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Square cropped close up of the front view of two rows of sliced seitan with a half-log of roast seitan behind it, sitting on a cast iron pan. Edges of pan filled with roast potatoes and garnished with thyme.
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Easy Vegan Seitan "Meat" Recipe

Learn how to make vegan meat with this easy seitan recipe! Not only is it incredibly simple, but it’s also packed with flavor and super customizable.
Course Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine Vegan
Keyword Easy seitan recipe, Vegan meat recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings 8 servings
Calories 246kcal

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

Wet Ingredients

  • 2 cups baked beans in tomato sauce (400mL / 14 oz can)
  • cup onion , finely chopped
  • cup water , hot
  • 1 cube vegetable bouillon
  • ¼ cup olive oil (or other liquid oil of your choice)
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce , low sodium
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Instructions

Step 1: Whisk Dry Ingredients

  • In a large mixing bowl, add the gluten flour along with all the dry spices.
    2 cups gluten flour, 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast, 2 teaspoons smoked paprika, 1 ½ teaspoons onion powder, 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon ground sage, 1 teaspoon Herbamare seasoning*, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon ground turmeric, ½ teaspoon celery seed, ½ teaspoon dry oregano, ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • Whisk the dry ingredients until well combined.

Step 2: Prep Wet Ingredients

  • Add a full can of baked beans, along with all its liquid, to a food processor.
    2 cups baked beans in tomato sauce
  • Add onion to the food processor as well. I like to pre-dice the onion to ensure there are no large pieces in the final mixture.
    ⅔ cup onion
  • Pulse the beans and onion a few times.
  • Then, mix a bouillon cube with ⅓ cup of hot water. Mash the cube to dissolve, then add this mixture to your food processor.
    1 cube vegetable bouillon, ⅓ cup water
  • Add olive oil, soy sauce and apple cider vinegar to the food processor then pulse a few times, until everything is well combined.
    ¼ cup olive oil, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • Blend this mixture until completely smooth or leave some texture (but it should be almost completely smooth).

Step 3: Form Seitan

  • Add your blended liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients in the large mixing bowl. Stir together until a ball of dough forms and you can no longer stir.
  • At this point, switch to using your hands and knead the dough together until there’s no dry flour remaining. Knead for about another minute.
  • Cut the dough in half.
  • Prepare 4 pieces of tin foil, each about a foot long.
  • Place one half of the seitan dough onto a piece of tin foil and shape into a log. Wrap the seitan log tightly in tin foil.
  • Place the open edge of your first tin foil sheet down onto a second sheet and wrap the log tightly again. Place this open edge of tin foil down onto the baking tray.
  • Repeat the shaping and wrapping process for the other half of the seitan dough.

Step 4: Bake, Cool and Serve

  • Bake the seitan in an oven preheated to 350 °F for 1 hour and 20 minutes. If possible, flip the seitan logs halfway through cooking.
  • Once out of your oven, let the seitan cool until you can unwrap it without burning yourself on the tin foil.
  • Cool on a cutting board or wire cooling rack.
  • Serve the seitan hot from your oven (softer texture) or let the seitan cool for at least an hour (firmer texture). The seitan will be most firm and chewy if you can chill it in a fridge overnight.
  • Slicing with a serrated knife is very helpful, especially if you want thin slices.

Notes

*If you don’t have Herbamare seasoning, leave it out or replace 1 teaspoon of Herbamare with ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon herb blend of your choice.
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: 1Serving (⅛ of recipe) | Calories: 246kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Sodium: 1035mg | Potassium: 160mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 210IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 61mg | Iron: 3mg