Seitan is delicious and satisfying plant-based protein great in a sandwich, pasta or stir-fry. Homemade seitan is a special occasion treat that will impress your gluten-loving friends.

This recipe is inspired by Terry Hope Romero’s seitan recipes in “Vegan Eats World”. Get her cookbooks!

Makes 4 fist-size loaves of seitan. Takes about 45 min. 

• 1 ¾ cups warm or cold vegetable broth
• 1 clove of garlic diced
• 1 Tbs sesame oil
• 1 tsp grated ginger (fresh or frozen)
• 2 Tbs nutritional yeast or chick pea flour
• ½ cup chick pea flour
• 1 ½ cups vital wheat gluten (sold in bulk in co-ops and packaged)
• 2 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder or other spice mix you like

1. In a medium size mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients
2. In a one quart measuring cup, add the broth, garlic, oil and ginger and stir
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, stir with a spatula, and then knead with your hands right in the bowl for a couple minutes
4. Let the dough relax for 10 min while you get out four 1 foot squares of aluminum foil and set up your steamer. I put my bamboo steamer in the big steamer insert in my big pot so that the bottom of the bamboo does not get wet and there is plenty of water in the bottom.
5. Lay out 4 pieces of foil.
6. Divide the dough into four roughly equal parts. Shape them like elongated potatoes and place them each in the center of a square of foil.
7. Fold the foil in half so two opposite edges meet and roll/fold those edges to close the top and leave space for the seitan to expand. Then roll up the sides so you have a little steamer pocket of foil and dough.
8. Steam the pockets for 35-40 minutes. Undercooked seitan can be yummy, but hard to digest.
9. Can be eaten after cooling a little, refrigerated for days or frozen right in the foil.

Use seitan instead of tofu in the Leftover Vegetable Platter Fried Rice. Check out vegan banh mi sandwich recipes. Dangerously delicious!