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.
Jason says
Made this tonight and the taste is fantastic. Mine was a little doughy though I think I have to knead longer next time.
Carine says
Hi, if the wheat protein is not available, can i substitute it with mashed potatoes? Or bulgur Or any other suggestion
Alison Andrews says
Hi Carine, unfortunately there is no substitute for the wheat gluten in this recipe.
Amanda says
I tried the vegan steak recipe and I’m not sure where I went wrong because I brushed the sauce on both as instructed and fried it in the pan, however, it burned instantly. I panicked because it was charred on both sides and I took it out of the pan and placed it on the plate. Upon eating the steak it was chewy like gum. My boyfriend and I had a really good laugh trying to watch each other eat the steak lol.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Amanda, the charring is a normal thing when you’re cooking something with a marinade sauce, you could try reducing the heat and cooking it more slowly, but the texture is entirely from the kneading process and we have tips in the post to help you get that part right. If it’s very tough, then you kneaded it for too long. It can still be salvaged if you cut it into thin strips. 🙂
Kayla Dixon says
These look great. Today I looked into wheat gluten and couldnt believe the protein content, wow. Mind blown. It sucks that gluten has a bad rep. I am guessing, just as with anything really, that moderation is good with gluten? Thanks for the recipe I will be trying.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Kayla, yes it’s amazing how much protein it contains. I just think that some people are sensitive to it and others are fine with it. So if you’re not sensitive to it then you don’t have to be concerned with avoiding it at all really. 🙂
Helen says
I made these tonight and they looked & smelled great,but the consistency was very soft after cooking (frying) so wonder what I did wrong. How thick should the steaks be and for how long should they be cooked.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Helen, this would come down to the kneading part of the process. We have lots of info in the post about kneading, if they were soft then they needed to be kneaded for a longer time. 🙂
Cassandra says
The flavor is delicious but it was very chewy. Would cooking it longer fix this issue?? I also think I’d skip the nutritional yeast in the ” sour cream”. Next time. Any tips are helpful and appropriated.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Cassandra, the texture is all about the kneading, we have tips in the post about how to judge it. If it was very chewy it’s likely that it was kneaded just a little too long. Glad the flavor was delicious though! 🙂
Janae says
I’m making these for the first time tomorrow. Really looking forward to trying this out. Can these be grilled instead of pan fried?
Alison Andrews says
Yes they can be grilled! Hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
Ankit Mahajan says
Hi Alison!
It’s my father’s 50th birthday in a couple days and I am hoping to make this for him since he’s a vegetarian but has always wanted to eat a steak. Can I use normal wheat for this instead of wheat gluten or is wheat gluten necessary for this recipe?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Ankit, the vital wheat gluten is crucial to the texture and can’t be replaced with regular flour. Hope you’ll try the recipe as written because I’m sure your father will love it! 🙂
Shawn E. says
I REALLY want to try this, however my wife also has to be gluten free, which makes it hard to find a seitan steak recipe she can eat. Is there any GOOD steak recipes you know of, or how to modify this recipe to make it gluten free? Oh, one more thing… She doesn’t do mushrooms, so portabella steaks are out too.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Shawn, oh sorry that’s a tough one, I’m not aware of any recipes that are both gluten-free and mushroom free. All the recipes I’ve seen contain one or the other. Unfortunately this recipe relies on the gluten in the Vital Wheat Gluten for its structure and texture.
JonnyT says
There is a great article online about this. Google “The V Word’s Gluten-Free Answer to Seitan”
1 CUP of Gluten-Free Substitute for Vital Wheat Gluten
= 1/3 cup soy flour
= 1/3 cup amaranth flour
= 1/3 cup pea protein
= 2 1/2 tbs arrowroot powder
= 2 1/2 tsp xanthan or guar gum
I make up 3 or 4 cups, then just use the amount required by the recipe and keep the rest in sealed jar.
Adam says
If I wanted to do this but use an instapot would I adjust the steam time at all?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Adam, sorry I have no idea since I don’t have an instapot, but maybe someone else will be able to answer your question. 🙂
JonnyT says
Cook for 5 minutes on full pressure and then quick release. Leave to cool for 20 minutes in the pot.
Joe says
I’ve made this 4 times so far, using kidney or garbanzo beans depending what I have. EXCEPTIONAL! I do 1/6th portions not quarters bc they are just too big for me to eat in one meal. The flavor is outta sight! The texture is on point! And I can’t stop making them. My partner and I are two big guys with physical jobs. Nothing gives us energy like your juicy steaks. Thank you so much 🙂
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks Joe! 🙂
anna says
looks so delicious! I’m craving for that
Jamie says
Hi, I’d like to make these for the family as our Christmas meal, but I have a sibling that can’t mix beans and grains so is there something I can substitute the chickpeas with?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Jamie, sorry that is a tricky one. Any substitute I can think of is also bean based! You could try leaving it out but I’m not sure that the texture would end up quite as good. What I would do is change the method, so instead of using the food processor, I would just add all dry ingredients to a bowl and mix and then mix up all the wet ingredients separately and then add in with the dry and mix. If the mix is too wet add more vital wheat gluten and knead as usual. I would recommend testing it out before the day if you’re going to give it a go, just to see how it turns out. All the best! 🙂
Joe says
I’ve had success substituting WALNUTS, EDAMAME, and once CANNED SOYBEANS instead of beans. Maybe your sibling could eat one of those substitutes? It’s a pretty forgiving recipe in my experience. I made it 4 times as written, then played with it a few more times just to see what else might be tasty.
Edith says
SO GOOD for protein cravings!
Jana says
I like to stay away from aluminum foil. Do you think that the results could be similar without using foil to steam?
Fred says
Jana. First wrap them in parchment paper and then foil.