This vegan coq au vin is savory and delicious! A hearty meal that's super satisfying and perfect for special occasions.
Sometimes I like to get creative when veganizing a recipe and replace the meat with all kinds of vegan stand-ins like veggies and beans and tofu. I get all crazy
! But then sometimes I like to simply create a vegan version of a dish that's as close to the classic as you can get, using something like seitan to replicate the taste and texture of meat.
That's just what I did with this vegan coq au vin recipe. I already had a general idea of how coq au vin was made, having created a recipe for eggplant bourguignon a few years ago. Coq au vin is pretty much the chicken version of beef bourguignon, but with a little more artistic freedom for the recipe creator, from what I can tell.
My vegan coq au vin turned out to be scrumptious and comforting!
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What You'll Need
- Olive oil. Any high-heat oil will do, but olive will give your stew the best flavor.
- Cremini mushrooms. Button mushrooms can be substituted if you can't get these.
- Seitan. You can use store-bought or homemade seitan for this recipe. If you use my recipe, go for the chicken flavored variation. Large chunks of seitan work best, but any shape will technically do.
- Onion.
- Pearl onions. The recipe calls for fresh pearl onions, which you can usually find near the regular onions at the supermarket. Frozen (and thawed) pearl onions can be substituted if you can't find them.
- Carrots.
- Garlic.
- Flour. I've only tested the recipe using all-purpose wheat flour, but I think other varieties like whole wheat flour should work just fine.
- Red wine. Use a dry, full-bodied red wine such as cabernet or zinfandel. Also be sure to run your variety and brand through Barnivore, as not all wines are vegan.
- Brandy. A similar liquor such as bourbon or cognac can be substituted if needed.
- Vegetable broth. I use Better Than Bouillon in seasoned vegetable flavor, but feel free to use your favorite.
- Tomato paste.
- Balsamic vinegar.
- Poultry seasoning. This is an herb blend that's normally used for seasoning poultry, and it's totally vegan. Look for it in the spice aisle of your supermarket.
- Liquid smoke. Feel free to leave this out if you aren't a fan.
- Salt & pepper.
- Mashed potatoes, pasta, or polenta. Pick one of these to serve your vegan coq au vin over.
How to Make Vegan Coq au Vin
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
- Heat some oil in a large nonstick skillet and add a layer of sliced mushrooms. Cook the mushrooms for a few minutes on each side, until they're browned and tender, then remove them from the skillet.
- Add some more oil to the skillet if it seems dry, then add your seitan pieces and cook them for a few minutes, flipping them occasionally, until they begin to brown.
- While your seitan/and or mushrooms cook, lightly oil the bottom of a large pot, place it over medium heat, and add sliced onion, pearl onions, and sliced carrots. Cook everything for a few minutes, until the onions become very soft.
- Stir in some minced garlic and flour. Keep stirring until the flour evenly coats the veggies, then let everything cook for about a minute, until the garlic becomes very fragrant. Keep stirring all the while so nothing burns!
- Add your cooked mushrooms and seitan to the pot, along with the wine, brandy, broth, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, poultry seasoning, and liquid smoke. Bring the mixture to a boil and let it simmer until the sauce is thick and the veggies are tender.
- Take your pot off of heat and season the stew with some salt and pepper to taste. You can adjust any seasonings to your liking at this point as well.
- Serve your seitan au vin over your choice or pasta, mashed potatoes, or polenta. Or feel free to enjoy it on it's own!
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover vegan coq au vin will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for about 3 days, or in the freezer for about 3 months.
More Vegan Stews
- Vegan Beef Stew
- Vegetable Stew
- Vegan Bigos (Hunter's Stew)
- Mushroom Paprikash
- Vegan Irish Stew
- Cozy Eggplant Stew
Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Coq au Vin
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
- 16 ounces seitan (cut into large chunks)
- 1 small onion, sliced
- 1 cup fresh pearl onions, peeled
- 2 cups sliced carrots (about 3 medium carrots)
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups dry red wine
- ¼ cup brandy
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- ½ teaspoon liquid smoke
- Salt & pepper, to taste
- Mashed potatoes, pasta or polenta, for serving
Instructions
- Coat the bottom of a large nonstick skillet with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and place it over medium heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add the mushrooms in an even layer. Cook them for about 10 minutes, flipping once, until browned and tender.
- Remove the mushrooms from the skillet and transfer them to a plate.
- Add another dash of oil to the skillet if it seems dry, then add the seitan pieces. Cook them for about 6 minutes, flipping occasionally, until lightly browned.
- While the seitan and/or mushrooms cook, coat the bottom of a large pot with the remaining oil and place it over medium heat.
- Add the onion, pearl onions, and carrots. Sweat the veggies for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions soften up a bit.
- Stir in the garlic and flour. Continue stirring and cooking everything for about 1 minute, until the flour evenly coats the veggies and the garlic is very fragrant.
- Stir in the cooked mushrooms and seitan, along with the wine, brandy, broth, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, poultry seasoning, and liquid smoke.
- Bring the stew to a boil, lower the heat and let the stew simmer for about 30 minutes, until the sauce is thick and the veggies are tender.
- Remove the pot from heat and season the stew with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve over mashed potatoes, pasta, or polenta.
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I saw a slightly different recipe using just port ,instead of mixture of wine and brandy,what do you think about it?
Interesting! With this particular recipe, you could get away with replacing a small amount of the red wine with port — maybe 1/4 to 1/2 cup. I wouldn’t use more than that, or the sauce could end up too sweet. The dish will have a different flavor profile. It'll be richer, sweeter, and a bit more jammy, but I could see it being really tasty!
Thank you for your advice, another question is if i want to make this dish gluten free ,is it better to do roux from gf flour or just use cornflour mix with water?
Very welcome! And sorry for the late response — just seeing this one! I would make a roux with all-purpose gluten-free flour. You should be able to substitute it directly. Enjoy!
I made this for the second time, it is SOOO good. I didn't have liquid smoke, so used a little smoked paprika and didn't have brandy so added a little extra red wine. Served it over vegan mashed potatoes.
So so so good!!!! 10/10 would make again!! I put it over mashed potatoes.. super good. Seriously. I suck at cooking and it took me 2 hours to make (including the potatoes) just to let others know. :)
Made this for dinner tonight, and everybody loved it. Didn't have brandy, so I subbed cooking sherry - delicious!
I really want to try this recipe but I hate mushrooms! Can you suggest something that would be a good replacement for them in this recipe? Thank you!
Joy
Sure! Eggplant would work great. You could also just increase the amount of carrots and/or seitan. Enjoy!!
Do you think I can substitute soaked soy curls instead of seitan? The recipe sounds absolutely delicious but I'm not a big fan of seitan.
I think soy curls would work just fine! I'd love to hear how it turns out if you try!
If I want this dish to be gf can I ommit seitan and use cornflour?
Yup, with a couple of adjustments! If you use cornstarch, cut the amount in half and mix it with a bit of cold water, then add it during the last minute or so of simmering. The other option is to use an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend, which you can substitute directly for wheat flour. You may also want to add some extra veggies to replace the seitan, but that's totally your call. Enjoy!!