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.
Martyna says
Looks good! Can I skip the nutritional yeast?
Alison Andrews says
It should still work without the nutritional yeast. 🙂
Derek says
Hi
Can you freeze these?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Derek, yes you can, the best way is to 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.
Robert VanNostrand says
Good afternoon Alison,
I have just finished making this vegan steak. After steaming I checked them and they seem very soft to the touch. Would that be the texture I should be looking for or did I mess something up. Thank you for your input on this. Robert Vann
Alison Andrews says
They shouldn’t be too soft, they should be quite firm and springy. Hope that helps!
LizaJane says
Made this last night. Used tomato sauce and marjoram instead of paste and oregano, because that’s what I had.
More ingredients than I usually go for but I really wanted to try it
Love the texture and chewyness of the Seitan, but the marinade was too intense for me , with brown sugar and tomato sauce it was virtually barbecue sauce. When I make it again I will moderate the marinade somehow.
These are very filling–i only could eat half a “steak”, with a piece if bread and butter!
Alison Andrews says
Hi LizaJane, thanks for sharing! They are definitely very filling! 🙂
Lori Politzer says
Question – the first time I made it, the recipe came out fantastic, the second time, the taste was great, but the consistency was too tough. I definitely did not over knead. Could it be based on the type of gluten.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Lori, I don’t think it would be brand specific, so I’m not sure what it would’ve been if not a little too much kneading. Glad it tasted good still! Was it a big difference in how tough it was?
Anita says
I’ve just made these. They are amazing! The marinade is fantastic too. It’s a shame I can’t post you a photo. Thank you.
Alison Andrews says
Yay! So glad they were good. You can always share a pic on instagram if you’re on instagram and tag us so we definitely see it. 🙂
Anita says
I am. I’ll try and post a photo now, after asking my daughter how I ‘tag’ it ???? Had again tonight, and we love them so much. My husband cooked his in chilli oil, which gave a nice kick. I will be working my way through your recipes from now on. So pleased I found your site ❤️
Dorota says
Hello, I done them but they looks little bit moist inside. Should it be like that? Should I steam them longer? They are really tasty but consistency is moist.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Dorota, I think that might be okay (if I’m understanding the issue properly) because the frying part should sort that out. 🙂
LizaJane says
Can’t wait to try this recipe! I’m transitioning to vegan after 45 years vegetarian and I love fake “meat”. Looks amazing! I have eaten seitan in Chinese food and really liked it.
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Hope you love the recipe! 🙂
Clive Morley says
Hi, we made these last night, absolutey fab! So very tastey and great texture too. Served them with chips and salad and a homemade pepper sauce. We substituted smoked paprika as we were out of the liquid smoke. This will now be a regular on Friday nights with a bottle or 2 of red wine. Also superb cold in a sandwich!
Thanks s for sharing! :0)
Alison Andrews says
So happy they were good! Thanks so much for sharing and the great review! 🙂
Mark says
Hi. Regards the Nutritional info, how many grams approximately per steak is this based on please???
Alison Andrews says
Hi Mark, it’s a quarter of the recipe per steak, I didn’t weigh out each steak in grams. The nutritional info is just an estimate based on the ingredients that I used, so if you want it to be entirely accurate it’s always best to calculate it with the exact ingredient brands that you used as the results can be slightly different.
Tricia says
I must’ve kneaded for too long because mine came out super tough. Oh well, I cut into strips, marinated and put on a bagel sandwich with smoked vegan cheese and it tasted great 🙂 Trying to find a meaty, stringy vegan meat like I’ve had at some Asian restaurants and when I was in India. If anyone knows what I’m talking about please let me know!
Tilly says
I always wonder how much difference it makes to steam in foil versus without… Is there any reason I couldn’t just put the steaks in my steamer basket unwrapped? I’ve done other seitan recipes before where I steamed it unwrapped, and just sprayed with a little cooking oil to keep them from sticking to each other
Alison Andrews says
Hi Tilly, you can definitely try it without foil. I haven’t tried it but it may work fine.
Thomas says
Thanks for this idea, Tilly. This looks like a fantastic recipe, but I would just as soon avoid aluminum foil everywhere too, so I will try it with the sprayed oil as you suggest. I hope yours worked!
Judy says
Hi. I have made these several times now. Both steamed and not. I prefer not. The unsteamed version was meatier. Chewy but tender inside. The steamed seem the same throughout. But love these. My husband evens asks for them. I made up some packets with all the spices. That way I don’t have all that measuring every time.
Alison Andrews says
Thanks for sharing Judy!
Jasmine says
What scale that measures in grams do you recommend? This looks delicious, but I don’t want to overdo the vital wheat gluten.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Jasmine, we have an OXO good grips food scale that we love. You could really use any digital food scale though, they usually will have a feature that lets you toggle the display to be ounces or grams or whatever you want it to be. 🙂
Brooklyn says
Can you recommend a steaming cook time when utilizing an Instantpot? Can’t wait to try!
Alison Andrews says
Sorry no idea about the instant pot, maybe someone else will be able to weigh in. 🙂