Homemade Seitan

Vital wheat gluten, chickpea flour and water come together to make a vegan meat that’s as high in protein as its animal counterpart.

Seitan Kebabs

Recipe modified from Connoisseurus Veg

INGREDIENTS

For the seitan

1 cup vital wheat gluten

1/4 cup chickpea flour

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 cup water

For the broth

6 cups low sodium vegetable broth

1/3 cup low sodium tamari

1-1/2 teaspoons poultry seasoning (see note)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke

1-1/2 teaspoons white vinegar (optional, for chicken flavor) -OR-

1/2 cup dry red wine (optional, for beef flavor, reduce broth to 5-1/2 cups)

Note:

For beef flavor use 1 teaspoon thyme and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper in place of the poultry seasoning.

I have made seitan many times and I never flavor it the same way! You can really choose how you want to flavor your broth, depending on how you’re going to use the seitan. If you’re adding a sauce, for example, the broth additions can be pretty simple (think about it, meat gets most of its flavor from the seasoning added to it). If you don’t have veggie broth on hand just add a handful of veggies (like carrots, celery, onion and garlic for example) to the water and season with salt and pepper if desired. You can get REALLY creative with the broth!

Mongolian Seitan and Broccoli

DIRECTIONS

1. Stir the vital wheat gluten, chickpea flour and spices together in a medium bowl.

2. Add the water and stir to form a soft dough. It should be fairly rubbery and not stick to the bowl or your work surface. No additional flour should be needed for kneading.

3. Transfer the dough to a work surface and knead for 5 - 8 minutes.

4. Let dough sit for 5 about minutes.

5. In the meantime stir the broth ingredients you‘ve selected together in a large pot.

6. Place the pot on high heat and bring the broth to a boil. Lower the heat to low simmer.

7. Cut the dough into at least 4 large, fairly equal pieces, or smaller chunks or strips if desired.

8. Add the dough to the broth and allow to simmer for 20 minutes, covered, then 40 minutes uncovered, for a total of one hour, watching closely to ensure it stays at a low simmer (if it boils it could make the seitan tough).

9. Take the pot off the heat and allow the seitan to cool then use as desired.

10. Store any unused seitan in the broth in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Seitan strips with Chinese Cabbage Salad and Chickpea Spirals and Cheese