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!
(click stars to vote)
Vegan Seitan Tenders
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 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 but the vital wheat gluten together in a large bowl until well combined. Add the vital wheat gluten and mix it into a dough 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!Learn how to master the art of making seitan in my new cooking course Seitan School! Click here to learn more and enroll.
Notes
Nutrition
Bon appetegan!
Sam.
Kimberly Pickard says
I am planning to try this recipe but the only tofu I could get was firm. Do I need to press it first? Thanks.
Andy B says
I’m only 7 months into veganism with my boyfriend and I finally mustered up the courage to try making seitan. After reading all of the reviews, I chose this recipe as my first foray and made your italian marinade and sweet and smoky marinade while they cooked. I followed your recipe exactly and WE LOVE THEM. Throw a little Trader Joe’s Vegan Pesto on them in a sandwich and OMG.
Thanks for making seitan so easy!
Sukha says
Sam, do you think this could be adjusted for a Chicken Roast...to slice like your Deli Bologna? It tastes sooooo good.
Lisa says
I love this recipe and sometimes use it to make chicken nuggets. To do this, I stop the food processor just before the dough forms a ball. Then I dump the dough onto the counter and tear it into chunks. I pile the chunks into the steamer using spray oil between layers. After 12 minutes, I use a fork to pull them apart and turn them over, and steam for another 12 minutes.
Kit says
This recipe is delicious I like using in Chinese food one of my favourites is sticky sesame seed covered strips using maple syrup to coat and then rolling them in toasted sesame seeds. Then have on top of mushroom rice. I add a little vegan mayo to the sticky strips and garlic and it is so good. Thank you for your amazing recipes so easy and so delicious.
Bayindir says
What do you do with the leftover silken tofu? My package comes with 450g and this recipe only uses 2/3s of it.
Kit says
The packets I buy are the right size for the recipe if you have left over you can freeze it and use in smoothies later in or just use it that day in a smoothie they are nice. You can also make a vegan icecream with silken tofu.
Lariza says
I was thinking the same and if you have her cookbook, there is a cheesecake you can use the rest of the tofu!!
Jess says
You can just easily scale up the recipe 450 is 1.5x300, so instead of 6 in the serving size box type 9. I actually make my own tofu (1800g tofu from 500g beans)+6 and scale it up, usually making 36 serving approx and freezing most.
Also, look into making your own tofu. I make 1800g for the price I'd pay for 200 😀
Lizzie says
These are great! And so versatile, I use them all week in lots of different meals. (BBQ especially good!!!) I like that it makes six pieces, lasts a while!
Tina says
I’ve been making seitan using post punk kitchen recipes for years. I was reluctant to try a new way and sceptical that this much easier method work. But I love your tofu crumble recipes so I took a chance and I’m so glad I did. I spent the day making a bunch of your recipes and my freezer is now full of tasty protein sources with no weird ingredients. I’m so excited to cook meals for my family this coming week!!
Sam Turnbull says
Amazing!!! So thrilled you loved them so much, Tina! Thanks for trusting my recipe 🙂
Mike says
Can you substitute firm for the silken in this? I can’t find silken or soft to save my life this week. I HAVE firm in the fridge...
Adri says
Anyone have issues with these plumping up like bread when baked or air fried? Not sure where I went wrong...
Sybille Stahl says
I keep making these because my vegan daughters love them, and they are so easy and can be used wherever you’d use chicken breasts. Thanks for this recipe!
Tara says
Excellent recipe! So easy to make and I used a recipe from your list of marinades. It was so good, especially after a day of marinading.
This website and your book are my go to for cooking. Everything I have made has been delicious!
Sam Turnbull says
Yay!! I'm so happy to hear that 🙂
Amanda says
Hi. I'm only assuming you press the tofu to remove water prior to adding but tried looking for clarification in notes but as far as I can see it doesn't state. Can you confirm this please
Nadia von der Schulenburg says
The recipe calls for silken tofu which isn't made to be pressed so just put in as it is with the other ingredients.
Donna says
My husband made the recipe...followed it exactly. I found them very chewy....no flavor....did we do something wrong??? Please help....we really want to eat less meat.
Aaron says
This recipe is simply unreal! I've made a lot of seitan in my time, and not only does this recipe produce the best results, it also has one of the smallest lists of ingredients with the least prep time (no kneading!), and even takes the least amount of time to cook! Thanks Sam!
Aaron says
We’ve been maybe plant based a year and a half. First time making Seitan, this was pretty easy. I subbed out some of the vital wheat gluten with chickpea flour (maybe a 1/4 cup worth).
Wow! First batch turned into air fried tenders with Panko which were fantanstic. Next batch turned into a chicken patty air fried with some hot sauce and bread crumbs, made for a delicious Buffalo chicken style sandwich.
This recipe is definitely going to be a staple in our home going forward!
Liz says
Aaron: How long did you air fry the patty?
Diane says
Can’t wait to try this recipe. Can I use a vegetable steamer ?
Jbro says
Hi there, do you know if baking would work for this recipe? I'm not able to use a steamer at the moment but the ingredients look amazing. Thanks 🙂
Hannah says
I'd like to know too as my steamer is packed in a box somewhere!
Jenny says
This is easily the best vegan recipe I have ever made. Thank you so much!!!
Kelly says
They are amazing! I've used the sweet and smoky marinate, so so good
Sam Turnbull says
Wonderful! That's one of my faves 🙂
Kari says
I am not a vegan, but my step-daughter is. Hubby is a carnivore, I lean towards ovo-lacto vegetarian. First time making seitan anything. Didn’t have tofu so I used 1/4C chick pea flour and added boxed veggie broth as my liquid until it pulled together as a wet dough. Steamed it in an instant pot with 1-2 cups veggie broth at bottom (stacked 2 cutlets per layer separated by foil) manual high pressure for 20 minutes/L5 minutes/pressure release. Was concerned about stiffened clumps of gluten flour in the dough, but turned out ok. In fridge now waiting to be grilled tomorrow for dinner. Dropped a bit on the floor taking it out...my Lab happily snarfed it down and looked for more, so I’m optimistic. If I can make this with no experience, all these substitutions, and cooking method changes, anyone can! This recipe is full proof (fool proof)!
Sam Turnbull says
Wonderful!
Parker says
Just made these tenders today and I am so happy with how they turned out, and that I have 5 more to enjoy tucked away in the fridge 🙂
I did a tamari, sweet chilli and ev olive oil marinade and seared them in the grill. They were good, but I came home and made a sandwich with one of the grilled tenders that was leftover and it was glorious.
Trader Joe’s Super Bread, manchego cheese, grilled tender, fig preserves and mayo.
Donna Buckley says
Hi! I have made this this morning. Although I dont have a proper steamer so just out a colander over a pan and done a tinfoil lid. They didnt double in size and wondering what i might have done wrong. They disnt change in size. I didnt knead and blitzed in processor for very little time. Thanks!
Danica says
I am *very* surprised that nobody noticed this before, but when you put measurements to metric, it says 210g vital wheat gluten, but instead it should be 180g (1 cup vital wheat gluten is approximately 120g, so 1 1/2 cups should be 180g). I guess most of the people who made this recipe use cup measurements, and this explains why some people in the comments found the need to add way more water than recipe calls for. Hope you'll see this and fix it so people don't make super hard kind of bland vegan chicken tenders lol
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Danica, thanks so much for this info! The recipe program I use automatically converts to grams for me, but I guess it was wrong for this measurement. Thanks so much for letting me know! I will update all of my seitan recipes so that the information is correct. 🙂
Danica says
Hey of course, no problem! I actually made these with 210g vital wheat gluten flour instead of 180g and it was pretty great, definitely not 'tender' but in no way any less than delicious! I thought it would be bland and tasteless because of so much gluten flour but the marinade (I used your teriyaki marinade recipe) made it super tasty!
Marina says
These are very good! The only thing I did different the second time I made them was to blend the tofu and spices in the blender first and then mix it into the gluten and nooch in a big mixing bowl! Voila! No over mixing and no white tiny pieces in my tenders! So amazingly yummy. Thank you so much!
Sam Turnbull says
Glad you enjoyed!