Linda McCartney's Vegetarian sauasges (Linda McCartney Sausages)

Member Name: brittle1906

Product:	Linda McCartney Sausages
Date:	26/05/09 (122 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Vegetarian friendly, inexpensive, widely available

Disadvantages: Pretend meat!

Linda McCartney Vegetarian Sausages

**The Product**

These sausages caught my eye in the supermarket freezer section. I have been a vegetarian for most of my adult life and as a rule I avoid what I term 'pretend meat'. After all I do not choose to eat meat, so why would I want to eat imitation meat products? However, there are times when a quick easy meal is required and with this in mind I bought a packet of Linda McCartney Vegetarian Sausages to try.

The Linda McCartney brand is well known among vegetarian people and in recent years the range of vegetarian dishes she made famous have been re-developed and revitalized to appeal to todays changing tastes. I know some years ago there was a public outcry when news broke that certain Linda McCartney recipes contained GM products, but labeling on the product I bought declared that the ingredients were all Vegetarian Society approved which was good enough for me!

**Packaging, appearance and taste**

The product is presented in a fairly bland looking box with a photo of the cooked sausages in a pan with what appears to be fried onions. The product description is in a white circle with the trade mark heart shaped smiley face, the Linda McCartney name, weight (300g) and the phrase 'good food, good taste'. The packaging also bears a satisfaction guarantee from Hain Frozen Foods who offer to refund the purchase price on receipt of a the empty package and best before panel should the product fail to please.

Each box contains 6 fair sized sausages, they looked similar to an ordinary sausage in colour but had a rougher surface texture. The sausages cook from frozen in 10-15 minutes under a medium heat grill or alternatively can be oven cooked at 200c/400f/gas mark 6 for approximately 20 minutes in a pre-heated oven. The product is not recommended for microwave cooking. I oven cooked mine, they smelled very tempting during the cooking process and I was surprised at how little fat emerged from the sausages. I had had visions of oozing, yucky, liquid fat such as you get with meat bangers! Not so, I'm glad to say!

When cooked the sausages still appeared somewhat rough in texture, the outside was crisp and golden brown, the inside a brownish pink . The taste is very good, spicy but not too hot, the texture is soft but not mushy. I cannot compare them to a traditional meat sausage, never having eaten one, but my meat eating partner said they were less greasy than bangers and had a nice flavour.
High praise indeed!

**Price, ingredients and availability**

The sausages were very economical at 99p for 6. Of course, this may well be different depending on where you shop, special offers and so on. We had three each with rice and mixed vegetables which we found more than adequate. I personally wouldn't want to eat these every day, but as a change, I found them very acceptable and will keep a box in the freezer from now on. I may try these next time in a batter as a veggie alternative to Toad in the Hole.
The ingredients in these veggie sausages include Wheat Protein, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Wheat & Pea Protein, Rusk, Vegetable Oil, Vegetarian Flavourings, Stabilisers. All ingredients used meet the Vegetarian Society guidelines. Each sausage, when prepared according to pack instructions contains 101kcal, 11.3g protein, 4.1g carbohydrate, 4.4g fat, 0.8g fibre and 0.8g salt.
The range can be found in most of the major supermarkets and also in specialist stores such as Holland and Barratt.

The Linda McCartney range includes many other 'pretend meat' dishes such as burgers, Country style pies, lasagna and shepherd's pie. Whether I will try any of these remains to be seen!

**Manufacturer contact details**

For further information about the Linda McCartney range telephone 0800 626 697 or contact the manufacturers at:-
Consumer Contact Department ,
Hain Frozen Foods UK Ltd
Holt Road
Fakenham
Norfolk
NR21 8EH

**Conclusion**

A tasty alternative to meat sausages, not something I'd eat regularly but a very pleasant meal all the same.

Thank you for reading.
Brittle1906 May 2009.

Review also published on www.ciao.co.uk under same user name.

Summary: A tasty change for both veggies and meat eaters