Easy Homemade Seitan Stir-Fry
An easy homemade seitan used in a flavorful maple sesame vegetable stir-fry. No baking or steaming needed for making the seitan, and it’s perfectly chewy and high in plant protein.
I love Chinese takeout. For a long time, we were very lucky to live right next to an amazing Chinese restaurant that offered vegan meat alternatives. We eventually moved away, and we currently don’t have an equivalent to that glorious restaurant. So when I’m craving those delicious chewy textures, this is my new go to dish.
Seitan has been a favorite of mine for the longest time. I love it’s texture when cooked properly. When I first went vegan, I found a method of cooking it that I absolutely loved. This Baked BBQ Seitan was something we made regularly, and it was so easy to make because there was no extra steaming or long cooking time needed to make. And now this version is cooked easily in a pan, no extra steps required.
Why You’ll Love This Takeout Makeover
- Takes much less time than original seitan recipes to make. That’s because we are only pan frying it. No need for any other cooking equipment.
- You can customize the flavor to meet your needs. I used some general dry herbs to lend a more chicken-like flavor, but you can always change up some of the ingredients to flavor it how you choose.
- As always, this whole dish is vegan and can be made nut-free by opting for a seed based butter in the ingredients. It’s high in plant based protein, about 21 grams per serving.
Key Ingredients and Substitutions
- Vital Wheat Gluten: This is the protein component of your flour and can typically be found in baking aisle of your grocery store or you can order vital wheat gluten online. This recipe only works with vital wheat gluten and can not be replaced with any other flour.
- Nutritional Yeast: Gives some umami flavor to the wheat meat.
- Spices & Herbs: Garlic powder, thyme, coriander, and fennel seeds.
- Natural Nut & Seed Butter: I used peanut butter, but tahini or other nut butters work. Just want to make sure it’s runny.
- Soy Sauce: Provides more sodium and umami flavor.
- Vegetable Broth: Gives the gluten more flavor. If you want it to have a meatier flavor, feel free to swap for a vegan beef or vegan chicken broth.
- Stir-Fry Sauce: You can use your favorite sauce. Just in case, I left a very easy recipe below that you can use that uses soy sauce, maple syrup, sesame oil, garlic, ginger and rice wine vinegar.
How to Make Homemade Seitan
In a bowl, combine your dry ingredients together and give a good whisk. To a separate mug, combine the nut butter, soy sauce and vegetable broth and mix really well to combine. Add the liquid to the dry mix and fold together to form a dough. Carefully knead your seitan for a minute to make sure all the ingredients are fully combined.
To the same mug you mixed your broth in, add your stir-fry sauce ingredients and whisk to fully combine, making sure there are no lumps, then set aside.
Place your seitan on a cutting board and thinly slice your seitan into strips. Heat a pan up over a medium low heat with some oil. Once the pan is hot, place the strips in a single layer in the pan without overcrowding. Allow to heat and brown for about 2-3 minutes and then flip to the other side. Using a spatula, carefully press firmly down on the seitan pieces to help cook the inside of the seitan. Once the opposite side is browned, continue sautéing the seitan on a low heat for an additional 5-7 minutes to ensure that the seitan has cooked through then remove the seitan from the pan to cook the vegetables.
Add extra oil to the pan if needed and add in your vegetables with a pinch of salt. Sauté until the vegetables have softened, about 3-4 minutes. Add your seitan back in along with the stir-fry sauce and stir to combine. Allow the sauce to thicken until nice and glossy, then remove from heat.
Expert Tips for the Perfect Seitan
- Don’t over knead your seitan. You just need to knead your seitan for about a minute to incorporate all the ingredients together. Over kneading will lead your seitan to be really tough and firm.
- Since we are not steaming or baking, we want to make sure that the seitan is fully cooked to avoid any mushy texture in the center. The best way to ensure this is to cut your seitan thin. If it’s too thick, you will sear both sides, but the inside will still be mushy.
- Cook your seitan low and slow and when you flip it, use your spatula to press your seitan close to the heat, so it cooks all the way through. Avoid high temperatures as it will sear the outside, but still leave the inside mushy.
- Continue to sauté your seitan after it appears that the seitan has seared. If you press the seitan and it feels too soft, it needs more time to cook. Keep on the lowest heat setting and toss occasionally to help continue to firm it up and prevent it from burning.
- Don’t over crowd your pan. You need your seitan to be in continuous contact with the pan, so it cooks through evenly. So either use a large skillet or cook your seitan in batches.
Frequently Asked Questions
I love this recipe because it’s easy to batch cook in advance. Once your seitan is cooked, allow to completely cool and then store the extras in an airtight container to store in the fridge to use in meals throughout the week.
Check to see the thickness of your seitan. If it’s too thick, it likely didn’t have enough time to cook through. You can place your seitan in the oven to bake at 350F for 10 minutes to help it firm up. I find the seitan will be mushy as well if I don’t press firmly on the seitan as it cooks. Pressing down on it will give the center more exposure to the heat, which will help it cook through evenly.
Seitan is high in plant based protein and provides both iron and selenium. It’s filling and often helps those that miss the chewy textures of meats with their meals. One thing to note with seitan is that it is not a rich-source of the amino acid lysine, so it’s still a good idea to vary up the types of plant-based proteins you use regularly.
Storage Tips
Once properly cooled, store leftover seitan or stir-fry in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can also store extra seitan in the freezer for up to 3 months. I recommend freezing the seitan on a parchment lined plate in a single layer before transferring it to an airtight container in the freezer to help avoid the seitan from sticking together.
How to Serve
This dish reminds me of the Chinese takeout we used to order close to our old apartment. Since we don’t have vegetarian friendly options by us at the moment, this has been a great substitute. I love serving this with rice or stir-fry noodles. I’ll serve a portion of this with rice on the side if desired. And if I decide to use the noodles, I like stirring them into the the seitan and sauce together before serving.
More Easy Vegan Dinner Meals to Try
- Maple Balsamic Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Chickpeas
- Tofu Broccoli Stir Fry
- Sun-Dried Tomato White Bean Skillet
- Black Bean Tacos with Roasted Sweet Potato
- Hummus Nourish Bowl
Easy Homemade Seitan Stir-Fry
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
An easy homemade seitan used in a flavorful maple sesame vegetable stir-fry. No baking or steaming needed for making the seitan, and it’s perfectly chewy and high in plant protein.
Ingredients
- 1 cup vital wheat gluten
- 1 tsp dry thyme
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, optional
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 2 tbsp tahini or natural peanut butter
- 3/4 cup vegetable broth
- 1–2 tbsp avocado oil or other neutral oil
- 1 head broccoli, cut into small florets
- 1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped
- 1 small yellow onion, roughly chopped
Stir-Fry Sauce
- 1/4 cup soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1 tsp garlic chili sauce
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp ginger powder
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp corn starch
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine your gluten, thyme, coriander, garlic, fennel seeds, and nutritional yeast and give a good whisk.
- To a separate mug, combine the nut butter, soy sauce and vegetable broth and mix really well to combine. Add the liquid to the dry mix and fold together to form a dough. Carefully knead your seitan for a minute to make sure all the ingredients are fully combined.
- To the same mug you mixed your broth in, add your stir-fry sauce ingredients and whisk to fully combine, making sure there are no lumps, then set aside.
- Place your seitan on a cutting board and thinly slice your seitan into strips.
- Heat a large sauté pan up over a medium low heat with some oil. Once the pan is hot, place the strips in a single layer in the pan without overcrowding. Allow to heat and brown for about 2-3 minutes and then flip to the other side. Using a spatula, carefully press firmly down on the seitan pieces to help cook the inside of the seitan.
- Once the opposite side is browned, continue sautéing the seitan on a low heat for an additional 5 minutes to ensure that the seitan has cooked through then remove the seitan from the pan to cook the vegetables.
- Add extra oil to the pan if needed and add in your vegetables with a pinch of salt. Sauté until the vegetables have softened, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add your seitan back in with the vegetables and pour in the stir-fry sauce and stir to combine. Allow the sauce to thicken until nice and glossy, then remove from heat and serve.
Notes
Don’t over knead your seitan. You just need to knead your seitan for about a minute to incorporate all the ingredients together. Over kneading will lead your seitan to be really tough and firm.
Since we are not steaming or baking, we want to make sure that the seitan is fully cooked to avoid any mushy texture in the center. The best way to ensure this is to cut your seitan thin. If it’s too thick, you will sear both sides, but the inside will still be mushy.
Cook your seitan low and slow and when you flip it, use your spatula to press your seitan close to the heat, so it cooks all the way through. Avoid high temperatures as it will sear the outside, but still leave the inside mushy.
Continue to sauté your seitan after it appears that the seitan has seared. If you press the seitan and it feels too soft, it needs more time to cook. Keep on the lowest heat setting and toss occasionally to help continue to firm it up and prevent it from burning.
Don’t over crowd your pan. You need your seitan to be in continuous contact with the pan, so it cooks through evenly. So either use a large skillet or cook your seitan in batches.
If you tried this recipe or any other recipe on the blog, then let me know what you thought in the comments below! And if you loved it, don’t forget to rate it too. Feel free to follow on Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok for the latest nutrition tips and recipe videos.
★ Catherine
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One of my favorite recipes so far! Emphasis on the easy—I haven’t tried making seitan in the past because of the time and ingredients. This is a must try. I doubled the sauce and added roasted cashews. So. Delicious. The only recommendation I have is to make more. You’re going to want it!!
Awwww, truly appreciate the kindness with this review. Thank you! And hehe totally agree with making more for later. So good! 🙂
Absolutely loved this!! I’ve made seitan a few times, but this is definitely going to be my new go-to way of cooking it. It comes out perfectly in the pan, and the flavors are great!
Thank you so much for trying this Tara! I always get so excited when someone has success with seitan. So happy you enjoyed it! 🙂