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Meal prep is so much easier with this Vegan Chicken in the fridge! This high-protein, homemade seitan recipe is juicy, succulent, and surprisingly easy to make. If you've never had seitan before, it's a chewy, meaty vegan chicken substitute that tastes way better than anything store-bought. Make a batch ahead of time and keep it in the fridge or freezer for quick, satisfying meals all week.
FEATURED COMMENT:
This is the BEST seitan I've ever had and I make this recipe frequently. I freeze the tenders in packs of two and make a different marinade for each pack. - Saraswati ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
After the popularity of my Vegan Seitan Steak, which ended up starting a love of making seitan, I got a lot of requests for a seitan version of a vegan chicken recipe. Well, ask and you shall receive. I introduce to you my Vegan Chicken! ...And yes, it does taste like chicken. Ba dum dum tsk!
What is Seitan?
Seitan (pronounced say-tan) is a high-protein, meat-like food made from vital wheat gluten, the protein-rich part of wheat. When mixed with liquid and cooked, it becomes chewy, firm, and savory, making it one of the best vegan meat alternatives out there.
It's been used for centuries in Asian cuisines and is sometimes called wheat meat or mock duck. In this recipe, we turn it into juicy, tender vegan chicken you can use in everything from stir-fries to sandwiches to sheet pan dinners.
Bonus: It's budget-friendly, freezer-friendly, protein-packed and WAY more delicious than most store-bought options.
Why You'll Love This Vegan Chicken Recipe
Store-bought vegan chicken is often rubbery, bland, or packed with additives, and it's pricey. This homemade version is juicy, tender, packed with flavor, and budget-friendly.
- Juicy and succulent. No dry spongey seitan here! I've balanced the ingredients and flavors in this vegan chicken recipe so it turned out tender and delicious.
- Easy to make. Just 8 ingredients, and most of the work is hands off. I love batch cooking this and stocking my freezer full of plant-based chicken!
- Great for meal prep. This recipe can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the fridge for several days, or in the freezer so you can have vegan chicken on hand whenever you like.
- Perfect swap for any chicken recipe. Once steamed and cooled, you can swap this into any of your favorite chicken recipes. My favorite way to enjoy it? Marinate the tenders overnight, then pan-fry until golden. Chef's kiss.
- A wholesome alternative. 1 batch makes 6 cutlets and each one contains 156 calories, 8g carbohydrates, 26g protein, and 2g fat.
Ingredients:
- Vital wheat gluten: Vital wheat gluten is wheat flour with most of the starch removed (leaving behind almost pure wheat protein)! It is an ancient process, and this wheat protein is what makes seitan have that meaty texture. Unfortunately, there is no substitute. And that means this recipe cannot be made gluten-free. For a vegan gluten-free chicken-inspired recipe try my Baked Tofu Bites.
- Soft or silken tofu: This gives the seitan a juicy, tender texture. Be sure to measure carefully and use the right tofu type, firm or extra-firm will make the seitan too dense.
- Seasonings: Nutritional yeast, onion powder, vegetable broth powder or bouillon, garlic powder, and salt make it taste like chicken. (Do I need to change the name of my blog now?)
How To Make Vegan Chicken
- Combine: Add all of the ingredients to a food processor.
- Process: Turn on the food processor and mix the dough until it forms a ball.
- Shape: Turn the dough out onto a surface lightly floured with vital wheat gluten. Divide into 6 pieces and shape each into an oval.
- Steam: Add the vegan chicken to a greased steamer basket set over simmering water. Cover and steam for 25 minutes, flipping halfway through the cooking time.
- Cool. Allow the vegan chicken to cool to room temperature, then chill in the refrigerate for an hour before using; if you'd like, you can chill it in a marinade for extra flavor. (Check out my recipes for 12 Seitan or Tofu Marinades for endless flavor combos!)
- Cook. The world is your oyster! Use this vegan chicken any way you'd use chicken breast. In these photos, I fried them in a bit of vegan butter, and seasoned with salt, black pepper, parsley, and a squeeze of lemon. This makes the outside crispy and the inside stays tender and juicy.
Tips for Perfect Seitan Chicken
- No food processor? Use a bowl. It takes a little more work, but it's still easy! Just the ingredients to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until the dough forms a ball.
- Make any shape you like. You can shape the seitan into small bites or nuggets, make the seitan into a big slab to slice and pan-fry, whatever! Just keep in mind that shapes that are thicker will take more time to steam.
- Cook in batches if needed. Seitan expands while steaming, so leave space in the basket or cook in batches.
- Make them extra chicken-y. You can mix poultry seasoning into the seitan mixture and/or use a vegan chicken bouillon instead of vegetable. (Poultry seasoning doesn't actually contain any poultry, it just has herbs and spices often used with chicken!)
How to Use This Vegan Chicken
Think of this like your plant-based chicken breast, you can marinate it, grill it, fry it, roast it, or slice it into your favorite recipes. Try it in stir-fries, sandwiches, tacos, salads, pasta dishes, or even breaded as vegan nuggets. I personally love it pan-fried with one of these marinades (my favorite is the sweet & smoky), or chopped up in my Vegan Chicken Caesar Salad.
How to Store
- Refrigerator: Refrigerate this vegan chicken in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Freezer: To freeze the seitan, let it cool completely and then transfer it an airtight freezer bag or container. If you'd like, you can freeze it in a marinade.
More Vegan Chicken Recipes You Might Like:
- Buttermilk Fried Oyster Mushrooms
- The Quickest and Easiest Seitan Recipe (Vegan Chicken)
- Vegan Chicken (Washed Flour Seitan)
- Vegan Chicken Wings
- Vegan Orange Chicken
If you try this vegan chicken 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)
Vegan Chicken (Seitan)
This homemade Vegan Chicken is juicy, flavorful and easy to make. It's a meal prep staple you can use in so many different ways!
Servings:
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Ingredients
For the vegan seitan tenders:
- 1 ½ cups vital wheat gluten, plus more for dusting
- 1 block (10.6oz/ 300g) 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 the vital wheat gluten, tofu, water, nutritional yeast, onion powder, vegetable broth powder, garlic powder, and salt 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 in a large bowl mash the tofu using a potato masher until smooth. Add the water, nutritional yeast, onion powder, vegetable broth powder, garlic powder, and salt and mix. Lastly, mix in the vital wheat gluten to form a dough.
- 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 gentle 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 gentle simmer for 25 minutes, flipping halfway through or until the seitan's internal temperature reaches at least 160°F (71°C) when tested with an instant-read thermometer. If the temperature goes higher, that's perfectly fine-you can't really oversteam seitan.
- 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!* Learn my secret tricks to making perfect seitan in my free masterclass. Click here to learn more and register.
Notes
Shape of tenders: 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.
Oil-free: for oil-free you can skip greasing the steamer basket and tenders. The tenders will expand and stick together when steaming and may tear when you try to separate them, but the end result will still be equally delicious. 🙂
Freezing: to freeze the tenders, let them cool completely before freezing. Freeze in an airtight freezer bag or container. You can freeze them plain or in the marinade of your choice.
Vital wheat gluten is essential to this recipe, and there is no substitute. Therefore this recipe cannot be made gluten-free. For a vegan gluten-free chicken inspired recipe try my Baked Tofu Bites recipe.
Steaming tips: you need to steam the seitan tenders before using them. I recommend getting a steamer pot if you plan to make seitan often, or you can use a DIY method if you do not have a steamer.
Cleaning tips: vital wheat gluten is very sticky and can destroy dish brushes and cloths. So what I like to do is save old clothes, sheets, or towels that are too shabby to donate, and cut them into rags. I use these rags to clean up after preparing a seitan recipe and discard the rag once finished.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 serving (recipe makes 6 servings) | Calories: 159kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 0.3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Sodium: 486mg | Potassium: 187mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin C: 0.3mg | Calcium: 63mg | Iron: 2mg
⭐ Did You Make This Recipe?
I'd love if you left a rating and comment, it helps others find the recipe and makes my day! 💕
Fay Jones Day says
Is there a vegan chicken tender recipe with no tofu?
walter says
i have been making my own seitan for almost 15 years now and have tries *many* different recipes. this is without a doubt the BEST (and easiest) recipe i have come across. this is wild, thank you!
Sam Turnbull says
Aww yay!!! Thrilled you love it so much, walter 🙂
Kristen says
I'd give this 6 stars if I could. It's a great fool proof recipe. Whole family loves it. I cook in Instant Pot manual setting with 1 inch water. Put tenders on the trivet for 25 min. I also just experimented and made the "dough" cut into strips and wrapped around 8 inch kebab sticks to make a chicken satay. This is recipe is great no matter how you slice it!
Sam Turnbull says
Wonderful! Thrilled you enjoyed, Kristen 🙂
Vegronica says
Kristen, did you use a natural pressure release or a quick release at 25 minutes? I'm also looking to adapt this for the Instant Pot and would be appreciative of any advice!
Janine says
Sam!! I made these and wow, they are out of this world! The taste, texture, and overall structure are remarkable. I hand mixed mine in a large bowl and the dough came out beautiful! I feel like you gave us the secret that Morningstar Farms uses for their Chik'n Strips and I now can make my own rather than buying them. Yay!! Thanks Sam for all of your recipes, you are awesome! ✨❤️
Sam Turnbull says
Aww you're most welcome, Janine! Thrilled you love it so much 🙂
Huong says
Hì Sam,
Thank you very much for your delicious recipe. I like it , so amazing.
Sam Turnbull says
You're welcome 🙂
Pat says
Hi Sam,
I love your website and recipes. What brand of silken tofu are you using? I realize I am in the States and you are in US but I am wondering if this might account for how my tenders are turning out.
Sam Turnbull says
I use Sunrise tofu. I have no idea if it's available in the states. I hope that helps!
Pat says
It's difficult to find tofu here that is under 500 grams. I wish there was some here that sold Soya but it seems like it's primarily in Canada and two other countries. Thanks for all your hard work!
Sam Turnbull says
You can always save the reamaining tofu to use in another dish 🙂
Tammy says
I love a lot of your recipes, I mainly cook for my son and his girlfriend when they visit. She is gluten free, is there an alternative to the vital wheat gluten?
Sam Turnbull says
Thanks so much! Unfortunately, there is no alternative to vital wheat gluten. You can try my tofu or bean recipes tho!
Amber says
I would LOVE to try this recipe, unfortunately u dint have a steamer, is there any other way i can cook it?
Sam Turnbull says
Seitan needs to be steamed but you can make a DIY steamer using one of these methods.
Beata says
I am not vegan or even vegetarian at this point, but I have been more and more interested in going vegan for several reasons, and my significant other would be on board with me for the same reasons, so I feel we are already off to a good start! I love to cook, experiment and "wing" recipes when I am familiar with a recipe, but I feel that I will be looking to replace the tastes and textures of meat, eggs and cheese, so for now I have been trying out various vegan recipes while eating carnivorous stuff out of my refrigerator and freezer. Decided not to replace anything with any animal derived food, but instead start stocking up on vegan items (yay for Amazon and all the health food sections at my local stores!) and deplete my animal derived foods as I am trying to figure out if we can make the vegan lifestyle (It's not a diet, I know!) work for us. Or for me, at least. I know my SO has a huge barrier food in the form of this sinfully delicious French hard yellow cheese derived from goat milk, which I can easily call my barrier food too, because this cheese is absolutely out of this world. But. I am not letting one cheese stop me from trying!
This is to say that I have been researching mainly meat, cheese and egg replacement recipes recently. Yes, I am one of these lurkers, lol. I understand that being vegan will mean stocking up on some new pantry staples like wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, agar powder, chickpea flour and so on, but I am not looking to keep 50 different items, half of which will be used maybe twice a year. Having said that, I so appreciate your simple recipes! I may not make something that calls for an exotic ingredient, but your seitan chicken tenders called for stuff that I tentatively stocked up on already, so...
I don't have a blender at this time, so I used my hand blender to mix the ingredients and I am sure that the dough was not mixed as properly as it should have been, but I proceeded anyway. The tenders did not double (they did puff up quite nicely though), presumably due to not developing enough fibrous texture because of the poor mixing job I did, but darn, they seemed cooked anyway and their texture and flavor was great as it was! I diced them up the next day and made a curry stir fry with some prepackaged stir fry veggie mix and coconut milk and it was a fantastic meal. Just yum. Matter of fact, I am snacking on cold leftovers as I am typing this. 🙂
Thank you for all the work that you are putting into your website and the time you spend perfecting your recipes for everyone. I so appreciate the tips, replacement suggestions and most of all, thank you for making me feel welcome. 🙂 Hats off to you!
Sam Turnbull says
You're most welcome, Beata! Glad you're enjoying my recipes 🙂
May says
Hi Sam,
I am obsessed with these AND your marinade recipes for them. My family won't eat tofu or tempeh and so I've had to get creative with vegan proteins for dinner... they LOVE these. I'm currently making them for the 4th time.
Question, though: do you have any tips on cleaning the food processor afterwards? Soaking it seems to almost make it worse!
Sam Turnbull says
Yay! So happy to hear that!!! I either like to let my food processor sit out overnight so that it dries and I can flake off most of the residue, or I cut up old t-shirts to make rags that I can dispose of after cleaning. Enjoy!
Beata says
First time, I just tried to wash everything by hand immediately, and I found that my kitchen sponge had to go in the trash afterwards. No rinsing the seitan leftovers out of the sponge, lol. Second time around, I found that a pretty easy way for me is to let everything soak immediately (no food processor here, so just using my hand blender and a bowl plus a spoon to scrape the sides of the bowl while mixing the dough), and once the seitan is cooking, I use my fingers to scrape out the seitan leftovers and any residue while rinsing the bowl and the mixing parts. Then I simply run my hands all over the bowl to wash off any residue. Then, everything can be washed with soap, either by hand or popped in the dishwasher if safe to do so. Then, you have to wash your sink too, to get rid of the residue. And the counters, because the vital wheat gluten just seems to float in the air and get on everything, lol. Still, even with all this washing, it is so worth making Sam's seitan creations!
Kim Walls says
WHAT IS THIS MAGIC?!!! I got to admit I was intimidated of making these for fear I would surely mess it up but was pleasantly surprised of how easy the recipe was. They were scrumptious! I pan fried them in vegan butter with some salt and pepper and sprinkled them with some lemon juice. I have some marinating in teriyaki and Italian marinade too. I try them tomorrow. And it DOES taste like chicken! Thanks Sam!
Sam Turnbull says
Haha! You're most welcome, Kim 🙂
Pamela W says
Would you know how to do the steaming in an Instant Pot?
Thanks so much and looking forward to try this.
Alice Lam says
Hi Sam, You've excelled once again. I was expecting that the chicken tenders would be somewhat similar to the steaks, but no - definitely has a chicken flavour and texture when I lightly fried a fillet for my lunch today. I'm looking forward to chickun sandwiches, curry, sweet 'n sour and schnitzels! Thank you!
Sam Turnbull says
You're most welcome, Alice!! Thrilled you loved the seitan tenders so much!
Mandy says
Hi, made these on Sunday and ate them just as they are, like a 'chicken fillet' after pan frying them, as part of a traditional Sunday dinner, my daughter, who has only recently gone vegetarian, said they tasted surprisingly like chicken. I thought they were delicious too.
I have some left in the freezer. How do you recommend using from the freezer, defrost first or cook from frozen please?thank you, your cook book is the most used one on my shelf, as everything is so easy and I usually already have or can easily buy the ingredients.
Sam Turnbull says
So thrilled you and your daughter enjoyed them so much, Mandy!! I recommend letting them thaw before cooking them. I usually let them thaw on the counter for a few hours, or in the fridge overnight. Enjoy!
Tara says
These came out soooo good! I will need to double the recipe next time. I only had frozen firm tofu but added more water. Thankyou for making the ingredients so simple. One of my friends wants to learn to cook healthier but gets confused and just gives up if he doesn't have all the ingredients. I'll send him this recipe 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
That's awesome, Tara! So happy you enjoyed. For your friend, my baked tofu bites are even easier and might be less intimidating than working with vital wheat gluten for a new cook. Or you could send both 🙂
Jonathan says
Turned out wonderful. I actually had to use firm tofu and still was great. So easy too, thank you!
Sam Turnbull says
So happy you enjoyed, Jonathan 🙂
Erin O'Brien says
Another great recipe, Sam! I made these for the fam last night (after marinating them overnight in your sweet and sour marinade), and I couldn't believe how easy it was and how tasty they were compared with store-bought seitan. I've had the recipe for a while, but I was inspired to use it after watching your video. I sure hope you'll make more! You're my go-to recipe person. Thanks for this one!
Sam Turnbull says
Aww yay! Thrilled you enjoyed them so much, Erin and very glad the video inspired you. Honoured to be your go-to recipe person!!! 🙂
Michael Worsham says
After chilling these chicken pieces in a marinade overnight, I want to reheat them as is. How long do you think they should be reheated, and at what temperature (in Fahrenheit)? I want to take them hot or at least warm to a vegan potluck as is, not incorporate them into some other dish.
Sam Turnbull says
My favourite way is to fry them in a bit of oil just a couple minutes per side. Enjoy!
lena says
hi!!! i think i might have make this for thanksgiving - unless you have a better idea for me. the 'tofu turkey' that i usuallly order is unavailable. so, my question is can i use mori-nu sillken tofu?
Sam Turnbull says
Any brand of silken tofu should work just fine. Enjoy!
Amanda Michelle Cardenas says
Hi! I wanted to try this, but can I cut the dough into small balls to make it like a buffalo wing size? Or would you recommend steaming the dough the size you did then cutting it after it is done steaming? Thank you!
Sam Turnbull says
Absolutely! I actually have instructions for exactly that, so just follow my seitan bites recipe. Enjoy!
Allie says
I made these today. I liked that the recipe was so easy, just put everything in processor!
I learned, finally, to season tofu and seitan as I seasoned before I became a vegetarian.
Now, there's no mystery. My favorite recipes "before" have the same taste. I don't know if you use tofu often, (I'm a newbie to you site) but if you do, check out the process of freezing tofu in its package, defrosting pkg. of tofu, and freeze again, then use. It changes the texture of the tofu. You can pull it apart and make chicken nuggets (with added seasonings, of course).
You have a great thing going here. Great website!
Sam Turnbull says
Thanks Allie! Yes I know that technique. I'm so happy you're enjoying my recipes, welcome to my site 🙂
Beata says
Question about freezing the tofu in its package - can I do that with a package of shelf stable tofu and if yes, do I need to open it at least a little bit to drain some liquid, or can I just pop the sealed carton into the freezer, then thaw, then freeze again until ready to use? The only thing I found online was showing a package of refrigerated tofu with a slit in the package to drain the water before freezing... Thank you so much!