Crafting your very own homemade seitan is super easy. This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to make seitan with vital wheat gluten and a few pantry staples! Plus: a recipe for homemade seitan with three flavor variations.
Early on in my blogging days I posted a recipe for seitan. Just recently I set out to make some updates to that post, namely, rephotographing it, when I realized something more was needed.
A recipe is what kept me from making seitan for about ten years. I’ll explain what I mean below, but for now, suffice it to say, seitan is more of a how-to, choose your own adventure type food. Seitan is super easy to make with the ingredients that are readily available these days, and once you’ve made a few batches you can totally wing it.
I first heard about seitan when I was about nineteen. I was a big fan of the show Christina Cooks with the Class. I loved that show! Ate up all of her seemingly crazy veggie concoctions, literally. One day she busted out some seitan, and I was intrigued, to say the least. I eventually got my hands on some, and later branched out into making my own seitan.
My first experiences with homemade seitan involved following a recipe that called for rinsing and massaging a big ball of wheat flour dough for a half hour or so to isolate the wheat gluten, which was a huge pain in the butt. This was before powdered vital wheat gluten became widely available.
That recipe also involved a big piece of kelp known as kombu, which was meant to give the seitan a savory flavor. The recipe instructed me to use kombu, so I dutifully searched every Asian market within a few city blocks until I found some.
After that I didn’t make seitan again for a while because (1) the whole dough rinsing process was just way to daunting, and (2) I didn’t feel like searching for kombu again.
I totally had it in my head that kombu was essential to seitan making. In my defense, the cookbook I’d been using, which was probably written in 1972, acted like kombu was the biggest deal ever and without it your seitan would be awful.
I know better now, and this is why I’m giving you a recipe today with three flavor variations.
Also, you don’t even have to follow the recipe. Read my instructions below and make seitan your way. The only essential ingredient is the vital wheat gluten, which, thankfully, you can get at natural foods stores and some regular old supermarkets these days.
What is Seitan?
First off, it’s a good idea to have some understanding of what seitan actually is. I feel like it makes people nervous! Seitan isn’t as familiar as good old tofu. But it kind of is.
If you’ve ever eaten a vegetarian restaurant meal and were amazed at how meaty it tasted, you were probably eating seitan. If you’ve ever eaten commercial meat substitutes, they probably contained some seitan.
I don’t eat a whole lot of store-bought meat substitutes though. I prefer homemade seitan because it’s generally a lot better, and I know what’s in it.
Seitan is made from wheat gluten, which is maybe why it scares people. But if you don’t have celiac disease and you’re not gluten sensitive, there’s nothing to worry about.
Gluten is the protein that’s in wheat. It’s what gives bread dough its elastic, stretchy texture. When you isolate the gluten by removing the starch and bran, you’re left with something that has a texture that’s quite meat-like. Season it to taste like meat, and you’ve got seitan.
1. Make Your Dough
As you might have guessed, the dough starts with vital wheat gluten, which will be in powdered form. You can cut the gluten with another type of flour. I like to do this — I find gluten alone results in seitan that’s a bit tough for my taste.
1 cup of vital wheat gluten to 1/4 cup chickpea flour or soy flour is a good place to start. This will give you about 2 cups of seitan.
Add water. 1 cup is a good amount for the batch size we’re working with. Mix and form a dough.
2. Knead Your Dough
Just like with bread making, we need to knead the dough a bit, to develop strands of gluten that give seitan a meaty texture.
About 5 minutes of kneading is sufficient. Let it sit for about 5 minutes after that.
3. Make Your Broth
The broth is what gives your seitan flavor, so you want it to taste how you intend for your seitan to taste. You can do whatever you want here, and this is a great place to experiment. Feel like searching every local Asian market for a big piece of kombu? Totally fine, but if you can’t find one, please don’t let it stop you!
For the batch size we’re going with, six cups of broth is about ideal. If you take a look at the amount of dough you’ve got, six cups may seem like a lot, but it’s not. Your seitan will double or even triple in size while it cooks!
I usually start with low sodium vegetable broth, but water works too. You’ll want a good amount of salt in there (meat is salty!), which is best provided by soy sauce, tamari, or liquid aminos. 1/4 to 1/3 cup of soy sauce is my standard.
From there, it’s all up to you what you add. Think savory flavors. Here are a few suggestions:
- garlic (fresh or powder)
- onion powder
- dried herbs
- wine
- nutritional yeast
- vegan Worcestershire sauce
- miso
(this adds quite a bit of salt, so use less soy sauce if you include it)
- liquid smoke
- Kitchen Bouquet, Gravy Master, or another all-purpose seasoning
If you’re not sure where to start, use the recipe below. If has three broth variations for seitan that’s best suited to replace different types of meat: pork, chicken, and beef.
4. Simmer Your Gluten
By the time your broth is done, your gluten should be sufficiently rested. Cut it into smaller pieces. I recommend cutting it into at least 4 pieces because (1) if they’re too big the broth won’t fully penetrate them, and (2) remember that they’ll expand during cooking, and if they get too big the broth will no longer cover them.
Bring the broth to a boil. Lower the heat until it’s just at a simmer, and then add the dough pieces. Set the timer for an hour and keep an eye on the pot. You don’t want to let it get to a rolling boil, or your seitan might end up overcooked and chewy. I like to keep mine just barely simmering.
5. Cook it Up
Technically, your seitan is already cooked and you can eat it straight from the pot — I often do!
Cut it into smaller pieces if you’d like, and if you aren’t using it right away, store it in the broth. It’ll be good for about 5 days in the fridge. If you’d like to use it more than five days out, you can seal it up and freeze it.
Now that you know how to make seitan, what should you do with it? You can use your seitan in place of meat in lots of recipes, or start with a recipe developed specifically for seitan. Here are a few to get you started:
Vegan Mongolian Beef (pictured above)
Seitan & Chickpea Salad with Dill and Almonds
Vegan Seitan and Mushroom Reubens
Teriyaki Seitan and Veggie Kebabs
Like this recipe? If so, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter. And please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you make it!
Homemade Seitan
Crafting your very own homemade seitan is super easy, and you don't even need a recipe. This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to make seitan with vital wheat gluten and a few pantry staples! Plus: a recipe for homemade seitan with three flavor variations.
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 1 cup vital wheat gluten
- 1/4 cup chickpea flour
- 1 cup water
For the Broth - Pork Flavor
- 6 cups low sodium vegetable broth or water
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons liquid smoke
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
For the Broth - Chicken Flavor
- 6 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 1/2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
For the Broth - Beef Flavor
- 5 1/2 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons vegan Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
Stir the vital wheat gluten and chickpea flour together in a medium bowl.
Add the water and stir to form a soft dough.
Transfer the dough to a work surface and knead it for 5 minutes.
Allow the dough to rest for 5 minutes.
While the dough rests, stir all of the broth ingredients for your choice of broth together in a large pot.
Place the pot over high heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Lower the heat to a low simmer.
Cut the dough into at least 4 large pieces, or if you prefer, smaller strips or chunks.
Add the dough to the broth.
Allow the broth to simmer for 1 hour, uncovered, watching closely to ensure it stays at a low simmer (don't allow it to rapidly boil).
Remove the pot from heat and allow it to cool a bit.
When the seitan is cool enough to handle, you can cut it into smaller pieces if you like. Use it in a recipe immediately, or store it in the broth. Refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze.
Recipe Notes
The nutrition information is very approximate for this recipe, since there are three flavor variations and it's difficult to estimate just how much broth is absorbed during cooking.
Awesome tutorial Alissa! Thank you!
I love testing out different seitan recipes, I will definitely be adding yours to my list to test out. There are SO MANY things you can do with seitan, I really need to make it more! Thanks for the inspiration!
I’ve never made seitan before.. although I have searched high & low for it in UK supermarkets it’s pretty hard to come by. Definitely on my ‘to do’ list of things to try making, probably pretty soon!
Yeah, one of the great things about DIY seitan is that even if the ingredients aren’t available in your area, they generally store well, so they ship well too. I hope you get to give it a try, and enjoy!
I use Seitan quite a bit. I know I will be hunted down and forcefed beans for saying that, but I feel it has better texture and taste for some of the traditional recipes my mom and I use to make. Thanks for this one.
It really does work so well in some recipes. I was totally tempted to go with something else for this one, but I knew seitan would have the perfect flavor and texture for this. :)
I have some kombu and am interested how much you use and when you use it? I’m looking forward to making my own. Thanks!
If I remember correctly, the recipe just called for one strip of kombu – just stick it in the broth when you simmer your seitan. :)
I boil the Seitan in a broth made with water, salt, chopped onions and chopped walnuts. I then coat them in food yeast and fry them. So good!!
Sounds delicious!
This was the best recipe we tried.. We love it.Thank u
I’m so happy to hear that!! Thanks so much!
This looks great. I cannot eat Soy or chickpea, can I use any other flour?
Oat flour should work. Enjoy!
Can I use letils or regular flour
I think either will work – the texture will just vary a bit. :)
Thank you for your well thought out instructions. I will be making seitan soon.
Very welcome!! Enjoy!
Seitan is one of those things that I’m always telling myself to make, and then I never do it. Maybe because the last time I made it, I walked away from the pot and forgot about it, which got to a roiling boil, and my seitan ended up looking like massive brains oozing out over the top, haha!
I really like your method. So many recipes for seitan are like reading intricate recipes for French food — so discouraging. Perhaps I am brave enough to try again!
I’ve had that happen and it’s the worst! You should definitely give it a try again! I like to make it while I’m in the kitchen working on something else so I can keep an eye on it. :)
I’m the only Vegetarian in the house and there are only two of us, me and my husband. Does this recipe freeze well?
It freezes great! Just seal it up in a container along with the broth. It should be good for at least 2 months. :)
I know this may sound stupid and redundant, I just want to make sure I’m doing it properly; Do you keep it IN the broth and freeze it or do you freeze the loaf and broth separately to bring together once thawed?
I’d recommend keeping it in the broth and freezing them together. :)
Dear amazing Alissa, I have been following you for a while now, you keep inspiring me, I live in Belgium , I am on a vegan voyage with my son Ian Thomas, connecting with amazing people and amazing food, we just visited a Seitan factory Bertyn , you should taste their Seitan it’s amazing check out http://www.bertyn.eu, would love to meet you one day with my son on our voyage, greetings from Westerlo Belgium Frank Hoelen 0032.476958401
Hi Frank! Thank you so much for following and I’m so glad you and your son are enjoying the recipes! I would love to visit a seitan factory – I will check them out. Thanks so much for the recommendation and best of luck on your vegan voyage!
Hi Alissa, does the pot need to be covered while simmering?
Tamar
Hi Tamar! It doesn’t, and I actually recommend keeping it uncovered so you can watch it to make sure it doesn’t boil too rapidly. I just updated the recipe to specify that – thanks for asking! :)
Thanks Alissa, I actually covered the pot as I didn’t want the water to evaporate and even added water just to make sure, especially as the dough was floating…(is that supposed to happen?). The portions of dough puffed up nicely, but when the Seitan blocks cooled, they deflated… normal? Also, the seitan is not uniform in colour. it has a nice brown saucy colour of the outside, and inside it’s much much lighter. Is it supposed to be uniform in colour? I made one of the recipes- came out excellent- thanks! Tamar
It does start to float when it’s cooking – totally normal! I’ve never had it deflate though. Did you leave it in the broth? I always do, so maybe it dries out a bit after being removed. It does tend to be darker on the outside, where it’s able to suck up more of the broth. :) I’m glad you enjoyed this! Thanks Tamar!
Thank you for your well written instructions, they are crystal clear! I’m so looking forward to making this.
I’m glad they’re helpful! Enjoy!!
Would it be okay to knead the dough in the stand mixer with the dough hook, rather than by hand? I do have arthritis in my hands and all of that kneading would be very painful.
I think that should work just fine! :)
Oh WOW. This is delicious!!!!
I have one question tho. I ended up with a very soupy “dough” even tho I didn’t add the full amount of water. Is that normal?
I accidentally used too little brother and had to add some as it was mostly absorbed. But it still came out great. I sliced mine into strips before simmering. I can’t say it’s pretty (mine is a bit homlier than yours! . I dried some, dusted with cornstarch and panfried in a bit of olive oil. They crisped up beautifully. I will use some in a banh mi sandwich. Thanks so much!
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed it!! That’s really strange about the dough though. It’s definitely more moist than a bread dough, but not quite soupy. I’m not sure what happened, but glad it worked out!
Fantastic recipe. Easy and great tasting. Just what I needed as a vegan trying to add a bit more protein to my salads and other dishes. Thank you!.
I’m so glad you like it! Thanks Linda!!
Hi Alissa
Thanks for the recipe! Wonder have you tried adding flavored water instead of using plain water to form the dough? I wonder would it make it tastier, rather than boiling it with broth. Thank you!
Hi Eva! I’ve done that for other seitan-based recipes (like these sausage patties: https://www.connoisseurusveg.com/seitan-and-lentil-sausage-patties/). It will work with this type of recipe, but a lot of the flavor will probably seep out when you cook it. I find it’s easier to gauge the flavor and adjust the seasonings in the broth to get an idea of what your final product will taste like.
Followed directions but dough was not nearly as elastic when compared to other seitan recipes and disintegrated when put in broth. Had to add way more flour to stiffen up dough and still too tender to withstand simmering without falling apart. Sticking to Veg Times recipe.
Sorry to hear that! I’m not sure what went wrong, but I’ve never had seitan dough disintegrate in broth. My guess is either that the gluten wasn’t great quality or there was a measuring error.
LOVE this recipe!! I’ve made it twice in the past 10 days. My first batch was used in a dish with squash, zucchini and onions over rice and it was outstanding!! I took your advice and put some away in the freezer, only to pull it right back out the next day. It freezes and unthaws extremely well. My 2nd batch was for a vegan beef stroganoff dish. My Mom made the beef version of this dish every year for my birthday way back in the day. As soon as I took the 2nd batch out of the broth, I sliced it up, coated it in a flour mixture and OMG the dish was ridiculously tasty!! My son tried it he was quite surprised to find out it was a vegan dish!! Thank you so much for this seitan recipe!!
Awesome!! I’m so glad you enjoyed it, and it sounds like you’ve found lots of delicious ways to use it! Thanks Miyani!
Thanks for the recipe. Made the “beefy” broth for my first attempt at home made seitan.
We had a delicious meal with roast veggies
Looking forward to trying the “pork” and “chicken” versions.
So easy to make and so tasty!
I’m glad you like it!! Thanks Shaun!
Do you need to cook it after doing this recipe? Can I just slice up the seitan and put it over greens for a salad after simmering?
No need to cook it again! I slice it up and put it on my salads without additional cooking all the time. :)
Alissa, thanks for the recipe, I’m new to seitan. The dough was very sticky when mixing, is this normal? Should I add more water or flour? Also seitan had a rubbery type consistency is this typical?
I used this seitan in your Mongolian beef recipe and was very good.
Thanks for the recipes.
Darren
Hi Darren! The dough is a bit on the sticky side – definitely stickier than bread dough. Usually rubbery seitan happens when the broth boils too rapidly. Could that have happened? Make sure to keep it on low heat and keep a close eye on it while it simmers. I’m glad you enjoyed it in the Mongolian beef!
I am going to try this recipe at home soon, and want to share with you and your readers one unique seitan recipe, I have never seen before, I have learned it at Croatian island Zlarin, fro local woman, here is a story about preparing seitan in the sea waves with seagulls: https://www.momthemuse.com/category/croatia/
Hello thank you for the recipe! I can’t wait to make it. what would be the best way to defrost it?
You can let it sit on the counter or in the fridge, or you can microwave it on defrost. It all depends on how much time you have!
Hi Alissa, thanks for this guide! I just bought the flour and I’m keen to start my first seitan experiment! I’m wanting to use it in a walnut and beer stew, should I put the dough directly in the stew and cook it there or should I boil it in broth first and then transfer it to the stew? Thank you!
Hi Freddy! I’d say cook the seitan in the broth, at least for the first batch so you can get an idea of how much of the flavor and liquid the gluten soaks up as it simmers. Good luck!
i’m eager to try this!
i’m curious if you have (or anyone else has) tried a yeast extract product (e.g. Marmite or Vegemite) for flavoring a beefy broth. Marmite has a very beefy flavor on its own, and i could imagine it working, but of course it’s just a guess. It also is very salty so you’d have to cut salt elsewhere.
Anyway i have know idea if that would work, or just make a mess. Any idea?
I have made seitan with Marmite, and it worked very well! I didn’t record the recipe, but my advice would be to replace some of the soy sauce with Marmite – maybe 2 or 3 tablespoons to start.
Hey! Just trying out this recipe for the first time today and it smells amazing simmering on the stove! I went for the “pork” broth. I’m wondering if I could reuse the broth for another batch? It seems too yummy to waste!
Thanks!
Amy
Hey Amy! I don’t see why not! I’d love to hear how it works out if you try. :)
Hi! I love your recipe! Is it possible to cook it in an instant pot instead of on the stove to lessen the cooking time? If so, how should I go about that?
I’m glad you like the recipes! I’m really not sure if this would work in an instant pot or not, but I’d be nervous about the texture – cooking seitan with too much heat can make it turn out rubbery.
I made the homemade seitan and used it in your vegan mongolian beef recipe. It was AMAZINGLY delicious. Even my picky daughter loved it. I am going to try the seitan and chipckpea salad next. Thanks for sharing your recipes!
I’m so happy to hear that!! Thanks Anna!
I tried this recipe for the first time today.
I’m not sure on the texture as I’ve only eaten seitan once before and it was store-bought. This seems much smoother and less meatlike. Not sure if that’s normal or if I did it wrong.
After it was finished cooking, I took it out of the broth and thickened the broth using cornstarch to make a gravy.
I put the now cut up seitan back in the sauce, portioned it and froze it like that.
Very excited for my meals this week!
Not rating yet since I really have nothing to compare it to in my limited experience making it.
You could try kneading your dough a bit longer next time – this is how you develop strands of gluten that give it a meaty texture. Great idea to use the broth as gravy! I hope you enjoy it!
This was my first attempt at wheat meat and I didn’t have Garbanzo Flour so I substituted Sweet Rice Flour which I did have and I was a little concerned about the liquid to gluten ratio after reading other recipes. But it formed very nice cutlets and cooked up well in the broth. In the end the texture was like very tender meat cutlets and they were excellent fried in panko for my Tonkatsu Curry rice dinner. It made 5 good sized cutlets, Never buying frozen patties again!(ok maybe when I’m super lazy feeling)
Yay! I’m glad it worked out and you enjoyed the seitan! Thanks so much!
Is it possible to season the dough itself in addition to using broth? (i.e. mix ground spices into the dough)?
It is! You’ll need to experiment a bit with the amounts, but this recipe might offer some guidance: https://www.connoisseurusveg.com/seitan-and-lentil-sausage-patties/
Thank you so much for this! I noticed seitan on my Slimming World list of free foods but I can’t easily get it in the UK, but was able to order vital wheat gluten on Amazon.
I’m not a recipe follower, so I used your basic instructions and just made a broth I liked the taste of. It turned out amazing and dead easy too! I made a similar sauce to your Mongolian beef recipe and it’s much better than my local Chinese takeaway and lower in fat too. So pleased I gave this a go!
That’s awesome! I’m so glad this worked out for you! Thanks so much Bertie!