• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Vegan Larder logo

  • Recipes
  • How To Vegan
  • Cook Books
  • About Me
  • Work with Me
  • Nav Social Menu

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • How To Vegan
  • Cook Books
  • About Me
  • Work with Me
  • Connect with us...

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • How To Vegan
    • Cook Books
    • About Me
    • Work with Me
  • Connect with us...

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Recipes

    Seitan Chicken Basic Vegan Recipe (no wash method)

    Published: May 8, 2021 · Modified: Jan 4, 2022 by Louise-Claire Cayzer · This post may contain affiliate links · This blog generates income via ads · 15 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe
    Images showing seitan chickn
    Images showing seitan chickn

    You'll be amazed how simple it is to make your own vegan Seitan Chicken! Once you have mastered the basic recipe, you can then make it in batches. It's then ready to marinate and BBQ, add to stews and pasta, or even make your own vegan chicken enchiladas or salads! Even better is that this method does not require loads of lengthy washing, meaning less mess and water wastage!

    Seitan Chicken Shreds on a board ready to use. this recipe
    Jump to:
    • 🍗What is seitan?
    • 📖Key Ingredients
    • 👩‍🍳How-To
    • ❓FAQ
    • 🍜When to use & recipe ideas!
    • 📖 Recipe
    • 💬 Comments

    The beauty of making your own seitan, is that you know exactly what is in it, it's definitely cheaper than buying pre-packaged stuff and you cut down on packaging waste! All good things to think about when choosing delicious food to eat.

    This Basic Vegan Seitan Chicken is super versatile. It makes quite a plain 'chicken' flavour, but I think that's perfect, as it allows you to use the high-protein vegan chicken in loads of different ways.

    🍗What is seitan?

    Seitan is made from vital wheat gluten. also known as VWG or Gluten Powder). The backbone of any seitan is a product called wheat gluten (wheat protein). The gluten in any wheat is what creates the elasticity and bounce you find in bread. This method of making Seitan Chicken uses Vital Wheat Gluten rather than requiring you to wash plain flour until you are left with the gluten (protein). I find it less messy to deal with and for me is a faster way of achieving the same result. It also means you can easily add flavour into the seitan itself. Vital Wheat Gluten looks like flour and is readily available online and through health food stores.

    📖Key Ingredients

    These are the key ingredients for this seitan chicken:

    Vital Wheat Gluten - see details above.

    White Beans - you can choose to use any white beans in this recipe. Using a white bean rather than kidney or chickpeas ensures you end up with a lovely white colour, that I think really resembles chicken! Bonus is that by incorporating beans into the seitan, is that it gives you another protein source.

    Onions & Garlic- I like to use fresh onions and garlic in my recipe, rather than the powered versions used in some. Firstly, I tend to have them to hand, and secondly, I prefer the flavour they bring.

    White Wine or Cider Vinegar- This helps eliminate any floury taste that can occur with some VWG.

    White Miso- Adds savouriness and depth of flavour. The colour helps keep the seitan chicken looking lovely and creamy-white. White miso is a staple in my cupboard and available online, in healthfood stores and supermarkets.

    👩‍🍳How-To

    Here's you make the seitan chicken:

    1. Mixing the seitan

    • First you want to whizz up all the ingredients except for the vital wheat gluten in a blender, adding enough water so it becomes 700ml (2 ¾ cups) in total liquid.
    • Add this to the vital wheat gluten and knead gently. Leave for 15- 20 minutes to allow the VWG to absorb the liquid.
    • Then knead your dough. You can do this by hand (takes ages!) or simply pop in your stand mixer or food processor with a dough hook/attachment. Knead for around 15-20 minutes until smooth strings form. You can now steam your seitan!
    • Ingredients for the Seitan Chicken.- Clockwise from left: Vital Wheat Gluten, white beans, oil, white vinegar, garlic, onion, miso and salt.
    • 1. Whizz all ingredients except the Vital Wheat Gluten in a blender until smooth.
    • 2. Add the Vital Wheat Gluten to the puree bit by bit.
    • Mix together until it forms a dough.
    • Leave to rest for 15 minutes so the dough absorbs the liquid.
    • Add the dough into your food processor or mixer with dough hook (or do it by hand). Let it knead for 10-15 minutes.
    • Dough is ready to steam when it is smooth and forms long stringy strands.

    2. Steaming the seitan chicken

    • To keep the seitan chicken from bursting out as it cooks, it needs to be double wrapped in foil. Leave a little room for it to expand, but not too much!
    • I use a large pot to steam my seitan chicken. It needs at least 1 ½ -2 hours steaming. Be careful not to let the pot boil dry!
    • Once you have steamed it, let it cool completely before tearing it into the vegan seitan chicken shreds or chunks. Better yet, leave it overnight in the fridge to create the best shreds!
    • Once your dough is smooth and stringy, mould it into a big loaf shape.
    • Cover it with tin foil
    • Turn then cover again with another layer of tin foil (this creates a secure parcel!)
    • Using a large pot with a trivet (or your Instant pot if you have one) Steam the seitan with the lid on for 2 hours.
    • Remove the seitan loaf from the steam and let it cool. For best results leave overnight in the fridge. Shred your Seitan Chicken and use in your yummy recipes.

    ❓FAQ

    These are the questions we tend to get asked about making seitan chicken:

    Do I need to use a mixer or food processor to mix the seitan?

    You can do it by hand, however it is MUCH easier to use a machine.

    Can I use a bamboo steamer to steam the seitan chicken?

    Absolutely! If you have a nice big one, then a bamboo steamer works just as well as my old pot with trivet method.

    Can I use an Instant Pot to steam the seitan?

    Yes - lots of people use instant pots to steam seitan. It will take around 1 hour 20 mins in an instant pot.

    Is the seitan ready to eat once steamed?

    I created this recipe to be very plain, so you can make anything you would use chicken breast or chunks for. Yes you can eat it just out of the steamer, but it really tastes best when marinated or cooked with something else.

    Can you freeze the Seitan?

    Yes it freezes very well. This recipe makes quite a lot, so freeze in portions ready to use in your mid-week cooking.

    Bao Buns with Seitan Chicken marinated in Hoisin Sauce.

    🍜When to use & recipe ideas!

    This seitan chicken is super plain, so it really lends itself to using anywhere you would have used plain chicken! You can:

    • Marinate it in this Satay Sauce, thread on skewers & BBQ or Grill it..
    • Use it to make scrummy Hoisin Chkn Bao Buns (like the photo above)
    • Toss with lots of herbs and vegan mayo (this one is good) and use as a chicken salad.

    We hope you love making this yummy vegan Seitan Chicken. Leave a star rating and let us know in the comments what you ended up making with it! x

    If you love this idea, please share this post with your friends on Pinterest or Facebook.. and please also comment and star this recipe as this helps others find my yummy recipes!

    Love & Vegan Yummies,

    Louise xx (P.S. Follow me on Insta and Tik Tok too!)

    📖 Recipe

    Shreds of Seitan Chicken

    Basic Vegan Seitan Chicken (No Wash Method)

    Simple ingredients make this basic No Wash Vegan Chicken Seitan wholesome and full of protein.
    Prevent your screen from going dark
    5 from 9 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: main
    Cuisine: Vegan
    Keyword: seitan, vegan chicken
    Prep Time: 40 minutes
    Cook Time: 2 hours
    Vital Wheat liquid absorbing resting time: 15 minutes
    Total Time: 2 hours 55 minutes
    Servings: 16
    Calories: 97kcal
    Author: Louise-Claire Cayzer

    Equipment

    • Blender
    • Steamer

    Ingredients

    For the Seitan

    • 250 g Vital Wheat Gluten

    Blender Ingredients: Make to 700ml/2.75 Cups total liquid

    • 300 g White Beans (Equivlant to 1 tin/can- include the liquid in it. If you're using home-cooked beans, add extra water to gain the 700ml / 2¾ cups total)
    • 1 onion
    • 3 cloves garlic
    • 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
    • 1 tablespoon sunflower or rapeseed oil (or other neutral oil: NOT coconut)
    • 1 tablespoon white miso (white miso is best to keep a whiter colour, but other miso is fine)
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 250 ml water (**NB you might need more or less water, the aim is to make the TOTAL liquid content once blended to 700ml / 2¾ cups)

    Instructions

    • First whizz up all the ingredients (include the water from the tin of beans) except for the Vital Wheat Gluten in a blender until smooth and creamy.
    • You want 700 ml / 2¾ cups of liquid total, so if it is a bit less once the beans and onions are processed, add a little more.
    • In a large bowl, gently combine the liquid from the blender and the Vital Wheat Gluten.
    • Mix and leave to rest for 15-20 minutes to allow the liquid to absorb into the gluten properly (this forms better strands).
    • Now knead the dough in a mixer or food processor (or by hand) until you have smooth, very stringy elastic dough. About 15 minutes.
    • Form the dough into a loaf, then double wrap in foil.
    • Steam the seitan in a large pot with a trivet, or using a bamboo steamer for 1½ hours (be careful not to let the pot boil dry).
    • Once steamed, let cool and then shred. Even better, let it rest overnight in the fridge for the best SHREDS!

    Video

    Notes

    This recipe freezes really well. Just portion up to use as you need. 
    This is a very basic/plain chicken flavour seitan! It's best used in another recipe, eg a stir fry, or marinated and put on the BBQ- just like you would with plain chicken. 
    Be sure to use Vital Wheat Gluten and not regular flour- it won't work with regular/all purpose flour. 

    Nutrition

    Calories: 97kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 193mg | Potassium: 136mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 1IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 43mg | Iron: 2mg

    Share the Vegan Larder Love!

    • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
    • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
    • Click to print (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Yummly (Opens in new window)
    « Vegan Lemon Strawberry Cheesecake (gluten / soy free)
    Vegan Chocolate Mousse with Black Beans »
    Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
    To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Jacky Collins says

      June 01, 2021 at 8:37 pm

      5 stars
      I have struggled with making Seitan before over baking it or just not being happy with the texture. This recipe was so easy! Yes you have to monitor the pot while it steams but it yields so much to freeze and use later that it’s definitely worth it. I made a stir fry with some today which was yummy, the texture was just right. I chopped some into cubes before freezing in anticipation of using for kebabs at a BBQ. The rest I shredded and have frozen on a tray so I can bag it and just grab what I need when I want it. This will be a go to freezer stash for me now.

      Reply
      • Louise-Claire Cayzer says

        June 01, 2021 at 8:51 pm

        I'm so glad you made the recipe and liked it! It makes loads, as you say, so is worth the extra effort for other easy-to-make meals! Freezing it on a tray is such a handy hint!

        Reply
    2. Blake says

      October 04, 2021 at 9:12 am

      Is there a soy free option for the miso paste in this recipe?

      Reply
      • Louise-Claire Cayzer says

        October 04, 2021 at 10:32 am

        Depending on where you are, there are soy-free miso pastes available- made either with chickpeas or brown rice. Alternatively, you could substitute coconut aminos, however this will make the whole mixture darker. Or just add in a tablespoon of veggie boullion powder. The miso creates a salty/umami taste, so you want to replicate that.

        Reply
    3. Charlie says

      November 14, 2021 at 11:56 pm

      Will any other vinegar work ?

      Reply
      • Louise-Claire Cayzer says

        November 15, 2021 at 12:42 pm

        I would use any white/pale vinegar in this recipe. Other colours would work, just might affect how the seitan looks (but would still taste good) .

        Reply
    4. Mel says

      December 02, 2021 at 5:29 pm

      Do you rinse and drain beans or add in can with liquids?

      Reply
      • Louise-Claire Cayzer says

        December 02, 2021 at 6:05 pm

        Add it right in with the liquids- you want 700ml total liquid (thanks, will update to be a bit clearer!)

        Reply
    5. Leslie says

      January 04, 2022 at 4:41 pm

      5 stars
      Thank you so much for this recipe! We have a family member who prefers to stay vegan and it can be difficult finding substitutes that work when we have family functions. This will be the perfect way to incorporate everyone's favorite meals while respecting her dietary choices.

      Reply
    6. Jess says

      January 04, 2022 at 5:44 pm

      5 stars
      I have never made this before but your post with all the helpful tips and information give me all the confidence I need to make it!

      Reply
    7. Rachel says

      January 04, 2022 at 5:47 pm

      5 stars
      Love seitan and this chicken version is just perfect! Love how versatile it is to add to different dishes!

      Reply
    8. Jill says

      January 04, 2022 at 6:11 pm

      5 stars
      Those bao buns are making my mouth water! I've never tried making seitan in any form but your post is very informative. Looking forward to trying something new in 2022!

      Reply
    9. Caroline says

      January 04, 2022 at 7:02 pm

      5 stars
      I have been intrigued to try seitan but haven't been so sure about the store options so excited to give this homemade version a try. It looks like a great end texture.

      Reply
    10. Margie says

      May 21, 2022 at 10:50 pm

      Do you think you could make smaller packet and steam for less time?

      Reply
      • Louise-Claire Cayzer says

        May 22, 2022 at 6:51 pm

        I have done this before, to try and speed up the cooking time. Divided into four they cooked at around 1 hour (ish). The way to check if they are done is to pull one out, cool it down a little then pull it apart. It should start to shred a bit. You can return it to the steamer for longer if it is not quite done yet.

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Hi! I'm Louise!

    I love to cook and share gorgeous vegan food! I'm also a photographer, recipe developer and gardener. Find out more over on my About Me page.

    Everyone's talking about these recipes..

    • Super Delicious Vegan Carrot Cake using Aquafaba
    • Chestnut, Mushroom & Squash Christmas Filo Wreath Pie
    • Green Tomato, Apple & Chilli Chutney
    • Lentil Koftas with Tomato Curry Coconut Sauce
    • Zucchini Babaganoush (Smokey Courgette Dip)
    • Wild Garlic Pesto- Foraged and Vegan!

    Recipes for Tofu Lovers..

    • Silken Tofu Recipes - Our Top 40
    • Vegan Sesame Tofu 'Prawn' Toast
    • Scandi Inspired Smoked Tofu Sandwich
    • Vegan Tofu 'Egg' Salad Sandwiches - 3 Ways!

    Gluten Free Vegan Recipes

    • Potato Salad with Dill and Peas
    • Easy Lemon Herb Tahini Sauce
    • Mushroom and Pea Risotto
    • Healthy Gourmet Vegan Chocolate Granola
    • Contact Us
    • About Me
    • Privacy Policy, Cookies, Ads & T&C's

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • About Us
    • Our Story

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact
    • What we Do

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2020 The Vegan Larder on the Cravings Pro Theme