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It finally happened. I’ve posted my first ever seitan recipe. And it isn’t just any old seitan recipe either, I decided that if I was going to post a seitan recipe, it should be THE seitan recipe. It’s go big or go home time, so I went all the way to the top of the seitan game, straight to a VEGAN SEITAN STEAK.

YES, THAT IS VEGAN!!!!! Caps lock on. So much excitement. Can’t help it. Yes, I made this vegan steak from scratch in my kitchen, and you can too! I know, it’s mind-blowing.

So first, let’s talk about seitan. Unfortunately, in the vegan world, there are a lot of unappetizing named foods. Nutritional yeast, tempeh, quinoa, and then you have seitan. If I could re-brand some vegan foods I totally would, but what can you do?

Seitan (not satan 😈) is a chewy, protein-packed, meat-like food made from vital wheat gluten (another horrid name for a food).

Vital wheat gluten is a flour made by removing the starches from wheat, leaving behind just the gluten. Gluten is the main protein in wheat and it’s also the part of wheat flour that makes dough stretchy and chewy, which is why it’s difficult to make gluten-free baked goods that have that same bouncy, chewy texture.

So, vital wheat gluten can be used to make seitan which has this amazing, chewy, meat-like textured dish that wows. A lot of the vegan meat substitutes you see in grocery stores or in restaurants are often seitan. If you’ve ever had a vegan meat and asked: “are you sure this is vegan?” you were likely eating seitan.

Despite the weird name seitan can be pretty dang healthy too (assuming you don’t deep fry it). One of my vegan seitan steaks contains: 295 calories, 42g protein, 22g carbohydrates, 4g fat, 5g fiber, 27.7% iron. Pretty cool right?

Ok but now, let’s get to the real meat of the matter (tee hee), DOES IT TASTE GOOD?

The answer: silly rabbit, surely you know I would never post a recipe on my blog that isn’t (in my opinion) straight up delicious. It took a LOT of experimenting, but I finally nailed the texture and flavours to be incredibly mouth-watering scrumptious. This vegan seitan steak has the perfect chew, is juicy, a little smoky, umami, satisfyingly yum for each and every bite.

To make vegan seitan steaks: add all of the vegan seitan steak ingredients to a food processor and pulse to combine, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed until everything is well mixed. Alternatively, if you do not have a food processor you can first mash the cooked lentils with a fork or potato masher, then add everything together in a large bowl and mix well.

Now you know I’m not a fan of hard to find ingredients, but for this recipe, vital wheat gluten is crucial and it’s worth the search. If you’re lucky, your local grocery store may carry vital wheat gluten, but if not you will be able to find it in a health food store or here on Amazon.

Once mixed, it will look something like this.

Turn the mixture out onto a clean work surface and begin to knead it together. It may be a bit crumbly at first, but keep kneading it for a few minutes until it comes together into a tight ball.

Cut the ball into 4 sections, then use a rolling pin to roll out each section into 1/2″ thick steaks. The dough will be very tough and stretchy, but just keep working at it until you get your desired steak shapes.

Add several inches of water to a large pot with a steamer basket and bring to a boil. Put the steaks in the steamer basket and cover with a lid. It’s ok if they are overlapping a bit. Steam for 25 minutes, flipping the steaks halfway through so they steam evenly. They will double in size. Steaming the seitan first, cooks the dough through, and makes it juicy and tender. In my experimenting, I also tried boiling and baking the seitan, but steaming it was by far the best method for the ideal texture for a vegan steak.

In a large ziplock bag or air-tight container, mix together all of the marinade ingredients. The oil won’t really combine, but that’s fine. Remove the steaks from the steamer and coat in the marinade. Let marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes before cooking, or for as long as several days when kept in the fridge. I love that I can make these in advance and let them hang out, ready to be grilled up when I desire. They also freeze well pretty well. Just pop the steaks in the marinade and freeze the entire thing, marinade and all. I have found that after frozen and thawed the steaks might suck up more of the marinade so you might want to whip up extra marinade for brushing on when cooking.

When you are ready to enjoy the vegan steaks, heat a frying pan, grill pan, or barbecue. When hot, fry or grill the steaks a couple of minutes on each side until grill marks form. Brush the steaks with leftover marinade while cooking to keep them juicy, and also right before serving.

Serve however you desire. I like mine served with a potato and some greens. I also enjoy mine sliced and put on salad. So many possibilities!

4.9 from 147 votes Print Vegan Seitan Steak Prep Time 10 mins Cook Time 35 mins marinate 30 mins Total Time 45 mins Inspired by the amazing recipes for vegan steaks by The Happy Pear and Veggie Rose. Yes, it's vegan!! Mouth-watering, tender, chewy, juicy, flavourful, meat-like texture. Amazing! BBQ or pan fry then serve whole or slice and put on top of salad for a steak salad. So delicious and satisfying!

Course: Main Course Cuisine: American, Canadian, French, Italian Servings : 4 steaks Calories : 295 kcal Author : Sam Turnbull • It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken Ingredients For the vegan seitan steaks: 1 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten

1 cup cooked lentils (I used canned)

6 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke

1/4 teaspoon black pepper For the vegan seitan steak marinade: 1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon maple syrup or agave US Customary - Metric Instructions To make the vegan seitan steaks: Add all of the vegan seitan steak ingredients to a food processor and pulse to combine, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed until everything is well mixed. Alternatively, if you do not have a food processor you can first mash the cooked lentils with a fork or potato masher, then add everything together in a large bowl and mix well. Turn the mixture out onto a clean work surface and begin to knead it together. It may be a bit crumbly at first, but keep kneading it for a few minutes until it comes together into a tight ball. Cut the ball into 4 sections, then use a rolling pin to roll out each section into 1/2" thick steaks. The dough will be very tough and stretchy, but just keep working at it until you get your desired steak shapes. Add several inches of water to a large pot with a steamer basket and bring to a boil. Put the steaks in the steamer basket and cover with a lid. It's ok if they are overlapping a bit. Steam for 25 minutes, flipping the steaks halfway through so they steam evenly. They will double in size. In a large ziplock bag or air-tight container, mix together all of the marinade ingredients. The oil won't really combine, but that's fine. Remove the steaks from the steamer and coat in the marinade. Let marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes before cooking, or for as long as several days when kept in the fridge. To serve the vegan seitan steaks: When you are ready to enjoy the vegan steaks, heat a frying pan, grill pan, or barbecue. When hot, fry or grill the steaks a couple of minutes on each side until grill marks form. Brush the steaks with leftover marinade while cooking to keep them juicy, and also right before serving. Serve however you desire. I like mine served with a potato and some greens. I also enjoy mine sliced and put on salad. So many possibilities!

Recipe Notes Freezing: pop the steaks in the marinade and freeze the entire thing, marinade and all. I have found that after frozen and thawed the steaks might suck up more of the marinade so you might want to whip up extra marinade for brushing on when cooking. 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: 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 /4 of recipe | Calories: 295 kcal | Carbohydrates: 22 g | Protein: 42 g | Fat: 4 g | Sodium: 874 mg | Potassium: 471 mg | Fiber: 5 g | Sugar: 3 g | Vitamin A: 330 IU | Vitamin C: 3.4 mg | Calcium: 78 mg | Iron: 5 mg Did you make this recipe? Tag @itdoesnttastelikechicken on Instagram and hashtag #itdoesnttastelikechicken.

Bon appetegan!

Sam.