Holiday Seitan Roast
Just in time for the upcoming festivities! And when it comes to these festivities, I am so much a fan of the roasts. I definitely have no issue using the various vegan roasts that are out on the market, but there were some things I really wanted from something homemade.
Things I Wanted Out of My Roast This Year:
- Something tender and not too dense.
- A crust! I wanted something flaky over the roast. There’s only one roast I know of that has a flaky crust.
- Most important, something not very labor intensive or that took too long to cook.
Enter holiday seitan roast! The inside includes my original seitan recipe with a few holiday tweaks plus a delicious phyllo crust over top. I am so excited to share this recipe for you because it was insanely easy and no strange ingredients!
The base for the seitan recipe uses vital wheat gluten, the protein component of wheat. To help flavor, we focused on some holiday flavors like thyme and umami thanks to some mushroom broth and tamari (soy sauce).
Just dump that into a bowl, and gently mix until a dough forms. This dough only needs to be lightly manipulated. If you kneed it too much it can become a bit tough, so don’t over do it!
Do you see this gorgeous log? Those elastic threads help to give this vegan meat it’s texture. Just shape it into a 1 to 1 1/2 inch thick flat loaf. Place on a lined sheet and bake in the oven. Easy.
After baking, our next step is adding a phyllo crust around this loaf. If you’ve never worked with phyllo before, it’s not bad at all! If anything, just remember a few things before working with it. Typically you find it in the freezer section, so you will need to make sure you do thaw it out at least 2 hours out in room temperature. When you unwrap it from the package, just make sure you keep all the sheets moist by covering it with a damp towel while you work with individual sheets. Pull one sheet and then cover the rest and you will prevent the remaining sheets from drying out.
Take one sheet and place it on a flat surface. You can use an oil spray or regular olive oil and a brush to lightly, but completely coat the top surface of the phyllo sheet. Take an additional sheet and layer it on top and spray or brush surface with oil again. Continue to repeat until you have 5 layers going. Place your cooled roast on the top layer, then roll the sheet over the roast like a sushi roll, trim off the ends if needed leaving about 2-3 inches on either end and fold in to seal. Baste the roll with some extra olive oil and you are ready!
This was my first time using phyllo, and I was worried this would be too complicated, but honestly, it wasn’t. Once you have your wrapped loaf, all you need to do is bake it and cool it once more. Then your feast is ready! Cut into your loaf with a sharp knife and enjoy the magic.
Description
An easy and flavorful roast that is elevated with a delicious phyllo crust. Crispness on the outside, tender meaty inside perfect to pair will all the holiday sides. Don't forget the gravy!
Ingredients
- 1 cup vital wheat gluten
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp dry thyme
- 1 cup mushroom broth
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 1 package phyllo dough sheets (thawed)
- 5 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- In a small bowl, combine all dry ingredients and stir to evenly distribute.
- Add in wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and with a spatula gently fold together to begin the formation of a dough. With hands gently and briefly kneed the dough, less than a minute.
- Transfer dough to a lined sheet and create a 1 1/2 inch thick flat loaf. Place dough in oven and bake for 25 minutes.
- Remove loaf from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 400F.
- While loaf is resting, open phyllo package and unwrap sheets. Cover sheets completely with a damp clean towel. Once ready to create phyllo dough layers, grab one sheet of phyllo and carefully lay flat on your working surface. With a can of oil spray or a brush and dish of olive oil, evenly coat sheet with a thin layer of oil. Grab another sheet and carefully place over top the oiled sheet and repeat the oiling technique for the top phyllo layer. Repeat layering until you have 5-6 sheets layered and oiled.
- Place roast on top of the layered phyllo directly in the middle. Grabbing all sheets from short end, roll sheets towards the direction of the loaf and wrap up like a sushi roll. Trim excess phyllo from the ends leaving about 3 inches on either side. Lightly brush a little oil on the ends and fold in towards the loaf to seal.
- Brush the outside of the loaf with a thin layer of oil and place back on baking sheet.
- Place loaf in oven and bake for another 10 minutes or until the outside becomes golden and crisp.
- Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before cutting into it with a sharpened knife.
Notes
- If you don’t want to use phyllo crust that is totally okay! I use this seitan recipe all the time without the crust. After baking it the first time, you can coat with your favorite sauce (I love BBQ sauce) and bake it again at a higher heat or grill for 10 minutes.Â
- You can also use Pillsbury’s Croissant dough (it’s vegan) or a vegan pastry puff dough to coat this as well. This will make it a little more doughy and flaky as apposed to crispy if using phyllo dough. The bonus with these two alternatives is the ease.Â
Did You Try This Recipe?
Then let me know what you thought! Share your creations by tagging me on Instagram with the hashtag #plantbasedrdeats
★ Catherine
What a yummy vegan roast! I made it with vegan chicken broth instead of mushrooms (I hate mushrooms) and it still came out soooo delicious!. It was my first time making it and I was in a rush so didn’t do phyllo dough crust but even so it was flavorful and good. I had some vegan gravy I froze from Thanksgiving but honest I even like it without any extra. This dish will definitely be made again soon. Thanks Catherine for the great recipe with clear directions and pics so its virtually foolproof!
Honestly the roast alone is just so good! I only pull out the phyllo if I want to make something fancy, but more importantly I am thrilled that you enjoyed it! Thank you Karen for making this. You are a true delight and so happy to have shared this! Truly appreciate this feedback!
Karen, I’m so happy you turned me on to this recipe. You know how much I love mushrooms! It came out great and was so nice and easy to make. I did make it without the philo dough to save on time and calories. Served with some mushroom gravy. My hubby loved it too. Can’t wait to try some other recipes on this site. Thanks to you both. Elise