Vegan “Chicken” is seitan based, perfectly flavored and surprisingly easy to make. Chewy, meaty and perfect for grilling, frying or using anywhere you would chicken! Only 9 ingredients & 1 bowl.
This vegan chicken is made from vital wheat gluten aka seitan. Seitan is a vegan meat substitute that is nothing like tofu. It’s chewy, meaty, high in protein and very versatile. It can be flavored in a variety of ways, and this particular recipe mimics chicken.
While you can sometimes find seitan to buy at the store, it can be very expensive. Plus, homemade tastes much better and is so easy to make! Check out my Vegan Pepperoni for another seitan recipe.
Grill it, sauté it in a little vegan butter, add a splash of fresh lemon juice, or slice and use in stir fries, curries and more!
How to make it
- Add all the dry ingredients to a bowl: vital wheat gluten, flour, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika and salt. Stir.
- Pour in the broth (either vegan chicken flavor or vegetable is fine) and olive oil (2 tbs).
- Stir well until it starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
- Place the dough on a lightly floured surface, and knead for just a minute, not too long, until it comes together. Break into 6 pieces and press gently into circles or similar shapes.
- Wrap each piece in foil. Place them all in a steamer basket and steam for 30 minutes.
- Remove them from the foil. Now you can fry, grill or slice and eat!
How long will it keep?
It will stay fresh in the refrigerator for about 1 week, and the cooked pieces can also be frozen for 3 months.
Recipes to use vegan chicken in
- Vegan Pot Pie – in place of the store bought vegan chicken
- Vegan Buffalo Chicken Dip – in place of the artichokes, chopped small
- Vegan Sour Cream Enchiladas – add in, or instead of cauliflower
- Vegan Tikka Masala
- Vegan Butter Chicken
- Kung Pao Tofu – use chicken instead of tofu
Vegan Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten
- 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups vegan chikn flavored broth or vegetable broth*
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the vital wheat gluten, flour, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika and salt. Stir to combine.
- To the bowl with the dry ingredients, pour in the broth and oil. Stir well until the mixture starts to pull away from the bowl.
- Transfer to a lightly floured surface, and knead with your hands for just a minute until it comes together, not too much. It will still be quite messy, not a smooth dough.
- Break into 6 pieces and press gently into circles, or "chicken" shapes. They can all be different and they don't have to be perfect, just try to make them similar sizes so they cook evenly.
- Wrap each piece in foil. Place all 6 pieces in a steamer basket with water on the bottom and steam for 30 minutes.
- Remove carefully from the foil. Now you can either pan fry them in a little vegan butter or oil, grill them, or slice and use anywhere you would like. Enjoy!
Notes
- Makes about 1.5 pounds of seitan "chicken".
- It will keep for about a week in the refrigerator, and can be frozen for longer. Simply thaw completely before using.
- If needed, you can leave out the olive oil.
- This "chicken" can be grilled, sautéed in a little oil or vegan butter, or sliced and used in a variety of recipes such as stir fries, soups, vegan pot pie and more!
Hi Nora,
Thank you for all the scrumptious recipes. Is it ok to mix-in the broth water while it is hot?
I use chicken bouillon but it needs boiling hot water to dissolve it. Thank you in advance.
Yes, that should be just fine.