Vegan Sausage Egg & Cheese Breakfast Sandwich
If you love classic American breakfasts, this recipe is for you! This tasty english muffin breakfast style sandwich contains all of the flavor and texture of American breakfast but none of the animal products. The vegan egg is firm enough to stay in one piece but gooey enough to mimic a yolk, the vegan meats are hearty and packed with flavor, the micro greens add a touch of freshness, and my 3 ingredient versatile sauce is next level. Breakfast is served!
Out of breakfast ideas? Look no further than this savory and comforting vegan spin on a breakfast most Americans know and love.
Back before I loved to cook, I relied on the most heavily processed, easiest meals possible. One of those meals was the english muffin bacon and egg sandwiches I would find in the frozen section of a grocery store and toss in the toaster oven for a few minutes. Completely lacking in nutritional value, they were tasty and satisfying.
I am moderately horrified looking back on those days and what I considered acceptable. Not that we don’t all indulge in easy staples and processed foods — but that was all I ate. I drank coffee and smoked weed on my days off school to suppress my appetite, and then either ordered a pizza, walked down the street for a grilled cheese, or made myself noodles and butter as my only main meal of the day.
A weekend breakfast might be the aforementioned breakfast sandwich. A dinner might consist of two cups of mixed nuts and WAY too much ice cream (yep — it made me sick a number of times).
Fast forward four years, and my life (and health!) is completely different. The diet and lifestyle disease epidemics that plague the United States are now a point of deep sadness and passion for me — because I’ve been there.
I was chronically constipated most of my life. I exercised hard and didn’t see the physical changes I wanted or feel the vitality I expected. I have oscillated between under eating and binge eating, feeling out of control consuming sugary and salty products. I have suffered, but nowhere near to the degree of more than half of Americans who are seeing serious consequences as a result of the trajectory they have been on for years.
Now, I can’t get enough vegetables. I crave greens and continue to feel blown away by the vitality and thriving GI health I experience. Whole food, plant based meals simply cannot compare to anything else when it comes to the way food makes me feel. But for many Americans, making a dramatic change in this direction is overwhelming or unapproachable. That is where recipes like this come in.
I still enjoy processed foods, especially when it comes to experimenting with vegan meat and cheese alternatives. These foods just compromise a much lower portion of my diet now, and I got to this point one step at a time.
If you’re looking to swap out some of your go-to recipes for healthier alternatives, this recipe is a great way to gain exposure to meat and cheese alternatives that can easily be swapped into recipes containing animal products. I could write an extensive article on why these products are healthier than animal products, but let’s just say for now that making these swaps is a step in the right direction.
Vegan meat, cheese, and mayo are all featured in this sandwich. Sound intimidating? Dive in and give it a try — you might just love it!
Vegan sausage, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich
Equipment
- Medium ramekin or small bowl
- Small ramekin
- Cast iron skillet
- Non stick skillet
- Toaster
Ingredients
For the vegan egg
- 1 tbsp ground flaxseed
- 2 ½ tbsp water
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 tbsp Violife shredded cheddar or vegan cheese of choice
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp chili powder
- ¼ tsp turmeric
For the sauce*
- 1 tbsp vegan mayo
- 1 tsp sriracha
- 1 tsp maple syrup
For the sandwich
- 1 strip Sweet Earth benevolent bacon cut into thirds to produce approximately square-inch sized pieces
- 1 classic Beyond Meat breakfast sausage found boxed in the frozen section of grocery stores
- 1 whole wheat english muffin I like "Dave's Killer Bread" brand
- Handful of micro greens
- Vegan butter to taste I use "Earth Balance"
Instructions
- Combine 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed with 2 ½ tbsp of water in a medium ramekin or small bowl. Mix, and allow to sit for 5 minutes until mixture has thickened.
- Add the remaining vegan egg ingredients and mix to combine well. The mixture will be thick.
- Mix together the sauce ingredients in a small ramekin.
- Preheat a cast iron skillet and a small nonstick pan, both on medium heat. Once cast iron is hot, add sliced bacon strips and Beyond sausage. Cook each for about 2 minutes per side. I did notice I tend to cook the sausage a bit longer than the bacon to achieve my desired doneness of each.
- Once nonstick pan is hot, add vegan egg and pat down with spatula to form a circle about 3 inches in diameter. It doesn't need to be perfect – just comparable to the diameter of your english muffin and not too thick.
- As you wait on everything to cook, place english muffin in toaster. Once done, transfer to plate and spread vegan butter on the inside of each slice.
- Stack bacon pieces, sausage, vegan egg, and sprouts atop bottom slice of english muffin. Add sauce mixture to still-hot nonstick skillet, and transfer back into ramekin after a few seconds once mixture is bubbling and darkened in color. Drizzle sauce on top of your sandwich assembly and close sandwich with the top slice of bread. Enjoy!