Juicy, tender, and packed with flavors, this vegan roast beef makes the ultimate centerpiece for holiday dinners or Sunday roast! Requires minimal prep, simple ingredients, and is ready in an hour.
Similar to vegan steak and vegan Italian sausages, this recipe is made with seitan, giving it its distinct, meaty texture. Lighter sides like braised celery and tomato cucumber corn salad pair beautifully with this dish.
This has been my go-to holiday roast recipe ever since I became vegan 7 years ago. It has an incredibly meaty texture and is always a hit among non-vegan family and friends!
Another thing I like about this recipe is its versatility. Other than being a dinner main, you can slice up seitan roast and use it in sandwiches, pastas (like my vegan beef stroganoff), or add it to my romaine avocado salad.
Bonus: Finish off your meal with a generous slice of eggless coffee cake for a healthy but decadent treat!
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💚Why you will love vegan roast beef
- A hearty main perfect for weekly roast, holiday dinners, or dinner parties
- Fairly low effort with minimal prep - ready in an hour and calls for simple ingredients
- Packed with protein, making it incredibly filling and satisfying
- Store well, freezer-friendly, and can be made ahead for busy days
🧂What you will need
- Vital wheat gluten - The main ingredient used to make seitan. It is mainly made from the wheat protein, gluten. To know more about this ingredient, check out my post on seitan.
- Red kidney beans - Adding some beans to the dough cuts the seitan beef from becoming too tough. You can substitute it with other beans like navy beans, chickpeas, or pinto beans.
- "Beef" broth powder or bouillon - Gives seitan a subtle umami flavor. I am using Better Than Bouillon No Beef base.
- Tomato paste - Gives vegan roast a nice red hue to mimic traditional roast beef. Also adds a nice dose of umami to the roast.
- Red wine vinegar (not shown) - Adds a hint of tanginess to balance the flavors. Can be substituted with white wine vinegar or more water.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
🔪How to make
Step 1: In a food processor, place all ingredients except vital wheat gluten. Blend until a smooth paste forms.
Step 2: Add vital wheat gluten to the food processor and pulse until a dough forms.
Step 3: Knead for 2 minutes and shape the dough into a loaf resembling beef. Optionally, top it with some beef seasonings.
Step 4: Wrap it in aluminum foil. Steam for 50 minutes. Allow it to cool for 30 minutes.
Step 5: Optionally, you can sear your roast beef in a pan to give it crispy edges.
Step 6: Slice up your vegan roast beef, and it is ready to be served!
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✔Helpful tips
- Texture of seitan dough - The dough will feel moist and slightly tacky, but not sticky. Add more water if the dough is too tight, or more wheat gluten if it is too wet.
- Avoid overkneading dough - Kneading seitan dough for too long yields a tough and rubbery texture. I find kneading for 2-3 minutes the sweet spot.
- Allow seitan roast to cool - Fresh out of the oven, vegan roast beef can be quite soft. However, it will firm up as it cools.
- Refrigerating overnight - For the juiciest and meatiest texture, make it the day before and refrigerate overnight. When ready to serve, reheat in oven preheated to 180C/350F for 20 minutes.
- Instant Pot version - Fill the pot with a cup of water and insert a steamer rack. Add wrapped seitan and cook at high pressure for 45 minutes. Allow pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, then quick release remaining pressure.
🥔How to serve
As a main - With gravy and sides of choice, including roasted potatoes, air fryer Portobello, mashed potatoes, peas, or protein pasta salad.
Add to salads - Make roast beef salad by serving it on a bed of greens and drizzling on some vinaigrette or vegan Italian dressing.
Roast beef sandwich - Make a simple roast beef sandwich with thinly sliced vegan roast beef, horseradish sauce, vegan cheddar, and bread of choice.
Soups and stews - Add to chili or lentil carrot soup for extra flavor and protein. Or slice it up thinly and use it to top my vegan pho.
❄Storing suggestions
Storing - You can store the roast whole or sliced in freezer bags or airtight containers. They can be refrigerated for 4 days or frozen for 3 months. Allow frozen seitan roast to thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
Reheating -Warm vegan roast in the oven at 180C/350F - 5-8 minutes for sliced, and up to 20 minutes for whole. Optionally, slice them up and sear them in a hot pan on both sides, or add them to any dishes that call for beef.
📖 Recipe
Juicy Vegan Roast Beef (seitan roast)
Ingredients
- ¾ cup red kidney beans or chickpeas/navy beans/pinto beans
- ¾ cup water
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari/shoyu
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard or yellow mustard
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons vegan beef bouillon or stock powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 ¾ cups vital wheat gluten
Instructions
- Place all ingredients except vital wheat gluten in the food processor and process until a smooth batter forms.
- Gently add wheat gluten to the batter and blend until a dough forms. Dough should be moist, but not overly sticky. If your dough is too wet, add more wheat gluten. And if it is too tight, add a splash of water.
- On a clean kitchen surface, knead for around 2 minutes. Shape it into a loaf to mimic beef.
- Steam it in a steamer basket for 50 minutes. Optionally, sear it for 2-3 minutes on each side to char the surface.
- Allow vegan roast beef to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.
Notes
- Avoid overkneading dough - Kneading seitan dough for too long yields a tough and rubbery texture. I find kneading for 2-3 minutes the sweet spot.
- Refrigerating overnight - For the juiciest and meatiest texture, make it the day before and refrigerate overnight. When ready to serve, reheat in oven preheated to 180C/350F for 20 minutes.
- Instant Pot version - Fill the pot with a cup of water and insert a steamer rack. Add wrapped seitan and cook at high pressure for 45 minutes. Allow pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, then quick release the remaining pressure.
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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.
Margaret Ellis says
Hoping to make this tomorrow, my first "Beef" seitan. I normally steam in my slow cooker sitting joint on an upturned dish out of the water. Do you think this will be ok for this recipe (looks similar to my "chicken" recipe) About 2 hours do you reckon
Jim Mee Sha says
You can definitely use this method, but from experience, steaming it for an hour or so will be sufficient. 😊
Steve says
Delicious and adaptable to make lunch meat
Sarah says
Hi there, we have made this a few times and experimenting! We realized last week that we haven't been covering the roast in foil before steaming it in the instant pot, so I'm excited to see how different it comes out this week! I noticed this time that you can use red wine vinegar. Do I completely substitute the water for the vinegar? Or do a mixture of water and vinegar? Thanks!
Luke Allison says
Tried this for the first time. I used tinned mushrooms in the place of beans. It came out fairly well but I also agree that it's a bit rubbery. I think 50 minutes of steaming is too long and 35 would be adequate. Nothing that a little olive oil can't fix. Thanks for this recipe. I'll use it as a starting point.
Meesha says
You are welcome! Feel free to experiment around, and do let me know how it goes.
Michael says
What do you use for the beef seasoning?
Meesha says
This is the particular one I am using - https://amzn.to/3B7vFrA. As it is on the saltier side, I recommend lightly sprinkling it on top for decoration. 🙂
Jackie Carey says
Thanks for this recipe, it looks yummy! I do have a question before I try making this: the recipe says to "add ALL ingredients" (except the vital wheat gluten) in the food processor. Then further down the recipe says to "Shape it into a loaf to mimic beef, and sprinkle on your beef seasonings". Does this mean the beef seasonings are NOT part of the "ALL ingredients" as noted above? I'm unclear as to whether the beef seasonings are added to the food processor OR they're sprinkled on top of the final loaf. Thanks again, can't wait to try this! 🙂
Meesha says
Oh, sorry about that confusion! The beef seasoning is meant to be sprinkled on top. 😊
Karen Coles says
How do you “steam it?” I have no clue how to do that.
Meesha says
Bring about 1-2 inches of water in a pot to a boil, and fit in the steamer basket. Place the wrapped seitan into the steamer basket and cover the pot. Hope this helps!
Kris says
Is it possible to substitute something for the vital wheat gluten? I need to be gluten free. Would oat flour work?
Meesha says
Sorry, this recipe will not work with other kinds of flour, and can't be made gluten-free.😅
Ivonne says
Where I live, nutritional yeast is quite expensive, can I ommit it or replace it for another ingredient?
Meesha says
Yes, you can omit it! You might need to reduce the amount of water used by 1-2 tablespoons. 😁
Sue I says
Just wondering about the steaming part. Do you think I could steam in in my instant pot? I assume I would have to reduce the time but not sure by how much. Wondering your thoughts.
Meesha says
Although I have never tried it, I think it will work! From past experience, I would recommend steaming for 45-50 minutes. Hope this helps!
Graham says
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 says
I am really happy to hear that! 😊
Travis says
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 says
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!😁
Mike S says
Mine came out a bit chewy. Any way to add more 'juicy' back to it? Maybe broil and baste???
Meesha says
Yes, you can simply baste it in some vegan "beef" broth, or regular broth, along with herbs and spices of choice. Hope this helps!