Made with seitan, these vegan chicken breasts are incredibly meaty and packed with 27g of protein per serve! An easy one-bowl recipe that requires only a handful of ingredients and is freezer-friendly.
Slice, dice, or shred them and use them in any recipe that calls for chicken. We especially love using it to make vegan teriyaki chicken, seitan stir-fry, or add it to salads (like protein pasta salad).
This seitan chicken and my Instant Pot seitan have been on our weekly meal prep rotation for years now! It has a delicious, meat-like texture with mild flavors and can be added to any dish that traditionally calls for chicken.
Seitan is one of our favorite meat substitutes. Other than this recipe, we also like using it to make vegan roast beef, seitan steak, and vegan BBQ ribs.
💚Why you will love seitan chicken
- The combination of tofu and seitan yield a meaty yet succulent and tender texture
- Budget-friendly - cheaper alternative to store-bought vegan meat!
- Satisfying and packed with more than 25g of protein per serve
- A versatile base that can be grilled, stir-fried, seared, minced, or added to any dishes that use chicken
🧂What you will need
- Vital wheat gluten - The main ingredient to make seitan, consisting mainly of the gluten (a wheat protein).
- Firm/extra firm tofu - To cut some chewiness from wheat gluten, yielding tender seitan.
- Stock powder or cubes - The main flavoring in this recipe. Any will work, but I like using Massel's vegan chicken stock powder.
- Nutritional yeast - Adds extra umami to seitan.
- Liquid smoke - Optional; adds some smokiness and enhances the umami flavor of vegan chicken breast.
- Oil (not pictured) - Adding oil gives richness and improves seitan's texture.
- Other seasonings - This recipe is highly versatile, and you can make seitan taste however you want! Some great additions include cayenne pepper, Italian seasoning, paprika, poultry seasoning, or miso paste for extra umami flavors.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
🔪How to make
Step 1: In a food processor, add all ingredients except wheat gluten. Process until a smooth batter forms.
Step 2: Add wheat gluten and pulse until a dough forms.
Step 3: Knead the dough for 1-2 minutes.
Step 4: Separate them into 5 pieces. Shape them into oval patties, then wrap them in foil.
Step 5: Steam seitan for 30 minutes.
Step 6: Once cooked, remove the foil. Allow vegan chicken breast to cool down completely before using.
⏲️Making seitan in the Instant Pot
- Add a cup of water to the inner pot, and fit in the trivet.
- Cook at high pressure for 20 minutes.
- Quick-release pressure. Allow seitan chicken to cool before enjoying.
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✔Helpful tips
- Blend the wet mixture thoroughly- If your mixture is not smooth enough, your seitan chicken might come out gritty. A high-speed food processor (I love the Magimix one) yields the best result!
- Avoid over-kneading - too much kneading will make seitan chicken rubbery and tough. Kneading by hand for 2-3 minutes, or 1 minute in the food processor, is sufficient.
- Wrap with foil before steaming - Seitan needs to be wrapped in foil before steaming. Otherwise, they might expand too much during cooking, resulting in spongy seitan.
- Allow seitan to cool before serving - Vegan chicken breasts will be soft right after cooking, but firm up over time. Refrigerating them overnight will further improve their texture.
🥗Ways to use seitan chicken
- Pan-fry - Sear them in a pan for 2-3 minutes on each side, and it's great on salads like my tomato cucumber salad. Or make it a main and serve with mashed potatoes and soy sauce green beans.
- Add to stir-fries - Dice them up and add them to stir-fries, including my gochujang stir-fry, oyster sauce noodles, and fried rice vermicelli.
- As a chicken substitute - Substitute with this seitan chicken in any chicken dish! This includes kung pao, sweet and sour, or substituting tofu for seitan in my vegan orange chicken or Szechuan tofu.
- Sandwich filling - Slice them thinly, sear them, then add to sandwiches, burritos, or fajitas.
- Stews and curries - Replace tofu with this seitan in my tofu red curry or vegan Japanese curry.
- Mince them - To make vegan minced chicken, simply chop cooked vegan chicken in a food processor.
❄Storage suggestions
Storing - Cooled vegan chicken can be refrigerated for 5 days, or frozen for 3 months in zip-top bags.
Reheating - Allow frozen seitan to thaw overnight in the fridge or microwave in 30-second bursts. You can then pan-fry, grill, or add them to any dishes you are making.
❔Commonly asked questions
Unfortunately, seitan cannot be made gluten-free. The main ingredient in the making of seitan is vital wheat gluten, a flour purely consisting of gluten.
Seitan will turn excessively chewy if you over-knead it. The longer you knead your dough, the more the gluten strands develop, causing the seitan to turn rubbery.
📖 Recipe
Vegan Chicken Breast (seitan chicken)
Ingredients
- ½ block extra firm tofu drained and pressed (about 200g/7oz)
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon canola oil or another neutral-flavored oil
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari/shoyu (use gluten-free if needed)
- 1 teaspoon 'chicken' stock powder or vegetable stock powder/cubes
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke optional
- 1 ¼ cups vital wheat gluten
Instructions
- In a food processor, place all ingredients, except vital wheat gluten. Blend until a smooth batter forms.
- Next, add vital wheat gluten to the food processor and pulse until a dough forms.
- Knead the dough for 1-2 minutes, then separate it into 5 parts. Shape them into oval patties by gently pressing them down.
- Individually wrap the shaped dough in aluminum foil.
- To steam - Bring 1-2 inches of water to boil in a pot with the steamer basket inserted in. Once the water starts boiling, transfer seitan chicken into the basket and place the lid on. Steam for 30 minutes.Instant Pot - Place a cup of water into the pot and insert the trivet. Place vegan chicken breasts in and cook at high pressure for 15 minutes. Quick release pressure after the timer goes off.
- Let cooked seitan cool slightly before removing them from the foil. Allow to cool completely before using for the best texture.
Video
Notes
- Blend the wet mixture thoroughly- If your mixture is not smooth enough, your seitan chicken might come out gritty. A high-speed food processor (I love the Magimix one) yields the best result!
- Avoid over-kneading - too much kneading will make seitan chicken rubbery and tough. Kneading by hand for 2-3 minutes, or 1 minute in the food processor, is sufficient.
- Allow seitan to cool before serving - Vegan chicken breasts will be soft right after cooking, but firm up over time. Refrigerating them overnight will further improve their texture.
Save this recipe!
Email yourself a link to this page and come back later.
Also get a FREE high-protein vegan recipe eBook + weekly new recipes! Unsubscribe anytime.
Nutrition
Nutrition info calculated is just a rough estimate and is provided as a courtesy. Bear in mind that value will vary based on variables like specific brand or type of product used. To obtain the most accurate representation, it is highly recommended that you calculate it on your own with the actual amount and type of ingredient used.
Sam says
I never ever leave reviews. But I had to. I did the 2x recipe. And instead of water I used a broth using the better than bouillon “chicken” broth. For the poultry seasoning I used a rotisserie chicken seasoning but other than that did everything to a T. AMAZING. Other than dreading work this week, I am so excited for my meal prep. I think I’m going to make some quesadillas but will freeze half and will have a meal prep for next week as well. Thank you
Andrea says
Just made this.. i used regular tofu and just decreased the water a bit. I probably overkneaded them, but they came out perfect. I cooked them wrapped in foul in my pressure cooker. Regular presdure cooker with a valve. So fast, so easy. These are awesome!
Meesha says
Thanks for leaving a review! I am happy to hear that you like them. 😊
Kris says
I don’t like my food touching foil so I usually wrap in parchment first, then foil. Do you think I need to add more steaming time?
Meesha says
No, you do not need to increase the steaming time 😁
Kathy haisley says
Poultry seasoning varies so much, do you have an American favorite?
Meesha says
This is the one I am using - https://amzn.to/3MVNSwV.