Homemade Seitan

So in another chaotic move here in Boulder, I ended up couch surfing for a few days and crashing with my favorite vegan friends. Though I was annoyed to be technically homeless again for a short period of time, I’m always thrilled to spend time with my friends Chris and Claire, who are also vegan, and who I’ve known since my initial visit to Boulder.

Claire is a self-proclaimed junk food vegan, who will gladly eat french fries for dinner, which is why I love her so much. Chris will happily eat a whole head of kale and lettuce for a meal, along with a can of beans. He’s SUPER active, and eats far healthier than I do most days. My own personal food preference falls somewhere in between the two of them, which is how I came up with my meatball calzone recipes a couple weeks ago, that I also paired with a healthy salad for them. Because balance.

Chris also introduced me to homemade seitan. He was boiling some one afternoon while I was making dinner and he made the process look super easy. I tried some he made and though it was crazy good, I suggested baking it, and thus this crispy seitan recipe came to fruition. Just boiled seitan has kind of a rubbery, slimy texture, but baking it afterward makes it insanely tasty, and also makes it easier to coat with a BBQ or buffalo sauce.

I played off of the recipe Chris uses, and just changed up the spices. I’ll definitely be messing around with it more in the future and I am so stoked to not have to pay for store bought meats anymore!

2 cups vital wheat gluten

1 tsp garlic granules

1 tsp onion granules

1 tsp all purpose-seasoning (I used the 21 spice blended at Trader Joe’s)

1 1/4 cups vegetable broth

3 tbsp tamari

2 tbsp avocado oil

BROTH

4 cups water

1/4 cup tamari

• Mix together gluten, garlic and onion granules and all purpose seasoning in a mixing bowl
• Add broth, tamari and oil and mix until well combined
• Knead, and then let sit for 10 minutes
• Knead again, and then let set for another 10 minutes
• Meanwhile, bring water and tamari for the broth, to a boil
• Cut gluten dough into strips or smaller pieces
• Reduce broth to a simmer after boiling, then add the dough pieces and let simmer for 1 hour, turning every 15 minutes or so to make sure it cooks evenly
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• One seitan is cooked and cooled, chop into desired size and lay on a parchment paper lined baking sheet
• Cook at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, turning halfway through
• Seitan should be slightly browned and crispy!