Vegan Seitan Chicken Recipes

SEITAN CHICKEN (VEGAN CHICKEN)

Steps:

• Add a can of drained chickpeas to a food processor or blender along with broth, nutritional yeast, oil, poultry seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt.
• Blend until smooth, then transfer to a glass mixing bowl.
• Stir in 1 cup of the vital wheat gluten, then add the remaining 1/2 cup of wheat gluten and knead with your hands for about 1 minute until a firm dough is formed. *don't eat it until it has been cooked.
• You can now cook your seitan, or for "chicken" with a stringier texture, let it rest in the fridge covered for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
• Flatten the kneaded gluten into a large circle about 1.5 inches thick and cut it into 4- 6 equal sections depending on the size "chicken" breasts that you want.
• Form the pieces into the shape that you desire and wrap the individual "chicken breast" tightly in foil.
• Steam the vegan chicken breasts in the foil packets for 45 minutes and remove them from the steamer with tongs. (At this point, you can eat it, slice it into chicken strips to toss into stir-fries, put it on salads, grill it, or panfry it as you would chicken breast.)
• To panfry, sauté it in a tablespoon of oil for 3-5 minutes on each side until golden brown.

BASIC VEGAN SEITAN CHICKEN (NO WASH METHOD)

Steps:

• First whizz up all the ingredients (include the water from the tin of beans) except for the Vital Wheat Gluten in a blender until smooth and creamy.
• You want 700 ml / 2¾ cups of liquid total, so if it is a bit less once the beans and onions are processed, add a little more.
• In a large bowl, gently combine the liquid from the blender and the Vital Wheat Gluten.
• Mix and leave to rest for 15-20 minutes to allow the liquid to absorb into the gluten properly (this forms better strands).
• Now knead the dough in a mixer or food processor (or by hand) until you have smooth, very stringy elastic dough. About 15 minutes.
• Form the dough into a loaf, then double wrap in foil.
• Steam the seitan in a large pot with a trivet, or using a bamboo steamer for 1½ hours (be careful not to let the pot boil dry).
• Once steamed, let cool and then shred. Even better, let it rest overnight in the fridge for the best SHREDS!

SEITAN FRIED CHICK'N

Steps:

• In a mixing bowl, whisk the vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, and spices.
• Add the veggie broth and soy sauce and mix until combined. Knead for 5-7 minutes.
• Bring the broth ingredients to a boil in a large, tall saucepan.
• Break off small pieces of the seitan and place them in the broth (if you need to, add more water to cover them). These will double in size.
• Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for ~30 mins, flipping each piece halfway through.
• Whisk together the flour mixture ingredients in one bowl and the egg mixture in a separate bowl.
• Fill a large saucepan about 1 inch high with canola oil and heat on medium-high to ~350°F.
• For each piece of seitan, cover in the flour mixture, then the egg mixture, then the flour mixture again and place in the hot oil.
• Cook on each side until crispy (~3 minutes per side)
• Enjoy with vegan ranch, bbq sauce, or another fav!

CHICKEN SEITAN

Steps:

• In a large bowl or a stand mixer equipped with a dough hook attachment, combine the vital wheat gluten, flour, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt, and pepper.
• Stir to combine.
• Mix together the broth, soy sauce, and olive oil in a measuring cup.
• Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry, mixing together as you go.
• Once you've added all of the liquid, the mixture will come together in a ball and be very elastic.
• The seitan dough should be wet to the touch. If it's dry or crumbly, add more broth until the desired texture is reached.
• Cut the seitan into 4 pieces, and place each one on a square piece of foil, 10-12 inches on each side.
• Smash the seitan into a patty, then fold the foil into a little packet and smash it down more.
• Repeat with all 4 pieces.
• Prepare a large pot with a steamer basket (see note) or other steaming appliance.
• Steam the seitan for 35 minutes, or until firm.
• Slice, shred, or chop the seitan and use as desired, or as directed in a recipe.

VEGAN CHICKEN

Steps:

• Place the tofu, cannellini beans (and their water), 3 tbsp of the vegetable oil, sea salt, miso paste and rice vinegar into the largest cup or jug attachment of a high speed blender. Blend on high speed for a minimum of 1 minute. Remove the cup, shake it well or use a spatula to make sure no chunks are stuck to the side then blend again for another 30 seconds until very smooth and creamy.
• Add the vital wheat gluten and the garlic powder to the mixture and blend until the mixture is smooth and very stretchy. Add the remaining 3 tbsp vegetable oil and blend again for at least 30 seconds. At this stage, the seitan dough should be very stringy - almost like the texture of tough chewing gum (don't worry - this is correct - it won't be like this once cooked!).
• Divide the seitan chicken dough into 8 pieces, roughly 150g each. Working with one at a time, pinch the edges of the piece of seitan and tuck it over and into the centre, making one smooth side and one folded, tucked side. Roughly shape the dough into a fillet. Repeat with the remaining pieces.
• Lay a sheet of greaseproof paper on a clean surface and place the fillet on top. Fold the sides of the greaseproof paper over and wrap tightly. Alternatively you can use muslin/cheesecloth to wrap the seitan and bind it tightly with string.
• IMPORTANT: it's essential that each fillet is wrapped as tightly as possible otherwise the seitan will expand and become spongy rather than firm and meaty.
• Place the tightly wrapped seitan chicken "breasts" into a steamer. A bamboo or an electric steamer will work fine. Steam for at least 1 hour. After an hour, give the fillets a little prod. They should be firm and bouncy rather than soft and doughy.
• Once steamed, remove the seitan chicken from the steamer and without unwrapping, leave to cool for at least 20 minutes. While the chicken cools, prepare the marinade.
• Put the crushed garlic, miso paste, dry white wine and sugar in a medium bowl and whisk together until a smooth paste forms. Set aside.
• Once your vegan chicken is cooled, unwrap it and use your hands to pull apart each piece into two (don't slice with a knife as the torn, meaty texture helps the chicken to soak up flavour).
• Place the vegan chicken into a large tupperware container with a lid or a large deep baking tin. Pour over the miso/wine mixture and use your hands to rub the marinade into the vegan chicken.
• Add the just boiled water to a large measuring jug and add the remaining brine ingredients. Pour over the chicken pieces while the brine is still hot and use a fork to make sure all the chicken is covered in liquid. Cover with reusable wrap or a lid and allow the brine to cool to room temperature on the counter. Once cooled, place in the fridge and leave to marinate for a minimum of 8 hours, ideally 12 if you can.
• Once the chicken has marinated for a minimum of 8 hours, it is ready to use.
• For shredded chicken, use a fork to pull apart the marinated vegan chicken into fine shreds. For chunks either pull the vegan chicken apart by hand for a rough texture or slice into pieces with a knife.

SEITAN CHICKEN NUGGETS

Steps:

• Before you make the dough, start a large pot of broth (about 12 cups) on the stove, at medium heat. Throw a lid on there so it heats faster.
• Blend the beans, spices, and about 3/4 cup of the vegan chicken broth in the food processor or blender until it is smooth. Then add vital wheat gluten and blend again briefly, until most of it has been incorporated. It may still be a little powdery but that's OK. Add it to a large bowl and press everything together with your hands. You may want to add a tablespoon of water or two if it looks a bit dry. DO NOT OVERKNEAD. Seriously, just try to form the dough. At this point you can do whatever you'd like, shape-wise. Make vegan chicken strips or patties using the seitan. Now tear off 1/2 to a full tablespoon sized chunks. I found it easier to cut the chunks using kitchen shears. Then briefly press each one so they're about a 1/2 inch thick nugget shape. They don't all have to be perfectly the same size. Place the nuggets on a plate until they are all done -- we want to add them all together so they cook evenly.
• Add the nuggets one by one into the pot. All of mine fit into 12 cups of simmering liquid. They will puff up and rise to the top but that's OK. I like to use a ladle with holes or gaps, often called a skimmer or slotted spoon. This keeps the liquid from splashing and hurting your skin. You could also use tongs. You want to go in a circle around the pot, the nuggets are evenly spread out. They should not stick together. Once you've added all the nuggets to the pot, put the lid on, slightly ajar, and simmer at that heat for 30 minutes. If you are baking your nuggets, I would recommend preheating your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit (218 degrees Celsius) about halfway through the simmering time so you are ready to bake them. If you are making these nuggets to freeze them, let them cool and then freeze in an airtight freezer safe container (do not bake or air fry first. They will turn out OK when reheating, but a little tougher. Definitely recommend freezing right after the simmering process.)
• Lay out your nuggets in a single layer on a lined baking sheet. I like to use silicone baking mats instead of parchment paper because I feel it makes food more crispy. It's also more cost effective and less wasteful! I recommend not letting your nuggets touch on the baking sheet. They're not going to stick if they do touch, but it allows the heat to reach the sides of the nuggets better. Bake for about 25-35 minutes, depending on how crispy you like your nuggets. Remove when cooked to your preference, serve up, and enjoy!
• Place the nuggets in a single layer in an air fryer. You may need to do 2 or 3 batches depending on the size of your air fryer (or if you have multiple racks). Air fry at 400 degrees Fahrenheit (205 degrees Celsius) for about 12-17 minutes, again depending on how crispy you like your nuggets. We liked ours at 15 minutes the best. You don't NEED to flip them halfway through. We found there wasn't an enormous difference either way Flipping it halfway through is recommended if you care about the nuggets browning on both sides.
• Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container up to 5 days. Reheat in the oven or you can use the microwave with a damp paper towel over them.
• To best preserve texture and flavor, freeze these nuggets (in an airtight container for up to 3 months) BEFORE air frying or baking them. They might take up a little more space, but they'll be softer when you reheat. When you reheat, bake or air fry at 400 degrees F (or 205 degrees C) for 5-10 minutes, or in the microwave place a damp paper towel over them and microwave for a 1-3 minutes.

VEGAN SEITAN TENDERS

Steps:

• Add all of the ingredients to a food processor and pulse to combine until everything is well mixed and the dough forms a ball. Alternatively, if you do not have a food processor you can mix everything together in a large bowl working the dough until it forms a ball.
• Lightly dust a clean work surfaces with a bit of the vital wheat gluten. Turn the dough ball onto the surface and lightly dust the top with a little more vital wheat gluten. The dough will be soft and very sticky so this will help it from sticking to your hands. Do not knead the dough, kneading it will make it tough. Cut the dough ball into 6 pieces and use the tips of your fingers to press each piece of dough into an oval shape about 5" x 6".
• Add several inches of water to a large pot with a steamer basket and bring to a simmer. Lightly grease the steamer basket and lay the tenders in the basket. If the tenders need to overlap each other, spray the tenders with a bit of oil to stop them from sticking together. Cover and steam at a simmer for 25 minutes, flipping halfway through so they steam evenly. They will double in size. Make sure to keep it at a gentle simmer for the best texture.
• Once steamed, remove the tenders and let cool. Cover or put in an airtight container and chill in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour, or for up to 3 - 4 days. You can either chill the tenders without any additional seasoning, or you could toss the tenders in your favourite marinade. The tenders shrink and firm up a bit when chilled and this results in the best texture.
• Once chilled, the tenders are fully cooked and edible, but you can now treat them as you would raw chicken -season and cook them as you desire. The cooking time can be short as they only need to be heated through but prepare them any way that you might prepare a chicken breast. Pan fry or grill them, bread or crust them, slice them for salad, pasta, or stirfry, cut them into nuggets, add them to burritos, tacos, or sandwiches. The options are endless!

VEGAN SEITAN CHICKEN

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water (make sure the water is just below the bottom of the steamer) to a boil and place a steamer over the water.
• Add ingredients except vital wheat gluten to a food processor. Blend until the mixture is smooth, about 5 minutes.
• Transfer the chickpea mixture to a large bowl. Add vital wheat gluten ¼ cup at a time and fold it into the mixture using a spatula. Ensure that the mixture is thoroughly mixed to the point where you can't see the flour anymore. Let it rest for 5 minutes for gluten to develop.
• Divide the dough into two parts.
• Using a dough hook in the food processor, process each piece of the seitan dough for about 8 minutes or until the dough is warm. At the beginning, the dough will crumble but it will come to a round ball as processing goes on.
• Once both dough is processed, combine them together and knead by hand for another minute. Wrap the seitan tightly with aluminum foil.
• Place the seitan in the steamer and steam with the steamer covered for 45 minutes. Make sure to flip over the seitan at the 22 minute mark to ensure that seitan cooks uniformly.
• Allow it to cool for at least 30 minutes before unwrapping and then shredding. If you want to slice it and use it to replace chicken breast or for nuggets, refrigerate overnight or for at least 8 hours before slicing.

EASY CHICKEN STYLE SEITAN (VEGAN)

Steps:

• Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl.
• Whisk together water, tahini, and lemon in a separate bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and then add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.
• Mix together well with a wooden spoon, and then begin to knead with hands. Knead for a few minutes until a stretchy dough is formed. If it is too sticky, add a little more wheat gluten until it is easy to work with.
• Shape the dough into 4 -6 "chicken breast"-shaped pieces. Let rest while you prepare the broth.
• Bring the vegetable broth to a boil in a large pot, there should be enough to cover the seitan.
• Place the seitan pieces in, lower heat slightly to a simmer, and cover pot. Simmer for 45 minutes, flipping the seitan pieces halfway through. Turn off the heat and let rest for 15 mins. Remove seitan and set aside.
• To serve, I recommend to pan-fry the seitan pieces in some oil, or brush them with oil and marinade and bake them until slightly browned, for a tasty meat substitute. These are also excellent in my seitan piccata recipe.

VEGAN FRIED "CHICKEN"

Steps:

• In the cup of a high speed blender, combine the chickpeas (including their soaking water), the water, bouillon powder, white wine vinegar, onion powder, garlic powder and silken tofu. Blend until very smooth.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the dough hook, combine the vital wheat gluten and the blended liquid. Knead on medium speed with the dough hook for no less that 5 minutes. The seitan dough should be smooth and stretchy.
• Cover the mixing bowl and leave to rest for ten minutes.
• Once rested, remove the dough from the mixer and slice into three even sized pieces. Return two of the pieces to the covered bowl. Take the one piece of dough and slice it into six separate pieces (don't worry if they're all different sizes - just roughly the same is fine).
• Lay out a piece of baking parchment and take one of the small pieces of dough. Place the dough on the left hand side of the baking parchment, then fold over to cover the dough. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough as thinly as you can. Unfold the parchment and peel off the thin piece of seitan. Stretch it out with your fingers and place it flat on a plate. Brush it very lightly with vegetable oil.
• Repeat the process with the next piece of dough - roll it out very thinly then remove from the parchment. Stretch it out with your fingertips and place it in top of the first piece, pushing down lightly with the flat of your hand to remove any air bubbles between the two pieces of seitan. Brush the top piece lightly with oil then repeat the process with the remaining small pieces of dough.
• Once all six small pieces of dough are layered, stretch the top piece of dough down and over the other layers to envelop them and tuck under the bottom layer. Place the layered piece of seitan on a new large piece of baking parchment and fold it up tightly. Wrap tightly with tin foil and set aside.
• Repeat the process with the other two large pieces of dough.
• Bring a steamer to the boil and place all three pieces of seitan in the steamer. Steam for a total of 90 minutes, flipping and moving the pieces around half way.
• Once the seitan is steamed, carefully remove it from the steamer and allow it to cool to room temperature (20 minutes) before placing in the fridge for at least an hour. Do not unwrap.
• Once cooled fully, unwrap the seitan and tear apart into whatever size shreds you'd like. (If you're planning to make fried chicken, I'd suggest keeping the shreds quite large. If you're using in a curry, I'd go a bit smaller).
• Keep sealed in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for 2 months.
• Take the pieces of shredded chicken out of the fridge.
• In one medium bowl, combine the gram flour, plant milk, cider vinegar and sriracha. Whisk well to combine. This is your egg mixture.
• In another medium bowl, combine all the spiced flour mixture ingredients. Mix to combine.
• Place a medium, high sided frying pan over a medium heat or turn on a deep fat fryer. Bring the oil to 170c.
• Assigning your left hand to the egg mix and your right hand to the spiced flour, dunk a piece of chicken in the flour and toss to coat. Then, with your right hand, place the floured chicken in the egg mixture. Use your left hand to coat the chicken and then pick it up and place back in the flour. Very carefully coat for a second time in the flour mixture then place carefully in the hot oil.
• Fry the chicken piece for around 2-4 minutes or until completely golden brown. Using a spider or a slotted spoon, remove the chicken from the fryer and place on a few pieces of kitchen towel to drain. Repeat the process with the remaining chicken.
• Serve while hot!

THE BEST VEGAN SEITAN CHICKEN RECIPE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk the 2 cups vital wheat gluten with the 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, ½ tsp salt, and 1 tbsp chicken seasoning until they're completely combined.
• In a small bowl, whisk the 1 cup tofu, ½ cup water, 1 tbsp no chicken bouillon paste, and 1 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce until the tofu breaks down into small pieces.
• Stir the wet ingredients into the dry and when it forms a ball.
• On a clean flat surface dusted with vital wheat gluten, knead the dough for 1 minute then roll or press into a ½ inch thick circle. The dough will keep shrinking, just continue to press it back. If the dough tears, press it back together.
• Using a sharp paring knife, cut out the chicken cutlets. You can decide on how small or large you want them to be.
• Place a steaming basket in a large pot and fill with water until the water is just below the basket. You don't want water to touch the cutlets. Bring the water to a boil.
• Spray a light coating of oil on the basket to prevent the cutlets from sticking and place the cutlets on the basket. If you need to layer the cutlets, spray a light coating of oil on the bottom layer so they don't stick together.
• Reduce the water to a simmer, cover the pot, and steam for 30 minutes.
• Remove the cutlets from the pot and refrigerate for at least an hour. This will let the seitan develop a better texture.
• TO GRILL THE VEGAN CHIK'N BREASTS
• Brush or spray a light coating of vegetable oil on both sides and grill for 3 to 5 minutes on each side, or until they're heated through.
• Layer on our homemade BBQ sauce for added flavor.
• Enjoy!

THE QUICKEST & EASIEST SEITAN RECIPE!! (VEGAN CHICKEN!)

Steps:

• Add about an inch of water to a pot with a steamer basket and bring to a light boil.
• In the meantime, whisk together the vital wheat gluten, flour, vegetable broth powder, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Pour in the water and mix to form a ball of dough. Lightly grease the steamer basket, then tear off bite-sized pieces of the seitan dough and place them in a single layer in the steamer basket. Cover, and steam the seitan for 10 minutes.
• In the meantime, in a small bowl or a measuring glass, mix together the Thai sweet chili sauce, hoisin, soy sauce, water, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. Set aside. (See notes for other sauce options).
• When the seitan is done steaming, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet or non-stick pan. Use tongs to remove the seitan bites from the steamer basket, and place them into the hot oil in the pan. Be careful as it may splatter. Cook the seitan bites a few minutes per side until they are golden brown and crispy. Remove from the heat and add the sauce and toss to coat. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds if desired and serve hot.

EASY VEGAN SEITAN CHICKEN RECIPE

Steps:

• Add all ingredients except the seitan powder to a food processor/blender and blend until very smooth.
• Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the seitan. Using a wooden spoon, combine everything until it comes together and forms a dough.
• Cover the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes.
• Divide the dough into two equal pieces and add each piece to a food processor on low/medium speed for 5 minutes. The dough should be very smooth and elastic.
• Tightly wrap each piece of dough into a piece of aluminum foil (or a cheese cloth).
• Place the parcels in a steaming basket and steam for 2 hours (medium-low temperature). Check back in between to make sure there is enough water in the pot.
• Remove the dough parcels from the heat and let them cool down completely. Then you can pull apart the individual seitan strands.

MOTHER- CLUCKING SEITAN

Steps:

• Mix all your dry ingredients together
• Add all the wet ingredients, reserving the additional to cups of broth
• Mix well, and divide into three sections, kneading each section for at least twenty minutes* or Do not knead, mix the dough until combined and let rest overnight
• Preheat your oven to 350 Add two cups of vegetable broth to a dutch oven
• Place your loaf into the pan with broth, and rub oil over any of the exposed loaf
• Lightly dust the oiled loaf with more poultry seasoning and a bit of nutmeg
• Bake for 40 minutes, checking on it half way through, spoon some of vegetable broth over the exposed part to help keep it moist
• Flip it, coat the exposed loaf in more oil, and add more seasonings
• Bake for an additional 15 minutes
• Repeat steps 6-10 for each loaf, reusing the vegetable broth, adding more as needed