Seitan Gyros Recipe | How to Make Vegan Gyro Meat

Name: Seitan Gyros | How to Make Vegan Gyro Meat
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 70 min
Total time: 90 min
Ingredients: 1 ½ cup gluten flour ((vital wheat gluten)); 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast; 1 teaspoon dry oregano; 1 teaspoon dry thyme; 1 teaspoon ground cumin seed; ½ teaspoon ground dry rosemary; 1 ½ teaspoon salt; ½ teaspoon black pepper (, ground); ½ cup onion (, finely chopped); 2 cloves garlic (, minced); 2 tablespoon oil ((I use olive oil)); 2 tablespoon tahini; 2 tablespoon lemon juice ((juice of about ½ a medium lemon)); 3 tablespoon tomato paste; 2 tablespoon soy sauce ((low sodium; or tamari)); ¾ cup vegetable broth; 1 batch vegan tzatziki sauce; pita bread; tomato; cucumber; red onion; lettuce ((or any leafy greens)); fresh dill ((or parsley))

8/13/20 by Nicole Stevens | 29 Comments

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5 from 20 votes. Leave your review!

This seitan gyros recipe make the perfect vegan gyro meat alternative. It’s packed with flavor and offers a chewy, meat-like texture that isn’t dry or tough!

Skill: Intermediate | Time: 90 min | Servings: 8

Seitan gyro meat, half of it sliced, on wooden cutting board with glass jar of sour cream sauce and fresh dill on the back right of the board

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Seitan: The Ultimate Vegan Gyro Meat

There are plenty of ways to make a vegan gyro, but I use seitan because it’s the perfect meat alternative.

While some other ingredients make a tasty gyro wrap, nothing compares to the texture and flavor of seitan. Not to mention that seitan is one of the highest sources of vegan protein you can find!

Seitan gyros (or any seitan recipe) are a great choice if you’re serving people who enjoy a chewier, meatier texture and flavor. Learning to make seitan was one of the things that convinced my husband that vegan food is awesome and can easily replace consuming animal products.

Pita bread filled with seitan gyro meat slices, cashew tzatziki sauce, cucumber, tomato, red onion and lettuce mix with blurred background of a second pita bread wrap, seitan gyro meat and sauce

How to Make Seitan Gyro

Seitan is simple to make, although it may seem intimidating the first time you try. With a long list of ingredients, you may wonder if you should even attempt this recipe but I assure you it’s straight forward.

With this simple seitan gyro recipe, you simply mix together the dry ingredients (gluten flour and dry herbs/ spices).

In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. The wet ingredients won’t mix together perfectly but that’s ok.

Then, mix wet with dry. Stir until a ball of dough forms then use your hand to knead the dough together.

Shape, wrap in tin foil, then bake – it’s that simple.

Hand holding up pita bread filled with vegan gyro ingredients (seitan, tzatziki, cucumber, tomato, red onion and lettuce mix) over blurred background of a second pita bread wrap and wooden board of extra vegan gyro meat

How to Serve Seitan Gyro

A classic gyro is served in pita bread wrap along with tzatziki sauce, tomato, cucumber, onion and lettuce.

This is the best way to serve the recipe, in my opinion, but this seitan can easily be served in place of meat in many other dishes. It’s also tasty thinly sliced on a sandwich or Greek-inspired pizza!

If you want to skip the pita, make a gyro salad bowl with the seitan, tzatziki sauce and veggies! This is also delicious with a side of rice.

Two vegan gyros on wooden board, loaded with seitan, tzatziki sour cream sauce, cucumber, tomato, red onion and lettuce mix

I hope you enjoy this recipe! If you make it, please rate and comment below so others benefit from your experience.

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Close up of thinly sliced seitan gyro meat on wood board.

Seitan Gyros | How to Make Vegan Gyro Meat

This recipe for seitan gyros is delicious, meaty and easy to make. Enjoy a vegan gyro meat alternative with homemade tzatziki sauce!

5 from 20 votes. Leave your review!

Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 1 hr 10 mins

Total Time 1 hr 30 mins

Servings Servings

Calories 457 kcal

Cuisine Mediterranean-inspired, Vegan

Equipment

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

1 ½ cup gluten flour (vital wheat gluten)
2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon dry oregano
1 teaspoon dry thyme
1 teaspoon ground cumin seed
½ teaspoon ground dry rosemary
1 ½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper , ground

Wet Ingredients

½ cup onion , finely chopped
2 cloves garlic , minced
2 tablespoon oil (I use olive oil)
2 tablespoon tahini
2 tablespoon lemon juice (juice of about ½ a medium lemon)
3 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoon soy sauce (low sodium; or tamari)
¾ cup vegetable broth

To Serve

1 batch vegan tzatziki sauce
pita bread
tomato
cucumber
red onion
lettuce (or any leafy greens)
fresh dill (or parsley)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Prepare two large pieces of tin foil.
Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
Mix the wet ingredients together in a bowl. They won’t mix together completely (will be flecks of tahini and oil; that’s perfectly ok).
Stir the wet ingredient mix into the dry ingredient mix until a ball of dough starts to form. Then use your hands to knead the seitan dough for about a minute.
Place the seitan dough onto one sheet of tin foil (shiny side up) and form into a rectangle that is about 1-1 ½ inches (about 2-3 cm) thick.
Tightly wrap the seitan dough in tin foil. Place the open edge down onto the second sheet of tin foil and wrap tightly again.
Place the wrapped seitan onto a baking tray and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Allow the seitan to rest and cool for about 10 minutes then transfer onto a cooling rack and place into the fridge so it can set.
If possible, allow the seitan to rest in the fridge for 1 hour or overnight (it can be sliced after 10 minutes of resting but is easier/ firmer when completely cooled). Slice thinly and serve in a pita bread with vegan tzatziki sauce, tomatoes, red onion, cucumber and lettuce.

Video

Notes

Accuracy of nutrition information cannot be guaranteed (certain ingredients may not have all nutrients listed in the database); amounts may vary (and will vary depending on brands of ingredients used); all nutrition fact values rounded to the nearest whole number.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 Gyro (⅛ of recipe)Calories: 457 kcalCarbohydrates: 60 gProtein: 28 gFat: 14 gSaturated Fat: 3 gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2 gMonounsaturated Fat: 5 gSodium: 1140 mgPotassium: 361 mgFiber: 9 gSugar: 4 gVitamin A: 194 IUVitamin C: 6 mgCalcium: 103 mgIron: 5 mg

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About Nicole Stevens

Nicole is a vegan Registered Dietitian (RD) and founder of Lettuce Veg Out. She provides vegans with balanced meals and easy-to-understand nutrition science. As a trusted source of nutrition information, she educates others about vegan diets and how to thrive as a vegan.

Comments

Dani Fream

May 17, 2022 at 11:57 am

Wow!!!! Took one bite and both my husband’s and my eyes got wide with shock at how delicious and flavorful. My toddler loved it too. I missed gyros for years after going vegetarian. So happy to add it back into my meal rotation. Though there are lots of ingredients, the actual process is SO MUCH EASIER than other Seitan recipes out there. We were to excited to eat so we had it straight out of the oven. I can’t wait to try it pan fried next time.

Reply
- Nicole Stevens
  
  May 17, 2022 at 4:44 pm
  
  So happy your family enjoyed!! Pan fried gyros would be delicious. Glad to hear the process was easy to follow, despite all the ingredients 🙂
  
  Reply
Sissy

April 29, 2022 at 5:17 pm

Is there a way to convert vegan mayonnaise into tzatziki sauce?

Reply
- Nicole Stevens
  
  April 29, 2022 at 7:07 pm
  
  I've never made tzatziki with mayo, just sour cream or plain yogurt (vegan, of course) - are either of those an option for you? If not, you can always give it a try but it'll be more like an aioli than tzatziki sauce.
  
  Reply
  - Sissy
    
    May 04, 2022 at 10:32 pm
    
    I was just curious.
    
    Reply
Vessi

January 06, 2022 at 5:19 am

This was hands down THE BEST seitan recipe I have ever tried and made. And I have tried many. They always ended up lacking flavor. This seitan was so delicious rich and flavorful that I think ai will make it at least once a week now. I followed the recipe measurements and ingredients exactly, the only difference I made was I blended all wet ingredients in the blender instead of chopping and stirring them together. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful recipe!!

Reply
- Nicole Stevens
  
  January 09, 2022 at 1:05 pm
  
  Hi Vessi - So happy you enjoyed the flavors in this seitan! And blending the wet ingredients together is certainly an option if that's easier 🙂
  
  Reply
Tracy

December 21, 2021 at 12:04 pm

I’m trying to find recipes to make for my adult kids who ate vegetarian. I don’t have the flour mentioned, can I sub something else?

Reply
- Nicole Stevens
  
  December 21, 2021 at 4:58 pm
  
  Unfortunately this recipe only works with gluten flour (vital wheat gluten) and there aren't any substitutions that will work. You can find it at most grocery stores; I buy mine at a bulk food store (or online).
  
  Reply
- Graham
  
  March 05, 2022 at 6:25 pm
  
  This is the second time I have made seitan and this recipe made me look good. The recipe is perfect and instructions are easy to follow. The taste is amazing.
  
  Reply
  - Nicole Stevens
    
    March 06, 2022 at 2:59 pm
    
    So happy you enjoyed!
    
    Reply
natasha

July 12, 2021 at 2:24 am

This recipe looks delicious. I’m an oil free vegan and i was wondering if i could leave out the oil in this recipe. Should I sub it with something else and if so then what? I would love to try this recipe out ! 😉

Reply
- Nicole Stevens
  
  July 12, 2021 at 9:03 am
  
  Please see my other comment!
  
  Reply
Jesslyn R Hildred

July 06, 2021 at 7:51 pm

So delicious! I made it in the morning- it was so easy and tastes great! Thank you for sharing!

Reply
- Nicole Stevens
  
  July 06, 2021 at 8:44 pm
  
  Thanks Jesslyn, so happy you enjoyed!
  
  Reply
Cheryl

June 08, 2021 at 7:00 am

Hi,
First time making this….outstanding! Very easy to make didn’t have lemon juice so substituted orange juice and was delicious . Definitely will be a regular. Can this also be frozen?

Reply
- Nicole Stevens
  
  June 08, 2021 at 8:45 am
  
  So happy you enjoyed Cheryl! I'm trying to remember if I've ever frozen seitan and think I must have but it usually gets eaten quickly around here. I don't see why it wouldn't freeze well - maybe test out a small piece just so it doesn't get wasted? I'll add this to my to-do list for sure.
  
  Reply
Cheryl

June 06, 2021 at 7:50 am

Hi, any substitutions for the Lemon juice?

Reply
- Nicole Stevens
  
  June 06, 2021 at 8:49 am
  
  Hi Cheryl. At the very least, the liquid would need to be replaced and you could do that with water or vegetable broth. The lemon juice brings some acidity and you could replicate that with about 1 tsp of vinegar (ex. apple cider vinegar). So maybe 1 tsp vinegar with 1 tbsp + 2 tsp other liquid (to make a full 2 tbsp of liquid). Hope that helps!
  
  Reply
Rachel

February 21, 2021 at 3:34 pm

Looks like a great recipe! Are the onions raw? Or should I sautée them first?

Reply
- Nicole Stevens
  
  February 22, 2021 at 8:26 am
  
  Hi Rachel! I put them in raw because they have time to cook in the oven and come out soft. It wouldn't hurt to cook them first if you prefer but not needed (I recommend chopping them quite small).
  
  Reply
  - natasha
    
    July 12, 2021 at 2:21 am
    
    This recipe sounds amazing. Could I leave out the oil in this recipe or not? Im an oil free vegan & i was just wondering if the seitan would cook the same?
    
    Reply
    - Nicole Stevens
      
      July 12, 2021 at 9:03 am
      
      Hi Natasha, I've never made this without oil so I can't comment on how it would turn out. It may be a bit dry and much less similar to gyro meat (which is very high in fat, typically). At the very least, the liquid would need to be replaced to get the dough to come together. Extra tahini may work but the small amount of oil that's called for really makes a difference in creating a delicious flavor and texture.
      
      Reply
Sara

February 10, 2021 at 5:44 pm

Made this today and LOVED IT! How long will it keep in the refrigerator?

Reply
- Nicole Stevens
  
  February 12, 2021 at 9:46 am
  
  Hi Sara, I'm so happy you enjoyed! It should keep for 5-7 days in the fridge (I haven't tested any longer than that).
  
  Reply
Cristina

December 30, 2020 at 2:10 pm

This was absolutely delicious and so so easy to make!! I might tone down the tomato paste to 2 tbsp next time as I found it a little overwhelming (just my personal taste, I’m sure most would find it perfectly delicious as is!), but otherwise it was amazing!!

Reply
- Nicole Stevens
  
  December 30, 2020 at 7:32 pm
  
  I'm so glad you enjoyed it Cristina and found it easy to make! Absolutely adjust to your tastes next time 🙂
  
  Reply
Amanda

October 15, 2020 at 11:10 am

I can’t believe how yummy this is! Pan fry it crispy and you’d almost swear it was beef and lamb. My only craving so far...

Reply
- Nicole Stevens
  
  October 15, 2020 at 12:43 pm
  
  Hi Amanda! Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed! Pan frying it is such a great idea, I'll have to try that out 🙂
  
  Reply