After the popularity of my Vegan Seitan Steak, which ended up being one of the top 10 recipes of 2018, I wanted to start this year off with an exciting follow-up recipe. Many of you requested a seitan chicken style recipe... well, ask and you shall receive. I introduce to you my Vegan Seitan Tenders! ...And yes, it does taste like chicken. Ba dum dum tsk!
It took many, many, many rounds of recipe testing to get these vegan seitan tenders just right, but I finally nailed it. It was important to me that this vegan chicken recipe was more tender in texture than my vegan steaks (which have a chewier texture similar to traditional steak). The tenders needed to be lighter in colour, tasty but still basic enough that you could season them any way you like, easy to make, and of course incredibly delicious.
I tried baking the seitan and boiling it, but in the end, I still preferred my method of steaming the seitan which allows for the best juicy texture without being weirdly squishy (which can happen with boiling). I tried adding chickpeas to the seitan but that made it too mealy and I discover instead, that the key was adding soft tofu which makes the cutlets delicate enough to cut with the side of your fork, but still strong and meaty enough to toss on a grill. I played around with ratios and seasonings until I got it juuuussst so.
The final result: vegan seitan tenders that are, you guessed it, tender. They are juicy and succulent. The tenders are easy to make and can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the fridge for several days, or in the freezer so you can have them on hand whenever you like. Then, the best part is that when you are ready to serve, you can fry them, grill them, marinate them, bake them, or treat them any way you would have treated a chicken dish.
Serve a vegan seitan tender on a bun, bread or crust them, slice them for salad, pasta, or stir fry, cut them into nuggets and fry or bake, add them to burritos, tacos, sandwiches- the options are endlessly delicious!
Just 8 ingredients, 40 minutes to make plus an hour of cooling. 1 recipe makes 6 tenders and each one contains 156 calories, 8g carbohydrates, 26g protein, and 2g fat. Boom!
To make vegan seitan tenders: add all of the ingredients to a food processor and combine.
Continue to mix the dough until everything is well combined and the dough forms a ball.
Alternatively, if you do not have a food processor you can mix everything together in a large bowl working the dough until it forms a ball.
Lightly dust a clean work surfaces with a bit of the vital wheat gluten. Turn the dough ball onto the surface and lightly dust the top with a little more vital wheat gluten. The dough will be soft and very sticky so this will help it from sticking to your hands. Cut the dough ball into 6 pieces and use the tips of your fingers to press each piece of dough into an oval shape about 5" x 6".
Add several inches of water to a large pot with a steamer basket and bring to a simmer. Lightly grease the steamer basket and lay the tenders in the basket. If the tenders need to overlap each other, spray the tenders with a bit of oil to stop them from sticking together. Cover and steam at a simmer for 25 minutes, flipping halfway through so they steam evenly. They will double in size.
*If the end appearance of the tenders is important to you, make sure to allow lots of room around each tender to expand. You may want to steam the tenders in batches as when they overlap each other they can sometimes end up as weird shapes. This won't matter if you plan on slicing them, but you can consider it if you plan to serve the tenders whole.
Once steamed, remove the tenders and let cool. Cover or put in an airtight container and chill in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour, or for up to 3 - 4 days. You can either chill the tenders without any additional seasoning, or you could toss the tenders in your favourite marinade. The tenders shrink and firm up a bit when chilled and this results in the best texture.
Check out my recipes for 12 Seitan or Tofu Marinades for endless flavour combos!
Once chilled, the tenders are now ready to cook with and enjoy. You can treat them any way that you might prepare a chicken breast. Make a vegan seitan tender burger, bread or crust them, slice them for salad, pasta, or stirfry, cut them into nuggets and fry or bake, add them to burritos, tacos, or sandwiches.
In these photos, I fried them in a bit of vegan butter, and seasoned with salt, pepper, parsley, and a squeeze of lemon. This makes the outside crispy and the insides stays nice and tender and juicy. Perfection!
Vegan Seitan Tenders
Ingredients
For the vegan seitan tenders:
- 1 ½ cups vital wheat gluten, plus more for dusting
- 300 g soft or silken tofu (1 ¼ cups)
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoons vegetable broth powder, vegetable instant stock mix powder, or 1 vegetable bouillon cube
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a food processor and pulse to combine until everything is well mixed and the dough forms a ball. Alternatively, if you do not have a food processor you can mix everything together in a large bowl working the dough until it forms a ball.
- Lightly dust a clean work surfaces with a bit of the vital wheat gluten. Turn the dough ball onto the surface and lightly dust the top with a little more vital wheat gluten. The dough will be soft and very sticky so this will help it from sticking to your hands. Do not knead the dough, kneading it will make it tough. Cut the dough ball into 6 pieces and use the tips of your fingers to press each piece of dough into an oval shape about 5" x 6".
- Add several inches of water to a large pot with a steamer basket and bring to a simmer. Lightly grease the steamer basket and lay the tenders in the basket. If the tenders need to overlap each other, spray the tenders with a bit of oil to stop them from sticking together. Cover and steam at a simmer for 25 minutes, flipping halfway through so they steam evenly. They will double in size. Make sure to keep it at a gentle simmer for the best texture.
- Once steamed, remove the tenders and let cool. Cover or put in an airtight container and chill in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour, or for up to 3 - 4 days. You can either chill the tenders without any additional seasoning, or you could toss the tenders in your favourite marinade. The tenders shrink and firm up a bit when chilled and this results in the best texture.
- Once chilled, the tenders are fully cooked and edible, but you can now treat them as you would raw chicken -season and cook them as you desire. The cooking time can be short as they only need to be heated through but prepare them any way that you might prepare a chicken breast. Pan fry or grill them, bread or crust them, slice them for salad, pasta, or stirfry, cut them into nuggets, add them to burritos, tacos, or sandwiches. The options are endless!
Notes
Nutrition
Bon appetegan!
Sam.
liz says
wow, these are amazing! I have a recipe that I normally make with chickpea flower but this one has more protein, less carbs, and less sodium AND tastes better. I made one cutlet with buffalo sauce last night and it was so good! I left one in a smokey marinade for the night and I'm sure it will be just as good. Saving your marinades too- thanks so much!
Sam Turnbull says
So happy you loved it, liz!
Julie says
I have a hard time finding silken tofu in my rural area. I use firm tofu, double the water and process everything but the vital wheat gluten until smooth before adding the gluten at the end. Otherwise it is either not smooth enough or gets too bead-like in texture. I also use the entire 396g package of tofu and increase the vital wheat gluten to 2 cups (and the seasonings by .25). Love that this recipe has tofu as well as the vital wheat gluten. We especially like using it to make grilled Buffalo “chicken” sandwiches.
Carrie says
I tried your alternated method with medium firm tofu since that’s all I had and I’m excited for the taste test later!!
Carolyn M. says
I made this today and wasn't surprised that it was as good as it was/is. I made a sandwich with homemade silken-tofu-based mayonnaise (no oill), and I added sliced tomatoes and baby spinach leaves and it was very, very satisfying. Next time I'll make your crackers for some crunch. Excellent "chikun" tenders.
Emily says
I love making this!! So easy and versatile. I like to add extra seasoning. One time I undercooked them because I rigged up a steaming situation. How do you know if the seitan is undercooked?
Karin says
Hi Sam,
Could you say how many grams of gluten 1.5 cups are? I used European measuring cups, and my texture came out odd.
I have a microwave steamer, do you think that could work instead of oven top steamer?
many thanks
Ann says
1.5 cups of vital wheat gluten is 180 grams. Hope this helps.
ann says
I think the microwave would be okay, I used the pressure cooker to cook mine. But did a shorter time
Abbi says
Question! I love this recipe, but I’m wondering if it’s possible to not separate the seitan to make more of a Thanksgiving roast? I feel like it might work to just leave in a blob and then steam for longer, but wondered if you have any advice. Thank you!
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Abbi, I think that should work fine! You might get an odd shape, but that doesn't matter. You can't really over-steam seitan, so I recommend steaming it for an hour to ensure it is cooked through.Enjoy!
Joanne Lawrence says
I've done this, making just a large seitan "log," and I highly recommend it.
Michael J says
For a turkey-like variation, you can make the texture more flaky and less rubbery by substituting half the mass of the silken tofu for heavily boiled white kidney beans. Just soak and boil the beans for a good hour to get them really soft, then hit them with a food processor or hand blender or even a fork to break them down to mush. Also consider withholding about a third of the salt. The result is a much leaner and slightly flaky meat that resembles white turkey. I'm having this for Thanksgiving with cranberries and stuffing.
Sam Turnbull says
Great tip Michael!
Justin says
Has anyone tried finishing these in the oven after they were steamed? I’m thinking like a chicken parm kind of dish, wasn’t sure if this would have a good consistency after being baked.
Wayne Blizzard says
Justin, doesn't look like anyone answered your question, but it intrigued ME! Did you end up trying that? I'm thinking that it would work fine if you did what one does with chicken parmigiana: bread and fry the cutlet and then bake with sauce and (vegan) cheese.
Justin says
Hi Wayne we actually did try it and it came out great! They had a good crisp on the outside, and they stayed moist inside I would highly recommend trying, I always put these on the grill on top of tin foil and it truly reminded me of what bbq chicken was like.
Lysa says
This recipe was sooooo easy it was unbelievable. I steamed mine in my oven due to lack of proper equipment haha. But my seitan breast came out delicious just in their raw form I can’t wait to see how they taste after breading & seasoning!
Sim says
How did you setup the steaming seitan in your oven?
Arielli says
Hi.
Quick question pls
Is it possible to under or over-steam this? I’ve seen many seitan recipes and some call for steaming anywhere from 25min-90!
This is my first time using the soft tofu so I’m hopeful! It does have a ‘chicken-ish’ taste right out the pot so can’t wait till it cools.
Thanks!
Patricia Ayuso says
It's included in my menu for the last year. Thanks
Elaine says
I like these seitan tenders a lot. I made some adjustments:
- The tofu I buy comes in 350 g containers. Instead of using 300 g of tofu and 180 g (1 and 1/2 cups) of vital wheat gluten, I use 350 g of tofu and 210 g of vital wheat gluten.
- The brand of tofu I use is less wet, so I use 5 Tbsp of water to form a dough.
- I steam all 6 of them at once, separated with parchment paper.
Rose_Anne Hutchence says
Thanks for sharing the results of all your terrific / fun experiments, Sam. I'm a big fan of replicating the flavours and textures we enjoyed growing up on the farm.
Have you tried, or thought about, smoking seitan? The real deal, with a smoker (mind you, if could be fun playing around with adding liquid smoke), wood chips, etcetera?