Gluten-Free, Soy-Free, Vegan Sausage Balls

It’s not easy trying to eat a plant-based diet (mostly plant-based, anyway) when you have to avoid gluten. This dilemma is pretty common for people diagnosed with autoimmune conditions like Hashimoto’s, celiac disease, rheumatoid arthritis or Ehlers-Danlos.

Most autoimmune patients are highly sensitive to food that contains soy and wheat/gluten. I should know, my wife has celiac disease and Hashimoto’s. I have a family history of autoimmunity, as well as carrying a gene mutation that makes me likely to develop celiac disease. If you don’t already know, celiac disease makes your body attack its own digestive system when gluten is consumed, which is why it is often confused with an allergy. Not fun at all, and even less fun when trying to find something vegan that doesn’t contain vital wheat gluten.

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Over the years, I have coached hundreds of clients with autoimmune conditions who are sensitive to soy and gluten-containing products. All of that to say, finding versions of the foods you love that don’t make your guts hate you is a good feeling.

Keeping meat and dairy consumption down is important to my wife and me for environmental and ethical reasons, as well as health reasons. Overconsumption of animal products has been linked to cancer, plus dairy doesn’t make either of us feel good.

This recipe makes a good snack or part of a meal. We like to enjoy these with our breakfast, which is usually some sort of smoothie (for convenience).

Ingredients:

• 2-1/4 cups gluten-free flour blend (see below for a DIY version that works well for this recipe)

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 tsp unrefined salt

• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

• 14 oz Beyond Sausage (hot Italian flavor)

• 1 7.1 oz package of Daiya cheddar-style shreds

• 1/8 cup (more or less) dairy-free milk of choice (right now, I’m loving Not Milk)

Instructions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and cayenne together until everything is blended.

2. Add the Beyond Sausage and Daiya shreds, then smoosh everything together. This will take a few minutes.

3. Once everything has come together for the most part, add the dairy-free milk, then continue combining the ingredients until it feels kind of like dry-ish Play-Doh.

4. Roll into 1-inch balls and set aside. The recipe should make about 48 balls.

5. Air fry for 10 minutes at 390, shaking halfway through or bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes. You should see a little browning on the outside when they are ready, and they should not be mushy.

Serving size = 6 balls

Makes 8 servings.

DIY Gluten-Free Flour Blend

Because nothing can be simple if you need to have gluten-free flour. This is the flour blend my wife and I use for sausage balls, which is different than the one we use for bread, pizza dough or baking. Why so many types of flour? They all bring different properties that in combination largely mimic how gluten acts.

• 1/2 c brown rice flour

• 1/4 c white rice flour (you can sub brown rice flour if necessary)

• 1/4 c sorghum flour

• 1/4 c almond flour

• 1/4 c gluten-free oat flour

• 1/4 c tapioca flour

• 1/4 c potato starch

• 1/4 c chickpea flour