Buying fake packaged processed vegan meat is not something I want to do often, but I do buy these kind of products occasionally (mostly when we’re going camping, and because I have young children who still adore the idea of roasting things over the fire. Be sure to bring vegan marshmallows, vegan chocolate and vegan graham crackers for s’mores). We bought Lightlife’s Smart Dogs and Tofurky Italian Sausages on this particular trip. Both products are certified vegan (many veggie meats aren’t: MORNINGSTAR FARMS, even the Lightlife Sausages are vegetarian, not vegan. Always read labels). Note: I adore Field Roast’s vegan Frankfurters and Sausages far more than either of these products, but they’re harder to find in my neck of the woods.
The Smart Dogs are low calorie and low fat. From the ingredient list, it looks like they’re gluten free, but I can’t find a certification on their site. Ingredients and Nutrition Stats here. These had the texture of cheap traditional hot dogs (as far as I can remember, it’s been a long time AND I used to buy the 100% kosher variety), but the flavor wasn’t as smoky, even after being cooked over a fire. Probably because they don’t contain nitrates, which is a good thing. However, once in a bun and dressed up with organic ketchup and dijon mustard it was pretty tasty. They charred nicely over the fire.
Now for the Tofurky Italian Sausages
Not super impressed with the nutrition stats on these babies, they had nearly as much fat and calories as the real deal: 270 Calories and 13 Grams of fat Per link. Ew. They were however, somewhat tastier than the Smart Dogs, but likely this is because I adore sun-dried tomatoes and basil. They also browned more evenly. They are not however, gluten free.
Blame my husband for buying the white hot dog buns, I don’t know how he succeeded in buying ones that were vegan, they were from the store’s bakery. So he gets extra brownie points there 
What’s your go to camping food?
Vedged Out 
Reblogged this on The ObamaCrat.Com™.
Had to send your tofu-dogs on to my Canadian friend. Thanks for sharing your great Vegetarian finds. She’ll love it.
Thanks! 🙂
I like Happy herbivore homemade sausages too … recipe at http://happyherbivore.com/recipe/vegan-italian-sausages/
Those look almost exactly like some I’ve seen on PPK 🙂 http://www.theppk.com/2012/01/vegan_sausage/
ya I like PPK, but it didn’t start up until after I discovered HH…since it seems to be a blog collection of different sources, it may be HH’s recipe
pretty sure everything on Isa’s site is hers, but there are loads of vegan sausage recipes out there now. Easy to understand why, cause vegan sausage is yummy 🙂 I did notice HH has TVP in hers, whereas Isa’s doesn’t.
It’s Dragonfly soysages for me http://www.dragonflyfoods.com/ They’re the only ones I can find in the UK that are vegan and gluten free. They are yummy though. We also don’t have vegan marshmallows here. I look for them everytime I visit the USA, but I’ve not been able to try s’mores yet 😦
Those look super delicious! Wish I could help you out with the vegan marshmallow conundrum. 😦
veganessentials.com, or naturalcandystore.com…and even sweetandsara.com have them to order…I like dandies brand
Yeah, easy to order here. Not so much in the UK. Even if they delivered there (which they probably do) I imagine they’d be completely smooshed on arrival.
Thanks for the info. I’ll check them out and see if there’s any way of getting them to the UK without them being as flat as a pancake. If not, I’m hoping to go back to the USA next year so will definitely look out for them 🙂
Cutest post ever, seriously :-). Hate to admit it, but I was a hot dog fanatic back in the day. White buns and all!
Aw, thanks! Yeah, I loved hot dogs too. American classic…
We love camping! Some of our favorites are blueberry pancakes, tofu “egg” breakfast sandwiches, corn on the cob, veggie burgers, orzo salad with grilled veggies- we eat really well event camping 🙂
That’s because you’re a camping genius… 🙂 xx
I ate veggie dogs by choice long before I eventually decided to cut meat out altogether. Now that I have a celiac diagnosis, I will definitely be looking out for those next time I`m in the US. I managed to find the dandies marshmallows last time I was in Vancouver, but they didn`t do very well after even anm afternoon at the top of my purse on the flight home! That being said, they were excellent after being speared and roasted over the fire.
I really hope the Lightlife ones are GF, I can’t see anything remotely offending on the label so keeping my fingers crossed for you. Yeah, marshmallows definitely don’t travel well. We took some down to my parents the other weekend (5 hour drive). They didn’t survive 😉
We do love grilling up those smart dogs! Not a big fan of the Tofurky but my husband loves it! 🙂
I would eat either, but prefer the smart dogs because of the calorie content.
The new line of Tofurkey sausages coming out are actually really good – I sampled them at Vida Vegan in May.
Intrigued…. I saw some I hadn’t seen before on their site. 🙂
Dehydrated black beans are great camping grub, especially with avocado. Looking forward to making vegan s’mores when we go camping in August!
Mmmm, black beans and avo. Yum!
Yum! We love the Field Roast hot dogs you mentioned, and luckily they’re easy to get here since the Whole Foods nearby carries them!
Unfortunately Whole Foods is 30 minutes from me 😦
We keep hunting for different types of vegan dogs too. We had the Tofu Pups lately, and while the Blonde liked them, I was unimpressed. I’d rather have the Field Roast ones too. . .
Or, I’ll make my own.
Oh yes, I need to link this post to Vegan Guide’s book on Amazon. They have a great hot dog recipe in there.
I think the smart dogs are better than the tofu pups, even though they’re made by the same company…
The only “hotdogs” I like are Big Franks by Worthingtin products. It is a “sometimes” food.
Fruits… easy to carry, easy to eat and they rot without degrading the environment…
Like you, Field Roast definitely gets my vote when it comes to vegan hot dogs & sausages. They’re impossible to beat. 🙂
i have never eaten the real deal:) and havent developed a liking to any of the fake meats. but hubbs likes the field roast ones. extra brownie points indeed. hubbs can now find a vegan bread anywhere too! he would never read a label before!
I feel like I commented on this but can’t remember- Justin and I LOVE camping, however most people would consider us over prepared. We have a little “kitchen” we set up and always bring a ton of food with us- Tofu pups being one of the Camping essentials, but we also end up making Pancakes, tofu egg breakfast sandwiches, corn on the cob, grilled veggie and orzo salad- always so much food and plenty to share with others! (Field roast brand is pretty amazing as far as faux meat goes, right!)
You did comment, and crazy wordpress sent you to spam. So sorry babe! We love pancakes when camping as well. I make up a little dry mix and put it in a ziploc. Then to cook em up, I just pour soymilk in the baggie and then squish it up. 🙂 Your other ideas sound so tasty! I need to get out of my basic camping food mode! xx
I’m a Field Roast gal, myself, though I rarely buy them. No one in my family is that much of a fan. S’mores, however, are a different story… 🙂
I’m going camping in two weeks – thanks for the tips! I’m still searching for the perfect veg dog. 🙂
I might be crazy but I actually prefer the smart dogs over the field roast frankfurters! (Although I love me some field roast sausages… especially apple sage!). When we go camping I like to bring seitan to grill along with the veggies. And artichokes. Can’t get enough artichokes!
Best vegan frankfurters are by Viana. http://www.veganstore.com/product/viana-smoked-veggie-frankfurters/vegan-meat-alternatives