The meatiest homemade Vegan Wings made from seitan, jackfruit, and simple seasonings. Douse them in agave garlic sauce or buffalo sauce and dig in!
Seitan vegan wings on a stick
These deliciously tender and juicy Vegan Wings are full of flavor and have a meaty texture. They’re easy to make too, so bring them to your next backyard barbecue!
Vegan chicken wings are made from seitan (just like my Vegan Chicken), jackfruit, and simple seasonings. The seitan base is the secret to the tender, meaty texture (just like Vegan Fried Chicken and Vegan Steak) while the jackfruit keeps the inside moist and juicy. You can even stick them with a small sugar cane if you like your vegan wings on a stick.
The process is a little long, but easy to tackle. To make the best vegan wings:
- Make the wing mixture in a bowl.
- Break the seitan wing mixture into small pieces.
- Boil them.
- Bake them (or air fry!).
- Toss in the sauce of your choice and enjoy!
Turn up the heat by dousing the finished wings in buffalo sauce or keep things on the sweeter side with a vegan-friendly honey garlic sauce. This new game day favorite will be gone before you know it, especially when you put out vegan blue cheese or vegan ranch for dipping.
Ingredients needed (with substitutions)
- Vital wheat gluten – This is essential to any seitan recipe. Vital wheat gluten is packed with protein and gives seitan its chewy, tender, and almost elastic texture. It tastes like wheat on its own, which is why you need a handful of spices and seasonings to give seitan its “meaty” flavors.
- All purpose flour – Flour brings the seitan dough together and prevents the wings from falling apart. Try not to replace it with any alternatives.
- Nutritional yeast
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Paprika
- Salt
- Jackfruit – Stirring shredded jackfruit in with the seitan dough is the secret to juicy and moist vegan wings. Make sure to use young canned jackfruit packed in water or brine. If packed in brine, give the jackfruit a good rinse to remove any salty flavors.
- Vegan chik’n flavored broth – Or use vegetable broth as a substitute. However, the best, most realistic flavors come from the chik’n broth!
- Olive oil
- Sugar cane sticks – These are the “bones” that will stick out of the vegan wings. Instead of sugar cane, use bamboo chopsticks or skewers, pretzel sticks, or thin bread sticks. You can prevent the alternatives from burning in the oven by wrapping them with a small piece of tinfoil. Or keep them “boneless”.
- Honey garlic sauce – To keep it vegan, it’s not actually made with honey. This is one of two wing sauce options you can use to coat the vegan wings. It’s easy to make with agave, water, and simple seasonings.
- Buffalo sauce – This classic and spicy wing sauce comes together on the stovetop. It’s easy to make using vegan butter, Frank’s Red Hot Sauce, vinegar, and garlic powder.
How to make vegan wings
Find the complete recipe with measurements and directions below.
First, whisk the vital wheat gluten, flour, and seasonings together in a bowl.
Drain and rinse the canned jackfruit and dry it as much as possible with a dish towel. Cut off the woody, firm ends and discard the seeds. You should only be left with the shredded jackfruit pieces.
Curious about jackfruit? Try these easy Jackfruit Tacos, Buffalo Jackfruit Quesadillas or Jackfruit Carnitas.
Stir the prepared jackfruit, broth, and oil into the bowl with the dry ingredients until the mixture begins to pull away from the bowl. Use your hands to make sure everything is mixed well but don’t knead the dough.
Cut the dough into small pieces while you wait for a pot of water to boil.
Once the water is boiling, turn the heat down until it’s just simmering. Add the seitan pieces and simmer for 30 minutes. Drain the water and once they’re cool enough to handle, squeeze out as much liquid as possible from the seitan pieces.
Transfer the drained seitan pieces to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
If you want, stick a piece of sugar cane in one end of each piece to act as the chicken wing “bone”. Pop the baking sheet in the oven and let the wings bake for 15 minutes.
Make the sauce of your choice while you wait. Both the honey garlic sauce and buffalo sauce are easy to make in a saucepan on the stove.
Once the wings are out of the oven, toss them in the pan (or brush them) with the sauce of your choice. Pop them back in the oven for a few more minutes.
Serve the finished vegan chicken wings immediately and enjoy!
Pan fry option
Want your vegan wings extra crispy? Brown the baked wings in an oiled skillet, then stir in the sauce of your choice.
Air fry option
Line the seitan pieces in an even layer in your air fryer basket after they’re done boiling. Air fry at 375ºF for 15 minutes, then transfer to an oiled pan and sauté. Mix in the sauce to coat, then enjoy!
Serving suggestions for vegan wings
If it isn’t a rule that vegan buffalo wings have to be served with vegan blue cheese or vegan ranch, then it should be. The cool, creamy dipping sauce offsets the heat, ensuring these spicy wings can be enjoyed by all.
Saucy vegan wings are a must-have for watching the game or when you’re serving all of the best pub food at the party. They’d pair perfectly with vegan pizza, grilled burgers, mozzarella sticks, BBQ cauliflower wings, and more.
Leftover wings are incredible on a bed of crunchy romaine lettuce with tomatoes, cucumbers and vegan ranch.
Frequently asked questions
- What is seitan? Seitan is a plant based meat alternative made primarily from wheat gluten. Unlike tofu or tempeh, cooked seitan has a chewy and tender texture, almost like real meat. Check out my seitan guide to learn more!
- Can they be made gluten free? No. Vital wheat gluten is an essential ingredient in seitan recipes and can’t be left out. My cauliflower wings can be made gluten free though!
- Can they be made ahead of time? The wings are best served fresh but can be prepared about 1 hour ahead of your guests arriving. Just keep them in a 250ºF oven so they stay warm.
- How long do vegan wings last? The leftovers will last for about 4 days when kept in an airtight container in the fridge. To reheat, warm them in the air fryer until heated through.
- Are they freezer-friendly? Yes! They freeze quite well and can be thawed in the fridge overnight before reheating in the microwave, air fryer, or oven.
Want more “meaty” vegan recipes?
Vegan Wings
Ingredients
Seitan Wings
- 1 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 14 ounce can jackfruit, drained and rinsed optional, but good!
- 1 1/2 cups vegan chicken flavored broth or vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Optional sugar cane sticks as the "bones"
Honey garlic sauce option
- 1/2 cup agave
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
Buffalo sauce option
- 1/4 cup vegan butter
- 1/2 cup Frank's Red Hot Original Sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
Make the seitan wings
- In a large bowl, add the vital wheat gluten, flour, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika and salt. Whisk to combine.
- Prepare jackfruit – Drain and rinse the jackfruit. Place it on a clean towel and dry it as much as possible. Use your hands to remove the big seeds and big hard pieces. Cut them off with a knife if needed, on a cutting board. You just want the shredded looking jackfruit.
- Add jackfruit to the bowl with the dry ingredients, then pour in the broth and olive oil. Stir well until the mixture starts to pull away from the bowl.
- Use your hands to make sure it's all mixed well, but there is no need to knead the dough.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Cut the dough into small pieces. They grow in size when they cook, so make them pretty small. You can try to form them into chicken wing shapes, if you want.
- Boil – Add the seitan pieces to the boiling water, then turn down the heat so you have a good simmer going, but you don't want the water to boil too hard. Simmer for 30 minutes, then drain the seitan.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Bake – Once cool enough to handle, squeeze out excess water from the pieces, stick a piece of sugar cane in one end (if desired) and place them on the prepared baking pan. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
While they bake, prepare sauce of choice
- Honey garlic sauce – Add all sauce ingredients to a small saucepan and bring to boil, stirring well to combine. Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes, until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Buffalo sauce – Melt vegan butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, then stir in the hot sauce, vinegar and garlic powder. Gently simmer, stirring often for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
Finish vegan wings
- Take the seitan wings out of the oven, toss in the pan with the sauce and return to the oven for another 10 minutes.
- Alternatively, you can cook them in a pan with a little olive oil to brown the wings, then stir in the sauce to coat.
- Serve immediately, or keep warm in the oven set at 250 degrees until ready to serve. Leftover wings will keep for about 4 days in the refrigerator. The air fryer is perfect for reheating leftovers!
Notes
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If using buffalo sauce, serve with Vegan Ranch or Vegan Blue Cheese.
-
Air fryer version – Instead of using the oven, you can air fry the seitan after boiling at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, then transfer to an oiled pan and sauté, then mix in the sauce.
-
Freeze – They freeze quite well. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator, then reheat in a microwave, air fryer or oven until warm.
Damn I made these before and they turned out great. Tried again tonight and I think they were too wet and fell apart I. The pot 🙁
hi – Can I use Vital Wheat Gluten Flour?
Yes, I believe vital wheat gluten and vital wheat gluten flour are the same.
Your recipe calls for boiling, followed by simmering the seitan-jackfruit pieces. Have you tried steaming them instead? Thanks.
I haven’t tried steaming them for this recipe but I think it would work quite well.
Someone mentioned steaming instead of baking. In this recipe with the pieces being tiny versus sausage links that you can individually wrap or roast, it would be challenging to keep the pieces separate which is why I think simmering is best for recipes such as these wings.
I added smoked paprika and 2 tsp poultry seasoning to my dry mix. Once baked, I added some sauce, wrapped it in rice paper, and fried them. I added more sauce at the end of course. So delicious. When I try bone-in, I’m thinking of using Soy Sticks. Excited to try different versions.
Just did it with the “honey” garlic sauce. It turned out so delicious!. I took a bite to try and had to physically stop myself to not eat everything!
As usual, Nora’s recipe is a home-run!! Really excellent.
Hi Emily. Thank you for your wonderful feedback! I’m glad you loved the wings!
I can’t wait to try these! Can I make them without any type of “bone” just nugget style? Thanks Nora!
Hi Margot. Yes, you can make these ‘boneless!’ Enjoy!
How much seitan is required? I don’t see it in the ingredient list.
Hi there. Seitan is a fabulous plant based meat alternative that is made primarily from wheat gluten. For this recipe, you will need 1.5 cups of vital wheat gluten. I hope this helps!
At what step is it best to freeze them at? After the oven but Before the Buffalo sauce?
You could freeze them before or once they already have the sauce on honestly. Ideally once they have baked but without the sauce, that way you can make them as saucy as you want when you reheat and serve.
These look amazing! Since I don’t care for nutritional yeast, can I just leave it out, or do I need to substitute something in it’s place?
You can leave it out if you want, no problem. Thank you, hope you love them!