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Finished vegan sausage casserole close up.
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5 from 2 votes

Vegan Sausage Casserole with Lentils & Cavolo Nero

This vegan sausage casserole makes delicious & comforting family meal with lentils and cavolo nero (black kale) adding extra goodness. Super filling & satisfying, perfect cold weather warmer-upper!
Course Dinner, Lunch, meal prep
Cuisine British
Keyword cavolo nero, lentils, vegan sausage casserole
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Calories 573kcal
Author Jo Allison

Ingredients

  • 8 vegan sausages I used Richmond Meat-Free Sausages (UK)
  • 1 red or yellow onion chopped
  • 2 carrots chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves minced or finely chopped
  • 1 celery stick chopped
  • 1 leftover broccoli stalks (chopped) optional
  • leftover cavolo nero stalks (chopped) optional
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 2 teaspoon (heaped) of mustard I used Dijon
  • 300 g dried green lentils well rinsed
  • 1 ltr hot vegetable stock from cube is fine
  • 250 g passata see notes
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
  • 200 g cavolo nero or standard kale taken off the stalks and roughly chopped
  • fresh parsley or thyme for garnish
  • 2 tablespoon rapeseed/olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Prepare all the veggies by finely chopping them in a food processor or by hand and putting to one side.
  • Take cavolo nero leaves off the stalks and roughly chop/slice.
  • Heat tablespoon of oil in a lidded non-stick pan or cast-iron casserole and fry vegan sausages until nice and brown. Take sausages out onto a plate.
  • Add remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan followed by all the chopped veggies and sautée them stirring frequently until they start to soften, approximately 5-8 min.
  • Add dried herbs, vinegar, dried and rinsed lentils, passata and stock and stir well. Season to taste. 
  • Bring to boil, turn down the heat and simmer, covered until lentils are tender (approximately 30 min) stirring occasionally. You might have to add splash of water or stock if they get too dry.
  • You can either cook cavolo nero separately and stir it into the final dish or add it after about 20 minutes into cooking your lentils to cook in a casserole.
  • Add mustard and stir it in.
  • Once lentils are cooked and cavolo nero has softened add back your cooked vegan sausages for 5 minutes to warm them up.
  • Garnish your vegan sausage casserole with some fresh thyme or chopped parsley and enjoy!

Notes

  • Nutritional information is approximate, based on 4 servings and it should be treated as a rough guideline only. 
  • Feel free to use any of your favourite vegan sausages here. 
  • Use different veggies if you want. Substitute onion with leek, use different root veg rather than carrot and feel free to leave out broccoli and kale stalks here although I think they work perfectly as a base in a stew. 
  • Tinned chopped tomatoes will work well here in place of passata. Use the entire tin. 
  • Feel free to substitute dried her with fresh if you've got them available. 
  • When in a hurry you could use tinned lentils instead. See FAQs
  • Leftovers will store in the fridge for 3-4 days. Freezer friendly.
TIPS:
  • Do all the prep work first. Wash and chop your veggies and prepare all the other ingredients. 
  • Make sure you do rinse dried lentils on the sieve under running water to get rid all of the dust and debris. 
  • Instead of cooking cavolo nero in the casserole I sometimes steam it separately and then stir it into the final dish towards the end right before adding back the sausages. Doing it this way keeps the colour that bit more vibrant.
  • Feel free to chop sausages up into pieces.
  • If you prefer your casserole more "saucy" feel free to adjust the amount of stock and/or passata accordingly.

Nutrition

Calories: 573kcal | Carbohydrates: 83g | Protein: 35g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 186mg | Potassium: 1874mg | Fiber: 32g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 11403IU | Vitamin C: 210mg | Calcium: 227mg | Iron: 9mg