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!
I'm Shannon, the writer and photographer of Yup, it's Vegan! I'm a morning person based in Baltimore, USA. My mission is to create healthy plant-based recipes that anyone would enjoy, using seasonal produce with inspiration from global flavors.
albert sabatini says
Hi Y’all, I have one suggestion and one question. I would skip the foil and use cheese cloth or a thin cotton towel, preferably clean.
And I’m a regular user of a bamboo steamer and wanted to know what Shannon would recommend for the heating when steaming.
Cleis Murillo says
Absolutely delicious! I am confused on the yield and the nutritional information. It came out to over 1.5 lbs, not 1 lbs like it says, and when I calculated the nutrition it was very different, please help!
Jen says
This is awesome! I followed the instructions carefully but I steamed it in my rice cooker, I didn’t even had to add more water. It came out with a nice consistency a little bit hard, I wonder if it was suppose to be that way or if it was the rice cooker. I would omit the tomato paste thought but that is just my preference. Thank you so much for sharing !
Megan says
I didn’t wrap it in foil and instead of using vegetable stock I used VEGAN “beef” flavored stock. DO NOT FORGET T OCHECK YOU WATER WHEN STEAMING – I definitely burnt the bottom of my pan. But the seitan survived and came out AMAZING <3
Rhea says
I want to love this receipe, but cooking food directly in aluminum foil for a prolonged period of time is a terrible idea considering the limited studies and long term consequences of aluminum in your body. Any suggestions on an alternative to a little of setan with my aluminum would be so appreciated.
Kimberly Sullivan says
I use cheese cloth that is unbleached.
Peter Willis says
You can steam in baking parchment closed with elastic bands/string. Bit fiddly but zero aluminum.
Angie O says
Instant pot works well too. Put a cup or so of water /stock in the bottom, put your rack in, then put the seitan on top. High pressure for about 35 mins.
Ejn says
Do you quick release the pressure in this case?
Nares says
You could use baking paper ,twist and fold the ends over and hold in place with toothpicks.
Lucy says
I make seiten all the time and I wrap it in parchment first then the foil. Works great!
Kathleen Kato says
Try using parchment paper instead.
Mara says
Hi, I made this and it turned out really good, thank you for the recipe
I have one question tho, is it really 20g of protein per 2 ounces?
Thank you
Sara says
Hi, would it work if I use pea protein instead of chickpea flour?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I think that would work fine!
Patti says
I LOVED this recipe! I was shocked at how good it was on its own and when I used it in a stir fry recipe it was perfect. I just made another batch and steamed it in smaller pieces to make chicken fried nuggets for my friends tomorrow. I cut the cooking time in half since they were smaller and I think it worked, but they are slightly spongier than the first batch. I really don’t think my friends will notice…
I’m ecstatic to have found a great EASY homemade seitan recipe. THANK YOU!.
Tara says
My daughter is allergic to all nuts and most legumes, including chickpeas. The only legumes she can tolerate are black beans, kidney beans, and cannellini beans. Any ideas on how to.complete the protein profile for her?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
You could try adding some puree of kidney or cannellini beans and reducing the liquid to compensate.
Patricia Hanning says
Would it work with wheat flour instead of chick pea flour?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Yep, I think you could do that, if you look through some of the other comments a few folks have made substitutions for the chickpea flour.
Pete says
Despite a constant stream of interruptions this process was easy to follow. It took about 20 minutes to get the log ready to steam. This is the first time I’ve made seitan and the results were perfect, good meaty texture and taste. When shredded with a fork, tossed in a little hoisin sauce, then oven baked for 20 minutes at 150 celcius in a fan oven the seitan becomes ideal for crispy mock-duck ‘Chinese’ pancakes.
I made over 650 grams of seitan, which would have cost £12 to buy, for around a fifth of the cost. Thank you for this recipe.
Taylor Noles says
Nice recipe. I like to go the baking route and put it in a loaf pan lined with parchment paper. Then wrap the paper over the top and tent it closed so it gets some circulation. If you get the moisture content right and add lots of soy sauce it is *perfect* to dice up and add to fried rice.
Enric says
HI Shannon,
I just popped by after reading your Mongolian Seitan recipe.
I have my own recipe which is basiically the same except that I add pea or rice protein ((to complete the amino acid profile) .
But the main difference is that I use a pressure cooker instead of a normal pot. I put it in a steam basket in the pressure cooker and let it steam for 20 minutes. As it takes other 10 minutes to get to the correct pressure and to cool down the whole hint is done in about 40 mins to 3/4 of an hour.
Sven says
By adding Chickpea Flour (as per the recipe), the seitan becomes a complete protein.
Jess says
Hi Enric,
Thanks for providing your comment about using a pressure cooker. That’s my preferred way to finish things, so I can walk away and do other chores during “cooking”. Your info was helpful!
jeffery says
I went to make this and put all the ingredients into my calc and I am getting 444 kcal for 56grams (2oz). Anyone else run into this?
Brendon says
Alissa, I just want to let you know that I made your pork seitan today. It was delicious. Thank you!
Will says
it is very easy to make them! thank you so much
Beatrix says
I love this recipe! One question – if you divide the dough to steam it do you only need to steam for 30/45 mins rather than the whole hour? Thanks!
Emma Suggests says
I just realised I bought “seitan flour” instead of “wheat gluten”… Can I still follow this recipe or should amend it somehow? thank you!
Anna says
This is the best non-bready seitan i have tried! I have omitted the chickpea flour as didn’t have any and think i put a little tomato puree in last time but it was good enough to just have on it’s own or with a sandwich! Think steaming it rather than cooking/baking goes a long way! Thank you ☺️
Tiffany says
Just wondering if you’ve made this without oil?
Jiri says
no problem, can be made without oil, but why are you afraid of it? Oil is an essential part of your diet.
Kaye says
I’ve made seitan before but cooked it in the oven and its always been very rubbery. This is much better. A really easy to make seitan and I did it in my steamer. I didn’t have chick pea flour so used ordinary plain flour. I used marmite instead of nutritional yeast. I shall definitely make it again. Thank you
Calixte says
I try not to use aluminum in my cooking. Is there anything else that would work for steaming that could touch the food rather than aluminum? Or is there anything I could use between the food and the aluminum while steaming?
Kimber says
Cheesecloth should work.
Jiri says
you don’t need to wrap this AT ALL 🙂
Kristina says
I’ve placed it on to my steamer tray with a layer of Parchment and had success. It just isn’t in a shape, rather more like a steak.
Diane Ridings says
Eei wrapped it in parchment paper then wrapped the foil around it. first time ever making this. u
sylvia bullett says
we wrapped ours in a piece of linen cloth from an old pillowcase–works great and re-usable
Joseph Hanes says
I m getting ready to steam this now. I doubled the recipe, used water instead of stock ( didn’t have any). I used dried onion and garlic, liquid aminos, mustard powder, herbs de provence in place of the seasonings in your recipe. I kind of played loose with everything except the chickpea flour, yeast flakes and wheat gluten. I found I needed 3 cups of water to make a loaf. I also made another batch subbing out the chickpea for wheat germ, liquid smoke, a steak seasoning mix I found in the back of my spice cabinet. Both batches had a good consistency and smelled great so I’m sure they will at least be edible lol, if not we’ll call it “user error” and I’ll try again. I’ve only made seitan once years ago but found your recipe and decided to try it again. Meat is too expensive, and I can make pounds and pounds of this for a lot less. Thank you for making your recipe available!
Liam says
I made a few different Seitan recipe but this is my all-time favourite. Thank you for sharing!
Emily says
I just made this tonight and it was awesome! I didn’t have time to steam it, so I baked at 400 degrees (still took about 40 min though) in a bread pan. It was delicious. I sliced it, poured sweet chili sauce on top and made Bahn mi. Yum!
JenGi says
Did you bake it dry in the oven or did you add a pan of water to help it steam? I would rather go the oven route, thanks.
Kristina says
Best to bake with a pan of steaming water or it can get a little crunchy on the top.
rachel says
good day,
do, you think I can use my pressure cooker – vegetable option to steam ?
thank you
Emily Brockley says
This is awesome ! I’m trying to be more plant based… After I use the chicken in the freezer I’m going to give this a go for my meal prepping ! So happy to have found your blog!
Tammy says
I have avoided making seitan because I assumed it would be hatd. This recipe is so easy and tasty. It will be a staple of my menu.
Linda says
Could I substitute the chickpea flour with whole wheat flour ?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Yes I think that would work.
Kylie Underwood says
I’ve made this so many times I had to review– delicious, easy, and so much cheaper than premade. Highly recommend it!
Roses says
Hi Shannon,
I love all your blog. The way you present the food is fantastic. Thanks you!
Kim says
I am wanting to sue this recipe for my first seitan but only have almond flour and quinoa flours one hand, aside from the wheat gluten. I saw someone used almond flour and it turned out great but what about quinoa flour? If I used it, would I use the same ratios or adjust? Do you think the seitan would turn out too bitter if I used quinoa flour? Thanks!