Menu

Building Blocks: Basic Seitan

  • Ingredients for Seitan
  • Pieces of Seitan on Cutting Board
  • Details
  • 9 Comments
  • Related Items
LoadingAdd to favorites

Pieces of Seitan on Cutting Board

Before kicking off today’s recipe, I want to say a big thank you to Terri at the vegan food and recipe blog,  Bacon is NOT an Herb.  Terri is asking for submissions from vegetarians, vegans and those who are considering moving to a plant-based diets to share their stories with her: the what, why and how.  If this sounds like something you’d like to do, I suggest you visit her blog here to get the details.  She’ll be posting one story per month.  It’s a great way to share and learn and encourage.  Anyway, today she’s posted my story - and I’m just delighted and honored.  Thanks, Terri!

Now onto the recipe!  One of the most useful recipes for a vegan to have in his or her arsenal is for seitan.  This miracle “wheat meat” can be transformed into pot roast, fajitas, cutlets, satay and sausage, to name a few ideas – and the flavors can be tweaked for whatever you’re cooking.  Seitan can be pricey in the supermarket (and hard to find around here) and filled with mystery ingredients.  It’s really quite easy and fun to make – as it cooks in the broth it totally transforms.  Make up a big batch and store it in the freezer for when you need it.

Basic Seitan
Makes 6 large pieces/6 cups

Dough:
Ingredients for Seitan2 cups vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 tbsp. whole wheat flour
1 cup + 2 tbsp. water or vegetable broth
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp. tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, microplaned or finely grated
1/2″ chunk of fresh ginger, peeled and microplaned or finely grated
1 tsp. lemon zest

Broth:
4 cups vegetable broth
8 cups water
1/2 cup soy sauce

Combine the broth ingredients in a large soup pot, but do not turn on the heat yet.

In a large bowl, whisk together the vital wheat gluten, the nutritional yeast and the whole wheat flour.  In a smaller bowl, whisk together all of the wet ingredients and the garlic, ginger and lemon zest.  Pour this into the dry ingredients and using a sturdy spatula, stir until a dough forms.  Transfer the dough to the counter and knead for about 5 minutes.  Set aside to rest for a few minutes, then knead again for another 2-3 minutes.

Form the dough in a log or into a flat disk and cut into 6 roughly equal pieces.  Carefully drop the pieces into the broth mixture and partially cover the pot.  Bring to a boil, then set the heat to low and gently simmer the seitan for an hour, turning the pieces occasionally.

Turn off the heat and let the seitan rest in the broth for at least 30 minutes before removing.  Use the seitan immediately or store in a container with the broth in the refrigerator.  This will last for about 5 days.  Seitan freezes very well – just seal well in plastic wrap.

(I’ve tried lots of seitan recipes and this is my favorite.  It comes from Vegan with a Vengeance, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.  I added grated ginger and omitted the olive oil.)

Print Friendly
  1. trueindigo says:

    I always feel like a rock star when I make this seitan recipe! My son and daughter-in-law have made a version where they boil it in a poultry bag and it takes on a mock-duck like texture. Thanks again for your inspirational story and Happy New Year!

  2. I know! I feel the same whenever I make seitan, too. You need to share the poultry bag recipe!

  3. […] tsp. dried thyme 1/2 tsp. tomato paste 1 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch dissolved into 2 tbsp. water 1 pound Basic Seitan, sliced into 1/4″ pieces salt & pepper to […]

  4. Bluff Bourguignon « Bacon is NOT an Herb says:

    […] My Successful Seitan got me all in a wheat meat frame of mind, mid-January calls for a hearty winter stew. I looked up how others had tackled any vegan Boef Bourguignon. Most recipes I found started with store bought seitan like Gardien but a few mentioned preparing it themselves from the Veganomicon recipe, Simple Seitan (see Isa’s similar Homemade Seitan or Basic Seitan at An Unrefined Vegan). […]

  5. Guest Blogger: Bacon is NOT an herb « Vegan Bloggers Unite! says:

    […] My Successful Seitan got me all in a wheat meat frame of mind, mid-January calls for a hearty winter stew. I looked up how others had tackled any vegan Boef Bourguignon. Most recipes I found started with store bought seitan like Gardien but a few mentioned preparing it themselves from the Veganomicon recipe, Simple Seitan (see Isa’s similar Homemade Seitan or Basic Seitan at An Unrefined Vegan). […]

  6. […] One Year Ago Today: Basic Seitan […]

  7. Meaty Cravings? | Vedged Out says:

    […]  of this seitan recipe (3 cutlets) OR 1 package store bought seitan OR for GF peeps, 1 block store bought tempeh, cut into […]

  8. […] 1 cup celery, sliced 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp. dried thyme 8 oz. mushrooms, sliced 2 cups seitan, cubed 3 cups seitan-cooking broth+7 cups water OR 4 cups vegetable broth+6 cups water 4 cups kale, […]

  9. […] 3/4 – 1 lb. seitan, cut into strips 6 oz. non-dairy, plain yogurt 1 tsp. ginger, grated 1 clove garlic, minced 1 tbsp. […]

Fill in the Blank:

The Clay Boy Maker’s Chocolate-Ginger-Orange Cookies (And a Virtual Vegan Potluck Update)

Add to favorites If you’ve signed on to participate in the Virtual Vegan Potluck, please take a moment to visit the VVP Page for the latest list of participants.  (Please check the list and make …

Print Friendly
Baked PB & J Oatmeal An Unrefined Vegan

Vegan MoFo 14: Baked Peanut Butter & Jelly Oatmeal

Add to favoritesWhen my favorite breakfast and my beloved flavor combination come together it’s a heavenly collision of warm, creamy, nutty, jammy breakfast-goodness.  Making its way onto Buzzfeed’s 29 Ways to Honor the Glory of Peanut …

Print Friendly

VeganMoFo: Peanut Sandies

Add to favoritesMom, I’m sorry.  I never told you this before, but I never did like Pecan Sandies.  In an era now sweetly veiled in nostalgia, when corduroys and cowl neck sweaters ruled the junior …

Print Friendly
Fudgy Espresso Cookies An Unrefined Vegan

Fudgy Chocolate Espresso Cookies

Add to favoritesI’ve had this recipe for a long time and the first time I made them – years ago – I used the recipe straight up: refined white flour, 1 cup of refined sugar, …

Print Friendly
PB & J Waffles An Unrefined Vegan

Vegan MoFo 15: Peanut Butter-Banana Waffles with Blueberry Macadamia Nut Sauce. Low-gluten. Sugar- and Oil-free.

Add to favoritesWhat should be here is a recipe similar to Liv Life’s PBJ Banana Waffle Sandwiches, except that at this point in MoFo, I’m kinda done with PB & J sandwich iterations.  First was the …

Print Friendly
%d bloggers like this: