vital wheat gluten

This easy seitan recipe is perfect for beginners. Use this seitan as a vegan meat substitute in stir-frys, gravies, soups, and sandwiches.

The Easiest Seitan for Beginners

chickpea flour

yeast

vegetable broth

soy sauce

onion, roughly chopped (optional, for extra flavor)

garlic cloves, bashed (optional, for extra flavor)

water (more as needed)

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk until combined.

Pour in the soy sauce and vegetable broth and stir. Once a dough forms and becomes firm, begin kneading it with your hands.

Knead for 8 minutes until it feels elastic.

Option 1: SIMMERING

Combine the water, veggie broth, onion, and garlic cloves to a large pot. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, bring to a simmer.

Add your seitan to the pot. The broth should cover about 3/4 of the seitan. If it doesn’t, add more water.

Simmer for 30 minutes, flip, and simmer for another 30 minutes with the lid on and slightly ajar. Check in every once in awhile to make sure the water is still high enough.

Note: SIMMERING is important. Do not let it boil!

Option 2: S

Put it in a steamer basket and steam for about 30 minutes. If you double this recipe or your steamer basket is very small, you might have to do two batches of steaming.

Let it cool 5-10 minutes before you open the foil.

Once the seitan is done, use as you wish! Use it in sandwiches, stir-frys, gravies, soups, salads, and more. This seitan will keep about 10 days in an air-tight container in the fridge. *

Best instructions I've read on how to make seitan.The  simple recipe is delicious and a cinch to make.Thanks for sharing!

Perfectly easy and delicious... I just put mine in a steamer basket in a large pot. I elevated the basket out of the broth by setting it on a small pot top without wrapping it up and just had the basket high enough so that it was out of the broth for the most part. I added broth to it every so often and it was ready to go in 30 minutes!

Recipe was easy to follow and it turned out pretty good. Not as flavorful as I would have liked it even though I added extra spices. So I guess go heavy handed on the spices if you're trying to flavor it. The most difficult part was keeping the pot simmering the whole time. I kept coming back to check on it and it was either boiling or not bubbling at all, but it still turned out good!

This recipe singlehandedly gave me the confidence to take a crack at making my own meat substitutes. Since trying it for the first time a few months ago, it has become an indispensable part of my meal prep. Your well-written advice, ratios, and flavor creativity made even my first attempt an absolute success!

This homemade chicken seitan is easy to make and has a great flavor. It can be marinated and used in stir fries, eaten in a sandwich, or used in any recipe that calls for seitan.

Chicken Seitan

all-purpose flour

garlic powder

onion powder

paprika

salt

black pepper, or lemon pepper

vegan chicken broth, or vegetable broth

olive oil

In a large bowl or a stand mixer...

In a large bowl or a stand mixer equipped with a dough hook attachment, combine the vital wheat gluten, flour, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt, and pepper.

Stir to combine.

Mix together the broth, soy sauce, and olive...

Mix together the broth, soy sauce, and olive oil in a measuring cup.

Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry,...

Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry, mixing together as you go.

Once you've added all of the liquid, the...

Once you've added all of the liquid, the mixture will come together in a ball and be very elastic.

The seitan dough should be wet to the...

The seitan dough should be wet to the touch. If it's dry or crumbly, add more broth until the desired texture is reached.

Cut the seitan into 4 pieces, and place...

Cut the seitan into 4 pieces, and place each one on a square piece of foil, 10-12 inches on each side.

Smash the seitan into a patty, then fold...

Smash the seitan into a patty, then fold the foil into a little packet and smash it down more.

Repeat with all 4 pieces.

Prepare a large pot with a steamer basket...

Prepare a large pot with a steamer basket (see note) or other steaming appliance.

Steam the seitan for 35 minutes, or until...

Steam the seitan for 35 minutes, or until firm.

Slice, shred, or chop the seitan and use...

Slice, shred, or chop the seitan and use as desired, or as directed in a recipe.

Molasses Bread {Outback Knock-off}

water (about 110 degrees)

instant yeast

+ 1 tablespoon unsulphured molasses

(natural cocoa powder)

oil (see note)

honey

white whole wheat flour

butter (melted)

oats

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the dough hook (or in a large bowl with a wooden spoon if powering through this by hand), combine the water, yeast, molasses, cocoa powder, oil, honey, salt, gluten (if using), and 2 cups of the whole wheat flour. Mix until combined.

With the mixer running, slowly add the rest of the whole wheat flour. Start adding the white flour gradually until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Knead for 5-7 minutes (about 10-15 if kneading by hand). The dough should be soft and slightly tacky but shouldn't leave a lot of residue on your fingers if you grab a piece.

Turn the dough into a large, lightly greased bowl, cover with greased plastic wrap or a light towel, and let rise until doubled, 1-2 hours.

Lightly punch down the dough and divide into three equal pieces. Form into tight oval loaves and place on parchment-lined or lightly greased baking sheets (I fit two loaves on one large, rimmed 11X17-inch baking sheet and the third loaf on another baking sheet). Lightly cover with greased plastic wrap or a light towel and let rise until puffy and doubled in size. Optional: right before baking, using a very sharp razor, knife or bread-slashing lame (I use this one from King Arthur Flour), cut three deep slashes in the top of each loaf.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Bake the loaves for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and lightly brush with about a tablespoon of butter. Sprinkle with the oats and bake for another 5-7 minutes.

How to make vital wheat gluten (in its wet and dry form) and wheat starch from wheat flour. It&#39;s perfect for making homemade seitan, adding gluten to doughs, and making starch noodles. All you need is wheat flour and water!

How to Make Vital Wheat Gluten (and Wheat Flour Starch)

21 oz white flour (above 10% protein)

oz water (filtered

Combine the flour and water into a dough either by hand or with a stand mixer – until it’s a stiff dough.

Allow the dough to rest for 30-60 minutes for the gluten strands to develop. The dough will be very sticky – this is normal.

Step 1: Create a Dough

Fill a large container 2/3 way with cold water and add the dough to it.

Work the dough, stretching, folding, and squeezing it to release as much of the starch from the dough as possible. During this time, the water will become white as the starch leaches into it.Some methods ask you to let the dough stand for several hours before kneading the dough (3-4 hours at least to allow the gluten to develop). If you test both ways and find that you prefer one over the other, please use whatever you prefer.

As the starch releases, the amount of dough will reduce and go through several changes: becoming spongy and stringy, falling apart, before eventually coming back together as a single mass. The water will become a very murky white, too, as the starches release into the water.When making the VWG powder you want to get rid of as much of the starch as possible. For washed flour seitan, you don&#39;t need to get rid of it all (check the notes below).

At this point, you need to rinse the dough to get rid of all the remaining starch. To do this, it’s easiest to place the dough (which may still be a little stringy and possibly not all in one piece) into a sieve or fine colander when rinsing, continuing to knead, until it comes together as a single stretchy mass of gluten.Leave the container with the starchy water to one side (don’t drain it!)

At this point, you can either go on to make seitan by flavoring and cooking the VWG (it will be the vegan &quot;chicken&quot; in your recipes) OR follow the instructions below to make the vital wheat gluten flour.Note: you can allow the dough to rest in the colander for 15-20 minutes to allow the excess water to strain (this isn’t necessary as much when dehydrating – though it will speed up the process. However, when making seitan, it will help the gluten relax, so it becomes stretchier to shape/twist/knot).

Step 2: Wash the Dough

Cut the dough into smaller slices and lay them in a single layer across a dehydrating tray.

Dehydrate the dough at 125ºF/50ºC until the vital wheat gluten is completely dry. During this time, it will darken and shrivel up – looking a little like jerky.The time it will take to fully dry the gluten will vary depending on the size and thickness of your dough pieces.

Step 3: Dehydrate the Vital Wheat Gluten

Once dried, add the pieces of dried vital wheat gluten to a coffee/spice grinder (or a high-powered blender/food processor).

Grind into a powder, sieve it into a bowl, and re-grind the larger pieces – until you have a uniform powder. This is your vital wheat gluten flour.

Step 4: Grind the Gluten into Powder

With the remaining starchy water, set it to one side – you can leave it in this container or transfer it to another, lidded, one and place it in the refrigerator to rest.As it sits, the starch will fall to the bottom of the container while the water remains on top.

You can then drain the water off the top and use the liquid starchy water to help thicken sauces. Alternatively, allow the starch to dry first.To do this, drain the water from the top of the container and leave the remaining wet starch mixture behind. Leave this to one side, and it will dry out over time.

Once dry, you can gather the starch and process it in the spice grinder (or blender) into a powder.

Finally, sieve the powder, and then the starch is ready to be stored ready to use later for recipes like Liang pi noodles, etc.

For Flour Starch

Store both the vital wheat gluten and wheat starch flour in clean, airtight containers in a cool, dry location for up to 6 months, for the best results.You may be able to store the VWG powder in the freezer to further extend its shelf life (up to 12 months likely), though it isn’t something I’ve tried.

How to Store

Bite into crispy, crunchy, and meaty vegan fried chicken! Seitan-based chicken is coated in a buttermilk batter, then fried until golden brown and crispy.

Best Vegan Fried Chicken

chickpeas,

nutritional yeast flakes

“no chicken” broth

Cajun seasoning

apple cider vinegar

flavorless coconut oil, melted

vital wheat gluten, plus more as needed

vegan buttermilk

black pepper

cornstarch

baking powder

Canola oil, peanut oil, etc.

In a food processor, add chickpeas (and their liquid), nutritional yeast, &ldquo;no chicken&rdquo; broth, onion powder, garlic powder, Cajun seasoning, apple cider vinegar, and coconut oil. Blend until smooth.

Add the vital wheat gluten and blend for about 1 minute. If the mixture feels wet, add 1-2 tablespoons of gluten flour at a time and continue blending.

If your food processor is overheating or unable to mix the dough, transfer it onto a clean surface and knead the dough with your hands until it&rsquo;s smooth and elastic, about 9-10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, cover the dough, and let it rest for about 20-25 minutes.

Cut the dough into 30-gram portions, and roll them out with a rolling pin until quite thin. Tightly wrap each one in foil, making sure to fold the ends over.

Add to a pressure cooker steamer basket, and steam them in a pressure cooker on high for 1 hour and 20 minutes. You will know the chicken is done when it feels firm.

Let the chicken cool in the foil wraps for 10-15 minutes while you prepare the coating.

Chicken

In a shallow, wide bowl, add vegan buttermilk, flour, onion powder, garlic powder, Cajun seasoning, black pepper, and salt. Whisk until fully incorporated.

Buttermilk batter

In another shallow bowl, add all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, Cajun seasoning, black pepper, and salt. Whisk together until well combined.

Flour coating

Heat a few inches of canola or peanut oil in a deep pot until it reaches 350-375 degrees F.

Unwrap the vegan chicken pieces, then dredge a piece in the bowl of flour. Dip it in the buttermilk batter, shaking off any excess. Add it back to the dry batter for an extra coating, shaking off excess flour.

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Top 5 vital wheat gluten recipes from across the web

The most viewed vital wheat gluten recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

The Easiest Seitan for Beginners

Chicken Seitan

Molasses Bread {Outback Knock-off}

How to Make Vital Wheat Gluten (and...

Best Vegan Fried Chicken

The most viewed vital wheat gluten recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine