Tender, juicy and flavorful vegan steak! Perfectly spiced and looking remarkably like the ‘real thing’ these vegan seitan steaks are deliciously textured, super high in protein and heaps of fun to make.
Oh my gosh, can you actually believe the look of this vegan steak? It looks like a steak doesn’t it!
The last 10 days or so we’ve been in full vegan steak testing mode and I’ve been sending off photos to my sisters as I make this (practically my whole family is vegetarian) so that they can ooh and aaah in shock at how realistic it looks.
But here’s the thing: it doesn’t matter how realistic it looks, it’s NOT meat, it’s entirely vegan so there’s really no issue there.
I was inspired to make this recipe by a video that was made by the folks at Bosh featuring The Happy Pear and that I shared on my facebook page.
Well, a little debate immediately ensued whereby someone asked why a vegan would ever want to eat something that looked like a piece of meat. Well…. quite a few vegans had something to say about that because…well…it’s NOT meat. It’s just something tasty.
And when we can replicate some tastes and textures a little, without harming anyone, well why not? And then there’s the fact that the better we are at making tasty things, the more appealing a meat-free lifestyle becomes so it’s a win/win.
Truth be told though, while this vegan steak is totally delicious, it wouldn’t fool any meat eater. I haven’t eaten meat since 1999 and yet I know full well that this doesn’t taste like meat. It’s ‘meaty’ while being nothing like actual meat.
It tastes absolutely delicious though. And it has a chewy, ‘meaty’ texture, which is from the main ingredient, which is wheat gluten, commonly known as seitan.
We lived in Taiwan for a year in 2007/2008 and we used to often eat at Buddhist restaurants because they were strict vegetarian, and sometimes the mock meats you’d eat there would be so realistic, you really would be worried that it might actually be meat and would have to call someone over to confirm that it was really vegetarian. It was often made from mushrooms.
Vital Wheat Gluten
Getting hold of some wheat gluten wasn’t the easiest thing, and in the end I had to order it. You may have to order it too. I went to all the health food places that usually would sell ingredients like this and they were totally confused, they were like: ‘you WANT the gluten?’
And then we’d all have a laugh cos everything is gluten-free this and that and here we are coming in and asking them to give us the pure gluten!
If you do have to order it you can get it from Amazon, the full name is Vital Wheat Gluten. Or maybe you’ll have a larger selection in your health food store than we did and won’t have to order it.
It’s super high in protein, like super high (each vegan steak was 58g protein) since there is 75 grams of protein in 100 grams of wheat gluten.
Can You Make It Gluten-Free?
Unfortunately, no, this recipe is definitely not gluten-free and there are no adaptations for gluten-free either. This is definitely for the ‘yes I DO eat the gluten’ people.
Vital wheat gluten is really an essential component of this recipe and what creates the texture. If you are gluten-free, then you might like to try this gluten-free vegan steak from Gourmandelle, or try our portobello steaks or tofu steaks.
How To Make Vegan Steak
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.
- Making it is super easy, but there are several steps involved.
- First you add canned chickpeas, spices, tomato paste and vegetable stock to your food processor.
- Process it until well combined.
- Move that into a mixing bowl and then add the vital wheat gluten. Mix it in with a spoon and then get in there with your hands and knead it for around 2 minutes.
- Once you finish kneading you flatten it out by smashing/bashing it a little (not too much, this also counts as kneading) and then cut it into 4 steaks.
- You can bash those a bit to flatten as well. A potato masher works well for smashing/bashing purposes.
- Then wrap the steaks in foil and steam them in a steamer basket over some boiling water for 20 minutes.
- Then unwrap them and soak them in marinade sauce for a minute or two before you fry them up!
Fry Them Up
We tested frying them on one of those lined grill pans and while that does cause them to have those pretty grill lines, I found that it wasn’t worth it in terms of the extra time taken.
If you fry them in a regular frying pan, it is super quick! Brush extra marinade sauce on every time you flip them and within a few minutes, they are charred and caramelized and utterly delicious.
The Best Spices
The spices used in these vegan steaks really complements the sort of ‘meaty’ flavoring. We used soy sauce, cumin, paprika, liquid smoke and ground coriander, to name a few. And the marinade sauce is made with soy sauce, paprika, brown sugar, tomato paste and liquid smoke.
The result is really vegan steak perfection! They are massively filling too. I served myself a plate with one of these steaks and a few sides. I ate one of the steaks and couldn’t eat any of the sides I was so full!
Chef’s Top Tip: Don’t Knead Too Long
You knead the seitan like a pizza dough BUT you don’t want to knead it for too long. You have to be quite conservative with your kneading while at the same time kneading it just long enough to activate the gluten.
I found about 2 minutes to be just perfect, but it’s more about the feel than the time. It will go from sticky and soft to firm and when you stretch it, it will sort of snap back.
The reason you don’t want to knead it for too long is that the longer you knead, the tougher the texture will be.
On one of our recipe tests, Jaye took over the kneading and he thought it was supposed to be for 4 minutes, well lets just say our jaws got such a workout, we ended up cutting those vegan steaks into very thin strips (it was kinda like jerky!) and then putting it on sandwiches. It was still good, but not juicy and tender like you want a delicious vegan steak to be.
If you knead it for an even shorter time than we did here you get a texture that is so tender that it doesn’t really work for a vegan steak, but works well for different things like seitan strips if you want to use this for something else.
We adapted this recipe to make some soft and delicious seitan strips and then put those into a vegan shawarma, so if you’re looking for different ways to use this steak recipe then that’s a great option too.
Through my experimenting (and our experience of the super tough steak from too much kneading), I found a great article about working with seitan. The best tip I got was about kneading for less time if you want a more tender result, but there are loads of other great tips about spices and flavorings too, so check that out if you want to read more about wheat meat, it’s called: How To Make Perfect Seitan.
Serving Suggestions
I couldn’t resist making a mushroom sauce for this, it’s totally not necessary, they have all the flavor and deliciousness that is required, but c’mon with some mushroom sauce? That’s next level!
So the mushroom sauce I made was from our tofu burger recipe. If you’re inspired to make a sauce as well, I can highly recommend it. It’s a perfect match. Our vegan peppercorn sauce would be delicious with this as well.
And if you’re thinking of what to serve with your vegan steak, well, a classic baked potato with vegan sour cream and salad always make great sides. Some vegan mashed potatoes would also be great, and if you want a vegan gravy with it, that would be amazing too. Baked potato fries or a vegan potato salad or some vegan coleslaw on the side would also be really delicious.
Make Ahead, Storing and Freezing
Make Ahead: If you want to make them in advance, you can make them up to the point that they’ve just finished steaming, then unwrap them and store them in a sealed container in the fridge for 3-4 days and then marinate and fry them up when you’re ready.
Alternatively, you can place them in the marinade sauce, and then let them marinate for 1-2 days in the fridge and then fry them up when you’re ready.
Storing: Leftovers keep very well in the fridge for 5-7 days. We were making vegan steak sandwiches for the next couple of days after making these because like I said, they are super filling, but leftovers are not an issue since they are delicious over the next few days.
Freezing: If you would like to freeze them, then freeze them in the marinade sauce before you fry them up. Then thaw in the fridge and fry up as usual. If they suck up more of the marinade sauce while doing this, leaving you without much left to brush on while frying, then make up some more of the sauce.
More Vegan ‘Meat’ Recipes
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Steak
Ingredients
For the Vegan Steaks:
- ¾ cup Canned Chickpeas (Drained) (123g)
- ¼ cup Nutritional Yeast (15g)
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- ¼ tsp Cumin
- ¼ tsp Ground Coriander
- ½ tsp Oregano
- 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
- ½ cup Tomato Paste (130g)
- 1 tsp Paprika
- ¼ tsp Black Pepper
- 1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
- ¼ tsp Liquid Smoke
- ½ cup Vegetable Stock (120ml)
- 1 ¾ cups Vital Wheat Gluten (263g)
For the Marinade:
- ¼ cup Soy Sauce (60ml)
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 2 Tbsp Light Brown Sugar
- 2 Tbsp Tomato Paste
- ⅛ tsp Liquid Smoke
For Frying:
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil or other oil
For Serving (Optional):
- Baked Potatoes
- Creamy Mushroom Sauce
Instructions
- Add the chickpeas, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, coriander powder, oregano, soy sauce, tomato paste, paprika, black pepper, dijon mustard, liquid smoke and vegetable stock to the food processor and process until well mixed.
- Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the vital wheat gluten. Stir in with a spoon briefly and then get in there with your hands, mixing it into a dough. Knead the dough for around 2 minutes, you want it to go from sticky and soft to firm and stretchy, so that when you pull it, it snaps back into place. See our full post for lots more info on kneading. Make sure you don’t over-knead it because that will cause your steaks to become very tough.
- As soon as you have a firm, stretchy texture, flatten it out and cut it into 4 roughly equal sized steaks. Use a potato masher to bash the steaks down a bit to flatten, but don’t do this too much as it counts as kneading, and you don’t want to overdo it.
- Wrap the steaks individually in tinfoil and then steam them for 20 minutes. Don’t wrap them too tight as they will expand while steaming. You can steam them in a steamer basket over a pot of boiling water, or in any steamer that you have.
- While the steaks are steaming, prepare your marinade sauce by adding all the ingredients to a bowl and whisking them together. Let it sit for a little while and then whisk again. You want it to be nice and smooth and it can take a couple of minutes for the brown sugar to dissolve properly.
- After steaming for 20 minutes, unwrap the steaks from their tinfoil and place into a square dish. Pour over the marinade sauce and use a brush to make sure the steaks are properly covered. Turn them over in the sauce a few times.
- Heat a pan with a little olive oil (or other oil, 1 Tbsp is fine) and then fry the steaks (I found they all fitted into the same pan) flipping them regularly and brushing more marinade sauce on them every time you flip them, until they are nicely browned and caramelized.
- Serve with a side salad, baked potatoes with vegan sour cream, and if you like sauces with your steaks, then a creamy mushroom sauce goes wonderfully with this!
Video
Notes
- I really recommend you weigh out the wheat gluten for accuracy. I couldn’t find a ‘standard’ measure for a cup of wheat gluten, so just weighed it out and this is what I came to. But for accuracy, it would be best to weigh it.
- These steaks keep very well in the fridge for 5-7 days and leftovers can be sliced up and used for vegan steak sandwiches.
- If you want to make these in advance, you can make them up to the stage where they have finished steaming, and then unwrap them and place them in a sealed container for 3-4 days until you’re ready to marinade them and fry them up. You can also place them in the marinade sauce and then leave them for a day or two in the fridge soaking in the marinade and then fry them up when you’re ready. If they’re already in the marinade sauce then a couple of days is fine, if you want to keep them a little longer (3-4 days) then don’t put them in the marinade, just steam them, unwrap them and put them in a sealed container and only soak them in marinade when you’re ready to make them.
- Nutritional information is for 1 vegan steak (of 4) without mushroom sauce.
- Recipe adapted from Bosh with The Happy Pear.
Darbi West says
How long do you cook them for?
Alison Andrews says
Just a few minutes on each side until nicely browned.
Ivette says
Awesome!!! My meat eating friends and family totally prefer this over real meat and have asked me for the recipe. I made my own marinade: adobada. Then, I made veggie asada tacos with fresh tortillas and salsa. I made sure that when I grilled the veggie steak, it was toasty on the outside. It was delicious!
Alison Andrews says
Fantastic! Sounds awesome. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Charlene A Wieschowski says
This is my second time making these steaks, Love them so much. going to make them for my daughter. Thanks so much for this recipe
Alison Andrews says
Fantastic! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Kyle says
Made this yesterday for the first time. I didn’t steam it long enough(My fault, I wasn’t paying attention to temperature when I started timer.), but other than it being only slightly doughy, the flavor was great. I’ll definitely be making this again, only the next time I’ll pay more attention to the temperature of the steamer!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Kyle, so glad the flavor was good. It might also have something to do with the kneading since that has a lot to do with the texture, kneading it a few more times would result in a firmer texture. 🙂
Liz says
This recipe was perfectly directed and illustrated. The key was exactly as stated – no more than 2 minutes kneading (including flattening the steak) is what makes the texture perfect. The flavours were fantastic. My non-vegan husband and two best friends (non-vegan athletes) are making this all the time now. They want the protein and none of the animal-misery that goes with it.
Alison Andrews says
That is the best news! So awesome that your non vegan husband and friends are enjoying it too. Thanks so much for sharing and your awesome review! 🙂
Liz says
I made this recipe for the second time in two weeks. Everyone loves it! My menfolk devour it. Thank you for this super tasty and easy recipe. I appreciated your comments about how long to knead for. It is definitely the key to the texture. I got it right both times thanks to your excellent instructions.
Alison Andrews says
That is too awesome! Thanks so much for sharing Liz! So happy it’s been working out perfectly. 🙂
Liz says
Made this recipe this evening. Wasn’t hard. My boyfriend enjoyed it but seemed a bit too spongy to me. Could I have added too much wheat gluten?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Liz, if the texture is a little soft/spongey then knead it more next time. A little more kneading will get it to the more ‘steak-like’ firm texture. When I made our seitan strips for the vegan shawarma, I kneaded it for less time to get a softer texture, but that doesn’t work so well for the steak version, so definitely knead it for a bit longer next time and you should get to the right texture. When it comes to textures it’s all about the kneading. 🙂
Roxanne Mawson says
Thanks for showing me the inside…I will be saving this to make for my husband when he whines about the food I cook!
Alison Andrews says
Hahaha, cool! Hope he likes it! 🙂
Thaddeus says
Is this something that could be cooked on a grill?
Alison Andrews says
Yes, it definitely can be!
Jill Reinstadler says
I never got the knack of Seitan. Always turned into a spongy mess! I decided to try this because I was going to a carnivore sponsored barbecue and wanted to bring something I could eat along with them and not feel weird. It was delicious! This will certainly be a repeat for me . The instructions and pictures made it easy to prepare. thank you so much for a great recipes!
Alison Andrews says
So glad it was easy and a success. It’s definitely great barbecue fare! Thanks for your awesome review! 🙂
Arlene says
Sounds good I will try it asap!
Alison Andrews says
Wonderful! Let us know how it goes! 🙂
Theresa says
This looks wonderful, thank you for sharing! How could one go about making this recipe without using foil, in the spirit of zero waste living? Could grease proof paper and string work?
Thank you in advance:)
Alison Andrews says
Hi Theresa, the foil helps them to keep their shape and also not to absorb too much water from the steaming process. However, they are quite firm because of the kneading process so it’s possible that you could not wrap them at all and see how that goes. I have heard that if you steam in a bamboo steamer this helps it to not absorb too much of the water from steaming. Alternatively, your idea of grease proof paper might work fine too. Let us know how it goes!
Cap'n Dave says
Hi, Alison and Theresa! Yes, I know that this comment is now four months old, but for any others that might be interested, if you’re concerned about aluminum foil, you can wrap them in parchment paper and THEN wrap them in foil. Not only will this ensure practically zero aluminum contact with the seitan, but it will also ensure that the foil won’t have food contamination and make it immediately reusable or recyclable, whereas the parchment paper can be added to the compost bin! Yes, it means a bit more use, and I know that you were going for a reduction on that, Theresa, but at least in this manner, it ensures an environmentally equitable result.
Karen says
I can’t believe how realistic it looks! The taste and texture are super delicious and I found it really easy to follow the instructions – thanks for this great recipe!
Alison Andrews says
So happy to hear that Karen! Thanks for posting! 🙂
1300lvl says
Vwg is common. Every Whole Foods in USA sells it.
Alison Andrews says
Oh excellent. Good to know for those who live near a Whole Foods I’m sure.
Beth says
Looks and sounds delicious but is there a gluten free version for those of us who can’t have gluten?
Alison Andrews says
The wheat gluten is really the main ingredient in this recipe – so there are no adaptations for gluten-free on this recipe.
1300lvl says
Well you could use TVP actually, there are several Textured Vegetable Protein based recipes out there. Try googling the term TVP steak.
Alison Andrews says
The ones I’ve seen usually also use added gluten, and that would not be an adaptation for this recipe.
Kim says
Could we substitute for corn flour or even chic pea flour?
Alison Andrews says
The texture is really reliant on the vital wheat gluten, so that would not work for this particular recipe.
Anna Andrews says
Wow! That’s incredible!