Easy Chik'n Seitan Recipe

For a couple of months now I have wanted to try my hand at preparing homemade Seitan. It seems to be all of the rage amongst the Vegan bloggers, but it looked almost daunting. Well, I'm here to scream from the rooftops that "Seitan is easy!"

I was about to follow Kathy Hester's Slow Cooker recipe from The Vegan Slow Cooker because I am working on a review and giveaway from that book (yeah! giveaway coming up soon!). But as I was surfing the net last night, I read some stuff about how seitan making can be very unpredictable, even to the point of failure.

But then I happened upon this recipe which promised perfect seitan every time. And I knew it was the one! With a few minor adjustments (I totally eliminated the 2 Tbsp of olive oil and everything was fine and made things easier on myself by using garlic powder rather than fresh garlic) I am thrilled with the results!

I cannot believe that homemade seitan is going to become a staple in my kitchen.

Healthy Girl's Kitchen Easy Chik'n Seitan
makes 4 small loaves

Printable Recipe

1.5 c. vital wheat gluten
T Tbsp garlic powder

1/4 c. chickpea flour (you can also sub in all-purpose, but the chickpea's definitely more flavorful)

1/4 c. nutritional yeast

1 t. dried thyme

1/2 t. paprika

1/2 t. poultry seasoning

1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
1.5 c. vegetable broth
a dash of soy sauce

In a large bowl combine wheat gluten, chickpea flour, nutritional yeast, thyme, paprika, poultry seasoning, and salt.

Form a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in vegetable broth a little at a time and stir well with a rubber spatula. Add the splash of soy sauce. As you mix and scrape from the sides of the bowl, a dough ball will form.

Turn ball onto a clean cutting board and knead for knead for 3 minutes. Leave the dough to rest for 10 minutes and then knead again for 30 seconds.

Cut into 4 equal pieces and shape into logs/loaves.

Place a large pot with a few inches of water and a steamer insert onto heat and let water boil. Turn down to low when steam is filling the pot.

Tear off four 8 inch by 12 inch pieces of foil and place one loaf into the center of one piece of foil. Fold the short sides of the foil on the left and right over the loaf. Fold over the bottom and top ends the foil, leaving room for loaf to expand but securing the foil.

Place four wrapped loaves into the steamer basket and steam for 30 minutes.

Allow the dough to cool to the touch before chilling in fridge or overnight.

Store seitan in the fridge tightly sealed in a plastic bag for up to 2 weeks. Seitan can be frozen, just defrost before use.

Unwrapping the finished Chik'n Seitan.

sliced seitan

What am I going to do with this seitan? Got any ideas?