This juicy and tender vegan seitan roast beef will please even meat-eaters! Packed full of flavor, perfectly meaty with a great chew to it. High in protein, filling and hearty, it is the perfect meatless main dish for festive dinners.
You will be surprised by by how close this vegan roast beef resembles the real deal! Like my vegan chicken and seitan bacon, this meat substitute is made from seitan, which is what gives this vegan roast beef its perfect meaty texture.
Oh, and the additional bonus - It is way cheaper than store-bought roast!
💚Why you will love this recipe
- Meaty, moist and incredibly flavorsome - Even non-vegans will be impressed by how good this vegan roast beef taste!
- Easy to make and failproof - All you have to do is make the seitan dough, and bake it. Plus, this recipe only calls for ingredients that you can easily get your hands on.
- Can be made ahead and freeze well - It will stay well in the fridge for up to 4 days, and in the freezer for longer. Definitely help elevate some pressure off right before Christmas dinner!
- Wholesome and high in protein - A serving contains more than 25g of protein, and is made without soy or nuts.
🤔What is it made of?
As mentioned above, this vegan roast beef is made from seitan, a popular meat substitute made from vital wheat gluten. Wheat gluten is a high protein flour that mainly consist of wheat protein - gluten. If you are interested, you can read more about vital wheat gluten in this blog post.
Unlike tofu or beans, seitan is actually chewy and have a meat-like texture, and is super high in protein.
Other than wheat gluten, we will also be adding various spices and seasonings. Although seitan is pretty much flavorless on its own, it absorbs flavors really well, so you can basically make it taste like anything you like.
You probably had already guessed it by now, but this seitan roast beef is not gluten-free, and I strongly advise against substituting vital wheat gluten with other flours.
🧅What you will need
📃Notes/substitutions
- Vital wheat gluten - DO NOT SUBSTITUTE this with any other kinds of flour. It simply will not work!
- Red kidney beans - Can be substituted with other kinds of beans like pinto beans or cannellini beans.
- Dijon mustard - You can use yellow mustard in place.
- Liquid smoke - An optional ingredient, it is what gives vegan beef its smoky flavor.
🔪How to make
Preheat oven to 200C/400F.
Place all ingredients, except vital wheat gluten in a food processor and blend until smooth.
Then, add in vital wheat gluten and pulse until everything is well combined.
Remove dough from food processor, and knead it for 1-2 minutes, or until it firms up slightly.
Shape the dough into a roast and wrap it in foil. Place it on a baking sheet and bake for an hour, flipping your roast halfway through.
Let vegan roast beef cool down for at least 30 minutes before removing foil and slicing into it.
✔Helpful tips
- Do add a splash of water if your seitan dough appears to be dry. The texture should be slightly wetter than regular bread dough.
- If you prefer your seitan roast beef to be tougher and chewier, you can knead it for up to 5 minutes. Just keep in mind that the longer you knead your dough, the tougher the seitan will be.
- If you are uncomfortable with foil touching your food, wrap it with a layer of parchment paper first before wrapping on foil.
- Remember to turn your roast halfway through so it will be evenly browned on both sides. However, it is definitely not the end of the world if you forget about it! It will just be browner on one side.
- Allow your seitan roast to rest for 30 minutes after baking before unwrapping the foil and slicing into it.
🥔How to serve
Side dishes - You can serve seitan roast beef with a side of roasted potatoes or other vegetables, air-fried portobello mushrooms, mashed potatoes and gravy.
Salad - For a lighter meal, you can serve it on a bed of salad greens along with dressing (This Italian dressing is my favorite!) Or, you can use it to top heartier salad like protein pasta salad or red quinoa salad.
Sandwich - Slice it up thinly and use it as a sandwich filling along with tomato slices, shredded lettuce and your favorite vegan cheese and condiments.
Rice or other grains - This vegan roast beef is incredibly flavorful on its own, hence it pairs really well with freshly steamed rice or other grain of choice. To make it low carb, opt for cauliflower or broccoli rice.
❔Commonly asked questions
This vegan roast beef can be made ahead of time and be refrigerated for 3-4 days, or frozen for up to 3 months. Simply place the whole roast in a large freezer bag before storing. Make sure to seal the bag tightly to prevent your roast from drying out.
You can also store leftover slices of roast in sealed containers.
If you are reheating seitan roast beef from frozen, let it thaw completely first either in the fridge overnight, or on countertop for a few hours. Wrap it tightly in foil before proceeding on to heat it in the oven preheated to 200C/400F for 10-15 minutes, or until thoroughly warmed.
If reheating individual slices, I recommend heating them in the microwave to prevent them from drying out.
Unfortunately, this vegan roast beef is not and cannot be made gluten-free. It is close to impossible to substitute vital wheat gluten with other gluten-free flours.
If you are gluten intolerant, I do recommend checking out this gluten-free roast by A Virtual Vegan.
🍽More seitan recipes
If you did make this recipe, do leave a rating and comment down below, we love hearing from you! Subscribe to My Plantiful Cooking to get new recipes delivered straight to your inbox! Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to get the latest updates. 😉
📖 Recipe
Juicy Vegan Seitan Roast Beef
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- ¾ cup red kidney beans cooked or canned*
- ⅓ cup tomato paste
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard or yellow mustard
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon liquid smoke optional
- 1 ½ cup vital wheat gluten
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200C/400F.
- Place all ingredients, except vital wheat gluten in a food processor and blend until smooth.1 cup water, ¾ cup red kidney beans, ¼ cup nutritional yeast, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, 2 teaspoons onion powder, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, ½ teaspoon ground cumin, ½ teaspoon liquid smoke, ⅓ cup tomato paste
- Then, add in vital wheat gluten and pulse until everything is well combined.1 ½ cup vital wheat gluten
- Remove dough from food processor, and knead it for 1-2 minutes, or until it firms up slightly.
- Shape the dough into a roast and wrap it in foil. Place it on a baking sheet and bake for an hour, flipping your roast halfway through.
- Let it cool down for at least 30 minutes before removing foil and slicing into it.
Notes
- Do add a splash of water if your seitan dough appears to be dry. The texture should be slightly wetter than regular bread dough.
- If you prefer your seitan roast beef to be tougher and chewier, you can knead it for up to 5 minutes. Just keep in mind that the longer you knead your dough, the tougher the seitan will be.
- If you are uncomfortable with foil touching your food, wrap it with a layer of parchment paper first before wrapping on foil.
- Allow your seitan roast to rest for 30 minutes after baking before unwrapping the foil and slicing into it.
If reheating individual slices, I recommend heating them in the microwave to prevent them from drying out.
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.
Graham
I made this and increased the oven time to 1 h and 40 min at approx. 190 degrees C. Let it sit as recommended for at least 30 min and it turned out great. Thank you, really enjoyed it.
Meesha
I am really happy to hear that! 😊
Travis
I followed this recipe to a T and it did not turn out very well. The middle was very soft and dough like and not like any faux meat texture. Not sure what went wrong.
Meesha
Sorry to hear that! Did you let seitan cool down completely before slicing into it? The dough will be quite soft right after baking but will firm up as it cools. And you could also knead the dough longer if you prefer very firm seitan. Hope that helps!😁