Vegan Chicken Wings - Sticky Garlic and Buffalo
This classic bar food served with vegan blue cheese dip and all! Make ahead recipe. Perfect for Superbowl Sunday, game night, or a party appetizer.
Servings: 4 (makes 25 - 30 seitan bites)
Ingredients
For the Vegan Chicken Wings:
- 1 ½ cups vital wheat gluten
- 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
- 2 tablespoons light oil (such as canola or vegetable), for frying
Sticky garlic sauce (optional):
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- ⅓ cup agave, maple syrup or corn syrup
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- ½ tablespoon cornstarch
Spicy buffalo sauce (optional):
- ⅓ cup Franks red hot (or similar hot sauce)
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter
Instructions
To make the Vegan Chicken Wings
- Make the dough: Add the vital wheat gluten, tofu, water, nutritional yeast, onion powder, vegetable broth powder, garlic powder, and salt to a food processor. Pulse 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. Then, mix in the vital wheat gluten to form a dough.
- Use scissors to cut the dough into small wing-sized pieces (they will almost double in size, so keep them on the smaller side). One batch should make 25-30 wings.
- Steam the wings: Add several inches of water to a large pot with a steamer basket and bring to a simmer. Lightly grease the steamer basket and layer in the vegan chicken wings, generously spraying each layer with spray oil to prevent sticking.Steam at a simmer for 25 minutes. The seitan bites will merge together into one lump.
- Cool and separate: Let the seitan cool and shrink up a bit. Once cool, you will be able to pull apart the seitan bites from each other. If any stick, use a knife or scissors to cut them apart. Let the wings cool, covered in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes or up to 3-4 days before frying. Seitan gets more tender and juicy as it rests in the fridge.
For the Sauces (optional, or use your preferred sauce):
- Make the sticky garlic sauce: In a small pot, whisk together the garlic, syrup of choice, apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, and cornstarch while everything is still cold. Turn on the heat to medium and cook for about 5 minutes, whisking often until the sauce thickens a bit.
- Make the buffalo sauce: In a microwave-safe dish, add the hot sauce and vegan butter. Microwave on high in 20-second increments until the butter is melted and the sauce is hot. Whisk to combine. Alternatively, warm the sauce in a small pot on the stove.
To Cook and Serve the Vegan Chicken Wings:
- Fry the wings: Heat two tablespoons of light oil in a large skillet or frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add steamed and cooled vegan chicken wings and fry for a couple of minutes per side, turning as needed until they are golden brown all over. You may need to do this in batches depending on the size of your pan, adding more oil if needed.
- Toss in sauce: Toss half of the vegan chicken wings in the sticky garlic sauce and the remaining half in the buffalo sauce.Serve hot with vegan blue cheese dip, celery, and carrot sticks.
- * Learn my secret tricks to making perfect seitan in my free masterclass. Click here to learn more and register.
Notes
Vegan Chicken Wing Flavors: If you would prefer your vegan chicken wings to be all one flavor, make a double batch of the sauce of your choice and skip the other sauce recipe. Toss all of the vegan chicken wings in your double batch of sauce.
Make-Ahead: The vegan chicken wings and sauces can be made ahead of time. When you're ready to serve, simply fry up the seitan bites and toss them in the premade sauces. They also reheat very well! You can fully prepare the vegan chicken wings with sauces, then reheat them covered in a pot over medium-low heat.
Freezing: to freeze the chicken wings, let them cool completely after steaming. Freeze in an airtight freezer bag or container. Thaw in the fridge overnight, and fry them fresh and toss with the sauce.
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 vegan chicken wings 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 4 servings) | Calories: 415kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 40g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 1891mg | Potassium: 318mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 265IU | Vitamin C: 1.8mg | Calcium: 102mg | Iron: 3.5mg
Find it online:
https://itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/vegan-seitan-bites-sticky-garlic-buffalo/Scan the QR code for updates, tips, and to ask me any questions!
