Soy Sausage Casserole from VegNews

I received this recipe from Veg News over the summer, when I had no desire to heat up my oven and make a heavy meal. So I filed this recipe for Soy-Sausage Casserole away. Fast forward a few months to a rainy, cold day in Boston and this dish made it to our dinner table. It’s actually a breakfast recipe, since it mimics a sausage and egg sandwich, but who doesn’t love breakfast for dinner?

Serves 4 (I think it could be stretched to serve 6+, but if you’re really hungry, serves 4)

What You Need:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium-size yellow onion, diced
3 cups soy sausage, crumbled (I used a roll soy sausage from Trader Joe’s and crumbled it while it was cooking)
1 pound tofu, drained and crumbled
2 cups plain soymilk
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon ground fennel seed – I didn’t have this and threw in some fresh parsley instead
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
8 slices whole wheat bread


What You Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a skillet over medium heat, heat olive oil. Add onion, cover, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add soy sausage and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

2. In a bowl, combine the tofu, soymilk, thyme, fennel seed, salt, and pepper to taste and mix well. Blend in the sausage mixture and set aside.

3. Tear bread into bite-sized pieces and place in a lightly oiled shallow 9x13 baking dish. Pour sausage mixture evenly over bread and set aside until the liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes or refrigerate overnight.

4. Bake casserole until puffy and lightly browned, about 45 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting into squares. Serve warm.

I honestly think this dish is as close as you could get to a real egg and sausage casserole, without the usual cholesterol and saturated fat. When the crumbled tofu bakes, it has a texture just like scrambled eggs.

Funk said because this is a breakfast meal, you could even put maple syrup on it. I think that might taste odd and would choose hot sauce instead, but because he was doped up on cold meds, I let it slide.

If you’re looking for a good vegetarian breakfast dish, give this a go, with or without maple syrup.