This is the easiest seitan recipe that is perfect for beginners. It is super basic and versatile. With a pretty neutral flavor, you can use this seitan as a meat substitute in many different recipes. Stir-fry, fried rice, soups, gravies, sliced for sandwiches, and so much more. The possibilities are endless with this recipe!
Seitan can be difficult to master. I have been making seitan for a couple of years now, and I have been through it all. The first time I made seitan, I tried the first recipe I found and boiled it. It turned out to be a super mushy, gigantic spongey brain. It literally looked like someone cracked a skull open, pulled out the brain, and popped it into my pot. No thanks.
Since then, I’ve tested cooking seitan by boiling, simmering, steaming, and baking. Not kneading, kneading for 10 minutes, kneading for 20 minutes. Do we let the seitan rest between kneading or not? Do we cut the vital wheat gluten with chickpea flour? There are so many questions and I have answers.
This is the best and easiest way to make basic seitan.
What is seitan?
Seitan is a high protein, low fat vegan meat alternative made from Vital Wheat Gluten. Although sometimes referred to as “wheat meat,” Seitan doesn’t really have anything in common with bread. Once cooked, it has a firm, meaty texture that is convincingly similar to meat. It doesn’t have much flavor on its own, which means means it is really, really important to load up on the spices!
What ingredients do you need to make seitan?
It takes 5 simple ingredients to make this recipe.
We start off with vital wheat gluten. Chickpea flour and nutritional yeast is added to lighten up the dough and give the seitan a lighter texture and flavor. For the wet ingredients, vegetable broth and soy sauce is added to make sure the dough is packed with flavor.
When making seitan to mimic a particular type of meat or flavor, we can add different liquid ingredients, blended veggies, spices, herbs, etc to the dough to pack it with flavor and manipulate the texture. But this basic seitan recipe I am sharing with you is a super versatile and a great catch-all to use in any recipe.
How to make seitan
Mix dry ingredients into a bowl, then stir in wet ingredients. The dough will start to clump together. Then we move on to kneading.
Knead!!! You must knead.
For this recipe, you should knead for about 8 minutes. And knead like you mean it – put some elbow into it. Kneading activates the gluten, which makes the seitan have a nice firm texture. After kneading, let the dough rest for about 5 minutes. This will help relax the gluten and make the dough easier to roll and shape.
Simmer, steam, or bake?
I have tried simmering, steaming, and baking seitan. Let me tell you right now — simmering is the best way to go! Make a flavorful broth and the seitan will soak up even more flavor while it is simmering. The only catch? You need to make sure it is actually simmering. Do not boil your seitan. This will make your seitan turn out spongey and horrible. Roll your seitan into a log shape, wrap in cheesecloth, and tie each end with kitchen string.
Alternatively, you can steam your seitan. Wrap it in aluminum foil and put in a steamer basket.
I have had success with baking seitan, but you need to be careful of which recipe you use. Don’t bake a seitan recipe that recommends simmering or steaming. Baking seitan requires the dough to have more moisture in it than simmering or steaming requires. If the dough isn’t moist enough, the baked seitan will have a super bready texture to it.
What do I make with seitan?
So many things! Here are a few ideas:
- Cut into thin slices, pan-fry them on each side, and put them on sandwiches.
- Cut into strips, let simmer in a stir-fry, teriyaki, or general tso’s sauce. Toss with veggies + rice.
- Chop into little chunks, simmer in some gravy, and serve over mashed potatoes.
How to store seitan?
I like to wrap my seitan in aluminum foil and place in an air-tight container for about 10 days. Seitan will dry out over time, and I find wrapping it in foil helps preserve some of the moisture.
If you find that your seitan gets dry, rehydrate by heating up a pan with a little water, vegetable broth, or gravy and let the seitan simmer in the liquid for a bit.
Want more seitan recipes? Check out my Vegan Chili Cheese Dogs!
If you make this recipe, leave it a rating and a comment! You can also tag me @Daughter_of_Seitan on Instagram so I can see your lovely food creations. XOXO
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The Easiest Seitan for Beginners
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Mains
- Method: Simmering
- Cuisine: Vegan
Description
This easy seitan recipe is perfect for beginners. Use this seitan as a vegan meat substitute in stir-frys, gravies, soups, and sandwiches.
Ingredients
Seitan
- 1 cup vital wheat gluten
- 1/3 cup chickpea flour
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 3/4 cup vegetable broth
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
Broth (For Simmering)
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 1/2 small onion, roughly chopped (optional, for extra flavor)
- 3 garlic cloves, bashed (optional, for extra flavor)
- 1 cup water (more as needed)
Instructions
- Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk until combined.
- Pour in the soy sauce and vegetable broth and stir. Once a dough forms and becomes firm, begin kneading it with your hands.
- Knead for 8 minutes until it feels elastic.
- Let the seitan dough rest for 5 minutes.
- Simmer or steam your seitan.
- Option 1: SIMMERING (Recommended)
- Roll the seitan into a log, and wrap it in cheesecloth, tied at each end.
- Combine the water, veggie broth, onion, and garlic cloves to a large pot. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, bring to a simmer.
- Add your seitan to the pot. The broth should cover about 3/4 of the seitan. If it doesn’t, add more water.
- Simmer for 30 minutes, flip, and simmer for another 30 minutes with the lid on and slightly ajar. Check in every once in awhile to make sure the water is still high enough.
- Note: SIMMERING is important. Do not let it boil!
- Option 2: STEAMING (Also pretty good)
- Roll the seitan into a log, and loosely wrap it in aluminum foil.
- Put it in a steamer basket and steam for about 30 minutes. If you double this recipe or your steamer basket is very small, you might have to do two batches of steaming.
- Let it cool 5-10 minutes before you open the foil.
- Option 1: SIMMERING (Recommended)
- Once the seitan is done, use as you wish! Use it in sandwiches, stir-frys, gravies, soups, salads, and more. This seitan will keep about 10 days in an air-tight container in the fridge. *
Notes
* If the seitan dries out a bit in the fridge, rehydrate by simmering in a little vegetable broth before eating.
Keywords: Seitan, Vital Wheat Gluten, Easy Seitan Recipe, Vegan Protein, High Protein, Mock Meat
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34 comments
Best instructions I’ve read for making seitan.You can’t go wrong with the recipe.Really simple but delicious and versatile.Thanks for sharing!
Best instructions I’ve read on how to make seitan.The simple recipe is delicious and a cinch to make.Thanks for sharing!
★★★★★
Thank you Jim!!! I’m so happy it worked for you!
Perfectly easy and delicious… I just put mine in a steamer basket in a large pot. I elevated the basket out of the broth by setting it on a small pot top without wrapping it up and just had the basket high enough so that it was out of the broth for the most part. I added broth to it every so often and it was ready to go in 30 minutes!
★★★★★
Yay!! I’m glad the steaming worked for you, Julia! It’s super easy and a great option if you don’t have time for simmering 😊 Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much for answering ALL of my seitan questions. I have one more….to rid the finished product of that ‘bread’ taste, would you let it rest for 8 hours on the counter? Thanks.
Hi Debbie! I don’t find with this recipe that it tastes like bread and I’m not sure that letting it rest would get rid of any bread taste. If you would like a more flavorful seitan, you can definitely add spices to the dough. Let me know if you try this recipe and how it goes for you!
Can I also use oat, ,brown rice ,or
almond flour in addition with the vital wheat gluten flour, beside chickpea flour?
Hi Ramona! I have not tried any of these flours specifically, but I think oat or brown rice flour might work. I don’t think I’d use almond flour though, it might be too dense. Let me know if you try the oat or brown rice flour and how it turns out!
Recipe was easy to follow and it turned out pretty good. Not as flavorful as I would have liked it even though I added extra spices. So I guess go heavy handed on the spices if you’re trying to flavor it. The most difficult part was keeping the pot simmering the whole time. I kept coming back to check on it and it was either boiling or not bubbling at all, but it still turned out good!
★★★★★
Thanks for the comment, I’m glad it turned out well for you. And yes, this recipe is a basic seitan recipe that can be use in a variety of dishes with different spices and sauces. If you are trying to season the seitan dough, definitely go heavy handed with the spices!
The best seitan recipe if you’re in a hurry or making it for the first time! I steamed it because it was faster, but will definitely try to simmer it next time. Thanks for sharing!
Yay Roxanne! Happy you had success steaming the seitan!
have you tried blending chicpeas along with the aquafaba to use as the wet mix added to the vital wheat gluten? i have also seen reciepes call for tofu blended, whats your opinion on this?
Hi Jonathan! I’ve never tried blending the chickpeas and aquafaba as the wet mix, but I think that would work for some recipes! But I have tried blending beans into wet ingredients for seitan before, and it works well if you want to make the texture less firm. I also love blending tofu into the wet ingredients for seitan. Like the blended beans, the tofu also makes the seitan less tough. Many recipes also call for blending cooked veggies into the wet ingredients.
Any additional ingredients you see in a seitan recipe besides water and vital wheat gluten were put there to either alter the seitan’s texture or flavor. In this particular recipe, I wanted to keep it very simple. But I did add chickpea flour and nutritional yeast to make the seitan a bit softer, as well as vegetable broth and soy sauce for more flavor.
I can’t tell you with confidence exactly how much tofu I’d add to this particular recipe, as I did not test this recipe with blended tofu. But if I were going to try it, I would add maybe 1/4 or 1/3 cup medium firm blended tofu, and maybe a little extra vital wheat gluten if the dough is too wet.
Can’t say how much chickpeas I’d add to this recipe though! But it’s a very cool idea, I will have to test out some seitan recipes with chickpeas + aquafaba 🙂
This recipe singlehandedly gave me the confidence to take a crack at making my own meat substitutes. Since trying it for the first time a few months ago, it has become an indispensable part of my meal prep. Your well-written advice, ratios, and flavor creativity made even my first attempt an absolute success!
★★★★★
This is what I love to hear – congrats on your seitan successes! So proud of you! Next year I’m planning on creating an ultimate guide to seitan, talking more about different cooking techniques and base recipes for each technique, how to alter the texture of the seitan dough, and more. I love helping people make seitan.
Hi I have just made this Seitan, I simmered one half of it and steamed the other half in the tray above, both are delicious and I will keep the stock liquid to make a gravy for dinner today, many thanks
Thank you so much for your comment Niki! So happy simmering and steaming worked for you. And the leftover seitan stock makes a delicious gravy!
Thanks for the great instructions! I can see why it was important to start simple on one’s first go at it — the seitan came out really nice (firm, but not tough or bread-like). Next time I think I will add a little more chickpea flour to add a little more levity and a bit more seasoning to the simmering broth water so flavors come through a little more. I served it as a BBQ Chik’n entree with mashed sweet potatoes and crispy spiced arugula which worked well together. I tripled this recipe to match my numbers, and it worked perfectly for what I needed! As an fyi, the meals were delivered for free meal to un-housed folks in Oregon (we offer vegan options as well as meaty dishes for those in need). Thanks again for the simple and affordable seitan recipe!
This is so great to hear, Kerul! I’m so happy that you were able to share the seitan with those in need. It is also really cool you offer vegan options to them, I think that is so awesome!
Loved this recipe so much!! I do just have one question, about how many grams would 1 serving roughly be around?
Hi Natasha! I’m actually not sure, I haven’t weighed it. I’m sorry! This recipe makes roughly 4 servings. Next time you make it, I would suggest cutting the seitan into 4 parts and weighing each one on a kitchen scale to get the grams.
Great advice, thank you. I am a novice but completely related to your description of a soggy brain. That’s what I make. I followed your basic recipe, including the kneading for eight minutes (I enjoyed that bit more than I expected) and already I can tell I now have a seitan much closer to what I buy. I can’t wait to make my Seitan Bourguignon with this new improved version!
★★★★★
Lol!!! I hate soggy brain seitan! I’m so happy this recipe worked for you, and I bet it will be amazing in the bourguignon!
Amazing recipe and easy to follow and tweak to your liking.
★★★★★
Thank you so much Taylor! The seitan steaks looked amazing!
Hi, I’m definitely going to try this out today! I’m just wondering if you have the measurements in grams? Also, what can I use if I don’t have a cheese cloth but want to try the simmer? Thanks!
Hey there! Unfortunately, I do not have measurements in grams for this recipe (that is a great suggestion though! I’ll have to add grams). But with a quick google search of the ingredients from cups to grams, you should be able to find the measurement you desire. For example – 1 cup of vital wheat gluten is about 120 grams. As for the cheese cloth, you really just need some sort of fabric. I’ve had success using muslin, and my friend has used old fabric scraps with good results as well (but I’d suggest using white fabric, as my friend used red fabric and it turned her seitan red!)
I’m sure it would’ve turned out better if we vented the top for the second 30 minutes, but it turned out chewy and then we added sauce and it turned even chewier, we also used regular flour. Is it because we accidentally kept the lid on for the second half of the steaming?
★★★★★
Hi Alyssa! So when making seitan, it is very important to use vital wheat gluten instead of regular flour. Vital wheat gluten is essentially flour with all the starch washed out of it, leaving behind pure gluten. And gluten is what makes seitan have a meaty consistency. Unfortunately, you are not about to sub in all purpose flour in this recipe, which is why your seitan turned out so chewy!
Hello MIMI
Thanks for this wonderful guide, no one would reveal the hack more than this
I only wished you help with a better instructions foe baking it
Thanks
Hi Malcolm! Thank you for the feedback – I will find time to update this to give better instructions!
Is it possible to steam it in cheese cloth?