Seitan is a faux meat that can easily be made at home.
And I'm not just saying that - I promise! One of the things I hear the most from people is, "OMG Vicki, your seitan recipe changed my life!!!!"
OK, maybe that's a bit dramatic, but I do get incredible feedback from my seitan recipe.
And, if you're new to the world of seitan, I am about to rock. your. world. 🤘🏼
So, before we delve into the best seitan recipe ever, first of all, lemme explain wth seitan actually is.
Seitan is a vegan's best friend when it comes to getting high-quality, low-calorie plant-based protein.
Pronounced 'say-tan', the main ingredient is vital wheat gluten (so it can't be gluten-free, soz), a flour-like powder containing nearly all gluten with the starch removed leaving a high-protein flour. When you're looking for a quality VWG powder you want to check the nutritional labels for a flour that has 80g+ of protein per 100g. The higher the protein per 100g the better.
Vital wheat gluten itself is low in a couple of the key amino acids such as lysine and leucine, so this is why I recommend making it the way I do below so that you are really getting a high-quality protein source.
The other benefit to seitan is that it's what's classed as a 'lean' protein source, meaning it's quite low in carbs, fats and calories.
In fact, my recipe below has 146 kcals and 31g of protein per 100g! I don't want to blow my own horn, but I don't think I've come across a seitan recipe with macros that good... (toot toot).
So, on to the recipe itself. I don't want you to get overwhelmed by this. It might seem like there's a lot going on but trust me, it's super simple.
Mix the wet and the dry ingredients -> knead the dough a little bit -> saute it -> steam it. Boom. You have one of your main protein sources for the week sorted.
So, let's get to it, shall we?
This makes around 800g when it's cooked (if you're unsure how to log/track it, check out this post)
Cals/Macros per 100g:
146 calories
31g protein / 4.3g carbs / 0.5g fat
(just to put that into perspective, 100g of cooked chicken has 165 calories and 31g of protein, so per calorie, my seitan recipe has more protein! 🤯)
Dry Ingredients
250g vital wheat gluten
30g unflavoured soy or pea isolate (or sub for 50g chickpea/garbanzo flour)
20g nutritional yeast
½ tbsp garlic powder
½ tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp veggie stock powder
10g leucine powder (this is completely optional but I've been doing this for the last 6 months to improve the quality of the protein)
Wet Ingredients
2 cups hot water
100ml light soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar-free BBQ sauce OR tomato ketchup
1 tbsp yellow miso paste
2 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp marmite (optional, sub for extra soy sauce if not using it)
For Cooking:
A little spray of oil
Directions:
1. In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients. I like to use a sieve for the VWG & protein powder so there are no clumps and then a metal whisk to combine it all.
2. In a separate smaller bowl, mix the wet. Again, use the whisk to make sure everything is well-mixed.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and using a silicone spatula, mix it all together until everything's well incorporated and you have a dough-like consistency.
4. Knead for 2 to 3 minutes, adding more vital wheat gluten if the dough is very sticky or more water if it's too dry. Try not to over-knead it though. If you pick it up it should hold together and you will be able to see the gluten strands. If it falls apart you most likely need a little more water.
5. Now, you can decide what shapes you want your seitan in. You can make them into 'steaks', burgers, nuggets, sausages... whatever you like. If you decide to go for burgers or steaks, cut them into 7 equal pieces OR for nuggets just cut them up into small bite-sized pieces.
6. Heat a large cast iron or nonstick pan over medium heat, spray with the oil and start to saute the seitan in batches for 2 - 3 minutes per side, until the seitan pieces are lightly browned on both sides and then set aside.
7. Add a couple of cups of water to a steamer pot/basket and bring to a simmer. Add the seitan to the basket. If making steaks/burgers then you'll need to layer them. Please bear in mind that these will expand quite a lot as they cook! Steam the seitan for 60 minutes, turning it over at the halfway point. Don't let the steamer pot boil dry!
8. Once the seitan has cooked, let it cool and then store it in the fridge for 5-7 days. It can be eaten as is or heated up in a pan, oven, air fryer or griddle.
I like to make large batches of this and then freeze it.
Now, the beauty of this recipe is not only can you change the shape of it to what you want, but you can also change the flavour of it all too! The marmite, BBQ sauce & liquid smoke give it a more 'beefy' taste, but if you swapped those for tomato ketchup, chicken-free chicken stock and added some rosemary & thyme you'd get a more chicken-y taste!
You really can't go wrong with this recipe, so be brave, Bunny, and get experimenting!
A few things to note, if you don't have a steamer pot you can gently simmer them in water for the same amount of time.
You can skip the sauteeing step, but if you do you will be doing this recipe a disservice. The sauteeing helps to seal in the flavours and moisture and makes the texture amazing! This is what stops it from being 'chewy' seitan.
I have perfected this recipe over years and I've had hundreds of messages from people saying that it's the best seitan recipe they've ever tried. This will make hitting your protein goals so easy and if you can get into the habit of prepping this every few weeks it'll be an absolute game changer for you!
Also, FYI I added this recipe along with a load of others to my NEW nutrition-only monthly membership program. In fact, there's a cook-along video of this exact recipe with me in my kitchen!
Inside Vegan Macros Mastery, every month you’ll get done-for-you calories & macros, new high-protein vegan recipes and incredible resources available to help you stay on track and know exactly what to do to keep making progress.
You can start anytime and there is no minimum commitment!
See you there.
Vicki x ❤️ 💪🏼 🌱
Founder & Head Coach
