Seitan Chicken: Easy Vegan Recipe (no wash method) (2024)

FAQs

When making seitan from flour Why is it washed? ›

The process of washing the flour separates the starch from the gluten (wheat protein) which makes for an incredibly meaty and delicious 2-ingredient vegan chicken! So cool! Nowadays you can buy vital wheat gluten (the wheat protein) which allows you to skip the washing the dough process.

All-purpose flour: 10–12% protein – This can be used, but some brands work better than others depending on where the protein is coming from. Read more info below. Bread flour: 12–16% protein – Fine-grain, unbleached, white varieties are optimal for making seitan.

Add a little less water and knead it thoroughly. Let it stay for 30 minutes and knead it again, I even use a wooden roll for that. I some times add a tablespoon of potato starch or cornstarch, this adds consistency without making it too rubbery or hard (don't knead as much).

soy sauce or tamari - Adds saltiness, umami, and depth of flavor. balsamic and apple cider vinegar - Vinegar rounds out the flavor profile and helps disguise the subtle bitterness of vital wheat gluten. fat - Including a little bit of oil or other fat improves the overall flavor and tenderizes the seitan.

Most seitan recipes you'll find use vital wheat gluten. Vital wheat gluten is a great shortcut for making seitan. It makes it so you don't have to 'wash the flour' or do the process of separating the starch from the protein.

Boiling seitan makes it have a brainy spongey texture, frying seitan (without first steaming it) makes it rubbery and spongey, baking it makes it dry and rubbery. Steaming seitan, on the other hand, will yield the perfect meaty, juicy, chewy, yet tender seitan every single time.

While seitan is a versatile plant-based protein, people with celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity, or gluten allergy should avoid it. Premade seitan can also be high in sodium, so it's important to read the nutrition label if you monitor your sodium intake.

It's cheaper to make seitan than to buy it pre-fabricated. It's also cheaper to make it than to buy good-quality, local meat, so it's a good budget protein item. It's stupid easy to make, especially if you've made homemade bread. It's super customizable, both in flavor and texture.

Is Seitan Healthy? In many ways, yes, seitan is quite a healthy option. The seitan nutrition facts are hard to argue with: notable amounts of protein, iron, calcium, selenium, phosphorus, and B vitamins. This combination of macro- and micronutrients can result in some pretty impressive health benefits.

Specifically, they may be quite high in sodium, which represents a problem for people who are trying to lower the salt in their diets. Because seitan depends on added seasonings to deliver flavor, it's important to make sure you aren't sensitive to any of those ingredients if you do have food sensitivities.

What are the disadvantages of seitan? ›

Some people may have gluten sensitivities or allergies, and seitan is not suitable for them. Additionally, consuming seitan in excessive amounts may lead to an imbalance in nutrient intake, as it is primarily a protein source and lacks other essential nutrients found in a well-rounded diet.

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.

Baking soda by some miracle seems to work wonders when combating the gluten taste. You don't need very much, either. Typically about 1/4 teaspoon per cup of VWG should do the trick. Whisk it right into your dry mix, and because it is such a small amount, it won't do anything to offset your wet/dry ratio.

Quinoa – You can cook it in a flavored broth to add a textural element to your wet mix, or serve it on the side of your seitan for a complete protein meal. Lentils – Great in beefy dishes, lentils can add a savory, and sometimes peppery note to make any seitan dish a high- and complete-protein meal.

It's high in protein and low in fat and carbs, and it's a good source of minerals such as selenium and iron. Seitan is a great option for people who cannot eat soy, as many other popular vegan foods, such as tofu and tempeh, are soy-based.

Basically, it's the elastic, stretchy and strong part of a ball of dough with everything else - mostly starch - removed. It's a pure, incredibly high protein source made from plants and if you don't have a gluten allergy, it certainly should be on your plate (coeliacs are given a pass here).

Gluten washing is simply the process of using excess water to mechanically remove the starch and most other non-gluten components of the wheat flour. This can be done either by hand or with the aid of instrumentation. The end of washing time is determined when all visible signs of starch have been removed.