Author: Just 20 minutes to make, and only 7 ingredients, this is by far the quickest and easiest seitan recipe ever!! This vegan chicken alternative is simple to whip up and perfect to add to any meal. Crispy crunchy on the outside, and tender chewy in the middle. The perfect meaty texture to amp up any vegan meal! If you are new to making seitan this is the perfect recipe for beginners to try.
FEATURED COMMENT:
Okay, I never leave comments, BUT THIS recipe is so good! I've only been vegan a year and wanted to start learning how to make my own vegan meat. This recipe is so easy and it tastes great!!! I was so proud of myself for my first try and I will definitely make this again and again! - Ty Snowden ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I came across a video on TikTok by @futurelettuce showing a 15-minute seitan recipe. I had to try it immediately! Unfortunately, even after trying it a few times, I wasn't super happy with the results. The seitan is first fried, and then you cover the pan with a lid for 10 minutes to cook it through. The problem with this is that by covering the seitan after it is fried, it tends to lose the crispy outside due to the steam. Or if you cover it and there isn't much moisture in the pan, then it can run this risk of burning before the seitan is cooked through. And I don't know about you, but soggy burnt vegan chicken just isn't my thing. The end result is spongey and rubbery, and just not super delicious.
But I loved the idea of making a quick seitan recipe so I had to play around with different techniques until I came up with my recipe for the quickest and easiest seitan recipe! In my experience, no matter how many techniques I try, steaming seitan is always a must. Boiling seitan makes it have a brainy spongey texture, frying seitan (without first steaming it) makes it rubbery and spongey, baking it makes it dry and rubbery. Steaming seitan, on the other hand, will yield the perfect meaty, juicy, chewy, yet tender seitan every single time. So even though I tried to get away with a one-pot recipe, it just didn't work for this recipe. The key is to first steam the seitan (which takes only 10 minutes) and then pan fry it for that crispy outside. Vegan chicken perfection!
The result is seitan that is crispy, juicy, chewy, tender, and absolutely amazing!!!! While I love all of my seitan recipes, (you can see them here), they do tend to take an hour or even longer to prepare. So I have fallen madly in love with this recipe as you just can't beat the speed of this one!
How to make the quickest and easiest seitan recipe:
Add about an inch of water to a pot with a steamer basket and bring to a light boil.
In the meantime, whisk together the vital wheat gluten, flour, vegetable broth powder, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
Pour in the water and mix to form a ball of dough.
Lightly grease the steamer basket, then tear off bite-sized pieces of the seitan dough and place them in a single layer in the steamer basket.
Cover, and steam the seitan for 10 minutes.
If making the sauce, in the meantime, in a small bowl or a measuring glass, mix together the Thai sweet chili sauce, hoisin, soy sauce, water, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. Set aside. (See notes for other sauce options).
When the seitan is done steaming, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet or non-stick pan. Use tongs to remove the seitan bites from the steamer basket, and place them into the hot oil in the pan. Be careful as it may splatter. Cook the seitan bites a few minutes per side until they are golden brown and crispy.
Remove from the heat and add the sauce and toss to coat. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds if desired and serve hot.
* Learn my secret tricks to making perfect seitan in my free masterclass. Click here to learn more and register.
If you try this recipe let us know by leaving a comment, rating it, and don't forget to tag @itdoesnttastelikechicken on Instagram.
Bon appetegan!
Sam Turnbull.
(click stars to vote)
The Quickest & Easiest Seitan Recipe!! (Vegan Chicken!)
Servings:
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Ingredients
For the seitan:
- ¾ cup vital wheat gluten
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon vegetable broth powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup water
For the sauce (optional, see notes for other sauce ideas):
- 3 tablespoons Thai sweet chili sauce
- 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons light oil for frying, (such as canola or vegetable)
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, for garnish
- 1 small handful chopped green onions or chopped chives, for garnish
Instructions
- Add about an inch of water to a pot with a steamer basket and bring to a light boil.
- In the meantime, whisk together the vital wheat gluten, flour, vegetable broth powder, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Pour in the water and mix to form a ball of dough. Lightly grease the steamer basket, then tear off bite-sized pieces of the seitan dough and place them in a single layer in the steamer basket. Cover, and steam the seitan for 10 minutes.
- In the meantime, in a small bowl or a measuring glass, mix together the Thai sweet chili sauce, hoisin, soy sauce, water, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. Set aside. (See notes for other sauce options).
- When the seitan is done steaming, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet or non-stick pan. Use tongs to remove the seitan bites from the steamer basket, and place them into the hot oil in the pan. Be careful as it may splatter. Cook the seitan bites a few minutes per side until they are golden brown and crispy.
- Remove from the heat and add the sauce and toss to coat. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds if desired and serve hot.* Learn my secret tricks to making perfect seitan in my free masterclass. Click here to learn more and register.
Meenu says
Great recipe. make it all the time! and seeing some gains in the gym as well.
question: can you eat these after steaming, or is pan frying an essential step?
thanks.
HG says
I've done this with just steaming. But you would need to steam it for longer if you don't finish it in the pan (at least 30 mins IMO), and the texture will turn out a little different.
Meenu says
ah I see. thank you. I'll pay around with it and see! thanks
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Meenu, so happy you love the recipe! They are completely edible after steaming, so you can eat them, but they will just have a squishier texture which may or may not be appealing to you. Enjoy!
Ty Snowden says
Okay, I never leave comments, BUT THIS recipe is so good! I’ve only been vegan a year and wanted to start learning how to make my own vegan meat. This recipe is so easy and it tastes great!!! I was so proud of myself for my first try and I will definitely make this again and again!
Nim says
Hello! I would like to try a variation of this for friendsgiving soon, which will be a large gathering. To make things easier on me, I would like to chop, steam and them put in fridge for a few hours before I fry them in the sauce. Would they still remain juicy and tasty if like this?
Elaine says
Great recipe! Instead of pinching off bite size pieces I cut the dough into 4 parts. Using my finger tips and some stretching I formed cutlets. Following a Chicken Marsala recipe with vegan ingredients, I made a delicious Seitan Marsala.
Kaya :) says
hello ! Am I able to use a liquid vegetable broth !? has anyone attempted this? will it mess things up?! I'm going to give it a go.
Rene says
I use liquid broth, works great, I just add it to the water.
Kellie says
Hi! I bought some VWG for another recipe, and I figured that since I have it around, I should try my hand at making seitan. I was shocked to read the bag, and see that it’s keto friendly. I’m temporarily cutting grains from my diet, and I thought it might be interesting to try to make seitan without wheat flour, if that’s possible. I wonder if you have experimented with almond flour. If not, what do you think about that? I have zero experience with VWG, so I figured I’d ask someone who does.
Rede Batcheller says
Hi! I am relatively new to Seitan, and I am consolidating a bunch of information from different recipes, specifically (at the moment) the parts that gluten (these days referred to as "vital wheat gluten") and chickpea play, proportionately. This is the fourth of maybe eight recipes I've already culled from the internet, and I expect to find another half dozen, at least, in my cookbooks. . . .What has brought me here, up short, is this: there is NO GLUTEN in this recipe? Is that correct? The substantive part of the seitan in this recipe is provided by 1/4 cup of all purpose flour? Just wanted to make sure . . .
Jess @ IDTLC Support says
This recipe does require vital wheat gluten and it's not recommended to substitute with a chickpea alternative. Unfortunately, seitan can not be made gluten free.
Joz says
Thanx for this awesome recipe! Easiest and best seitan I've ever made. I added some nutritional yeast and cayenne pepper and doubled the garlic and onion powder. Pulled a couple of chunks then used scissors as someone suggested and they were perfect with some slaw mix, pre made chilli, mustard mayo and tomato sauce in a buttito. It's going to be a regular from now on. Cheers
Jess @ IDTLC Support says
Yum, that sounds delicious!
Joz says
buttito = burrito!!!!
Mmmmm still have some leftovers for tonight......
even my carno partner loved this.
😀
Jess @ IDTLC Support says
Heehee! We knew what you meant! 🙂
Lella Lowe says
Downright yummy!
I like to use a bamboo steamer to steam my seitan...inexpensive and gives you two surfaces for the seitan.
Gina Bisaillon says
This is one of my favourite recipes ever and I'm not even vegan!
Jess @ IDTLC Support says
Wonderful, Gina!
Jeff says
Because this recipe was so simple, I was honestly was not expecting much.
This is actually an amazing 'quick and dirty' seitan recipe. I'm really impressed!
Will bump the spices up in my next attempt.
Jess @ IDTLC Support says
Fantastic!
Gail says
I have made the seitin several times and freeze them. it works out perfect only thing different is i cut the dough with scissors it's much quicker and I like the shapes better
Jess @ IDTLC Support says
Great tip, thanks Gail!
Stacey Spriggs says
Good morning. Thank you for your post. I am looking to freeze mine as well. Was the taste and texture any different after you defrosted them?
Stacey says
Followed the recipe and added nutritional yeast. Super easy and tasty. Will definitely play around with the seasonings and see what I can create. Very good. Huge thanks for this simplistic, yet delicious recipe.
Jam says
I made these and airfried them, but they turned out more like dumplings.
going to try using less flour and more gluten.
Cat says
this is so good, ate it plain out of the pan!
Leigh says
Would it be okay to add 1Tbsp of nutritional yeast to the dry ingredients?
Rosie says
I'm so thrilled to have found your website! this recipe is so ridiculously simple and delicious it's crazy! I just made it for the first time, but definitely not the last. it'll be a regular on the menu going forward. thank you, thank you, thank you! hubby loves it too & wants me to double the recipe next time! I'll need to quadruple it the next time our son visits!
Jess @ IDTLC Support says
Wonderful!
Brooke says
Fabulous recipe. I doubled the spices for extra flavor and also for cooking used my sandwich press to cook and give a crunchy outside. Worked great, so easy!
Jess @ IDTLC Support says
Fantastic!
Marie says
Hi, can you skip the frying but instead coat in batter then deep fry this? Thanks:)
Sam Turnbull says
Yes you can!! Enjoy!
Dorothy Ross says
Thanks for the clean up tips! I put a square of parchment paper in the mixing bowl before adding the ingredients. After mixing, I lifted the parchment paper out and kneaded the seitan mix directly on the parchment paper. It worked great, and clean up was quick and easy!
Sam Ablashi says
After making this for the first time my 17 year old daughter asked for me to put it into regular rotation. So, that’s about as good as praise gets;)
This was my first foray into homage seitan and I was very happy with the results. Now that I have the base I can play with the sauce options for next time around.
Thanks for a great recipe.
Jess @ IDTLC Support says
Fantastic! We love to hear it!
Angela says
Hey Sam
Great recipe! I just tried it out for the first time. I did forgo the portion of all purpose flour and just used a whole cup of the vital wheat gluten, added some nutritional yeast for extra proteins and it was spectacular.
I did test out a patty in my air fryer. I put it on air fry for six minutes. I do have the ninja model, which is a double basket model. The pattie blew up like a nice ball of browned bread.
When I cut into it, it was still somewhat moist and had nooks and crannies like English muffins but definitely didn’t have a nice texture or taste to it.
I may play with larger portions of seasoning or poultry seasoning so I can consume this without a sauce sometimes.
Thanks for a quick protein alternative!!
Jess @ IDTLC Support says
Thanks for sharing your experimentation with us!