How to Make “Chicken-Style” Seitan (A Soy-Free Meat Substitute)

Here is a basic chicken-flavored seitan recipe for all of your soy-free meat substitute needs. It’s flavorful, versatile, perfectly textured, and easy to make!

What’s awesome about making your own seitan is that it saves you money. That’s always good right?! But, it gets better; making your own seiten means that you get to add your own flavorings.  Whether you’re leaning more toward a more beefy taste or more chicken-y, the flavor possibilities are practically endless!

What is Seitan?

Seitan is high-protein meat substitute made from vital wheat gluten.  Vital wheat gluten a “super-powered” flour that is all gluten and contains very tittle starch.  If you’ve ever eaten at a vegan restaurant, chances are, you’ve had seitan, especially if you were seeking a soy-free meat substitute.

I must point out that my first attempt at making seitan was a tasty disaster.  I used the simmering method, but no one told me NOT to let the broth boil! Keeping the broth at a SIMMER was the correct approach (Duh Candice! After all it is called the “simmering” method -_-) The end result was practically a soft, jiggly “meat” jello–see pictures below.  I would say “ew” but it actually tasted good.

Refusing to be defeated by this tasty-jello-meat dilemma, I just decided to go with a brand new approach: Steaming.  Out of the 3 methods typically used to make seitan (baking, steaming, and simmering), I use “steaming” most often.  It produces a nice, chewy, firm, texture that’s great for sandwich “meat” slices, cutlets, ribs, and even vegan sausage!

Along with this newly discovered steaming method, I also knead the dough a little longer.  Rule of thumb when making seitan: you need to knead! Since seitan is a dough, the kneading process is crucial as it helps the gluten to develop and gives the dough elasticity.  Kneading the dough longer equates more gluten, which leads to a much chewier texture.  For this dough, I kneaded it for 3 minutes, let it rest for 15 minutes, then kneaded it for and additional minute before forming it into a loaf and cutting it into 4 pieces.

Next, I wrapped each of piece of dough with foil and fold it in such a way that liquid would not get inside.

I did not have a big enough steamer, so I made a make-shift one by using a large pot/top, a metal colander, and used foil as a sealant to keep the steam from escaping from edge of the pot.  This worked really well, however, I needed to rotate the foil packets here and there in order for each and every piece to cook thoroughly.  If you do not have a big enough steamer or pot, you may need to rotate the pieces as well.

Seriously guys, once you experience how easy, cheap, and delicious it is to make your own seitan, you’ll never want to back to the store-bought!  Heck, seitan might just become your new favorite soy-free meat substitute:)

Cut it up the way you’d like, eat it as it, make it saucy, put it on sandwiches, batter/pan-fry it, chop it up for salad, or even pizza! Get creative! Also try this seitan with my Coconut Rice and/or my Roasted Veggies and Balsamic Reduction recipe.

Recipe

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How to Make "Chicken-Style" Seitan (A Soy-Free Meat Substitute)

Here is a basic "chicken-style" steamed seitan recipe for all of your soy-free meat substitute needs. It's flavorful, versatile, perfectly textured, and easy to make!

Course How-To

Cuisine Vegan

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 50 minutes minutes

Servings 4 loaves

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups veggie broth or water and bouillon cube
• 2 teaspoons olive oil or other vegetable oil
• 1.5 cups vital wheat gluten
• ¼ cup chickpea or whole wheat flour
• ⅓ cup nutrtional yeast
• ½-1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1.5 teaspoons poultry seasoning
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ¼-1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• a couple dashes coconut aminos, liquid aminos, or tamari optional
• aluminum foil

Instructions

• Combine olive oil and broth and set aside.
• In another bowl, completely combine the remaining ingredients then stir in the broth mixture.
• Stir until the mixture pulls begins to form a ball.
• Empty dough onto a clean, flat surface and knead for 3 minutes. This process is crucial as it develops the gluten. The consistency of the dough will indeed change.
• Cover dough and let it rest for about 10 minutes the knead for another minute. Make an effort to work the dough into a rectangle/loaf form then slice into 4 equal sized pieces.
• Completely wrap each piece of dough in foil and seal it by folding the edges in. Be careful not wrap dough too tight as it needs room to expand.
• Steam for 30 minutes. If you do not have a steamer, fill a large pot with about 1 inch of water and bring it to a boil. Place the foil wrapped loaves into metal colander and then into the large pot. Make sure that the colander sits higher than the level of the water as you do not want the loaves to get wet.
• Note: If your loaves are stacked, you may want to switch the loaves around halfway through cooking so that they all steam evenly.
• Remove from steamer and let loaves cool for at least 30 minutes before placing them into the refrigerator for 1 hour. (This cool-down time in the fridge allows for the dough to firm up) Next, remove loaves from foil packets and wrap them in plastic or store in re-sealable plastic baggies.

Notes

If wrapped tightly, this seitan can last in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. If frozen, it can last for 2-3 months.

If you want to try different flavors/spices, just use the first 4 ingredients of the recipe, then add your own spice combinations. Get creative!

Recipe adapted from Vegan Bowl Attack and Viva Vegan.

If you make this “Chicken-Style” Seitan recipe, let me know how it turns out! 🙂 Rate it, leave a comment below and share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #veganfitcarter

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