What Is Beyond Breakfast Sausage?
Beyond Meat built its name on burgers, but the company has spent years chasing the breakfast plate too. Beyond Breakfast Sausage is its plant-based answer to the diner-style pork patty: small, round, pre-formed sausage patties (and a linked version in some markets) meant to go straight from freezer to skillet alongside pancakes, hash browns, or a breakfast sandwich. It's sold refrigerated or frozen in most major U.S. grocery chains — Target, Walmart, Kroger, Whole Foods, and Publix among them — typically in a 6-count, 7.4-ounce box that runs somewhere in the $5–$7 range depending on the store and whether it's on sale.
The pitch is simple: 0mg of cholesterol, no animal products, and (Beyond claims) the same salty, peppery, slightly sweet flavor profile as a classic breakfast link. It comes in Classic and Spicy varieties. The question worth asking before you build it into a Sunday brunch routine is whether it actually delivers that flavor, and whether the ingredient list backs up the "healthier breakfast meat" framing Beyond leans on in its marketing.
Ingredients
Beyond Breakfast Sausage's patties are built on a pea-protein base rather than the soy or wheat gluten used by some competitors. The full ingredient list (Classic patties) is:
- Water
- Pea Protein
- Expeller-Pressed Canola Oil
- Refined Coconut Oil
- Natural Flavors
- Inactivated Yeast
- Rice Protein
- Methylcellulose
- Yeast Extract (fortified with Niacin, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Folic Acid, Vitamin B12)
- Apple Extract
- Salt
- Spices
- Pomegranate Extract
- Vinegar
- Lemon Juice Concentrate
- Smoked Paprika
- Sunflower Lecithin
- Beet Juice Extract (for color)
- Carrot
A few things stand out. Methylcellulose is the same plant-derived binder Beyond uses across its burger and sausage lines — it's what lets the patty hold together raw and firm up when it hits heat, mimicking the way animal fat and connective tissue behave in real sausage. Pomegranate and apple extract are there mostly for a touch of natural sweetness and color rather than flavor punch. And unlike Beyond's original Sausage Dinner links, the Breakfast Sausage line skips soy entirely, which matters if you're avoiding it for allergy or preference reasons. There's no gluten in the ingredient list either, and the box is labeled gluten-free.
Is Beyond Breakfast Sausage Vegan?
Yes. Beyond Meat's entire product lineup, including Beyond Breakfast Sausage, is 100% plant-based with no meat, dairy, egg, or honey in any form. The ingredient list above is entirely plant-derived: the protein comes from peas and rice, the fat from canola and coconut oil, and the B-vitamin fortification (a common addition in plant-based meats to match the micronutrient profile of animal meat) is synthetic, not animal-sourced. There's no cross-contamination messaging on the packaging that would flag shared lines with animal products, and Beyond Meat has been certified vegan by outside organizations on other SKUs in its range. If you're double-checking a specific flavor or regional variant before buying, running the label through the spvegan.com ingredient checker takes the guesswork out of it.
Nutrition Facts: How It Compares
Because breakfast sausage substitutes come in different formats — patties, links, and sizes — serving sizes aren't identical across brands. Here's how Beyond Breakfast Sausage (Classic patties) stacks up against three other widely available plant-based breakfast sausages, using each brand's own labeled serving size:
| Brand & Product | Serving | Calories | Total Fat | Sat. Fat | Sodium | Carbs | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beyond Breakfast Sausage (Classic) | 2 patties | 180 | 12g | 4.5g | 270mg | 6g | 11g |
| MorningStar Farms Original Sausage Patties | 2 patties | 140 | 5g | 0g | 440mg | 8g | 20g |
| Impossible Savory Sausage Patties | 1 patty | 110 | 7g | 2.5g | 310mg | 4g | 6g |
| Field Roast Vegan Breakfast Sausage | 1 link | 140 | 6g | — | — | 6g | 17g |
MorningStar Farms figures reflect the brand's official per-patty label doubled to a 2-patty serving for comparison; Field Roast's saturated fat and sodium weren't listed in the source used and are marked with a dash rather than guessed at.
The numbers tell a clear story: Beyond's Breakfast Sausage is the highest-calorie, highest-fat option of the four, driven largely by the coconut oil in its ingredient list, which is the main source of its 4.5g of saturated fat per serving. That's not disqualifying — it's still cholesterol-free and lower in saturated fat than a typical pork sausage patty, which can run 6–8g of saturated fat for a similar portion — but it's worth knowing it's not the leanest plant-based option on the shelf. MorningStar Farms and Field Roast both post meaningfully higher protein-to-calorie ratios, largely because they lean on soy protein and wheat gluten, which pack in protein more efficiently than pea protein blends. If sodium is a concern, MorningStar's 440mg for two patties is the highest of the group; Beyond and Impossible land in a similar mid-range.
Taste and Texture
This is where reviews genuinely split. On the positive side, testers who've cooked the patties in a skillet or air fryer describe a well-balanced, slightly sweet-and-peppery seasoning blend, a patty that crisps nicely on the outside while staying juicy in the middle, and a texture that holds together without turning mushy or falling apart — a common failure point for meatless sausage.
On the other side, some tasters have been considerably less charitable, describing the patties as rubbery rather than tender, seasoned mostly with salt rather than the herb-and-fennel complexity of a classic breakfast link, and carrying a strong smell straight out of the package that some found off-putting during cooking. That review placed Beyond's breakfast sausage at the bottom of a ranking of ten store-bought breakfast sausage brands, which is a notably harsher take than most plant-based food coverage tends to give the brand.
The honest takeaway: this is a patty that rewards proper cooking technique. A hot, well-oiled pan and a few extra minutes to get real browning on both sides make a meaningful difference — microwaved or under-cooked, the texture issues critics flag become much more obvious. If you've had a bad experience with it before, it may be worth a second try with a cast-iron skillet instead of a nonstick pan or microwave.
Beyond Breakfast Sausage vs. the Competition
| Product | Protein Base | Soy-Free | Gluten-Free | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beyond Breakfast Sausage | Pea & rice protein | Yes | Yes | Soy/gluten avoiders who want a familiar seasoned patty |
| MorningStar Farms Original Sausage Patties | Wheat gluten & soy | No | No | Highest protein per calorie, budget-friendly |
| Impossible Savory Sausage Patties | Soy protein | No | Yes | Lower calorie option, smaller portion |
| Field Roast Vegan Breakfast Sausage | Vital wheat gluten | Yes | No | Chewier, more traditional sausage-link texture |
If soy is your main concern, Beyond and Field Roast are your two options here (Field Roast leans on wheat gluten instead, so it's not a fit if you're avoiding gluten). If gluten is the issue, Beyond and Impossible both skip it. Nobody in this lineup is soy- and gluten-free while also being the top scorer on price and protein — there's a genuine trade-off in every direction, which is fairly typical of the plant-based breakfast meat category right now.
Who Should Buy Beyond Breakfast Sausage?
Beyond Breakfast Sausage makes the most sense for people who want a recognizable, familiar breakfast-sausage flavor without soy or gluten, and who aren't overly precious about matching the leanest possible nutrition numbers. It's a reasonable pick for someone easing a household off pork sausage who needs the new option to actually taste like what it's replacing, since the seasoning blend leans closer to a classic diner sausage than some of the more herb-forward alternatives.
It's a less obvious pick if you're optimizing hard for protein-per-calorie (MorningStar and Field Roast both beat it there), or if you're sensitive to saturated fat, since the coconut oil bumps that number higher than most of its plant-based competitors. Anyone managing sodium intake closely should also check the label on whichever variety they buy, since Spicy and Classic differ slightly and all the products in this category run moderate-to-high on sodium as a category norm.
Price and Where to Buy
Beyond Breakfast Sausage typically runs $5–$7 for a 7.4-ounce box of six patties, which works out to roughly $1 per patty — a bit steeper than a comparable box of MorningStar Farms patties, which is usually the budget option in this category, but in line with Impossible's pricing. It's widely stocked in the refrigerated or frozen breakfast section at Target, Walmart, Kroger-owned stores, Whole Foods, Publix, and Sprouts, and larger multi-pack boxes occasionally show up at warehouse clubs. As with most Beyond Meat products, pricing fluctuates with store promotions, so it's worth checking a loyalty app or weekly circular before assuming the shelf price is the best you'll get.
Final Verdict
Beyond Breakfast Sausage is a solid, if imperfect, entry in a crowded plant-based breakfast meat category. The ingredient list is clean by ultra-processed-food standards, it's genuinely cholesterol-free and soy- and gluten-free, and when cooked properly it delivers a seasoned, crisp-edged patty that reads as "sausage" more than some competitors manage. Where it loses points is on saturated fat (the highest of the four brands compared here), a middling protein count relative to MorningStar and Field Roast, and a texture that's drawn some genuinely negative reviews when it's undercooked or reheated in a microwave.
It's not the leanest or the highest-protein option on the shelf, and it's not universally loved on taste, but for someone who specifically wants a soy-free, gluten-free breakfast sausage with a familiar flavor profile, it's a reasonable choice worth trying with a proper skillet sear rather than a shortcut cook.
Rating: 7/10 — Good flavor concept and a clean ingredient list, held back by higher saturated fat than its competitors and inconsistent texture reviews depending on how it's cooked.
