Vegetarian Hot Dogs

The last time I ate a hot dog was upwards of five years ago, on a boiling summer day, at a baseball game. Nothing sounded better than a hot dog and a cold beer, and boy, did they both hit the spot. There’s no denying that, whatever’s in hot dogs (shudder), they taste pretty darn good.

Since then, I think I’ve tried every vegetarian faux-hot dog on the market, and I have never been impressed. Not only are they just as processed as regular hot dogs (albeit without the objectionable animal products), but they just don’t taste very good. They tend to be rubbery and limp and flavorless – not something you want to sink your teeth into at a ballgame, or a barbecue, or anytime at all.

About as attractive as I’d imagine the goo to make real hot dogs, but healthier.

When I went on the hunt for a veggie hot dog recipe I could make at home, my list of criteria made me less than optimistic:

  1. No soy isolate/overprocessed meat replacer
  2. Must have tons of flavor
  3. Must be able to stand up to grill
Grill, baby, grill – but first, steam, baby, steam.

I honestly thought I’d have to try to Frankenstein a hot dog out of whatever I could find in the fridge until something worked – luckily, I was saved by this absolutely perfect recipe. Relatively easy and actually really fun to make, these look, smell and taste about 100 times better than any store-bought fake hot dog – and even give the real deal a run for its money. Once I figure out how to smuggle a few of these into a ballgame, I’ll be a happy camper. In the meantime, right now is the heart of grilling season – whip up a batch of these for your next barbecue, or just to have on hand for a quick dinner.

4.9 from 16 reviews
Vegetarian Hot Dogs
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Make your own vegan hot dogs!
Yield: 9 hot dogs
Ingredients
  • 5 Tbsp (30g) almond meal
  • 9 oz (250g) firm tofu
  • 2 Tbsp soy sauce
  • 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • ½ medium onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 Tbsp smoked paprika OR several generous dashes liquid smoke
  • 1½ tsp granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ¾ tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp ground mustard
  • ½ tsp nutmeg
  • ½ tsp ground cardamom
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1⅛ cup vital wheat gluten
  • 1 tsp cornstarch
Instructions
  1. Crumble tofu into the bowl of a food processor.
  2. In a liquid measuring cup, measure the 2 Tbsp soy sauce and add enough water to get to the 100mL line. Add to food processor.
  3. Add almond meal, oil, onion, garlic, paprika/liquid smoke, sugar, salt, pepper, coriander, mustard, nutmeg, cardamom, and cumin to the processor and pulse until smooth, about two minutes. Pour into a large mixing bowl.
  4. Add vital wheat gluten and cornstarch to the mixture and stir to combine. Knead gently - the mixture will be soft but you'll see strands of gluten forming.
  5. Divide the dough into nine equal pieces. Roll each into a rough hot dog shape (doesn't have to be perfect). Wrap each dog in parchment paper and then aluminum foil. Twist ends of the foil shut.
  6. In a large pot with a steamer insert or basket, bring enough water to just under the steamer to a boil. Arrange your hot dogs in the steamer - close together is fine, and it's okay if they're touching.
  7. Cover and steam for 45 minutes. Turn off heat and let cool in the pot, uncovered.
  8. To cook, unwrap hot dogs and simmer in water for five minutes, or fry in a frying pan, or throw 'em on the grill until hot and pretty with grill marks!
  9. Serve on buns with ketchup, mustard, relish, diced onions, or your favorite hot dog topping.
Notes
If you're soy-free, some readers have had success subbing butter beans for the tofu - pinto or cannelini would probably work just as well.
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 1 hot dog Calories: 185 Fat: 9g Saturated fat: 1g Carbohydrates: 9g Sugar: 1g Sodium: 108mg Fiber: 1g Protein: 15g Cholesterol: 0g

Source: Thrifty Living

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144 Responses to Vegetarian Hot Dogs

  1. Ok, now you’ve stirred my curiosity! I LOVE hot dogs, never tried the veggie dogs, but I have a vegan friend who’s coming to camp next Saturday for our “belated” 4th of July celebration and these sound perfect.
    Where would one get the “unusual” ingredients?
    ie: almond meal & vital wheat gluten? Is that something I should be able to find at Peter’s Cornucopia???

  2. I am allergic to Almond but would love to try these, any idea of how I could supplement it? Thanks 🙂

    • Hi Lulu! I think you could use flax meal or oat flour – the almond meal is used as a binder and for consistency and I would guess that either of those would provide a similar texture. If you try it, let me know how they turn out!

      • hey July–nice to meet you–so pretty
        first time on this site accidentally —
        you seem like a good cook and nejoy well–come have a party here

    • Oh – forgot to mention that you don’t have to hunt down oat flour, you can just buzz regular rolled oats in the food processor until they are a flour-like consistency. Happy hot-dogging!

  3. This looks delicious! Do you think I could find vital wheat gluten in Colorado? I’ve never seen it around (or even heard of it) but I definitely want to try these out. 🙂

  4. Found this via VegWeb on Pinterest. I’m so stoked to make these — think they’d hold up on a stick over a campfire? That’s the one time I break down and buy yucky processed ones because you just have to have a hot dog on a stick over a campfire!! 🙂

    Note on Vital Wheat Gluten for Maddie and anyone else: most every big supermarket carries it in the baking section because lots of people add it to bread recipes. I’ve never had a problem finding it in any grocery chain here in Utah, and if all else fails, I know you can get it in Whole Foods or Sunflower if there’s one near where you live in CO.

    • I do think they would hold up! Just make sure to steam them fully, and then keep them refrigerated until you’re off to go camping. And thank you for the additional info on where to find vital wheat gluten! Hope you enjoy these.

    • I haven’t tried so I can’t tell you for sure…the gluten is kind of what binds everything together, so I don’t know what a good gluten-free sub would be, as I’m not super experienced with GF baking. You could try a GF flour with some xanthan or guar gum for additional binding. If you do try it, let me know how it turns out.

  5. I am not too fond of buying the processed meat replacements either, so I am happy to have found this recipe. I’ll have to give this a try, you make them sound really good.

  6. I would love to try this but don’t have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen so need to make the most of it when I do. Can the recipe be doubled and the hot dogs frozen? Thanks.

  7. I’m incredibly excited about making these. Fingers crossed it’s going to be a big hit with my boys. One question, do you have to use the parchment paper?

    • Hey Allison! I’d be a little worried about them sticking to the foil if you don’t use the parchment. You might be able to spray the foil with a little cooking spray before wrapping them and steaming, but I can’t vouch for the results since I haven’t tried it that way. Good luck – hope you enjoy!

  8. But what is the casing made out of exactly?? I have to make a vegetarian sausage (hot dog) as part of a Culinary product development course, I am struggling for ideas and because I have never made a veg sausage, struggling to gain the knowledge of where to start! Do you have any other recipes at all or any advice for me? Would be greatly received, Sincerely Jak C-B

  9. The kids and I did not like the veggie dogs found in grocery stores around here, so when I saw this recipe I was very hopeful once again to finally be able to have a decent hot dog…

    The kids (6 and 8) helped me rolled them and they thought it was better than play dough… My daughter wasn’t crazy about the look of it-called it dog poop while helping with the blender, but she ate 2! Even my husband (not vegan) had some. I think the liquid smoke won him over.

    I did make the mistake to use wax paper (was out of parchment paper) but it still worked perfectly… Beside the yummy taste, I really liked the fact that they hold very well.

    Thank you so much for the recipe!

    • I’m so glad you enjoyed them! They are a staple around here – and I can definitely see how they’d be extra fun to make with kids.

  10. For those that can’t tolerate soy products, I’ve substituted butter beans for the tofu and balsamic vinegar for the soy sauce. This is one of my favorite recipes. They do taste great!

  11. What a wonderful recipe! At presenting I have 9 hotdogs in the steamer. I found this recipe really easy to follow, great idea about the tofu to add texture. Many thanks. We are all awaiting hot dogs for dinner tonight x

  12. My husband recently joined me in my quest to be vegetarian/vegan, but corn dogs used to be one of his favorite guilty pleasures. Any way I could turn these into corn dogs? Any tips, have you tried it?

    • I haven’t tried but I was actually thinking about this just the other day – it’s on my to-do list. When I try it, I’ll certainly post about it!

  13. I am not using the same kind of food processor you have… can you elaborate on how much water needs to be added (you said up to the 100ml line – mine does not have one).

    • Angel, my food processor doesn’t have one either. Use a standard liquid measuring cup to measure out the soy sauce, and then fill with water to the 100 mL line. Then pour that into the food processor.

  14. Just made these (eating them right now). The texture is perfect! The tofu/ gluten flour combination is just perfect for something that holds together, but not like the seitan rubber that some recipes give you. Really nice texture!

    I’m not a big fan of cumin, so I’ll probably use less or none next time, but that’s just a personal preference. Great recipe! I’ll definitely be playing around with this in the future to get the spices just how I like them. Thanks!

    • Lila, really glad you enjoyed them! I love the texture of these too. I might try to do corn dogs with a batch this weekend.

  15. I’ve been searching for a vegie dog recipe for so long. I used to love Loma Linda’s Linkettes, but when they were bought out be Kellogg they started making them with GMO soybeans. (And other unhealthy stuff). But nothing was satisfactory until now. These dogs are wonderful. Served on homemade whole wheat rolls with my homemade green tomato hot dog relish. Perfection! Thanks so much for this recipe. My quest is over.

  16. Rather than steaming these, could they be baked? My experience with steaming is limited to a handful of veggies.

    • Hi Melanie, I think it’s important to steam these – the steam heat is what gives it the texture. I think baking would making them much dense and chewier.

  17. Thank you so much for this recipe. I had family members eating them alongside their steak kabobs and saying how good they are! I thought the recipe might be a little complicated when I started, but they came together quite quickly. I steamed them in my eletric pressure cooker and they came out perfect! I’m happy to hear they freeze well. I will never buy the rubbery processed (and expensive) packaged veggie dogs again. I might add some hot pepper next time to spice them up!

  18. I loove hot dogs and its one of the foods i used to enjoy prior to becoming vegetarian, i cant wait to try this but…i have a dumb question, I keel hearing “gluten free” when roaming vegan blogs is this wheat gluten okay to eat? What is the deal with gluten? Tahanks for helping a newbie :))

    • Hi Dawn! Not a dumb question at all. Gluten free and vegan don’t have to go hand in hand – gluten is the protein found in wheat and many people have allergies or intolerance to it. However, it is not an animal product and can be enjoyed to its fullest on a vegetarian diet 🙂

      • Thanks! That helps a bunch. I would have made them anyway, but it’s helpful to know! I’m going to make them for 4th of July campout at our property. Yum.

  19. I just made these and they came out very mushy, with no bite to them at all. Is that how they are supposed to be? Or should I steam them longer or add more gluten? Just wondering if you had this same problem.

    • Hannah, I’m sorry they didn’t turn out well for you! I’ve never had them turn out mushy 🙁 Maybe try a little extra gluten and/or make sure the tofu you add isn’t too wet? I’m sorry I don’t have better troubleshooting tips – have never had this problem.

    • I had the same problem the insides turned out mushy so i’m kind of worried about trying again,not sure what to do.

      • Hi Cliff – unfortunately I don’t have much advice as I’ve never had this problem. You could try adding a bit more gluten, or wrapping them more tightly? Other than that I’m not sure how to troubleshoot this!

      • I haven’t made them with tofu, but use butter beans as a replacement, and have never had them turn out mushy. I steam them for the prescribed time, rolled in parchment, then foil, cover on tight and steaming at just under medium.

        • I’m glad they’re still working for you, Diana! And thanks for the great tip on butter beans for all the soy-free folk who might want to make these – I’ve added a note to the recipe to indicate that as a potential substitution.

  20. My kids/husband/I loved this. I subbed ricotta for the tofu (GMO fears / non fermented soy fears) and it worked great. Will try the above suggestion –butter beans — next time!

  21. I just love these, made a double batch stacked them in , on top of eachother and all and they came out awesome. (def. not mushy. I suggest making sure you do cook them for 45 min. I’m about to make them for the second time and as I’m out of a lot of the spices I’m going to change these up a bit. I doubt they’ll come out any different except the flavor —and the texture is most important. They are so much like the “tofurky” types I’d guess they are almost identical… THANK-YOU! a new family fav has been found!

    • KD, so glad they turned out well for you. I think changing up the spices is a great idea – once you’ve got the texture down this lends itself to any sort of sausage variation. Chipotle, sage, the possibilities are endless!

  22. I can’t wait to try these! Need the weather to cool a tad since we don’t have A/C. I’m having fun trying to find a veggie steamer of all things. Wal-Mart next week is my next place to try. 🙂 If I can’t find a steamer, I’m going to poke some small holes in aluminum foil and drape it into my large pot.

      • Hi Julie,

        Yes! Finally tracked one down at the WalMart. Living in a very tiny town is interesting sometimes. 🙂 Tomorrow is hot dog day!!

  23. Made the dogs yesterday and ate them last night. Fabulous! Hubby loved them, too. Can’t do soy so subbed the butter beans. Didn’t taste “beany” at all. Going to try ricotta one of these days, too. The texture was just a tiny bit dry (maybe because of the drained beans?), so next time I’m going to just use 1 cup of vital gluten flour and see how that goes. But over all — love them love them love them! Thanks Julie!!

    • Hi Laura – I did not, but I usually use a high-protein tofu from Trader Joe’s that isn’t very liquidy. It certainly won’t hurt to press it. Enjoy!

  24. these are wonderful! I made them for the second time tonight. I just realized I left out the oil on accident, but I think I like them even better without! They seem to be more firm. I made veggie chili earlier today so we are having chili dogs. Yum! Thank you for this recipe!

  25. regarding steamers, I use a large bamboo steamer from an asian grocery store…works a treat and is cheap, too.

    • Hi Pauline, I’m not sure if this would work because the steaming is what cooks them. If you’re asking if you could use a premade casing and then boil them, I’ve never tried and I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it. Seitan needs a longer cooking time than a traditional hot dog. You could try but I can’t vouch for the results.

  26. Awesome!! I will try this!! Anyone got a good recipe for tofu/ vegetarian hamburgers??? ;=\>

    • Well, I can’t do tofu so I sub butter beans for tofu in the hot dog recipe (YUM!), but there are some fantastic veggie burger recipes out there!

      Here’s one that super easy and very tasty:

      oat burger

      3 c water
      1/4 c soy (or tamari) sauce
      1 T veggie broth
      2 T “chicken” or “beef” seasoning
      3 T nutritional yeast
      1 T garlic powder
      1 T onion powder
      1 t salt

      1 onion and 1 c mushrooms diced in processor

      3 c oats
      1 c walnuts (ground in processor)

      combine 1st and 2nd sets of ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Pour in oats and ground walnuts and stir together. Let cool. Make burgers or ground “meat”.

  27. I don’t understand why you didn’t give credit to the author of the recipe? Nava Atlas wrote the recipe… You did say you found it right? At least you could say that she publishes many cook books…. she writes wonderful recipes.. All of these people are thanking you and even asking you questions and you don’t know the answer to them because…. IT is not your recipe. It is from her website Veg Kitchen with Nava Atlas.

    • Hi Toni, I believe you are talking about the recipe on VegKitchen here: http://www.vegkitchen.com/recipes/veggie-hot-dogs/

      VegKitchen actually contacted me and asked if they could use my recipe and photos, and I gave them permission to do so. The content you see on VegKitchen for this recipe is my content – not the other way around.

      As far as knowing the answers to questions regarding modifications to the recipe, it’s my policy to not give firm replies on what works and what doesn’t when it comes to subbing ingredients or changing cooking methods unless I have personally tested that substitution or method. I would hate to say “sure, bake instead of steam, it’ll be great!” if I haven’t tried it, and end up ruining someone’s dinner.

      • What a thoughtful, courteous response to someone so rude! Gotta love people who spout off at the mouth without knowing what they’re talking about. You’ve made a fan out of me with the way you handled Tony. I would not have been able to be quite as nice as you were. As for the recipe itself, I can’t wait to try it! I’ve been trying to find a good veggie hotdog recipe for years, and there is nothing online until I found this today. The reviews are so consistently good too! Thank you, Julie!

        • Thanks for stopping by and for the kind comment, Rocky. I hope you love these as much as I do when you get around to making them 🙂

          • Julie, you’re welcome! I plan to make these to take along with me to a music festival next month…I’ll let you know how they turn out! I do have one quick question, though…do you think it would make much of a difference to replace the teaspoon and a half of granulated sugar with something like 3/4 of a teaspoon of local honey? I realize they would no longer be vegan, but I’m okay with that lol.

            • I haven’t tried that, but I would think it should work fine since it’s only a tiny bit of extra liquid. I don’t think the sugar is absolutely essential either, so if you want to leave it out completely without subbing in anything else, I think that would be fine too.

  28. I’ve been looking for a vegan hot dog recipe for a while now because I live where it’s summer most the year and we Luke barbecues lol. I tried a few brands but ended up hating them because they tasted so rubbery and plastic. Cannot wait to try this one! So glad I found it on Buzzfeed. Thank you for posting this!

  29. Just found this recipe yesterday and made it today. Wow. It was delicious and I can’t believe I made them! It was surreal. I grew up vegetarian and veggie hotdogs were a real fave around our house. But we always bought them.
    These were easy – I kept expecting something to go wrong but they turned out great. Tasty too.
    Thank you for sharing.

  30. I just tried these…made a double batch! (8 would barely get us each a taste in this house!) And I love them! Had no dried mustard or almond meal…substituted cashews which I ground in the food processor first…and they seem to be wonderful! I might add a touch of sage…not sure…but, definitely gonna share this and make it again!!! Much less expensive than buying them…and more nutritious!!!

    • Faith, so glad to hear they worked out for you! Adding sage would be great. I bet by subbing in sage and adding some dried apple bits you could get pretty close to the Field Roast Apple Sage “sausages.”

    • Hey Chris – in this particular recipe, the gluten flour is really the key ingredient. The high level of protein is what binds it all together and gives it its consistency.

      I know there are some gluten-free premade veggie dogs on the market that are GF, like SoyBoy Not Dogs and Lightlift Tofu Pups, but since you’re here you were probably trying to avoid buying the premade kind. I have unfortunately not come across any GF veggie dog scratch recipes, and didn’t have much luck googling. Hope you’re able to find something for your friend!

  31. I made them yesterday for dinner with my 5 years old boy! he was so proud of the final result! they were wonderful and Daddy could not believe that they were not coming from the grocery shop. we modified a bit the ingredients cause we didn’t have almond meal, instead we add cashewnut made powder.
    Congratulation!
    Wonderful recipe!

  32. I think you could sub tomato paste for oil in the recipe to make it oil free. I learned this from a similar recipe for Italian sausages by Vegan Dad and it works great.

  33. Thank you for the recipe! I just made these and the taste was awesome but i was not a fan of the texture. They were really mushy inside. I didn’t let them cool all the way before pan frying. Do you think that’s why?

    • Hi Maria – I do think it’s important to let them cool completely. They continue to steam inside the foil after you remove them from the heat.

  34. This looks awesome. I’m making it for dinner tonight with some yummy sauerkraut -which I’ve been craving for God knows how long. Could I use SILKEN firm tofu in this recipe? Thanks!

    • Hi Sarah! I haven’t tried it with silken tofu, but I think it should work. Make sure to press out as much liquid as you can before adding it.

  35. Left out oil by mistake, came out fine. This recipe certainly nails the texture of ball park hot dogs, but the taste–not so much. I guess I will have to experiment with spices to arrive at something more appealing to me. I’d certainly increase the smoked paprika and or liquid smoke. Maybe it is the cumin I don’t care for, not sure. However, loaded with onions, sauerkraut, mustard, these were ok on a bun. I will experiment with the basic mix, as the texture is really hot dog-like. Thanks

  36. Had another dog, and think it is the cardamom I don’t care for, not the cumin, as I originally said. I will tweak the spices and stick with experimentation, because the texture is excellent. I may also try with less tofu, as I prefer a firmer texture approximating kosher dogs vs. ballpark franks. All-in-all, the recipe is a good find for me, so thanks. Geo.

    • Thanks for sharing your results, Geo! This definitely lends itself well to endless tweaks with the spice combinations and flavors, and from other people’s comments, it’s turned out to be pretty adaptable in terms of tofu amounts, oil omission, etc.

  37. I am SOOOO excited I came across this recipe! I made the switch to a vegetarian (soon vegan!) lifestyle almost two weeks ago and came to a sad realization yesterday: I’ll be stuck eating corn on the cob and salad at this summer’s bbq’s 🙁

    So excited that I now have an option for some “meat”! I’ll definitely be making these and keeping them in the freezer so I can whip them out on short notice 😀

    Would I freeze them after steaming and before the final cooking step?

    Thanks!

    • Kayla, yep, you would steam them, cool them down, then freeze. When you’re ready to use them, thaw and throw on the grill.

      Congratulations on your move to a veg life! I’ve found that having solid subs for meat at events like barbecues really helps ease the transition 🙂

  38. This looks really good! I have one question though. Since I don’t live in America, I’m not used to measuring in “cups”. How much is 1⅛ cup of vital wheat gluten in grams? I know there are conversion charts on the internet. Should I look at the section for flour and stuff? These vital wheat gluten are new to me, so it would be helpful if I could at least have the right amount. Thanks!

    • Hi Melissa – it should be about 135 grams (I converted it from the back of my gluten flour package so that should be accurate).

      • Awesome, thanks. Now, once I get my hands on those vital wheat gluten, I can start cooking. I’m curious!

  39. Sorceress! Where have you been all of my life?! My 3 year old son loves hot dogs and sausage (my ex husband feeds him meat). I’m excited to have my son try these! Fingers crossed.

  40. I made these with xanthan gum in place if the gluten flour as I couldn’t find it anywhere. Don’t try this!! Haha, did not work out at all! The mixture was slimy and so hard to wash off everything, and the texture of the finished product was slimy too. On the positive side they did look good, and I did taste the mixture before I added the gum though and it was super tasty! I will be trying these again if I can manage to hunt down the gluten flour…

    Thanks for sharing! 🙂

  41. So good! I substituted the almond meal with wheat germ because it was handy, and the final product was amazing. Thank you so much for this recipe!

  42. These look great, but I really do need to find a substitute for the vital wheat gluten that will actually work, because both my son and my husband must be gluten and soy free for health reasons. They both tolerate most meats well, but I try to serve meat-free meals fairly frequently too. I think soy free Burmese tofu will likely work just fine with this recipe. But any suggestions for the binder that also would duplicate the measured volume of the vital wheat gluten? Otherwise the recipe proportions will be imbalanced. A cup and a half of xanthan would be awful!! Also, xanthan is usually used for baked goods, not generally as a binder for meat and meat substitutes. I thought of possibly using Agar, which works great for making deli-type cold meat slices for sandwich fillings etc, but I doubt it would retain much binding ability when exposed to boiling or grilling the vegan hotdogs. And there again, Agar is measured in teaspoons, not cups! Thanks for your expertise and input!

    • You’re better off finding storebought meat substitutes. Xanthan gum and agar are NOT anywhere near the same as vital wheat gluten and most certainly should never be used interchangeably. They don’t work the same way. By adding water to vital wheat gluten, you automatically get a meat substitute. Add water to xanthan gum and you get goo. Stick to a storebought soy and gluten free meat substitute 🙂 or you will drive yourself mental looking for a non-existant replacement for the vwg. sorry 🙁

    • Gwen, unfortunately I’m with Kayla on this one – the gluten is integral to the structural integrity of the hot dogs and I don’t know of any substitute without gluten that would work. I hate to say it, but you may be better off getting regular old hot dogs for your guys. Someone above tried xanthan and said it was awful, and I don’t think that volume of agar would work either. I’m sorry I can’t be more help on this one 🙁

  43. Hi Julie,
    What an AMAZING recipe. Cant thank you enough. I bought a 25kg bag of gluten because we dont get mock meats where we live (India, believe it or not). I have tried around 10 recipes and so far this one is the BEST. The texture nailed it. I didn’t have almonds on hand so used the oats tip, worked great. And also forget the oil but it doesnt seem to matter much.
    I would like to try it with beans next time since we like the taste of veggies. I wondered if we can also add other veggies such as mushroom, carrots ect. Has anyone tried that? If I do try it I would blend the heck out of it cause I dont care for veggie bits in the hot dog, just the overall umami. Would love any tips on this. thx

  44. This recipe seems fantastic! Is there any way to make these without using foil and parchment paper? I try to live a very low waste lifestyle and usually don’t buy things that cannot be eaten, reused, recycled, or composted.

    • Hi Rachel – yikes, I’m not sure, as the parchment and foil are instrumental for getting the hot dogs to hold their shape. I do use a natural, unbleached parchment paper – you might be able to use just that. However, I don’t think they’d work without wrapping them in anything. They would swell up while steaming.

      On a side note – kudos to you for pursuing and succeeding in a low waste lifestyle!

      • Thanks! It’s not been easy to minimise my trash so much, but environmental sustainability is very important to me, so that helps my motivation:)

        I might see if I can get culinary parchment paper loose or in a recyclable container and try that alone.

    • Rachel, I don’t use the parchment at all and they don’t stick, but do hold their shape. I do sub butter beans for tofu so maybe that’s why? Also, you can wash and reuse aluminum foil many times. The recipe itself is fantastic!! Hope this helps. 🙂

  45. I made these last night, they were great! The texture was absolutely perfect. This was my first time working with VWG so I was a little nervous and unsure of what to expect, but the final product was terrific and really exceeded my expectations.

    A few people have commented that theirs turned out mushy in the middle, I bet they didn’t have their water at a full boil for the full 45 minutes, and/or their steamer lid wasn’t tightly shut. One trick is to put a piece of parchment over the top of your pot before you put on the lid, to make a tighter seal.

    Has anyone worked out the spices/amounts for a hotlink version or a sage/apple version?

    • That’s a great trick for the pot lid, Amy! Thanks for sharing.

      I’m working on some variations and will be resuming blogging this fall – sage/apple is on my list because as much as I love the Field Roast ones, I’m unfortunately not rich enough to buy them all the time, lol.

  46. These came out really great – I added some powdered beet since I had it on hand. Enough to make it pinkish but not enough to make it purple!