If you’ve been wondering how to make seitan yourself rather than paying $4 for a tiny box of it at Whole Foods, then this is the recipe for you! This is my go-to, easy, basic homemade seitan recipe that I make in batches and then use throughout the week.
If you’re not familiar with seitan (I haven’t shared any seitan recipes in a while!), it’s a vegan meat analogue made from wheat gluten. After wheat berries are ground up and the starches are washed away, what’s left is called vital wheat gluten.
Seitan is very high in protein, and it’s also really chewy. Some might even call its texture… meaty. But it doesn’t taste like meat! It’s mostly a blank slate, with a hint of wheat-y flavor. It’s not the prettiest thing in the world, but it’s tasty!
You can technically make seitan from flour yourself, but I’ll save those instructions for another day. I’ve done it before and it’s a big pain ;). By starting with vital wheat gluten, this becomes a very easy recipe and is much more economical than purchasing seitan in the store.
Also, maybe I’m biased but I think it tastes better. Both because it’s fresh and because we’re going to add some umami to it, which isn’t present in all store-bought seitan. This recipe also calls for a bit of chickpea flour to mellow out the wheat flavor.
Some more advanced seitan-making methods call for baking it, but those have a tendency of exploding in the oven. To protect you from that horror, in this recipe we will be steaming it and it is unlikely to explode. You can then use it in any recipe calling for seitan.
After the homemade seitan is steamed and ready, you can slice it up into cubes or “steaks”, season it and add it to everything from stir fry to chili! Slather it in BBQ sauce… fry it chicken style… do your thang. It’s a great way to veganize recipes that require you to substitute something for beef or other meat. May I suggest using it to make a batch of vegan Mongolian beef?
Learning how to make seitan opens up a lot of healthy and delicious possibilities! Give this DIY seasoned gluten recipe a try and go forth.
Basic Homemade Seitan
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil (or any oil)
- 1 large yellow or white onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/3 tsp salt
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp blackening seasoning (or any other seasoning blend, or additional paprika)
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
- 1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce (optional; omit for soy-free)
- 1/4 cup chickpea flour (34 grams)
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 and 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten (193 grams)
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and salt, and cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently, until onion is softened slightly.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the garlic and stir. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until the garlic is softened and fragrant. Add the sweet paprika and other spices to the pan, stir, and cook for 60 seconds or until fragrant. Remove from the heat.
- Use a spatula to transfer the onion-garlic mixture, including oil, to a blender or food processor. Add the tomato paste, vegetable broth, soy sauce if using, chickpea flour, and nutritional yeast. Blend until smooth. (Raw chickpea flour tastes terrible so I don't recommend sampling this).
- Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and add the vital wheat gluten, then stir until evenly combined. Once stirred, use your hands to knead the mixture until it becomes more firm and a little bit springy, about 2 minutes. Do note that this will feel wetter and moister than many other seitan recipes, due to the fact that we are steaming it rather than boiling it. The dough will be quite loose and moist, so this won't feel similar to kneading bread.
- Prepare boiling water and a steamer (see notes for a description of my setup). Be sure to add plenty of water since this will be steaming for a long time. Form the dough into a vaguely log-shaped blob and then roll it up tightly in a piece of tinfoil, twisting the ends tightly. Depending on the size and shape of your steamer, you may need to separate it into two pieces.
- Once the water is boiling, steam the wrapped gluten dough for 1 hour, carefully flipping it over halfway through (I use tongs).
- Let the cooked seitan cool to room temperature, then unwrap it and place it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours. For best results, slice the seitan as needed for recipes rather than pre-slicing it. The homemade seitan in log form will keep in the fridge for up to a week.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe adapted from a variety of sources, but especially Teff Love (one of my absolute favorite vegan cookbooks!).
P.S… if you like this recipe you might also enjoy my seitan-based homemade vegan meatballs!
Jonny Sprinkler says
I’ve baked seitan forover 20 years — both washed from wheat flour and with VWG flour. I have never had it ‘explode’ or even come close to such an experience. The most it does is expand, even tightly wrapped it wouldn’t explode — perhaps rip the foil and bulge a bit. My standard faux-chicken loaf is losely wrapped in foil like a tootsie roll and baked for 90min at 395F/200C, turning half way. The faux-chicken dough is 2 cups mashed chick peas, 1 1/2 cups VWG, 1/2 cup potato flour with 2 tbs poutry seasonings, 1 tsp each of salt and pepper, 2 tbs oil, t tbs maple syrup, 1 tbs dijon mustard and 1 tsp white miso in 1 1/2 cups of vegetable stock.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Thanks for sharing your tips! I’ve had my homemade seitan explode many times so it is clearly possible. Explosion is more likely to happen when there is a higher ratio of oil and liquid to vital wheat gluten.
steve hume says
Hi
Made this recently. Steamed half and baked half.
Different but both great. the baked one a bit firmer and chewier.
Took some and blitzed it a food processor (not too finely) and then made meatballs. Worked perfectly, just added all the things I used to add to meatballs before I saw the light!!!!
Azime says
Hello. Have a nice day. I want to try to make seitan. Thanks alot for your help. I like your nice page. Good luck
Mom the Muse says
Your wonderful recipe will be on our Christmas menu
Cathy Hains says
I have not tried this yet, but it looks great! Thank you for the clear instructions and nice pics! I’m a dietitian myself and have been wanting to try this out forever, but (erroneously) thought it was really hard to do!
Kerstin Decker says
Shannon,I love your version of Gluten “Roast” I have made many different versions and make them to what I want, like Schnitzel for instance. I am German and think and taste back to my childhood, so Geschnetzel mit Potato balls all the vegan way, are 2 of the recipes I make.. Goulasch is another one. Your wonderful recipe would lend itself beautiful for Goulasch, have to try it this week. Something new is always welcome in my repertoire, as I have been a plant based “addict” for 20 years and got my labs back yesterday from my doctor, I am too healthy for him and I need to go back only in another year and I am 80
Laura Picallo says
I felt compelled to comment! I was super skeptical about steaming the seitan (plus making a bootleg steamer) but holy cow – this is the best texture seitan I have ever made.
I would up the spice count and maybe add some liquid smoke next time – but you are right – this is the perfect basic seitan recipe to build upon.
Thank you!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Bootleg steamer is a great term! Thanks for your comment.
Chrissie says
Hi I made this, it was really easy, turned out right and it was lovely! I don’t know how, but I’ve forgotten what I converted it to in grams & mls. Would you mind saying what a cup is in grams & mls so I can do it again?
RAWR says
Someone will eventually ask “Is this gluten free?”
Cathy Hains says
LOL!
Hanna says
Can you use the seiten afterwards as you would any other meat so fry it lightly for a stir-fry, or shape into sausages and cook in the oven?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
You can’t really reshape it after already cooking it but definitely works great sliced up into the desired shape like for a stir-fry.
Nyckname says
For a steamer, I use an electric roaster. Just pour water into the pan. A cut to fit cooling rack placed over the rack that comes with it helps, because the one supplied has two inch gaps between the bars.
jj says
Hi Shannon. I am going to try at it again. I have never bought or use chickpea flour before. In your instruction you recommend not to use raw chickpea flour. please help me to understand, so i will not get the wrong one. thank u
Amber says
Could this be done without onion and maybe use onion powder instead? I don’t have any on hand! How much would you use?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
That should be ok. I would add about 1/2 tsp of the powder with the other spices.
jj says
can i use white bean instead of chickpea flour, and what would be the proportion in comparison. thanks for the recipe
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I think that would work and I would use a little bit less. However, I haven’t tested it.
jj says
Hi Shannon, i made this today using white and red beans, instead of chickpea flour, it turn out well, except for the texture. next time i will use chickpea flour..
Isabelle Payne says
I’m making this now, first time making seitan. Thank you, can;t wait to try it!
Ali J says
I made this. This was so good and super easy! I can’t believe how yummy it is. I made BBQ avocado sandwiches with the sliced seitan, and they were probably the most amazing thing ever.
Nancy says
I would like to use this to make a Curried”Chicken” Salad. Could I just add curry powder to the mix? Any other changes? I want to take the salad to a Luncheon on our street. There are 3 0r 4 vegeterians on the block so I could surprize them all.
Thanks for your advice.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Nancy,
I would add some garam masala, cumin and turmeric. I find this produces a little bit better depth of flavor than curry powder, although I think that would work too. Maybe add a tiny pinch of sugar too. I know that sounds odd but I think it would help to bring out the spices in this case.
Marilyn says
Today I made the seitan recipe for the second time. It was so easy and came out perfectly. I have a hard time browning it since I don’t use oil. Any suggestions how to make it come out a bit browner? My husband is from West Va and was thrilled with how it came out…. just like a baloney (bologna) burger. I also made the mongolian beef sauce. It is quite strong so be sure to use low salt soy sauce or even 1/2 water. It was great too! Thank you for the recipe!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Yes, low sodium soy sauce is super important for the Mongolian “beef”. Thanks for sharing your experience. I honestly don’t know how best to brown the seitan without any oil; I’ve never tried that. Your best bet is probably to use a little bit less liquid in the seitan dough and bake it at a high heat with nonstick spray. But I have not actually tried this, so it’s merely an idea 🙂
Rashad Monjed says
Hi. How much does this recipe make? I can see the serving size is 1 pound, but no information on the total. I’m a bulk eater and want to eat about 1000 calories. Thank you
Rashad Monjed says
Ah here’s my comment. Can you please just give an educated guess instead of ignoring me? Thank you
Alley says
It makes a total of 1 lb. A serving size is 2 oz.
Michael A DuFer says
I doubt that anyone should eat more than one pound of ANY form of protein in one meal. That’s not good for any homosapiens diet, bulking up or not.
Sammie says
Mine is still too gummy as well. I had to alter the seasoning somewhat – jarred peppers instead of onions, but all the liquids and dry ingredients in same amounts. I steamed it same as you… mesh basket over a pot. I had added the chickpea flour… everything was done “right” as near as I can tell but this is *not* the meaty texture I’ve had from when Ive been served seitan. I have had it in a canned form from china called china delight mock vegetarian chicken or duck… i had to check the label it was so realistic in texture. I know canning would be different but this is a flop. Gummy yuck. I sliced a piece and fried that to seee if it helped and well… not much.
Please help. I have been vegetarian a yearnow and i cannot afford the prefab meat substitutes. I cannot eat soy and my ability to eat beans is limited. You can see why seitan would be a godsend for me.
Starttle says
I haven’t tried this recipe specifically, but I find whenever I use the chickpea flour in seitan, I get a gummy, mushy gross texture no matter how I cook it (steamed, boiled, baked) or how long I knead it (which leads me to believe it might be the “brand” of chickpea flour I can get here). If I take out the chickpea flour and use the vital wheat gluten in its place, it turns out perfect no matter what I do. So that might be helpful to try if it keeps turning out mushy.
Sarah Little says
Just made this and WOW am I impressed! I had NEVER heard of seitan until about a week ago. Yes I live under a rock. When I couldn’t find it locally and delivered was insanely expensive, it was time to make it myself. Yours is the first recipe I found that used vital wheat gluten instead of starting with flour and rinsing, rinsing, rinsing. I live in California and cannot justify using so much water. ANYWAY, this come together quickly and effortlessly. No fuss, no muss. When I took the two logs out of the steamer, I could see where explosion could be a risk as my foil wrap was about to blow. After letting it cool, I just couldn’t wait for the 8hour fridge time and cut off an end. IT IS SO GOOD! Even my husband likes it! I made two adaptations based on what I had on hand; almond flour instead of chickpea flour and mesquite spice instead of the blackening spice. Thank you for being so generous about substitutions in your tips/notes at the end. It seems the point is to get SOME flavor in it, not so much which flavor. Tomorrow, after it’s cooled properly, I will be cooking it in your szechuan sauce and serving it with soba noodles (to up the protein even more).
Thanks again.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
So glad to hear this, Sarah, and that you and your husband enjoyed it. The detailed review is super helpful!
Mimine says
Thank you so much for this tasty recipe, Shannon. I made this today with mushrooms added to the onion mix. Teff (instead of chickpea flour) works really nicely for a beefy-looking seitan. It was very moist without the 8-hour rest. So much yummier than its store bought counterpart.
Daniel says
What an easy, amazing recipe. Thanks Shannon!!
Rob says
Hi Shannon, I recently discovered your fantastic website. I had been buying a similar vegan product in our local health food store here in Ireland, and boy was it expensive for the few slices you got. I tried yourexact recipe the weekend just past and boy did it go down a treat in my house, looks like I will have to make 2 or 3 per week now.
Thank you so much for sharing this and your other fabulous recipes and ideas on here.
Rob – Ireland.
Simon thomas says
It’s just turned midnight. I’m reading this, I want to make it now !!! Can’t wait to wake up and get cracking. Sounds awesome. I’ll let you know.
Thanks
Marjorie says
Made this. Then had to make it again a few days later since the second roast did not survive until easter. I added things to make it my own but being a gastric bypass patient this is a god send! My hubby was so proud he posted on Facebook. We are referring people back here for the recipe. Love it!
Richard says
Recipe was great! Quite firm and very similar to sausages or other high quality plant-based sausages !
Cricket says
delish
Marian Duggan says
This turned out amazing, thank you so much! I’ve been sharing your recipe with loads of people as it was so easy and tasty. 🙂
Pam says
Hi
Planning on making this, just wondering, Will the texture be better if I knead the dough for longer or does it not make a difference.
I would like to make the seitan for southern fried chicken any suggestions on what additional spices I can add. Thanks
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
The texture is definitely best if you knead for a few minutes until it starts to get sort of stretchy. The dough is rather moist though, it won’t feel quite the same as bread.