and I have done a lot of travelling together (perks of Niccy being a travel blogger), but easily one of our fondest memories is from visiting various Christmas markets in Hamburg and Nuremberg in Germany.
Think endless sparkling lights, warm log stalls, brightly-coloured carnival games, steaming goblets of Gluhwein and Eierpunsch, and random performances of local folktales (Hamburg had Santa appear on a suspended sleigh above the market… pretty low-key stuff).
And of course, particularly for Nicola and I, probably the best part of it all… the food. There were endless, soul-warming, hearty, utterly delicious street-food options available, and somehow, despite the fact that we were pretty much constantly eating, there was always room for more.
Maybe it was the freezing temperature that made a few extra layers seem pragmatic more than anything, but we really managed to get through a lot of treats a day. Our friend Kate has spent some time in Germany and is pretty much fluent in German (she was in a German immersion class at school), so we thought it was only right to invite her and her husband Paul over for dinner when we got round to cooking a dish for Germany.
As well as having someone to teach us the German ways, it also gave us the excuse to go hundies on our cooking and produce our own Christmas-market inspired feast. The centerpiece to the meal was a vegetarian version of currywurst made with seitan sausages. However, we also made Schupfnudeln (potato and semolina dumplings), garlic-sauce slathered Champignons (mushrooms) and Eierpunsch, a delicious alcoholic beverage somewhere between eggnog and a hot apple cider.
READ: 21 Food & Drink you must try at the German Christmas Markets
Making Vegan Currywurst with Seitan Bratwurst
Despite how bizarre these vegan seitan bratwurst might look and sound, they are actually very quick and easy to make. For the curry ketchup sauce, you simply blend all the ingredients together and set aside. The shaping of the actual seitan sausages is surprisingly easy, as the texture is very malleable but also sticks together quite nicely. Just make sure to twist up the tinfoil as tightly as possible to ensure it cooks properly. Word of warning- watch out when you are unwrapping the bratwurst. The first sausage I unwrapped literally exploded in my face. I mean… no one wants sausages exploding in their face…
How to make vegan curry ketchup sauce
Whisk together ingredients for vegan curry ketchup sauce until smooth. Leave to cool in the fridge as you make seitan bratwurst.
How to make seitan bratwurst
Preheat oven to 180C and line a tray with baking paper. In a large bowl, combine vital wheat gluten, chickpea flour, nutritional yeast, onion powder and paprika in a bowl.
In a blender, pulse together mushrooms, garlic, mustard, vegeteble stock and soy sauce until combined. Pour blended wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir until combined. Knead with hands for 2 minutes until a soft dough forms.
Divide dough into 4 pieces. Roll into sausage-shaped logs, then wrap very tightly in foil. Twist each end tightly in opposite directions.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, flipping them over 15 minutes in. Remove from oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes. Remove from tinfoil, and slice each sausage into 1.5 cm thick discs. Place in a serving dish, top with curry ketchup, and serve with toothpicks.
Ingredient notes for vegan currywurst with seitan bratwurst
- Vital wheat gluten- Let’s be honest, it sounds terrifying and it can be damnably difficult to come by seitan’s main ingredient. Thankfully, you can now find it in various mainstream supermarkets in the health-foods section, and at speciality stores.
- Chickpea flour – if you don’t have access to this, you can substitute with another type of flour of your choice.
- Nutritional yeast – sub with parmesan if you prefer a non-vegan option, or marmite for a similarly savoury kick.
- Soy sauce – you can also use coconut aminos or marmite.
Serving suggestions for vegan currywurst
You can serve vegan currywurst alongside some bread to help mop up the sauce. Or, you could skip the curry ketchup, and serve the seitan bratwurst in a bun, hot-dog style. We served ours alongside a number of other German dishes, e.g. Schupfnudeln (little potato and semolina dumplings served with butter and sage) and garlic-sauce slathered Champignons (mushrooms).
Other European dishes to try:
- Käsespätzle Recipe: Mac and Cheese from Austria
- Draniki Recipe: Mushroom-Stuffed Potato Cakes from Belarus
- Vospov Kofte Recipe: Lentil Kofte with Salad from Armenia
Liked this vegan currywurst recipe? Pin it for later!
