10 Minute Vegan Chicken (Seitan)

So if you have ever visited my blog before you probably already know I make a lot of seitan. Like a LOT. You name the meat and you will likely find a vegan version on the site. Including chicken.

I have recipes for easy chicken breast, chicken with crispy skin, fried chicken, buffalo chicken…..you get it.

But the truth is seitan takes time, because most seitan needs a nice long bake or simmer, and then it needs a very long fridge nap to firm up and turn from doughy, to convincingly meaty.

That is just the science of seitan.

So the recently I decided too late in the day I wanted chicken for dinner and didn’t have any in my freezer. I obviously could have deiced on something else for dinner but instead I started thinking there must be a way to make some vegan chicken a little faster.

Baking seitan and allowing it to steam covered in foil is my favorite cooking method. It’s quick and pretty fail proof. I also have a few recipes where I simmer it, but it is always larger pieces and it takes a good bit of time, and requires at least an 8 hour rest.

I though what if I quick simmered small chunks of vegan chicken to use in pastas, casseroles, salads, nuggets and such. I remembered seeming a lot of people make some tiktok skillet fried seitan that seemed really fast and easy ( I don’t tiktok) I don’t always need a full big vegan chicken breast, so small pieces would work for a lot of recipes, simmer up super fast, and the rest time would be minimal.

Simmered seitan holds some liquid. I mean you are cooking spongy dough in liquid, so it is naturally going to be more moist and a little softer in my experience than baked/steamed seitan. For me that is normally not the texture I am going for, but in this case it works fine. The pieces are small so cook super fast and firm up enough to slice up and use really quickly. I sliced up my test batch and heated it in a skillet with some seasoning to use on top of pasta and the whole family gave it a thumbs up!

Is this now my go to vegan chicken recipe? It depends on what I need to make chicken for, or how much time I have to cook and wait for it to rest. But if you are in hurry, don’t want to mess with shaping and baking up my easy vegan chicken breast, and just need small pieces of chicken to add to a recipe, this 10 minute vegan chicken may become your new go to!

Think pasta, casseroles, diced for chicken salad, soups, fajitas, on top of salads, or even breaded up and fried as a nugget. This 10 minute vegan seitan has a ton of delicious uses, It mixes in minutes, cooks in 10, and the rest time is hands down quicker than any other seitan I have made to date!! All of these things make this recipe and winner in my book!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 block super firm tofu (16 oz) the kind that is vacuum sealed in not much water

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten

• 2 -3 teaspoons No Chicken Better Than Bouillon, or any vegan chicken flavored bouillon powder or seasoning

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1-2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1/2 teaspoon sage

• 1/2 teaspoon rosemary

• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• 2 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 2 tablespoon neutral flavored oil

• 1/2 to 3/4 cups water

• 1 teaspoons salt

SIMMERING LIQUID:

• 2-3 cups water or broth

• 1-2 teaspoons Better Than Bouillon ( no chicken, or vegetable) or similar bouillon paste or powder

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Break up the tofu and place it into a food processor with the regular metal blade. Run the processor for around a minute until the tofu is broken down.

2. Add all of the remaining ingredients and let the food processor run for a couple of minutes. You want the mixture to form a dough. Letting the processor run will help knead the dough. We want this seitan to be firm so we need it to knead for a bit. If you dough seems a bit too dry, you can add another few tablespoons of water, just don’t add too much more!

3. Once you have a smooth but firm dough, remove it from the food processor and place on a clean counter. Knead the dough with your hands for about a minute, and begin to flatten the dough into about a 3/4 to 1 inch thick rectangle. ( I use my cutting mat as a guide and try to just press it out to the size of the mat.) Cut the dough into about 1 inch cubed pieces ( refer to pictures.

4. Add a few inches of water or broth to a deep skillet. I used about a cup and a half per batch. If using water, add a teaspoon or so of bouillon and whisk it in. Bring the liquid to a simmer. Begin adding vegan chicken pieces to the liquid by pressing the pieces out as flat as you can between your fingers before adding to the pan. You will probably only be able to fit half the batch in the pan at a time. Allow the pieces to simmer for 5 minutes per side. Remove from the liquid using tongs kind of shaking off excess liquid from the the piece over the pan, and place the vegan chicken on a metal cooling rack on top of a parchment or paper towel lined baking sheet. Add more liquid and bouillon to the pan if needed and repeat with remaining vegan chicken pieces.

5. Place the vegan chicken on the cooling rack uncovered in the fridge for about three hours. It does need to rest to get a firmer texture and the longer it rests the better it will be. But for this recipe a 3 hour rest gets it firm enough to slice and use however you like.

6. Store in airtight container after the rest in the fridge for up to a week or freeze for up to 6 months.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Chicken Philly

Vegan Dill Chicken Salad

Vegan Chicken Nuggets

vegan flank steak

Vegan Chicken Cordon Bleu

Truth be told, I never really ate Chicken Cordon Blue before I was vegan.

I don’t know why? I mean it was certainly something my parents never made, so maybe that’s why.

My husband on the other hand adored it, and ordered it often if we ever went somewhere and it was an option. I don’t know why I didn’t jump on the band wagon back then, but I didn’t.

So recently I decided I would give it a go since I had just baked up a vegan deli glazed ham and we still have a little left over. This ham is so super easy and if you haven’t tried making it yet, I highly recommend it. It is one of my favorite seitan recipes on our site! You can also use something like Lifelight smart bacon. But if you make the ham then USE IT!! It is so good!

I also make a really easy and very convincing vegan chicken breast. I normally make a batch or 2 each week for meal prep, because it is so quick and easy, and it keeps for a week in the fridge or months in freezer. For this recipe you do need to make a fresh batch of the chicken because you actually have to stuff the chicken seitan when it is still in its dough form.

For the cheese I used our all purpose cheese sauce, and I literally use it for almost any recipes that requires a gooey cheese. I make a ton of sliceable, shreddable vegan cheeses BUT this sauce is still my go to because it is so good, so easy, and most people have the ingredients in their pantry already! For this recipe you have to let the sauce cook until its good and thick and gooey! This just makes it easier to get it into the vegan chicken breast without it all oozing out! I say to make a half batch for the recipe, but if you make a full batch you can use it to make all kinds of things later in the week. Pizza, quesadillas, grilled cheese, nachos, lasagna, all kinds of things!

It might seem like this vegan Chicken Cordon Bleu recipe has a lot of steps, or too many ingredients, and you are not wrong, but also you are. If you have recently bake a vegan ham, or use pre-made vegan ham or bacon it is really easy! I really think once you make the cheese sauce it will become a staple in you fridge once you discover all the different ways you can use it! Because I already had the ham, this recipe did not take me any longer to make than regular vegan fried chicken! For us the cheese and ham are already staples in our house, making this recipe relatively quick and unfussy. So I guess it just depends on what you keep on hand.

But I will also say that if you do not already have a vegan ham laying around or a batch of cheese sauce made up, it is worth the effort to make both just to make this reicpe!! You will have lots of leftover ham that you eat on sandwiches, or freeze for later, and again the cheese sauce is so versatile and can be used in a ton of recipes!

I know not all Chicken Cordon Bleu comes with a sauce on it, but I am a fan of sauce. So I decided to use some reserved cheese to make a creamy sauce with a zesty kick from the dijon mustard. Again, you can skip this step but y’all, its soooo good. I might be my favorite part of the whole reicpe! So again I say just try it!!

So there you go, my versions of Vegan Chicken Cordon Bleu from a former non fan. Easier than you might think and now I have to wonder why I never ate it more when we were not vegan, because it is delicious! I hate to tell my husband he was right, but…….

INGREDIENTS:

• I cup thinly sliced vegan deli ham. or 8 sliced Lightlife Smart Bacon

• 1/2 batch all purpose vegan cheese sauce (1/4 cup for chicken, 1/2 cup for sauce)

• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard

• 1/3 cup vegan sour cream or plain unsweetened yogurt

• 1/3 cup unsweetened plant milk

• 3/4 cups all purpose flour

• 3/4 cups vegan panko bread crumbs

• 1/4 cup corn or tapioca starch

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 1 teaspoon of any all purpose sesoinng you like

• Oil for frying

CHICKEN BREAST:

• 1 block super firm tofu (16 oz) the kind that is vacuum sealed in not much water

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten

• 2 -3 teaspoons No Chicken Better Than Bouillon, or any vegan chicken flavored bouillon powder or seasoning

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1-2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1/2 teaspoon sage

• 1/2 teaspoon rosemary

• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• 2 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 2 tablespoon neural flavored oil

• 1/2 to 3/4 cups water

• 1 teaspoons salt

CREAMY DIJON MUSTARD SAUCE:

• 1/2 cup of prepared all purpose cheese sauce

• 1 cup unsweetened plant milk

• 1-2 teaspoon dijon mustard

• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

• 1/4 teaspoon paprika

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Prepare cheese sauce according to instructions. You want the sauce pretty thick so allow it too cook until it is thick and kind of stretchy. Allow it to cool while you prepare the chicken.

2. You can use our 86eats deli ham recipe or you can use a premade vegan ham or bacon. If you want to use our ham recipe it will have to be made ahead of time and allowed to rest.

3. For The Chicken: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Break up the tofu and place it into a food processor with the regular metal blade. Run the processor for around a minute until the tofu is broken down.

4. Add all of the remaining ingredients and let the food processor run for a couple of minutes. You want the mixture to form a dough. Letting the processor run will help knead the dough. We want this seitan to be firm so we need it to knead for a bit. If you dough seems a bit too dry, you can add another few tablespoons of water, just don’t add too much more! I start at 1/2 cup and work from there.

5. Once you have a smooth but firm dough, remove it from the food processor and place on a clean counter. Knead the dough with your hands for about a minute, forming a kind of oval, flattened out shaped with the dough. Cut the dough into 8 triangles. Using your hands, form the triangles into a chicken breast shape.

6. Flatten out the chicken breast shapes to about a half inch thick. You are going to stuff and fold the pieces in half so make sure you have formed them big enough and flat enough to accomplish this.

7. Take about a tablespoon of the cooled cheese sauce and spread it in the middle of the chicken breast but leave and edge of seitan dough untouched by the cheese ( the dough won’t stick together if it gets wet with the cheese.) Lay a few thin pieces of vegan ham on the cheese and fold the breast in half. Pinch the edges to make sure the vegan chicken breast is perfectly sealed. You don’t want any cheese oozing out while baking.

8. Place the stuffed chicken breast on a parchment lined baking sheet. Spray the tops with some cooking oil and tightly cover the entire pan with foil. If you don’t want the foil touching your food, lay another piece of parchment paper on top of the breast before covering in foil.

9. Let the chicken breast bake covered for 30 minutes.

10. Remove from the oven and allow to cool at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Pop the chicken in the fridge and let it rest for at least 4 hours. This rest time is important for the texture to develop.

1. To Coat The Chicken: In a medim bowl mix 1/3 cup plant milk, 1/3 cup sour cream or yogurt, and 1 teaspoon dijon mustard. In another bowl mix the flour, starch, bread crumbs, salt, onion powder, and all purpose seasoning.

2. Dip the chicken breast first in the wet mixture then the dry. Make sure the pieces are coated well and entirely.

3. Place a wire cooling rack on top of paper towel lined cookie sheet and place it next to the stove.

4. Heat a deep skillet with several inches of any neutral oil you prefer for frying. I like peanut or grapeseed oil. Get the oil good and hot (350 degrees if you have a kitchen thermometer, if you don’t you can put a chop stick in the pan touching the bottom. If little bubbles form around the tip of the chop stick then the oil is ready.) Fry a few pieces at a time, just for a few minutes per side or until the chicken breast begin to brown and are crispy. Place on cooling rack for a few minutes after they are done to allow excess oil to drip off. You can alternatively use an air fryer. Just fry at 375, giving them a mist with oil. You will need to flip the mid fry and probably fry them for about 10 minutes depending on how many you have in there. Just check on them and when they are brown and crispy they are done.

5. Prepare the sauce by whisking 1/2 cup of cheese in a sauce pan with the 1 cup of plant milk, dijon and spices. Heat on medium heat whisking continuously until the cheese sauce thins back out and the sauce is smooth. It will be lumpy and kind of weird at first, but just keep whisking and it will come together. You can add less or more dijon mustard depending on preference.

6. Serve the vegan Chicken Cordon Bleu with the creamy dijon sauce on the side or drizzled on top.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Chicken and Waffles

Vegan Chicken Nuggets

Vegan Chicken Parm Sandwihc

Southern Vegan Biscuit Chicken Pot Pie

I grew up eating a lot of frozen, individual sized pot pies.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, I was big fan as a kid.

Even after I grew up and started cooking on my own, I often made homemade pot pies, but I always made individual sized pies and used traditional pie crust.

And then one day I saw a skillet pot pie in a magazine with a biscuit top and I knew I had been missing out on something my whole life.

I mean I have been making homemade biscuits since I was a kids. My grandmother taught all of the grandkids who wanted to learn how to make biscuits. My grandparents lived on a farm in Alabama and my grandmother made biscuits every single day.

These biscuits are buttery, fluffy and a southern staple. And since making biscuit pot pie, I rarely crave pot pie with a traditional pie crust anymore. I mean I will look for any reason to make biscuits!!

So taking a traditional pot pie filling and adding a biscuit top was a no brainer.

As far as the chicken part goes, I make a LOT of vegan seitan meats. I often cook up a batch of easy vegan chicken breast on a Monday so we have it to use in recipes throughout the week. The vegan chicken is SO easy to make yourself, far less expensive than store bough vegan chicken, and taste a lot better.

If you already regularly make the 86eats vegan deli turkey, you can easily use 1/3 of that recipe in this as well. Both the chicken or the turkey recipes will work great for this pot pie!

Instead of adding plant milk to this recipe, I use cashews to make a super delicious vegan heavy cashew cream. You can also use sunflower seeds if you prefer, they work just as well.

So if you love pot pie and have never had one with a biscuit top, what are you waiting for. This pot pie is the perfect vegan comfort food, packed with veggies, vegan chicken, savory herbs, in a creamy sauce and topped with buttery vegan biscuits. It is also a good and delicious way to use up that 86eats deli turkey or easy vegan chicken breast and a great take on traditional pot pie!

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 Easy Vegan Chicken Breast or 1/3 of the 86eats Vegan deli turkey, diced into cubes

• 1/2 medium yellow onion, finely diced

• 3-4 stalks of celery, diced

• 3 carrots, diced

• 6 button mushrooms, quartered

• 1 can of green beans, drained and rinsed

• 1/4 cup cashews or sunflower seeds

• 2 1/2 cups water

• 1 teaspoons each thyme, rosemary, and sage

• 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 1-2 teaspoons No Chicken Better than Bouillon

• 1 teaspoon corn or tapioca starch plus 3 tablespoons water, whisked together

• 1 batch vegan southern biscuits

• 4 teaspoons vegan butter, divided

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Prepare chicken or turkey according to instructions. Both seitan recipes require a rest time so make sure you account for that when planning this recipe.

2. Place a large dutch oven over medium heat on the stove top. Add two teaspoons of vegan butter and the onion. Cook until the onion becomes soft and translucent.

3. Add the carrots, celery, and mushrooms and let the veggies hang out and cook for about 5 minutes, giving them some time to soften up a bit.

4. Add 2 cups of the water, Better Than Bouillon, and spices to the pot. Reduce the heat to medium/low and allow the veggies to simmer until they have completely softened and you can easily pierce them with a fork.

5. While the veggies are simmering, place the cashews or sunflower seeds in a microwave safe container and cover in water. Microwave on high for 3 minutes. If you do not own a microwave, you can bring them to a boil on the stove top for 3-5 minutes as well. Drain the water.

6. Add the nuts and 1/2 cup of fresh water to a high speed blender or food processor and blend until the nuts are completely broken down and you have a creamy liquid. Make sure there are no little bits of nuts left. You want the mixture completely smooth.

7. Add the cashew cream to the pot with the veggies. Add in the diced vegan chicken or turkey.

8. Whisk the starch and 3 tablespoons water together and add to the pot. Stir well and the mixture should quickly thicken.

9. Prepare the biscuit dough according to recipes instructions. Press the dough into a large half inch thick circle and cut the dough into 1 1/2 to 2 inch squares.

10. Preheat oven to 425 degrees

11. Transfer the chicken and veggie mixture to a 9 or10 inch cast iron skillet or any other large oven safe high sided skillet.

12. Using your hands spape the biscuit dough squares into a crude circle shape and place the biscuits on top of the chicken and veggie mixture in an even layer. Melt the remaining butter and brush the biscuit tops with the butter and sprinkle with some additional garlic powder and dried parsley if you like.

13. Bake the pot pie for about half an hour or until the biscuits are cooked through and have began to brown on top.

14. Allow to cool just a bit before serving.

15. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Lentil Shepherd’s Pie

Vegan Jackfruit Divan

Vegan Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls

Vegan Chicken Fries (seitan fries)

My kids have missed out on a lot of foods their friends regularly eat. The joys of being raised vegan.

I don’t regret any decisions we have made regarding our kids diets, but I do often feel a little guilty that they don’t have the slightest clue about so many odd culture foods that most teenagers are eating their weight in.

Like Burger King’s Chicken Fries.

Two of our 4 kids already have one foot out the door headed to college, and are driving. What they eat when they are out with friends or at college is their decision. As they have gotten older we have allowed them make decisions regarding their diets. I mean you have to let them grown up and think for themselves. What they eat at this point is up to them (when they are out and about on their own, with their own money) We can only hope that most of what we taught them sticks…you know go out into the world, make good choices, don’t eat real chicken fries, please!!!

That all said, I do try and recreate the foods they see and wish they could eat so they don’t feel totally deprived. I mean they are homeschooled and vegan often causing the to feel like the odd man out, but its not like we are raising them on lettuce, green juice and air. I like to fry things.

Again I am 100% aware that nobody “NEEDS” chicken fries in their lives, but my kids were very curious recently when we went through the Burger King drive thru on a road trip to visit their Grandparents.

I mean really, I find it genius. I LOVE fries. Like LOOOOVE them. And I am pretty into a vegan chicken nuggets, too. So turning vegan chicken into a crunchy, little dippable, stick of fried goodness was super appealing to me.

So I deiced as soon as we got home I was making some vegan chicken fries. This way my kids would feel like they were getting a weird drive thru junk food like everyone else, but I can sleep at night knowing it is a much healthier alternative (minus the whole deep fried part) and hopefully it’s things like vegan chicken fries that will help them continue on this diet path when they are on their own, knowing you can veganize just about any food you want!

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Y’all, they were a hit with everyone in the house. Including the 4 year old who currently lives off blueberries and edamame pretty exclusively these days. She LOVED them, and at this point her loving anything new is a huge triumph!

Can you air fry these you may ask? Sure you can! I actually popped a batch into my air fryer as I was pan frying a batch for comparison. I actually air fry my vegan chicken pretty often. It is obviously healthier and normally faster. This time was the exception to that rule. They did NOT fry faster in the air fryer! I had finished 2 batches in my frying pan and the ones in my air fryer were still not really golden and crispy.

That is not to say its a bad choice for frying them. I was frying them at 400 and after 5 minutes they still were not done. I suggest giving them a spray of oil and turning them once or twice until they are golden brown if you choose to air fry them!

However you decide to fry them, I am pretty sure you, and maybe your whole family will love these vegan chicken fries. And If you do have kids, they can know the joy of weird American fast food creations without having to actually eat meat. And hopefully once they are adults, that will keep them on a vegan path. Fingers crossed!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 block super firm tofu (16 oz) the kind that is vacuum sealed in not much water

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten

• 2 -3 teaspoons No Chicken Better Than Bouillon, or any vegan chicken flavored bouillon powder or seasoning

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1-2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1/2 teaspoon sage

• 1/2 teaspoon rosemary

• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• 2 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 2 tablespoon neural flavored oil

• 1/2 to 3/4 cups water

• 1 teaspoons salt

*I used high protein tofu in a vacuum sealed package and this what I strongly advise using. It is much firmer than regular firm tofu and has less moisture and a more chewy texture. If you opt to use regular firm tofu you will need to press it first and remove as much liquid as possible. You may need to adjust the amount of water in the recipet as well. Add the water last, adding just enough to accomplish a firm dough but pliable dough.

THE COATING:

• 1/2 cup vegan sour cream or unsweetened plain vegan yogurt

• 1 1/4 cup unsweetened plant milk

• 1/2 cup corn or tapioca starch

• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

• 2 cups panko bread crumbs (make sure they are vegan, many are. not, I use Trader Joes)

• 2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 2 teaspoons of your favorite all purpose seasoning (I use Cavenders all purpose greek)

• Oil for frying (I use grapeseed oil)

CHICKEN INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Break up the tofu and place it into a food processor with the regular metal blade. Run the processor for around a minute until the tofu is broken down.

2. Add all of the remaining ingredients and let the food processor run for a couple of minutes. You want the mixture to form a dough. Letting the processor run will help knead the dough. We want this seitan to be firm so we need it to knead for a bit. If you dough seems a bit too dry, you can add another few tablespoons of water, just don’t add too much more! I start at 1/2 cup and work from there.

3. Once you have a smooth but firm dough, remove it from the food processor and place on a clean counter. Knead the dough with your hands for about a minute. Begin pressing the dough out flat into a rectangle shape. Place the rectangle on a pieces of parchment paper around 12x16 inches. I like to spray the top with a little oil and place a piece of parchment paper on top, using my hands I press the dough out and then take a rolling pin and roll it out until I have a 12x16ish inch rectangle. This just helps the dough not stick on your hands and helps you get it pressed out more easily. (see pictures below for the process)

4. Using the parchment paper pick up the dough rectangle and transfer it to a large cookie sheet. Sprinkle the top with any all purpose seasoning you like. Cover the pan tightly and completely with aluminum foil creating a seal. The goal is to let the seitan steam inside the foil.

5. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool at room temperature for about half an hour then transfer to the fridge and allow the seitan to rest for 3-4 hours. This seitan is really thin so a 3-4 rest is normally enough for it to cool down and firm up! You must, MUST let the seitan rest! If you don’t, the texture will not be as firm as it needs to be!

   ** If your seitan has little holes in it and looks like bread, it is pretty likely your oven is cooking hotter than it is registering. You can get an oven thermometer to check this or you can reduce the oven temp by 25 degrees the next you bake it.

FRYING INSTUCITONS:

1. Once the dough has rested and has firmed up, remove from the fridge, and place on a cutting board. Begin at one end of the rectangle and cut 1/8 inch strips all the way across. Next, cut each strip in half. The goal is to cut the dough the size of a long fry.

2. In a medium sized mixing bowl whisk the plant milk with the sour cream or yogurt. In another mixing bowl, combine the flour, starch, panko and seasoning.

3. First dip the fry into the wet mixture, then into the flour mixture, pressing the dry mix into the seitan to make sure it’s well coated.

4. Heat several inches of a neutral flavored oil in a deep skillet. Bring the oil to 350 degrees. If you do not have a thermometer you can place a chop stick into the oil touching the bottom the pan. If little bubbles form around the tip of the chop stick then the oil Is ready.

5. Place a wire cooling rack on top of a paper towel lined baking sheet near the stove.

6. Add some of the coated fries to the oil in batches. Use some metal tongs to help straighten out the strips, and making sure not to over crowd the pan! These vegan chicken fries cook up REALLY fast and only need a minute or two per side! They are done once they are golden brown and crisp. Place finished fries on the cooling rack to allow excess oil to drip off while you fry the remaining vegan chicken fries.

7. Serve with your favorite dip on the side.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Cheeseburger Egg Rolls

Easy Vegan Chicken Breast

Vegan Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

Homemade Vegan Chicken Nuggets

I have mentioned before I have a lot of kids.

I mean not a lot, just 4, but to some people that seems like shocking number.

To us it’s the perfect number!

That said, kids like kid food, no matter how mature their palates are because they have been forced to eat a multitude of fancy vegan things. I mean, I am in my kitchen all day creating recipes and they eat whatever I make, with few complaints…..well everyone except the 4 year old that is.

That said, sometime the kids, even our teenagers, just want a plate of dinosaur or Mickey Mouse shaped chicken nuggets. Who can blame them. Thats is just plain fun!

So I occurred to me the other day (again sometimes I am extra slow with these ideas) that I should make our kids some vegan chicken nuggets. EVERY time we are at Costco and my kids see the “fun shaped nuggets” the lament wishing those were vegan…I mumble in agreement, and keep on moving.

But last week at Costco when I paused when passing the “fun nuggets” and a light bulb when off. We can just make our OWN homemade vegan chicken nuggets in any shape we want.

If you have made the 86eats easy baked vegan chicken breast, then you know it is an easy seitan recipe to bake up. These nuggets are the same base recipe, just a reduced cook time, and a shorter rest time…cause they are tiny!! So it doesn't not take as long for them to firm up. I also kept this dough a little bit softer so it would press out more easily for cutting the shapes. You don’t want too firm of a dough here because you want it to stretch to a pretty big rectangle.

If you have never made seitan a day in your life, I promise this recipe is as simple as mixing up and baking a super easy cookie recipe. Really!! Seitan is just a dough, and we just cutting and baking this dough into shapes. Then easily coating and baking them up. You don’t even have to fry these in hot oil!!

We have whole box of cute little cookie cutters we hardly ever use so this seemed like the the PERFECT use! Micky mouse, dinosaurs, hearts, stars, flowers. Everyone gets a nugget shape they are into.

My husband and myself include. We are in our 40s but a delicious fun vegan chicken nugget is not lost on us.

No worries if you don’t have fun shaped cookie cutters. You can just use a knife and cut them into little pieces of regular shaped nuggets. Or use a small round cutter and make them into a circle. Any shape will work.

If you want to freeze these vegan chicken nuggets, since the recipe yields about a pound and half of nuggets, you can do a light bake or air fry with them, and freeze them for later use.

These nuggets are pretty convincingly chicken nuggety, super crispy, and delicious.

So if you or your kids have been craving or wanting some vegan nuggets in all the fun shape those “other guys” get to eat, just know its really easy to make them at home. And not only are they cute, they are pretty tasty. I ate enough of this batch to confirm I will be making them weekly, and freezing them for easy weeknight dinner or lunches!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 block super firm tofu (16 oz) the kind that is vacuum sealed in not much water

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten

• 2 -3 teaspoons No Chicken Better Than Bouillon, or any vegan chicken flavored bouillon powder or seasoning

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1-2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1/2 teaspoon sage

• 1/2 teaspoon rosemary

• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• 2 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 2 tablespoon neural flavored oil

• 1/2 to 3/4 cups water

• 1 teaspoons salt

THE COATING:

• 3 cups vegan bread crumbs ( I use vegan panko, but put them blender to make a finer crumb)

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour

• 1/2 cup tapioca or corn starch

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup vegan yogurt or sour cream

• 1/2 cup unsweetened plant milk

*I used high protein tofu in a vacuum sealed package and this what I strongly advise using. It is much firmer than regular firm tofu and has less moisture and a more chewy texture. If you opt to use regular firm tofu you will need to press it first and remove as much liquid as possible. You may need to adjust the amount of water in the recipet as well. Add the water last, adding just enough to accomplish a nicely formed dough.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Break up the tofu and place it into a food processor with the regular metal blade. Run the processor for around a minute until the tofu is broken down.

2. Add all of the remaining ingredients and let the food processor run for a couple of minutes. You want the mixture to form a dough. Letting the processor run will help knead the dough. We want this seitan to be firm so we need it to knead for a bit. If you dough seems a bit too dry, you can add another few tablespoons of water, just don’t add too much more! I start at 1/2 cup and work from there. This dough needs to be soft enough to press out into about 12 inch by 8 inch rectangle..so a little softer than the turkey breast dough if you have made that before.

3. Once you have a smooth well formed dough, remove it from the food processor and place on a clean counter. Knead the dough with your hands for about a minute, forming a large rectangle, about 12 inches by 8 inches ( this is roughly the size of my cutting mat, so just press it out to roughly that size.

4. Using any cookie cutter shape you like, somewhere between one inch to two inches in size, begin cutting shapes from the dough. Repress out the scraps into another rectangle and continue until all of the dough has been used up.

5. Line a baking sheet in parchment paper or foil, spray with oil. Evenly space out the seitan chicken pieces making sure they are not touching. They will expand as they bake. Spray the tops with oil and give them a sprinkle with any seasoning you like. Tightly cover the entire pan in foil, tucking the edges tightly around the edges of the pan. We want the seitan to steam inside the pan. Place the pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

6. Remove the pans from the oven and remove the foil. Allow the vegan chicken nuggets to cool a bit then transfer the nuggets to a bowl or Tupperware container. Place the nuggets in the fridge for at least 3 hours to cool and rest. This rest time is important to get the vegan chicken nuggets to firm up and and have a texture similar to meat.

7. Once the nuggets have rested, prepare the coating but whisking the vegan yogurt or sour cream with the plant milk in a medium sized bowl or pie pan. In another bowl, add the 3 cups of bread crumbs, starch, flour, and seasoning. Store bought bread crumbs are mostly not vegan. They often have milk or eggs in them. I use vegan panko but pop them in my blender to get a fine crumb so it sticks better to the nuggets.

8. Start by dipping the vegan chicken nuggets first in the wet mixture ,then into the dry mixture, making sure to press the coating into both sides of the nuggets. You can either cook the nuggets in the oven or an air fryer.

9. AIR FRYING THE NUGGETS: Place nuggets in a single layer in the air fryer and give them a light mist with some spray oil. Cook at 375 degrees for about 10-12minutes. Checking them a few times, and cooking them just long enough to get them to your desired crispness. The cook time just depends on your air fryer and how crispy you like your nuggets.

10. OVEN BAKING INSTRUCTIONS: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place nuggets on a baking sheet that has either been sprayed with some cooking oil, or is lined in parchment paper ( they want to stick otherwise.) Give the tops another spray and bake for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes flip the nuggets using some tongs and bake another 5-10 minutes or until the nuggets are your desired crispness.

11. If you want to freeze these nuggets, I suggest a light bake. Just enough to lightly crispy the coating, then freeze them in an airtight container or zip lock freezer bag. Then when you are ready to reheat the nuggets, bake or air fry them as suggest above.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Popcorn Tofu

Vegan Southern Fried Chicken

Vegan Deli Sliced Turkey