one of my favorite ways to prepare seitan is as a chicken substitute. it comes out so good and i love making seitan chick’n cutlets with it. these are breaded and then baked in the oven, coming out crispy on the outside and meaty on the inside.
If you are looking to make some homemade seitan chick’n cutlets you will love these! This recipe is simple but packs in tons of plant protein and crispiness. These seitan chick’n cutlets are great to enjoy all on their own or use it them in salads, sandwiches, vegan chick’n parm! There are so many ways to enjoy them.
ingredient list
- Vital Wheat Gluten: the main ingredient in our recipe that will add protein and make this into a yummy seitan cutlet.
- Cannellini Beans: this helps to add texture to our seitan chick’n cutlets.
- Vegetable Broth: helps to bring our seitan mixture together and adds in some flavor.
- Chickpea Flour: when mixed together with water it forms a nice egg replacement for dipping the cutlets in before breading.
- Breadcrumbs: for breading the cutlets. I like to use Panko breadcrumbs because they are usually vegan friendly and then I just blend them in the blender to make them finer.
- Seasonings: we need a bunch for adding flavor into the seitan and the breading. I use paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, dried parsley, and nutritional yeast. Feel free to add what you like.
- Spray Oil: I like to use this to help make the seitan chick’n cutlets golden on the outside while baking.
how to make seitan chick’n cutlets
You will start off by mashing up the cannellini beans. Then you will add in the seasonings, vital wheat gluten, and vegetable broth. Mix it up until it forms a crumbly mixture. Then you will knead with your hands for 3 to 5 minutes until it comes together. Cut into 4 pieces and then use a rolling pin to thinly roll it out. Following that you steam them for 20 minutes. They should puff up during that time and then you will just dip them in the chickpea flour “egg” and coat them in breading. Bake them and you’re good to go!
why do you steam seitan?
In most seitan recipes you will notice there is a steaming process (I have seen some where people boil it too). That is because when you steam it, it allows it to remain tender and soft. You can also see a visible difference in what steaming does taking it from a smaller cutlet to a more puffed up cutlet. Steaming seitan is very important for the cooking process.
more seitan recipes
seitan chick’n cutlets faq
- Is this recipe gluten free? No, the main ingredient is vital wheat gluten. You can check out this recipe for a seitan free version.
- Is this recipe soy free? Yes.
- Is this recipe nut free? Yes.
- How long do these last? Up to 4 days in the fridge.
- How should I reheat them? You can either put them in the oven, a pan, or air fryer.
- Can I freeze these? Yes, just let them thaw in the fridge before warming up. You can freeze them after baking.
- My seitan came out too chewy what did I do wrong? Overkneading. You only need to knead this for 3 to 5 minutes just until it comes together. Please knead by hand not in a stand mixer.
Seitan Chick’n Cutlets
Equipment
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
Cutlets
- ½ cup cannellini beans, mashed
- 1 cup vital wheat gluten
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup vegetable broth
“Egg” Wash
- ⅓ cup chickpea flour
- ½ cup water
Breading
- ¾ cup panko breadcrumbs
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
Instructions
- Prepare seitan by adding mashed cannellini beans, seasonings, and vital wheat gluten together in a large bowl.
- Add in the vegetable broth and mix together until it becomes clumpy. Eventually you will need to knead the dough with your hands. The dough should be sticky and stay together. Form it into a rounded loaf shape.
- Cut the loaf into 4 pieces and then roll the dough out into a chicken cutlet shape. I prefer to make mine very thin but you can make it to your desired thickness. As they steam they will plump up a bit as well.
- Once they are rolled out steam them for 20 minutes. You can do this with a steamer basket or by placing a strainer over a large pot with about an inch of water. Place it on a low heat and cover. You may need to add more water as it cooks.
- While the seitan steams preheat oven to 425°F (218°C).
- Prepare breadcrumbs by adding all ingredients to a large shallow bowl or big dish and mixing. Prepare chickpea egg by adding the ingredients into a large shallow bowl and mixing.
- Once seitan is steamed allow to cool for a minute as it will be very hot. Place it into the batter and allow the excess to drip off then coat in breadcrumbs. Repeat with all the cutlets.
- Place on a large baking pan. Spray both sides of each cutlet with spray oil if you like. Bake for 20 minutes, then flip and bake for 10 minutes.
- Once they are done sprinkle with sea salt if desired and enjoy.
Video
Notes
- For any generic questions you may have about the recipe please see the section above titled FAQ.
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This recipe looks amazing! I love seitan!! Do you have a substitute for the chickpea flour, I cannot eat it?
Thanks for sharing so many great vegan recipes with us!
Hi Lil thank you so much! Sure you can just some non-dairy milk!
Hi. Can these be boiled instead of steamed? For how long? Thanks!
Hi Lena, sure check out this recipe for seitan nuggets (just keep them in bigger pieces if you’d like) where I have boiled it https://plantifullybasedblog.com/2019/08/18/spicy-vegan-chicken-nuggets/
Is there nutritional info for this?
Hi, I have just recently started sharing nutritional information for recipes so unfortunately i do not have it for this recipe. You can always plug it into a recipe creator in cronometer or myfitnesspal
Hi, I have just recently started sharing nutritional information for recipes so unfortunately i do not have it for this recipe. You can always plug it into a recipe creator in cronometer or myfitnesspal
Hello! I would love to try all your seitan varieties! Curious if you have any ideas on omitting legumes? I find that a lot of large pieces seitan options require them but my partner cannot have any legumes (soy/peas/chickpeas/beans/lentils, none of them). Thought I would inquire! Any insights would be greatly appreciated.
I cannot wait to have these myself (partner might sneak some :’) despite the allergy)
Hi Barbara! Hmm to be honest I don’t the beans legumes help to add some softness and texture. You can of course try it without but just know that it would be changing the recipe and the result may not come out as intended!
If you have to not use bean I would probably triple the nutritional yeast.. I’ve done yeats with that and seems to make a meatier texture.
Try adding three times the nutritional yeast if omitting the beans. It helps with the meaty texture.
Try potato flakes. With these amounts, I’d say try 1/4 to 1/3c.
Hi if you try this let me know how it works 🙂 However, please note this substitute isn’t coming from me so I can’t speak to how it will work!
Great recipe. They were a little too crispy for me though so I think I would do 10 mins on each side next time and see if that works better for me.
Thank you for this recipe!!!
Hi Teresa! thank you so much for trying it! yes that is totally fair everyones ovens work differently as well too so that is always important to remember!!