Vegan Creole Sausage Cacciatore

Vegan creole sausage cacciatore - Tasty Creole twist on your chicken cacciatore, vegan style! Easy, healthy dinner in 30 minutes!

I have been making this dish (with shrimp, chicken, and Kielbasa or smoked sausage) for as long as I can remember. I wanted to make Jambalaya one day and decided to make the sauce and rice separately. That's how the original dish was born. Now that I'm a vegetarian, I transformed the recipe into a vegan and vegetarian-friendly dish.

Cacciatore vs. Jambalaya

I thought about how to name this dish. Since my dish has no seafood and the rice is not cooked in the sauce, I decided to name this dish cacciatore with a creole twist.

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What is cacciatore?

Cacciatore means "hunter" in Italian and it is referred to as meal prepared "Hunter-style." Most people are familiar with chicken cacciatore. The dish has chicken, onion, herbs, bell pepper, mushroom in a spicy tomato sauce. Short grain pasta, polenta, mashed potato, or rice are usually served with cacciatore.

What is sausage cacciatore?

Instead of using chicken as a main protein source of the dish, sausage is used in making cacciatore. The benefit of using sausage instead of chicken are:

• Shorter cooking time - Because you are not waiting for the chicken to cook through in the sauce, it takes half the amount of time.
• The seasoning and flavor from the sausage build a more complex flavor.

Ingredients in Vegan Creole Sausage Cacciatore

• Vegetable - I'm using garlic, onion, celery, bell pepper, and tomato.
• Seasoning - What makes this dish Creole is the seasoning I use. I'm using Tony Chachere's creole seasoning. They have 'original' flavor and 'more spice' flavor. I've been using the more spice flavor (picture below) because I love spicy food.
• Vegan Sausage - I use Beyond sausage (Brat flavor) for this recipe.

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Creole cuisine is a result of influences from French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, English, African, and Native American. Most people are familiar with creole cuisine from dishes like jambalaya, gumbo, and boudin (sausage). So what makes this dish creole and not cajun?

Creole vs. Cajun

Both creole and cajun cuisine are native to Louisiana. But there are two main differences.

• Creole - Creole cuisine typically uses tomato. And the creole seasoning has lots of herbs.
• Cajun - Cajun cuisine usually doesn't have tomato and the seasoning relies heavily on different types of peppers.

Since this dish is simmered in tomato sauce with extra oregano, I thought it was appropriate to name it creole rather than cajun. I learned about the differences in two cuisines from this article from New Orleans if you want to check it out.

What vegan sausage should I use?

You can use any type of plant-based sausage you like but I love Beyond sausage in this recipe. They have three different flavors:

• Beyond Brat sausage - This is what I use for this recipe. It has the most 'porky' flavor, in my opinion.
• Beyond Italian sausage - This will work well if you want to emphasize the flavor of herbs.
• Beyond Hot Italian sausage - If you like your food spicy, this is a great option.

If you are exploring different types of plant-based sausages, I find this Youtube video very helpful.

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Helpful tips on making Vegan Creole Sausage Cacciatore

• If you are using Beyond sausage (either Brat or Italian), you don't have to add oil when cooking the sausage. It will release oil as it cooks. This may not be true for other plant-based sausages. Cook your sausage according to its package.
• Once the sausage is cooked, slice them and brown the sausage further. This will help your sausage hold its shape better when you simmer them in the sauce.
• This recipe has thick sauce. If you preferred to have more 'gravy,' I recommend adding another can of diced tomato, tomato sauce, or vegetable broth to thin out the sauce. Just make sure to season your sauce accordingly.

How to customize this recipe according to your diet

• For vegan/vegetarian - Use the vegan sausage of your choice. I'd like to note that Tony Chachere's creole seasoning is manufactured on equipment that uses milk, soy, and wheat. If this is a problem, you can use Old Bay seasoning in place of Tony Chachere's creole seasoning. Another option is to make your own creole seasoning with the spices that you have in your pantry. I personally have not tried this recipe but it has 5 stars review from close to 500 people. The recipe can be found in Allrecipes.
• For pescatarian - In addition to plant-based sausage, you can add shrimps to make the dish more like jambalaya.
• For omnivore - I highly recommend using kielbasa or smoked beef sausage. You can also add boneless chicken thigh and shrimp to bulk up the dish.

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