These vegan cheesesteak sandwiches are made with crispy pan-fried seitan, Italian long hot peppers and onions, smothered in vegan sweet potato cheese.
I’m from Philadelphia, so this was bound to happen eventually. I mean, it does make me an expert on Philly cheesesteaks, right? I modeled this delectable vegan creation after my favorite greasy sandwich from my favorite south Philly steak shop.
Kidding! I’ve never even been to a south Philly steak shop, unless you count cute a little café in the Italian market neighborhood where they sold seitan steak sandwiches. Those are the only cheesesteaks I’ve ever eaten. Based on my limited cheesesteak dining experience, my assessment is that cheesesteaks rule!
I tried for years to recreate the seitan steak sandwich that I’d enjoyed so many times at that little café. My first attempts weren’t bad – they were just a little soggy and not all that flavorful. These, on the other hand, were fantastic. I attribute that to a few things.
First, seasonings. Long hots, garlic, paprika…as far as I know, these aren’t normally a part of normal cheesesteak sandwiches, but neither is seitan or sweet potato cheese, so whatever. They make it taste good! The heat from the peppers in particular really adds something, and as my old favorite veggie steak from the Italian market had long hots, so does my new favorite.
Then there’s the oil. This recipe doesn’t call for a ton of oil, but for a long time I told myself I wanted a healthy cheesesteak, so I used virtually no oil. That’s why my early versions were on the soggy side. Just the right amount of oil and heat gets you some nice crispy little edges on the seitan, which makes a huge difference.
Finally, the cheese. The seitan steak that I used to eat in Philly was made with dairy cheese, but I wanted a vegan version. I had a hard time figuring out what to do about this for a while. The conventional cheesesteaks I’ve seen all come with an orange squirty cheese on top. I’m not big on commercial vegan cheeses, and not even sure if anyone has attempted to replicate orange squirty cheesesteak cheese. One day I realized I’d inadvertently created my own vegan version of orange squirty cheese. What an amusing revelation that was. Anyhow, it worked out perfect, and while I can’t necessarily comment on the authenticity of the finished product, I can promise that it is absolutely delicious.
Vegan Cheesesteak Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/2 medium onion, sliced and separated into strips
- 1 Italian long hot pepper, sliced into strips
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 (8 ounce) package seitan, sliced into thin strips
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/8 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 2 (6-inch) sandwich rolls, sliced open
- 1/4 cup nacho sweet potato cheese
- 2-3 tablespoons water
- Ketchup (optional)
Instructions
Coat the bottom of a medium skillet with oil and place it over medium-high heat. Add the onion, hot pepper and garlic. Sauté until onions and peppers are slightly softened and browned in spots, about 3 minutes.
Add the seitan, black pepper, paprika, and salt. Continue to sauté until the seitan begins to crisp in spots, about 3 more minutes.
Divide the seitan mixture between sandwich rolls. Thin the sweet potato cheese with water until desired consistency is reached, and use it to top sandwiches, along with some ketchup.
Meredith @ Unexpectedly Magnificent says
January 12, 2015 at 1:15 PMHell to the yes. Philly represent! *high fives* :) These look mindblowingly delicious.
Cherylyn says
January 12, 2015 at 9:44 PMSeitan is expensive to buy and not that tasty..compared to homemade. Its easy easy to make.
This sandwich looks wonderful and will be dinner this weekend.
lisa kusel says
February 4, 2015 at 9:29 AMThis dish was so amazingly tasty. We substituted the hot pepper with reg. green pepper. I served with a side of creamy (non-vegan) coleslaw. The cheese sauce went into burritos the next day and the rest I just ate with a spoon because it was so darn delish. I signed up for your newsletter because of this recipe. You are a goddess. Thank you.
Alissa Saenz says
February 4, 2015 at 8:55 PMAwesome!!! Green pepper sounds like a nice sub for a milder version. I’m so glad you enjoyed them. Thanks Lisa!
mila furman says
October 10, 2015 at 12:19 PMOMG this is really incredible!!! I need to try this!!! Philly cheese steaks are just my EVERYTHING and I have been panicked to create a vegan version…super glad that now I will be able to!!!
Alissa Saenz says
October 12, 2015 at 11:07 AMYay! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
Karen says
June 22, 2017 at 3:10 PMDo you have a recipe for the vegan sweet potato nacho cheese?
Alissa Saenz says
June 25, 2017 at 9:38 PMYup! It’s linked in the recipe but the text blends in. I need to fix that! https://www.connoisseurusveg.com/thats-nacho-sweet-potato-cheese/
Danni says
December 29, 2017 at 6:16 AMSoooooooooooo delicious! I mean this was so good I felt guilty lol. Thank you so much, I e already have abt 10 recipes I’ll be trying out :)
Alissa Saenz says
December 29, 2017 at 9:56 PMYay!! I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks Danni!!
Matthew Combs says
January 19, 2018 at 6:10 PMDo you have a recipe for homemade seitan?
Alissa Saenz says
January 19, 2018 at 9:29 PMYes I do have a recipe for homemade seitan. Thanks for asking – enjoy!
https://www.connoisseurusveg.com/how-to-make-seitan/
Marilyn says
January 25, 2018 at 3:56 PMDelicious, I love all of your recipes, keep them coming.
Alissa Saenz says
January 25, 2018 at 8:56 PMThank you! I absolutely will!!
Jenna says
January 25, 2018 at 5:13 PMBeing a Philadelphia native, I had to check this recipe out! It reminds me a bit of Govinda’s, a little place on South Street where I got some very excellent vegetarian cheesesteaks circa 10 years ago. I LOVED them. This looks like it will make me equally happy. But I will probably swap the ketchup for something a little more similar to that strange, kind-of-ketchupy, sweetish tomato sauce found on traditional cheesesteaks. (Whenever family comes home to visit, I am REQUIRED to take them out for cheesesteaks, so I have gotten to know this funny little sauce rather well.)
Alissa Saenz says
January 25, 2018 at 8:55 PMOh wow! I’ve never had that sauce – I think I always just assumed it was ketchup! I never got around to trying a Govinda’s cheesesteak either, but I always heard they were awesome. Sabrina’s is the place I used to go and theirs is what I modeled this one after. :)
Jenna says
January 25, 2018 at 5:15 PMAnd thank you for doing things up properly with a seeded roll :)
*respect*
The Travel Bunny says
January 25, 2018 at 5:50 PMThis looks amazing! I’ll have to try this. Yummy! Thanks for sharing it.
Alissa Saenz says
January 25, 2018 at 8:51 PMThank you!! I hope you enjoy it!
Maureen Cram says
January 26, 2018 at 1:06 AMNever having eaten anything like this but my US husband has, should the seitan be more beef flavoured or does it not matter as long as the seitan is in strips and crispy? I usually make a chick’n flavored seitan with poultry seasoning and nooch. Thanks for all your recipes – I share many of them to my South African vegan FB group.
Alissa Saenz says
January 28, 2018 at 3:36 PMI use store-bought (WestSoy) or my basic homemade seitan recipe, which works for pretty much anything (as opposed to a beef flavored version). I think a version with poultry seasoning should be fine. :) I’d love to hear how it works out if you try it!
Johanna Werbach says
February 2, 2018 at 5:59 PMGoing to be trying these on Sunday as Super Bowl fare. Go EAGLES!
Alissa Saenz says
February 4, 2018 at 4:11 PMThese are perfect superbowl food!! Enjoy and go Eagles!!
Katie says
February 4, 2018 at 9:20 PMThis was delicious! We used Poblano peppers which were just the right amount of heat. Everyone loved the nacho cheese sauce and my son didn’t even know there was sweet potato in it. We’ll definitely make this again!
Alissa Saenz says
February 8, 2018 at 4:43 PMOh…I bet this was awesome with poblanos! Glad you enjoyed it!
Amy Carter says
April 23, 2019 at 8:55 PMWhoa, whoa, wooa wonderful! The vegan cheese is amazing. Made it for my vegan daughter and she called it amazing. Thank you for a fantastic recipe that will be made again.
Alissa Saenz says
April 28, 2019 at 6:12 PMYay! I’m glad your daughter enjoyed it!