The best vegan shawarma is stuffed with homemade seitan strips, veggies, hummus and tzatziki. Easy to make and perfect for lunch or dinner.
Well, ever since making our vegan steak I have been thinking of other uses for that homemade seitan!
And what better place to put strips of seitan than in a vegan shawarma.
Add some hummus, vegan tzatziki, shredded lettuce, sliced tomato and cucumber, and you have a feast.
A shawarma is basically a meat sandwich or wrap. So using some homemade vegan meat seemed like a really good idea to me.
And the result is really divine! It’s SO worth it to make this you guys! And it all stores really well too so it’s great for meal prep as well.
You’ll also LOVE our vegan gyros!
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
Homemade seitan strips. So our recipe walks you through making these from scratch. They are SO delicious. Of course if you want to save time then you can fry up any store-bought veggie meat strips instead.
Vital wheat gluten. This is the main ingredient in the homemade seitan strips. You might have to order it, or you might be able to get it from a health food store or a Whole Foods if you have one near you. It’s basically pure gluten powder, super high in protein (75g protein per 100g of vital wheat gluten) and is the core ingredient in seitan, also known as ‘wheat meat’.
Pita breads or wraps. Usually you would make a shawarma in a pita bread, but honestly the ones we get here are so small, I am not a big fan, you can hardly fit anything in them! So I used wheat tortillas for the wraps, but you could use pita breads or flat breads.
How To Make Vegan Shawarma
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
Add chickpeas, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, ground coriander, oregano, soy sauce, tomato paste, paprika, black pepper, vegetable stock, dijon mustard and liquid smoke to the food processor and process until well mixed..
Transfer that to a mixing bowl and add vital wheat gluten.
Stir it in briefly with a spoon and then get in there with your hands and knead it a few times until you end up with a nice piece of dough like you see below. I kneaded this just a few times, just until the dough stopped being sticky and started to firm up. Pat it down into a sort of ‘steak’ shape.
Wrap it in foil and steam it for 20 minutes in a steamer basket placed over a pot of boiling water or in any kind of steamer that you have.
While the seitan is steaming, make up your hummus and vegan tzatziki.
When the seitan is finished steaming, unwrap it from the foil.
Cut the seitan into strips and add to a frying pan.
Mix up a marinade sauce of soy sauce, paprika, maple syrup, tomato paste, olive oil and liquid smoke and pour it over the seitan strips.
Fry the seitan strips in the marinade, turning over regularly, until all the pieces are nicely charred and crispy on the outside.
Serving Suggestions
Spread hummus onto a pita bread or wrap. Add shredded lettuce and sliced cucumber and tomato, top with seitan strips and finish with a dollop of vegan tzatziki.
Make Ahead and Storing
Make ahead. Most of the ingredients for this can be made in advance and the vegan shawarmas assembled when you’re ready.
The seitan can be made up to the steaming stage and then after steaming you could cut it into strips and place into a container in the fridge where it can stay for 3-4 days until you’re ready to fry it in the marinade sauce.
The tzatziki and hummus can be made in advance and then when you’re ready, fry up the seitan strips, and assemble your vegan shawarma.
Storing: Leftover ingredients can be stored in separate containers for 3-4 days in the fridge and assembled when needed.
More Delicious Vegan Recipes
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Shawarma
Ingredients
For the Seitan Strips:
- ⅓ cup Canned Chickpeas (55g)
- 2 Tablespoons Nutritional Yeast Flakes
- ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ½ teaspoon Onion Powder
- ⅛ teaspoon Cumin
- ⅛ teaspoon Ground Coriander
- ¼ teaspoon Oregano
- 1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
- ¼ cup Tomato Paste (65g)
- ½ teaspoon Paprika
- ⅛ teaspoon Black Pepper
- ⅓ cup Vegetable Stock (80ml)
- 1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
- ⅛ teaspoon Liquid Smoke
- 1 cup Vital Wheat Gluten (150g)
For the Marinade Sauce:
- 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
- ½ teaspoon Paprika
- 2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup
- 1 Tablespoon Tomato Paste
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- ⅛ teaspoon Liquid Smoke
For the Shawarmas:
- 6 Pita Breads or Flat Breads or Wraps
- Shredded Lettuce
- Sliced Tomato
- Sliced Cucumber
- Hummus
- Vegan Tzatziki
Instructions
- Add the chickpeas, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, ground coriander, oregano, soy sauce, tomato paste, paprika, black pepper, vegetable stock, dijon mustard and liquid smoke to the food processor and process until well mixed.
- Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the vital wheat gluten. Stir in briefly and then get in there with your hands, kneading it a few times in your hands until it goes from soft and sticky until it’s just starting to get firm.
- Flatten it on a work surface and pat it down into the shape of a large steak. Wrap it in foil (not too tight as it needs room to expand) and place into a steamer basket over a pot of boiling water to steam for 20 minutes.
- While the seitan is steaming, make up your hummus and vegan tzatziki.
- After steaming, remove from the foil (be careful not to burn yourself) and then cut it into strips and place into a frying pan.
- Mix up the soy sauce, paprika, maple syrup, tomato paste, olive oil and liquid smoke for your marinade and pour it over the seitan strips.
- Fry the seitan strips in the marinade sauce, turning over regularly, until all the pieces are nicely charred and crispy on the outside.
- Spread hummus onto a pita bread or wrap. Add shredded lettuce and sliced cucumber and tomato, top with seitan strips and finish with a dollop of vegan tzatziki.
- Repeat for the rest of the shawarmas and serve.
Notes
- Vital wheat gluten – should ideally be weighed on a food scale to be really accurate with this recipe.
- Make ahead: If you want to prepare certain elements for this meal in advance you can do so. The seitan can be prepared up until the point it has come out of the steamer. Then you can cut it into strips and place into a sealed container in the fridge for 3-4 days before bringing it out and frying it up with the marinade sauce. The hummus and tzatziki can be made in advance and kept in the fridge for a couple of days.
- Storing: Leftover ingredients can be stored in separate containers for 3-4 days in the fridge and assembled when needed.
- Nutritional information excludes the hummus and tzatziki. Full nutritional information can be found on those separate linked recipes.
Alison,
I just found your recipe and am quite excited to try it. I love love love shawarmas — all those incredible spices, but I was wondering if the seitan can be frozen in the marinade? What do you think or frozen without the marinade ………just wondering. Since the recipe makes quite a bit and I am only one person. Thanks.
Susan
Hi Susan. You can freeze the cooked seitan without the marinade in a ziplock bag for up to three months. Thaw in the fridge before warming it up in a frying pan as directed from step 5 in the recipe.
Thanks Nadine! I’m going to try the recipe this week!
Susan