Best Vegan Steak Recipe (Seitan) (2024)

FAQs

Is it okay to eat seitan every day? ›

“Eat it sparingly,” he says. “It's not necessarily a once a day thing, and if you think you need a plant-based option I'd actually suggest tofu over seitan.” That said, Mora says there's no denying that folks can benefit from adding seitan to their menu—especially since it comes in a variety of flavor profiles.

*Vital wheat gluten and gluten flour, also sometimes simply called wheat gluten, refer to the same thing: an extraction of the protein in wheat flour. When mixed with water or broth and spices, makes seitan, a vegan “meat” that is rich in protein.

1 cup of vital wheat gluten to ¼ cup chickpea flour or soy flour is a good place to start. This will give you about 2 cups of seitan. Stir them together in a large bowl.

Ingredients like chickpea flour, soy flour, and soy sauce can be added to your seitan dough to complete the string of essential amino acids.

While seitan is a versatile plant-based protein, people with celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity, or gluten allergy should avoid it.

If you are sensitive to gluten, have celiac disease or are following a gluten-free diet, steer clear of seitan. Those with a wheat allergy should also avoid it. Seitan allergy symptoms can include swelling, itching, abdominal pain, cramps and diarrhea.

Is seitan better for you than tofu? Both foods are a good source of plant-based protein. Seitan has twice as much per serving than tofu. However, tofu has more calcium, phosphorus, and antioxidants than seitan.

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.

Because of its meaty texture, seitan can be used in a variety of dishes, from sandwiches and stir-fries to stews and soups. The best part is that making seitan at home is easy, and it's much cheaper than buying pre-made or store-bought seitan.

What is the best flour for seitan? ›

For a better flavor and a cheaper price, try washing the flour and make your seitan from bread flour! The brand of bread flour doesn't matter. Choose a high protein flour for a larger yield. You can make this with all-purpose flour, however you will have a smaller yield.

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.

The bad about seitan

The main concern about seitan it that it's just plain and pure gluten. In this respect some claim that the human body can easily become over-saturated with gluten, leading to gluten intolerance (aka celiac disease).

Place it in a bowl and cover it with cool water* for at least 1 hour, but not longer than 8-10. Too short doesn't give enough time for the gluten strands to come together. Too long and they start to fall apart and become mushy. It is fine even in the warmer months to leave it to rest out on your kitchen counter.

Seitan is a plant-based meat substitute made from wheat gluten that mimics the flavor and texture of chicken. You can buy it in many health food supermarkets, or you can make it yourself. It's typically made out of vital wheat gluten, an ingredient that has a similar texture to flour but is mostly, well, gluten.

Anyway, it is advisable to consume it at maximum once or twice a week, in order not to fossilize on only one food, but to vary the diet as much as possible (alternating it with soy and tofu), and to avoid the onset of gluten intolerance.

Its devilish name may seem apt to paleo types: seitan is gluten. But with as much protein per calorie as chicken breast, it's also a top source of muscle fuel.

The bottom line is that unless you are gluten intolerant, you can safely consume vital wheat gluten.

It is important to note that gluten is a problem only for those who react negatively to it, or test positive for celiac disease. Most people can and have eaten gluten most of their lives, without any adverse side effects.