This post contains affiliate links.
Here’s the scoop on how to make seitan! This versatile “wheat meat” is like the Swiss Army knife of plant-based cooking. From hearty stews to crispy seitan wings and juicy grill-ready bites, it can do it all.
save this recipe!the Ultimate Vegan Meat
You can totally purchase pre-made seitan at the grocery store, but did you know that you can also make it from scratch right at home? No fancy tools are required—just a few key ingredients and the will to make some dough!
The whole process of making seitan is easy peasy, requiring only 15 minutes of prep time and one hour of simmering. Plus, making it from scratch means you can cut it however you want for any recipe (some of my top picks include seitan wings, seitan burgers, and seitan steaks!).
Reader rating
“This was a simple and easy recipe! I made no changes followed instructions and it came out perfect!” —Adrienne
Here’s What You’ll Need
This seitan recipe involves forming a dough and simmering it in a broth and vinegar combination. (Only 10 ingredients are needed in total!)
- Vital Wheat Gluten: Seitan is made directly from gluten, so this ingredient is a must. The strong gluten strands create a meaty texture (that’s why they call it “wheat meat!”).
- Chickpea Flour: To thicken it, we’ll include ¼ cup of chickpea flour. It can be store-bought or homemade.
- Nutritional Yeast: Add ¼ cup of nutritional yeast, which will bring a savory, umami-rich flavor that helps replicate the flavor of meat.
- Spices: Finally, add 1 tsp each of salt, garlic powder, and smoked paprika.
- Broth: As for the simmering liquid, we’ll start with 6 cups of vegetable broth (feel free to use low-sodium here!). We’ll then add 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, which will add a subtle bite, and 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke to finish things off!
Vital Wheat Gluten
Vital wheat gluten is made from wheat flour that’s had most of the starch washed out, leaving behind the protein-rich gluten. You can usually find it in health food stores or online.
It’s actually so easy
Understanding how to make seitan is simple once you get the basics down pat (the trickiest part is probably creating the dough).
Step 1: Prepare The Dough
In a large bowl, stir together the dough ingredients until a ball forms. Transfer it to a clean surface and knead for 5 minutes until elastic and cohesive. Form it into a log shape, and let it rest for 5 minutes while you prepare the broth.
Step 2: Simmer In Broth
Add the broth ingredients to a large pot and bring to a simmer. Gently lower the seitan dough log into the broth. Partially cover and simmer for 1 hour.
Step 3: Slice Or Crumble
Remove the seitan from the pot and let it cool enough to touch. Slice it into slabs, crumble it into nuggets, or use it however you need it (it will depend on your recipe and desired use)!
How To Slice And Dice It
After cutting or crumbling the seitan, you may be wondering about your recipe options. Well, it all depends on the type of meat you’re substituting.
- Slabs: Cut it into slabs for seitan burgers and steaks (yes, with the right seasonings, you can give seitan a steak flavor!).
- Slices: Slices are great wherever you’d normally use chicken slices, like on a salad or in tacos and fajitas! They can also be seasoned and cut, like we do in our vegan pepperoni recipe!
- Cubes: Cubes are also great for salads, Buddha bowls, vegan chicken nuggets, or “steak” dishes.
- Crumbles: Crumbled seitan is perfect for tacos, chili, stew, or soup!
- Whole: Lastly, whole “loafs” of seitan make great pot roasts.
Easiest Homemade Seitan (Wheat Meat!)
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup vital wheat gluten, 120 g
- 1 cup water, 236 mL
- ¼ cup chickpea flour, 30 g
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast, 15 g
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika powder
Broth
- 6 cups vegetable broth, 1.4 L
- 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar, 30 mL
- 1 tsp liquid smoke, 5 mL
Instructions
- Dough: In a large bowl, stir together all dough ingredients until a ball forms. Transfer to a clean surface and knead for about 5 minutes until the dough is elastic and cohesive (it will still be lumpy, but that's okay!). Form into a log shape. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes while you prepare the broth.
- Broth: Add all broth ingredients to a large pot and bring to a simmer. Gently lower the seitan dough log into the broth, ensuring the dough is covered by the broth (if not, transfer to a smaller pot). Partially cover and simmer for 1 hour.
- Serve: Remove from pot and let cool enough to touch. Slice into slabs, crumble into nuggets, or use however you need it (depends on your recipe and desired use!).
Nutrition
Nutrition information calculated by Sarah Bond, degreed nutritionist.
did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag @liveeatlearn on social media! I love seeing what you’ve made!
The best recipe I’ve found! Easy and delicious made several “steaks” on the grill ❤️ No changes followed recipe.
So glad to hear it, Adrienne! 😀
In my cookbook I had a long time ago, you used 8 cups flour with 3cups cold water. After needing it for 5-10 minutes you did a dough shape ball. Covered with cold water set for 4 hours or overnight in refrigerator. The you poured of water, rimce with cold water until water ran clean and it looked like a brain.
You boil for 15 minutes and simmered for 30 minutes.
It was an all day process
Yep, that’s one way of doing it! That method is basically “mining” for gluten, whereas our method uses pure gluten to eliminate that step 🙂
This went together easily. I sliced it and put BBQ sauce on it to marinate overnight. Fried it for lunch and it was VERY GOOD!!! I don’t tolerate soy products so this is an excellent option!! Thank you for sharing this recipe!!
Nothing better than hearing this, thank you!
This recipe has been great! I have tried several different “meats”. I made a pot full of meatballs. I added spices to the dough and formed one batch into meatballs before I boiled it. I made meatball subs and spaghetti and meatballs. I have made summer sausage. I added the spices to the dough, rolled it, and boiled it. Summer sausage! With the cost of groceries lately this recipe has been awesome. I use it like I would use a meat product and it’s worked every time. When my recipe calls for any liquid (tomato paste in my meatballs) I add it to the water cup and include it in the measurement so I only add the 1 cup of liquid. So far, so good! Thank you for the recipe.
I’m so happy to hear this recipe has been working for you in all those different ways!! Enjoy! 😀
i am willing to try this. I need the honest truth. Does this taste like MEAT??
It’s definitely not spot on like meat, but can be flavored to be very close in terms of chewiness and taste!
Can this be made and frozen until needed?
Yes that should work!