Vegan Steak Tips

I hava a lot of seitan recipes on the site. From vegan chicken breast to a whole array of vegan deli meats, but steak was not something I had never really prioritized. I was not a big steak eater way back when I ate meat, so it wasn’t of great importance for me to veganize. Until it was.

My oldest daughter however LOVED steak. Like she would have eaten it every day if would have let her when she was little.

Recently I mentioned that I was going to grill kabobs for dinner, and my oldest daughter asked if I could please try and make steak so she could have a vegan steak kabob. I was grilling that night so If I was going to make steak it needed to be smaller pieces because as I always preach to yall, SEITAN NEEDS TO REST!!!!

So the obvious solution was a vegan steak tip. I could make them that morning and we would be able to eat them that night. I still prefer my seitan rest a full day, but for smaller pieces like these, or the vegan chicken breast on my site that are thin, a good 8 hour rest will normally do.

I have watched all kinds of methods over the years for vital wheat gluten seitans and the washed flour methods for getting a “shreddier” meat texture, and decided to try and braid and twist this seitan dough to see if the texture would be more steak like. I think it was. Have I tried making without braiding then twisting to know the difference? No, no I have not. Probably because I actually think it’s fun to braid then twist it….sort of like adult play dough. Feel free to skip that part and let me know your outcome. As for me, I’ll stick with my method because the texture isn’t as smooth as the seitans I don’t do this with, and that was my goal.

Even if you have never made seitan in your life, I truly believe you can make these vegan steak tips. They mix up in like 10 minutes and bake in under 30. These vegan steak tips will keep in the fridge for a week or so, and can be frozen for up to 6 months. You can use these vegan steak tips in so many different recipes. For steak kabobs, fajitas, tacos, soups, stews, on pizza, in casseroles or quiche. Just about any recipe that calls for beef pieces, you could use these vegan steak tips.

My one suggestion is get a good steak seasoning blend. I have been using Kinder’s steak blend and swear this is one of the reasons these steak tips are so dang good! Any steak seasoning would do but this is the one that I have used for these tips, and now even use in my roast beef. I got mine at Costco but you can order it online as well. This is not an affiliate post, this is just the seasoning I bought and really like and am often asked for a link if I mention a seasoning or product I use. So there you go.

For the record my daughter was a fan of the vegan steak tips, and much to my surprise my 5 year old daughter ate more of them than anyone and asked for a second batch the next day which I gladly obliged in making,

So here is my 86eats steak recipe, a long time coming. If you wanted a full size steak I would follow the braid twist instructions then flatten that out into a disk like in my easy vegan chicken breast recipe. Then I would follow the cut and bake instructions in the chicken recipe, and I think you would get a pretty tasty full sized steak!

Either way, I think you will like this easy vegan steak! I did, even though it was never on my own radar. It will not be a staple recipe in my house!

TROUBLE SHOOTING THIS REICPE:

*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.

• *If you find your steak has A LOT OF LITTLE HOLES, and a more BREAD LIKE TEXTURE this can be caused from under kneading the dough, BUT more likely cooking the seitan at too high of a temperature, or for too long. Check your ovens temperature with an oven thermometer. Your oven may just be cooking hotter than it registers. Also gas and electric ovens tend to cook differently. If you do not have an oven thermometer you can reduce the heat in your oven by 25 degrees, and keep the seitan covered for the whole bake.

INGREDIENTS:

• 16 oz package of super firm tofu (the kind that is vacuum sealed not in a tray of water)

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten

• 3 tablespoons tapioca starch

• 2 tablespoons beet powder

• 1-2 tablespoons No Beef or Vegetable Better than bouillon
  (I add 2 because I like the nice beefy flavor it gives but if you feel that is too much salt you can add 1 or less if you like)

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce ( I use low sodium or you can use coconut aminos)

• 1/4 cup BBQ sauce

• 2 teaspoons each of garlic powder, black pepper, and onion powder

• 2-3 teaspoons of any steak seasoning bled you like ( plus more for coating before you bake)

• 2 teaspoons neutral flavored oil or water

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Break up the tofu and place it into a food processor. 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.

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, forming a kind of loaf with the dough.

4. Evenly divide the dough into three pieces. ( see above for pictures of these following steps) Take one piece at a time a using your hands roll the dough into a rope around 12 inches long. Repeat with remaining two pieces. Lay the pieces on clean surface (cutting board, a borrowed ABC place mate from your 5 year old, clean counter top, whatever you got) side by side, pinch the top ends together. Braid the pieces as tightly as you can. Now cut the braid in half an roll each half into ropes about 16-18 inches. Pinch the ropes together at the top and twist them together as tightly as you can.

5. Now that you have one twisted rope, roll it back and forth on a smooth surface to sort of press it together. Cut the rope into 1 to 1 and 1/2 inch chunks. Press the chunks in the middle using your thumb kind of flattening them a bit. Braiding then twisting the dough give these beef tips a more beef life texture than just rolling out a smooth dough and cutting it. However you CAN just take the dough and roll it out into one long smooth 16 inch or so inch rope and cut it into chunks without the braid and twist. I just believe this is giving the shreddy texture. I have not tried without the braid and twist and if you try and find the texture beefy, by all means let me know and I will stand corrected!!

6. Lay a piece of parchment paper on top of a cookie sheet. Sprinkle the parchment in a steak blend seasoning. Lay the steak tips on the tray, give them a spray or brush with a little oil then roll them around in the seasoning. Take one or two large pieces of foil and cover the pan tightly with the foil.

7. Place the baking tray on the middle oven rack. Bake the beef tips for 15 minutes covered. Carefully remove the pan and from the oven and flip the steak tips using tongs. Replace the foil and bake for another 15 or so minutes depending on your oven and how hot it cooks. (read trouble shooting tips above about oven temp and oven thermometers)

8 .Remove the vegan steak tips from the oven and allow to cool at room temp. Once they have cooled place the baking sheet in there fridge or you can transfer the vegan steak tips to a storage container. Allow the vegan steak tips to cool for AT LEAST 5 HOURS. Seitan MUST rest for the texture to develop. It will seem soft or spongy before you let it rest. I prefer a full day rest but because these pieces are fairly small, a 6-8 hour rest will work. You can freeze the vegan steak tips for up to 6 months in an airtight container or freezer bag once I has cooled.

9. Use vegan steak tips in any recipe calling for steak or beef tips. Fajitas, tacos, kabobs, sandwiches , beef stroganoff, soups or stews, pizza topping , whatever!

If you like this recipe, then try these:

vegan chicken cordon bleu

vegan flank steak

vegan maple breakfast ham

Vegan BBQ Lil Smokies

I don’t know about you, but I am assuming if you found this recipe, you likely grew up on Lil Smokies too.

We used them for crockpot BBQ cocktail wieners or pigs in a blanket pretty often at my house. I actually can’t remember a holiday get together, or cookout without a crockpot of BBQ Lil Smokies sitting on the counter. They are nostalgic for me.

If you don’t know what a Lil Smokies is, it is simply a brand of a tiny little sausage links in the US. I guess there are different brands of the same kind fo product, but Lit Smokies are what we grew up eating.

I have thought about making vegan Lil Smokies for years but just never got around to it until now. I make homemade vegan hotdogs often enough but wasn’t sure these would work since I did not plan on indiviulay wrapping up a gazzilion lit franks to steam. Who would want to do that.

So I decided to try baking them with the pan wrapped up in foil vs the franks themselves.

Well yall, it worked!! I did add pictures of the batch I cooked on a lower oven rack that got weird. I got a little careless forming that last batch, and in my oven they seem to have cooked hotter than those on the top rack. Keep this in mind. ALL OVENS COOK DIFFERENTLY, this always effects seitan and it comes down to trial and error sometimes. Often ovens are not cooking at their registered temp. So it is a good idea to get a oven thermometer to know what yours is doing, and avoid cooking your seitan or baked goods too hot. This is true with all seitan. Don’t let this discourage you, just keep this in mind.

After you get the Lil links mixed up, baked, and rested, the rest is easy peasy. Mix the bbq sauce up, toss it all into a crockpot or slow cooker, and bust out the party toothpicks! Potlucks, football watching, birthday parties, BBQs, whatever the occasion, you can now enjoy the tiny BBQ Lil Smokies you used to love! What a time to be alive, y’all!

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*Below is a picture of the perfect vegan Lil Smokies vs the ones that got weird. Same dough, baked on same brand of pan, same oven temp, at the same time. The ones on the left were just on a different oven rack and I did not take as much care forming them. Truly they seemed to just have baked hotter on that rack causing them to bake faster and the bottoms to brown. This tells me my bottom oven coil must cook hotter than my top and my oven in fact. ( not surprised) does not bake evenly. I added both to the sauce and you could not tell the difference once it did. So if yours come out looking weird, the should still taste good!

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INGREDIENTS:

For the Vegan Lil Smokies:

• 16 oz package of super firm tofu, the kind that is vacuum sealed in little water

• 1 and 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten

• 1/3 cup yellow onion

• 1/4 cup sauerkraut (just the cabbage, not the juice)

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 2 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch

• 3 tablespoons ketchup or tomato sauce

• 2 tablespoons neutral flavored oil

• 1 tablespoonNo Beef Better Than Bouillon, or vegan beef bouillon powder

• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• 1 teaspoons ground coriander

• 1 teaspoon dried mustard

• 1 teaspoon paprika

• 1-2 teaspoon garlic powder

• 2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• a few tablespoons water if needed

For the Sauce:

• 1 bottle any bbq sauce you like

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 1/2 small onion finely diced

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

• 1/4 cup ketchup

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

(You can easily half this recipe and use half a batch of the Vegan Lil Smokies)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

• Dice the onion. Break up the tofu and place it into a food processor with the regular metal blade along with the onion and sauerkraut. Run the processor for around a minute until the tofu and onion are broken down.

• 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 a few tablespoons of water, just don’t add too much more!

• 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 rectangular shaped loaf with the dough.

• Evenly divide the dough into about 6 pieces.

• Take each piece and working them in your hands, one at a time, forming a dough rope. I like to roll between my hands and then lay the rope out on a clean counter top or cutting mat and continue rolling until each piece is around a 16 inch rope.

• Cut each rope into 8 equal sized pieces. Roll each piece in your hand to form a mini hotdog link shape, kind of pinching the ends to seal them. Try to get the dough as smooth as possible. I have pictured below the difference in taking your time to get the dough smooth, and the ones I rushed.

• Place all of the little smokies on 2 cookies sheets lined in parchment paper. Spray the smokies with some cooking oil and cover the pans tightly with foil. I wrap the foil around the pans and tuck it. You need the smokies to steam on the pan so make sure you have a nice seal around the edges with the foil.

• Place the pans in the oven and bake wrapped for 20 minutes. My smokies on the top rack of my oven came out perfectly. The ones on the rack below cooked too hot on the bottom. I suggest keep both pans on the top rack if they will fit, or swapping the pans mid bake so each batch bakes evenly.

• Carefully remove the vegan lil smokies from the oven and let them cool a minute on the pan. Transfer them to bowl and pop them in the fridge to rest for at least 4-5 hours. This rest is what gives you the correct texture for these vegan lil smokies. THEY MUST REST.

• Mix all of the sauce ingredients right in your crockpot or slow cooker and add the rested vegan Lil Smokies. I tuRned mine on high for 4 hours and switched it to warm. It will depend on your crockpot, but all you are really doing is heating the sauce for the sugar to melt and onions to soften, and heating the lit smokies through. After that has happened, just keep your crockpot/ slow cooker on warm. Alternatively, you can heat the sauce on the stove top in a pot. Add the smokies and let them heat through and transfer to a bowl to serve.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Kogo

Vegan Hotdogs

Vegan Casey’s Corner Slaw Carrot Dogs

Vegan Gyro Meat

Have you ever seen the Luke Bryan and Jimmy Fallon song about how to pronounce Gyro? Well I am linking it because its hilarious! Go watch it and giggle.

I grew up in Georgia and live in Florida now, and let me tell you, southerners seem to really struggle hard with how to pronounce gyro, and I have to assume that issue goes beyond the south.

Regardless of how you have been pronouncing gyro, or mispronouncing gyro all these years, we maybe can agree, if you ever had a gryo pre vegan, they were delicious!

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One of our favorite local restaurants is a place in Jacksonville Florida called Wafaa and Mikes. It is a Mediterranean restaurant attached to their family auto shop. And that alone probably tells you the food is amazing. Wafaa used to run the the restaurant and Mike ran the shop. Over the years other family members have taken the reigns, and now Wafaa’s son- in- law, Alabed, runs Wafaa’s. I could go on for days about this man’s genius. His food is delicious and so creative. And most importantly for us, he offers PLENTY of vegan options on the regular menu, and normally even creates a vegan special similar to the regular special they are offering. If you are ever in Jax you must go try this place. Seriously!!

I say all of this because I want the world to know about Wafaa and Mike’s, but also it is because of them that I ever made vegan gyro meat to begin with.

Several years ago we were chatting, and Alabed asked if I could create a meat for a vegan Mediterranean taco special he was going to be running. Side note, Mediterranean taco special is hands down my favorite special he does. So I said of course, and attempted to make a vegan gyro meat. This was early on when I had really only made some basic seitans and my vegan brisket was one of the few seitan recipes on my site.

Over all for an early seitan creation, the gyro meat was good, and then I never made another.

Why?!?! I don’t know really. I loved gyros before going vegan, but I also love a good falafel, or vegan grape leaves, or a hummus wrap, so when I do eat Mediterranean I am not usually pining for a gyro….until recently when out of nowhere I was?1?!?! Who knows why or what spurred it, but I suddenly really really needed a giant vegan gyro with EXTRA tzatziki. So I decided to give gyro meat another go.

This time I did things a bit differently. I didn’t want to just use my go to tofu vital wheat gluten base. This meat needs more texture since traditional gyro meat is beef and lamb combined. So I decided to also toss in some jackfruit for hopefully more texture. Beyond that I kept it pretty basic with traditional gyro spices, did my regular foil wrap bake, but this time added a simmer before the bake to get some extra flavor in there…..and once again you have a pretty beginner level, easy peasy, delicious seitan recipe.

This gryo meat will keep in the fridge in an air tight container for 10 days or can be frozen for up to 6 months. I often slice up my seitans and freeze half for later. Toss the seitan on the counter to thaw, and weeknight dinner just got that much easier.

Also I love to encourage anyone who has never tried their hand at setian to just TRY IT. Most of my seitan recipes and so simple and pretty forgiving. Be sure to read my troubleshooting notes below the ingredients list to see easily solvable, common issue with any seitan. It will save you some heartache down the road.

So, there you go, a simple way to make vegan gyro meat, and a song to help you pronounce it correctly. All in one blog post. Thats what I am here for y’all. And don’t forget to go see Alabed at Wafaa and Mike’s in Jax if you are ever in town. Best hummus, falafel, chickpea tacos, and unsweet tea you will ever have. EVER!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups vital wheat gluten

• 20 oz can jackfruit in brine ( not in syrup)

• 8 oz (half block) super firm/high protein tofu (the kind in the vacuum sealed package with little liquid)

• 1/4 cup corn or tapioca starch

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 1-2 tablespoons no beef or vegetable Better than Bouillon, or similar bouillon paste or powder

• 1 tablespoon tomato paste

• 2 teaspoons vegan Worcestershire sauce

• 1 tablespoon neutral flavored oil, like canola or grapeseed ( can use water if oil free)

• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

• 1 tablespoon dried parsley

• 2 tablespoons dried marjoram

• 1-2 tablespoons dried or fresh rosemary

• 2 teaspoons onion powder

• 2-3 teaspoons garlic powder

• 3 teaspoons celery salt

• 2 teaspoons black pepper

SIMMERING LIQUID:

• 4 cups water

• 1 tablespoon Better than Bouillon

• 2 teaspoons garlic powder

• 2 teaspoons onion powder

• 2 teaspoons dried parsley

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce

• 2 tablespoons corn or tapioca starch whisked in a 1/4 cup of water.

DRY RUB:

• 1-2 teaspoons marjoram

• 2 teaspoons onion salt

• 1-2 teaspoons rosemary

• 1 teaspoon each black pepper and salt

• a few teaspoons of oil or spray oil

TROUBLE SHOOTING THIS RECIPE:

*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.

*If you do not like foil, you can wrap this seitan in parchment then foil. The foil then won’t touch the food and you can reuse it several times, limiting foil waste. It does need a tight wrap and to steam in the oven inside the foil.

*I do NOT hava a GLUTEN FREE suggestion for this recipe. It is a vital wheat gluten based recipe and I do not have a suitable replacement for the VWG.

*If you find your turkey has A LOT OF LITTLE HOLES, and a more BREAD LIKE TEXTURE this can be caused from under kneading the dough, BUT more likely cooking the seitan at too high of a temperature, or for too long. Check your oven’s temperature with an oven thermometer. Your oven may just be cooking hotter than it registers. Also gas and electric ovens tend to cook differently. If you do not have an oven thermometer you can reduce the heat in your oven by 25 degrees, and keep the seitan covered for 60 minutes and open for 10-15.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Begin by adding the drained jackfruit to a food processor with the regular blade and blend until minced up a bit. (This is all the bits of jackfruit! Everything in the can besides the liquid!)

2. Break up the tofu and place it into a food processor. Run the processor for around a minute until the tofu is broken down.

3. 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. You just need to mix until the dough has come together. Just a minute or so.

4. 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. Cut dough in half, forming TWO kind of oval shaped loaves with the dough. It is hard to get one giant loaf to cook through with the recipe. Trust me, I tried.

5. Fill a large pot or dutch oven with 4 cups of water and all of the simmering spices BUT NOT THE STARCH. Bring the liquid to a boil and lower the heat to a simmer. Add the 2 seitan loaves to the liquid. Allow the seitan to simmer 15 minutes then flip. NOW ADD THE STARCH slurry and allow the loaves to simmer another 20 minutes. Thickening the liquid forms a kind of gravy that will coat the seitan in the seasoning before baking. Preheat oven to 350 degrees while the seitan simmers.

6. Take 2 pieces of aluminum for about 3x bigger than the loaf of dough, and lay them out flat. Coat the foil in spray oil or wipe it down with any oil you have. Sprinkle half of coating seasoning in the center of one piece of foil. Place the loaf on the seasoning and roll it around using some tongs. Repeat with the other loaf. The goal is to fully coat the loaf in the seasoning!

7. Place the loaves back in the center of the pieces of foil and fold up the sides, pinching at the top to seal them up, then twist the ends to fully seal the foil.

8. Place on a baking sheet and put in the oven on the middle rack. Bake sealed for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes carefully open up the foil, and continue baking for another 30 minutes. (bake times vary depending on oven, if holes are present in loaf after slicing, look at troubleshooting notes above.)

9. Remove finished gyro meat and let cool at room temp. Seal the foil back up and place back in the fridge over nigh or at least 8 hourst to rest. You can also let it rest unwrapped on a wire cooling rack. This step is important to get the texture we are trying achieve. If you try and serve it before it rests it will not be nearly as firm. LET IT REST…THE SEITAN MUST REST!!!!! (if you choose not to let it rest, don’t come round leaving sassy comments about the texture being off, you have warned)

10. Once the gyro meat has been in the fridge over night, you can remove it and slice it to serve. It should at this point be firm enough to slice using a mandolin or a sharp knife. Store in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 10 days.

11. Serve with pita, tzatziki, lettuce, tomato, mint, cucumbers or however you like. You can heat sliced gyro meat in a lightly oil pan for a few minutes before making a wrap If you like
    

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Deli Sliced Turkey

Easy Vegan Chicken Breast

Vegan Dry Rubbed Brisket

86eats vegan gyro

Vegan Corned Beef

So I have been making vegan deli meats for a while now.

The one goal has always been making the best vegan sandwich I can get my hands on!

I could live off of sandwiches. They have everything! Bread ( bread is my love language) veggies, delicious vegan deli meat, and in my case, vegan mayo. Almost ever sandwich needs mayo or some mayo based spread, but that is just a matter opinion.

I also get asked regularly if I have a recipe for “fill in the blank.” So far I have covered turkey, ham, roast beef, brisket, pastrami, salami, and pepperoni. All the meats I missed after going vegan, and all the meats I wanted on a perfect vegan sandwich.

A reuben is by far my all time hands down favorite sandwich. And I don’t discriminate. Before I was vegan I had a favorite reuben variation from all my favorite restaurants. From an original corned beef reuben to a turkey reuben, and even the most untraditional BBQ brisket with slaw reuben. I even make reuben latkes every year for Hanukkah.

I mean you can make a reuben with lots of different meats, and I just kept making mine with my vegan pastrami recipe, but one would argue the correct, traditional way is to make one with corned beef. And recently someone asked if I had a corned beef recipe. And I did not. Even with my fierce love of a reuben, I had just not delved into the world of corned beef making.

So I decided it was high time! And that is just what I did.

Making homemade seitan, especially deli meat is much easier than most people think, and if you have made any of my other deli meats recipes, you were probably surprised just how quick and easy it actually is.

If I were going to rate the other deli meats on my site as “beginner level’ then I might would rate this corned beef “intermediate.” Not as quick and easy, but truly to get a corned beef you are going to have to take a few extra steps.

Regular corned beef needs to hang out in a pickling brine for a time, hence the whole “corned” part of the name. It is also suppose to be sort of fall apart tender. This gave me some challenge as most of my deli meats are super firm so you can slice them nice and thin.

So for starters I needed a nice tender, and flavorful seitan, but I needed it to be able to slice thinly as well. So I opted to simmer the seitan in a pickling spice liquid and then wrap and bake it to steam. I really wanted all that flavor from the spice blend to sink in and simmering seemed like the answer. Baking it in the foil helped to firm it up and give it that nice outter coating.

This deli meat is not harder to make than the others on my site, but making the spice blend, and allowing it to simmer before the bake does take more time.

Outside of using this vegan corned beef to make the perfect reuben, it will also work great in you St Patty’s day corned beef and cabbage recipes. After you have allowed it to rest and firm up (NO, you may not skip this step) you can reheat it however you like. And now all the other vegans missing corned beef and cabbage will be green with envy….(bad St Patty’s day joke, I know)

Really, if you are on the fence with this recipe, it really is not too much harder than any of my other deli meats. It does take a little more time and effort, it may not end up on your weekly vegan meat making rotation, but I will be so worth it when you do make it! I promise.

And really yall, keep the seitan requests a comin’. I mean it only took me a year to get around to tackling this one but really, I do consider all the requests I get, and when I find the time and inspiration I am willing to try and tackle just about anything yall throw at me. Just don’t throw an actual deli meat at me, that would just be weird.

INGREDIENTS:

• 16 oz package of super firm tofu, the kind in a vacuum sealed package

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten

• 1/3 cup diced raw beet, peeled

• 1 teaspoons No Beef Better than Bouillon

• 1/4 cup corn starch or tapioca starch

• 2 teaspoons dijon mustard

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce or coconut aminos

• 1 tablespoon oil ( I used grape seed)

• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• 2 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 2 teaspoons onion powder

• 2 teaspoons ground coriander

• 1 teaspoon paprika

• 2 teaspoons powdered mustard

• 1 teaspoon each salt and black pepper

Pickling Spice :

You will need to use a spice grinder, coffee grinder, or mortar and pestle for this

• 2 star of anise

• 2 teaspoons juniper berries

• 2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds

• 2 teaspoons brown mustard seeds

• 2-3 teaspoons black pepper

• 2 teaspoons all spice

• 1/4 teaspoons ground clove, or 3 whole cloves

• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1 teaspoon cardamom

• 2 teaspoons dried dill

• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon coriander

• 2 whole bay leaves

Simmering Liquid:

• 4 cups water

• 1 heaping teaspoons No Beef Better Than Bouillon

• 2 teaspoons dijon mustard

• 1 teaspoon minced garlic

• All of the pickling spice

• 2 teaspoons corn starch or tapioca starch

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Add the peeled and cubed beet to the food processor. Let it run for a minute and get the beet good and broken down.

2. Break up the tofu and place it into a food processor along with the beet. Run the processor for around a minute until the tofu is broken down.

3. 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 the dough seems too dry, you can add water, just a teaspoon at a time until the dough comes together. I added NO water to my dough. The other liquid ingredients and the beet added enough moisture to mine.

4. 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 shaped loaf with the dough.

5. Add all of the spices to a spice grinder, or clean coffee grinder. Grind into a powder. I even dump in my already ground spices just to help mix it all up together. If using a mortar and pestle then just grind up the whole spices and mix them with the ground. I tend to have a decent selection of ground spices in my pantry at all times. I only added whole spices that I coudln’t find already ground. Use ground if you have it already.

6. In a large pot or dutch oven, add all of the simmering liquid ingredients EXCEPT for the starch. Bring the liquid to a boil over high heat.

7. Add the beef seitan to the liquid. Simmer with a lid for 25 minutes. Remove the lid for the remainder or the simmer, turning the seitan a few times as it cooks. After 45 minutes the liquid should be reduced by more than half.

8. Take a piece of foil at least double the size of your seitan and spray it with some oil. Using tongs and a spatula, transfer the vegan corned beef to the foil.

9. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

10. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of starch into the boiling liquid and whisk well. Scrape any bits of stuck seitan off the bottom of the pot into the mixture. Once it has thickened to a gravy consistency, spoon a few nice spoonfuls over the seitan and brush it on with a pastry brush. Flip the seitan and do the same on the other side. You won’t use all of the gravy you made.

11. Tightly wrap the foil around the vegan corned beef and repeat with another large piece of foil giving it a nice tight double wrap.

12. Bake for 40 minutes. Carefully open up the foil and allow to bake for another 20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool at room temperature for at least half an hour. Transfer to the fridge either wrapped back in the foil or you can drop it in a gallon freezer bag or some Tupperware. Allow the vegan corned beef to rest in the fridge over night or AT LEAST 6 HOURS. Seitan MUST REST to achieve the texture we are looking for. Trust me here. Let it rest.

13. After the vegan corned beef has rested, you can slice it and store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a 10 days or freeze for up to 6 months. You can reheat the full roast by slicing it thick and heating in the oven at 350 covered in foil so it does not dry out or reheat it in a pan or even the crock pot if cooking in a broth with cabbage and other veggies.

TROUBLE SHOOTING THIS REICPE:

*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.

• *If you find your turkey has A LOT OF LITTLE HOLES, and a more BREAD LIKE TEXTURE this can be caused from under kneading the dough, BUT more likely cooking the seitan at too high of a temperature, or for too long. Check your ovens temperature with an oven thermometer. Your oven may just be cooking hotter than it registers. Also gas and electric ovens tend to cook differently. If you do not have an oven thermometer you can reduce the heat in your oven by 25 degrees, and keep the seitan covered for 50 minutes and open for 10.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Deli Glazed Ham

Vegan Deli Sliced Turkey

Vegan Roast Beef

vegan flank steak

Vegan Boneless Buffalo Wings (seitan wings)

I have always been a fan of all things buffalo.

Pre-vegan and pre-vegetarian, boneless wings were my go to when we went out to eat.

I love, love, loved boneless buffalo wings with a big side of ranch dressing.

Over the years I have made different vegan variations of wings using an easy basic seitan recipe, and often crispy tofu.

None of the variations have been bad, but none have been and tasty as this version.

A while back I kind of perfected an easy vital wheat gluten/tofu chicken. By perfected, I just mean its perfect for me. You may disagree or have a recipe you like better, but this one is so super quick and easy, the texture is spot on, and the flavor is well, chicken like. So to me that is the perfect seitan chicken.

I has already used the recipe to make my kids fun shaped nuggets but hadn’t made wings with it yet.

I am often on autopilot so I had just kept making crispy tofu wings and never really thought to use the seitan chicken in its place, until recently.

Man am I a dummy sometime.

These vegan boneless wings are SOOOOOO FLIPPING GOOD!!!!!

I have given instructions for oil frying and air frying. Depending on the day and my mood, determines how I cook mine. Sometimes I pan fry them oil to free up my air fryer for French fries. Other times I don’t want to deal with the mess of the oil so forgo the fries and just make the wings in my air fryer.

If you choose to air fry them you will need to at least give them a spray of oil so they don’t stick to the fryer. If they stick the coating will rip off and nobody wants a naked wing..am I right?!?!

People often as if my oil fried recipes can be made in the air fryer so I just decided to try and give instructions for both methods.

No matter how you choose to fry these vegan buffalo wings, both methods will yield a super crispy, dippable, delicious wing! And really that was all I was ever looking in a vegan boneless wing.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten

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

• 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 teaspoon all purpose greek seasoning or any all purpose seasoning you like

• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 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 (you might not need much water at all. Add a little at a time just until the dough comes together and is smooth)

• 1 teaspoons salt

COATING:

• 1 cup all purpose flour

• 1 cup panko bread crumbs

• 1/2 cup tapioca or corn starch

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup vegan yogurt or sour cream

• 1 cup unsweetened plant milk

• 1 and 1/2 cups vegan buffalo sauce (we used Franks) plus 2 teaspoons vegan butter

• Oil if you are choosing the pan fry method

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

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 dough has come together, transfer to a clean counter top or cutting board. Press the dough out to a large 1/4 inch thick circle. Divide the circle into 4 pieces. Divide each of the 4 pieces into 8 pieces. You will get 32 nice sized vegan wings from the dough.

4. Shape the seitan pieces into a nugget shape. Just any ol blob like nugget shape will do. Don’t think too much about it!

5. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spread the vegan wings out on the 2 pans and give them a spray or brush with some oil. Tightly cover each pan with foil. You need to make sure the pan is all sealed up so the seitan can steam inside will baking.

6. Bake the vegan wings for 25 minuets. Remove from oven and allow to cool some at room temperature before transferring to the fridge to rest for AT LEAST 3 HOURS. Seitan needs to rest for the texture to improve. Trust me, let those wings rest y’all!

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:

1. To coat wings, whisk the vegan sour cream or yogurt with 1 cup of plant milk in a medium sized bowl.

2. In another medium sized bowl, whisk the flour, starch, panko, and seasoning.

3. Begin by dipping the wings one at a time in the wet mixture then pressing them into the flour mixture making sure all sides are well coated.

4. Once all of the vegan wings are coated you can pan fry them in oil or air fry them.

5. Air frying instructions: To air fry, place the wings in the air fryer basket. Depending on the size of your fryer, you will need to work in batches. Place a single layer of wings on the tray and give them a spray with oil so the coating doesn’t stick. Fry at 375 for 5-10 minutes (this just depends on how big your fryer is, and how many wings you crammed in there). I always open up my fryer a few times and give it a shake to make sure nothing is sticking. They are done once the coating is crispy and begging to brown.

6. Pan frying instructions: Add a couple of inches of a neutral flavored oil that is good for frying to a medium sized high sided skillet. I use a cast iron. Heat the oil over medium heat until it is good and hot. You can tell if the oil is ready by poking a chop stick or wooden skewer into the oil and touching the bottom of the pan. If little bubbles form around the chop stick the oil is ready. Line a baking sheet with paper towels and place a wire cooling rack on top. Fry the wings in batches for several minutes on each side until crispy and browned. Place the nuggets on the wire cooling rack to allow the excess oil to drip off.

7. Fill a microwave safe bowl the wing sauce and butter. Microwave for 2 minutes or until the butter has melted and the sauce is warm.

8. Toss the wings in the sauce and serve with vegan ranch or blue cheese dressing and celery.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

Vegan Tofu Wings

Vegan Buffalo Mac and Cheese

vegan flank steak

Vegan Patty Melt

In college I waited tables. I mean I guess that is pretty typical.

I worked a few places actually, and one of those places was Steak n Shake.

I took mostly night classes in college and I worked third shift at Steak n Shake and had plenty of idle time to get homework done and papers written. It worked out really well, actually.

I also got to eat half price and that is always a perk when you are a broke college student.

One of my favorite things ever at Steak n Shake was the Frisco melt. I was basically a patty melt with 1,000 island dressing.

Is it good for you? Well no. Is it delicious? Heck yes. Is it vegan? Absolutely not. Can you make it vegan. Well yes, you can!

I used Beyond beef patties for this recipe. I am not here to debate Beyond vs Impossible meat. I am an equal fan of both. But Costco sells Beyond meat burgers, and now the meatballs as well, and the price is better than anywhere else I have found. I actually just buy the burgers at Costco and thaw them to use in place of the 1 lb ground because it is the most affordable option!

Also, I personally love Beyond meat! So its a win win.

You could use any vegan hamburger patty you like, store-bought or homemade. Grinding up failed seitan often makes a decent burger patty if that is something you are into.

Add any cheese you like. We are family divided, and with this sandwich are split between being fans of vegan American cheese, or Gouda! You any cheese you like, store bought or homemade. I have about 40 cheese recipes on the site, so check some of those out if you are feeling adventurous! They are all really really easy so don’t be afraid to give it a go!

The next step is caramelizing onions. This is not a hard task by any means, it just takes a little while. So be patient. They are worth it!!! If you are especially impatient and just want to sauté your onions and not caramelize them, I’ll forgive you, but trusts me when I say the sandwich won’t be as tasty.

Next slather that baby with a whole lot of 1,000 island dressing and you are on you way to sandwich heaven. Seriously my love for 1,000 island runs deep and wide. Its one of my favorite salad dressings and also dips for fires or tater tots. If you hate 1,000 island then I am not sure we can be friends, but you can use whatever less exciting condiment you like. Mayo, ketchup, whatever…I am out of suggestions because the only right answer is 1,000 island.

Ok, so go make yourself a vegan patty melt. A gooey, cheesy, greasy, 1,000 dripping vegan. patty melt, and be happy!!!

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INGREDIENTS:

• 4 vegan burger patties ( we used Beyond Meat Patties)

• 8 pieces of any vegan sandwich bread you prefer

• 4 slices of vegan American, Cheddar, Gouda, or Swiss cheese.

• Vegan butter

• 2 larger yellow onions

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon sugar

Vegan 1000 Island Dressing:

• 3/4 cups vegan mayo

• 3 tablespoons ketchup

• 2-3 tablespoons diced dill pickles

• 1-2 teaspoons pickle juice

• salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Thinly slice both onions. In a large iron skillet or other large skillet, add a few teaspoons of vegan butter over medium/low heat. Add the onion and sprinkle with the salt. Allow the onions to cook for about 10 minutes with out really moving them around. After 10 minutes give them a good stir and allow another 10 minutes not really messing with them too much. If they seem to be burning reduce the heat to low. Sprinkle with the sugar and stir again. Let the onions cook another 10-15 minutes or until they are browned and caramelized. Set aside.

2. In a small bowl mix the mayo, pickles, ketchup, salt and pepper to taste. I add a few teaspoons of pickle juice just to thin it out a bit and add a vinegar kick.

3. Fry the burger patties, trying to get them pretty flattened out while frying. You don’t want a big thick patty for a patty melt, but rather a nice thin patty. I like to get mine flattened out and a little crispy around the edges. Place finished burgers on a plate. I like to add the cheese slices to the burgers hot out of the pan. I then put a large skillet lid over the plate so the cheese can steam and melt some before I grill the sandwiches. Vegan cheese doesn’t always melt super well and this step helps.

4. Butter one side of each slice of bread. Lay them butter side down in a large skillet over medium heat (I normally make 2 at a time.) Smear some 1000 island on the the bread, add the burgers, cheese, and 1/4 of the caramelized onions to each sandwich. Heat the sandwiches on each side long enough to get the bread toasty and the cheese good and melted.

5. Serve as is or with a side of fries or chips.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Big Beef and Cheddar

Vegan Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

Vegan Fish Fillet Sandwich

Vegan Big Beef and Cheddar Sandwich (Vegan Roast Beef)

What is an Arby’s big beef and cheddar you might ask? ( you would ask if you have no clue what Arby’s is or have never eaten there pre-vegan.) Well its a thinly sliced, warm roast beef sandwich, with cheddar cheese sauce, on an onion bun from Arby’s fast food restaurant ! And it my friends was DELICIOUS! The big beef and cheddar is more pricey than an original roast beef and most often did not fit into my high school, stolen change, budget.

When I was in high school, you could get 5 classic Arby’s roast beef sandwiches for $5. My friend Jessica and I would raid my step sisters giant jar of change for $5 so we could split 5 roast beef sandwiches between us. And let me tell you, we both could EASILY pound 2 and half classic roast beefs in one sitting, no problem. Not that I would advise anyone do that now that I am a grown up and realized nobody “needs” 2 and half sandwiches of any kind at one time.

My kids have never had real roast beef let alone an Arby’s roast beef sandwich or Arby’s sauce. My southern family would say, “bless their little hearts!” So recently when someone made and posted the 86eats roast beef to mimic an Arby’s big beef and cheddar, I realized how crazy it was that I had not done that yet and shared it with my own kids.

So, I already had a solid vegan roast beef recipe, and my good friend Mike has just loaned me a deli slicer, and I also have a solid vegan cheddar cheese sauce recipe, so all I need was to veganize the Arby’s sauce and an onion roll! Easy enough, y’all.

For the sauce, I just googled all the other copy cat Arby’s sauces, married a few together and used vegan ingredients. For the bun, I used our no rise hamburger bun recipe and changed up a few things to get a super tasty onion roll!

These buns are the quickest yeast buns ever, so easy to make and pretty much fail proof. I loved onion rolls as as kid, and often made my turkey sandwiches on one, so now that I have an easy vegan version, and the best vegan deli turkey lunch meat recipe, I am making these vegan onion rolls ALL THE TIME!

Heads up if you need to have the famous fries with your vegan big beef and cheddar, most chain grocery stores sell them in the freezer section! The actual Arby’s brand curly fries!! And they crisp up great in my air fryer!

Oh and if you were a fan of the famous Jamocha shake, I added my recipe at the bottom of this page. Quick, easy and worthy or dipping your fries right in there!

So without further ado, I present to you the 86eats vegan version of an Arby’s Big Beef and Cheddar!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 batch Vegan Deli Sliced Roast Beef (you will need to make this a day ahead so the seitan can adequately rest)

• 1 batch homemade onion rolls, or vegan store bought onion rolls,

• Arby’s sauce, homemade or from Arby’s (its vegan)

Vegan Cheddar Cheese Sauce:

• 1/2 cup cashews or sunflower seeds, covered in water and microwave 3 minutes

• 1 and 1/4 cup water (in addition to the water used to microwave the nuts)

• 2 tablespoons tapioca starch

• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

• 1 teaspoons turmeric

• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika

• 2 tablespoons sauerkraut without the juice (you can sub with 2 teaspoons light miso and a dash or apple cider vinegar)

• 1 teaspoon salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Prepare the vegan deli roast beef according to instructions. You will need to make it either in the morning if you wish to slice it in the evening or the day before. It requires at least a 6 hour rest in the fridge in order for it to firm up enough to slice thinly. You can slice the vegan roast beef with a super sharp knife or with an electric deli slicer for extra thin, Arby’s worthy slices.

2. Prepare the onion rolls according to the instructions. These onion rolls are a quick yeast roll, meaning they do not require a rise time. So start to finish they are done in about an hour. Or use any vegan store-bought bun you prefer.

3. You can make homemade Arby’s sauce or if you have some sauce packets laying around, use them, they are vegan.

4. Prepare the cheese sauce by adding the microwaved and drained nuts or seeds to high speed blende or food processor, along with the remaining ingredients. Blend until COMPLETELY SMOOTH! You don’t want any bits of nuts or seeds left.

5. Pour the cheese mixture into a medium size sauce pan and cook over medium heat stirring continuously until the cheese has thickens to a thin pudding consistency. If the sauce gets too thick you whisk in some extra water and thin it back out! You can easily reheat this sauce in a pan, agin adding a little water to help thin it back out. I normally have a batch of this in my fridge for nachos, tacos, sandwiches or dip for fries.

6. I like to slice and microwave the vegan roast beef wrapped in some wax paper to warm it through for about 30 seconds. I also like to heat the bun, not toast it, steam it to warm through.

7. Add heated vegan roast beef, along with cheese sauce, and Arby’s sauce to the buns to serve.

8. Serve with Arby’s brand curly fries and a homemade vegan Jamocha shake to complete your veganized Arby’s experience! Y’all have to know I did not go to all this trouble without making that shake and sharing the recipe!! Cause I love you all that much ;)

BONUS REICPE (VEGAN JAMOCAH SHAKE)

• Blend 3 cups vegan chocolate ice cream with 1 cup cold, strong coffee, and 1 cup plant milk! It’s that easy and sooooo good!!!

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

Vegan Fish Fillet Sandwich

Vegan Dry Rubbed Brisket

Vegan Cranberry Stuffed Turkey Roast

Thanksgiving is my most favorite holiday. Hands down.

I love everything about it. The family and friends, the weather, and alllllllll of the food.

I have made many seitan roast over the years for the holidays. Some stuffed, some not, some with crispy skin, some without. But never yet had I made a vegan holiday roast that was stuffed with crispy skin.

I have no idea why not, but I knew this year it was exactly what we needed and what I was going to make. A vegan stuffed turkey roast with crispy skin!

And trust me, making your own vegan holiday roast is probably WAY easier than you may think. Making seitan is actually pretty easy and super affordable!

You can stuff a seitan roast with just about anything, but one of my favorite foods in the whole word is cranberry sauce.

I can not imagine a holiday meal without a side of whole cranberry sauce, so that is what I deiced I would use in my vegan turkey stuffing this year.

I started with some stale, few day old sourdough slices, added some onion, almonds, herbs, and to make things simple, whole cranberry sauce from a can. There is no shame in using canned cranberry sauce, especially when you can not find fresh cranberries.

In October, in Florida (when I was testing this recipe) there were no fresh cranberries to be found. If it is cranberry season when you are making this, then I have a super easy recipe for some fresh homemade cranberry sauce! By all means do whichever you like or is readily available at the time.

Adding a crispy skin to your seitan breast is as easy as soaking a few sheets of rice paper and draping them over before you bake. They make such a nice thin, convincing skin on you vegan turkey and are so easy to work with! You can skip the skin part if you don’t have any rice paper or just are not into that. If you do, just mist the dough with some oil and sprinkle with your favorite seasoning before wrapping in foil and baking. The method for baking otherwise would remain the same as if you were adding the skin!

If you can not have tofu or are soy free you can check out another easy vegan turkey breast with jackfruit on our site. You could easily make that seitan recipe and stuff it with this stuffing, or make it as is and not stuff it!

There are so many other vegan meat options that would suit any holiday dinner on our website if this one does not appeal to you. Just check the meat substitute category for lots of options or even our Fall and Winter Holiday Menu E-Book. It is a full holiday meal menu start to finish! A main dish, side, deserts, and even cocktaisl. It is also loaded with video content to help you along while you are cooking!

Just know that you don’t have to settle on an overpriced, not very tasty, store bought roast this holiday season. You can make your own, super affordable, vegan stuffed turkey holiday roast right at home, and it is actually pretty easy to do! Don’t let seitan making intimidate you because it is actually really, really, easy to make!

So go, stuff a vegan turkey roast, and have the very best homemade holiday season!

Happy Holidays, Y’all!1

INGREDIENTS:

• 16oz block super firm tofu (the kind that is vacuum sealed in little water)

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten

• 1/2-3/4 cups water

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 2 tablespoons neutral flavored oil ( you can replace with water if you are oil free)

• 2 tablespoons tapioca starch or corn starch

• 2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1-2 teaspoons garlic powder

• 1/2 teaspoon sage

• 1 teaspoon rosemary

• 1 tablespoon No Chicken Better Than Bouillon

• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke

• 1 teaspoon salt optional if you feel like the bouillon is not salty enough

STUFFING:

• 1 can whole cranberry sauce

• 3 large slices stale bread (I used sour dough)

• 1/3 cup sliced almonds or any chopped nut your prefer.

• 1 small yellow onion finely diced

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 1-2 teaspoons No Chicken Better Than Bouillon

• 2 teaspoons dried sage

• 2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1 teaspoon black pepper

• 1-2 teaspoons dried thyme

• 1-2 teaspoons dried rosemary

Rice Paper Skin:

• 2 tablespoons white wine (or water if you don’t want to use wine)

• 3 tablespoons water

• 2 teaspoons Herbs de Provence or you can use a mix of rosemary, thyme and some sage.

• 1 teaspoon Vegetable Better than Bouillon

• 3 sheets rice paper

*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.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. The Stuffing: Take the stale bread and place it in a food processor or blender and bread it down to a crumb.

2. Finely dice the onion and give it a sauté in a pan with a little oil. Cook until translucent. Add it along with the bread crumbs, all of the seasoning, and the full can of cranberry sauce to a medium size bowl, and mix well. You can taste the filling after you mix it up and add more seasoning if you feel like you need it. Set aside.

3. The Turkey Breast: 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. If you do not have a food processor you can break down the tofu in a blender, then mix the remaining ingredient together by hand in a bowl. You will have knead the dough very well by hand on a clean surface for several minutes.

6. 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 large rectangle shaped the dough (see above picture.)

7. Scoop the stuffing into the center of the dough and spread it out in an even layer leaving an inch or so border around the edge of the rectangle untouched by the filling. It is important to not let the stuffing touch that outside edge of dough! Wet dough does not like to stick together and tends to rip!! If you fill like you have too much stuffing then take a bit out. This will vary deepening on the size of bread slices you used You don’t want to overstuff the roast.

8. Fold up the longer sides over the filling, then begin rolling the vegan turkey roast from one of the short ends as tightly as you can while keeping the filling from all squishing out! Once the roast is all rolled up, use your fingers to pinch and smooth out the ends and the underside seam. Just be careful not to rip any holes in the dough while pinching it!

9. Take a piece of aluminum foil about 3 times the size of your roast. Spray or brush it well with some oil.

10. Add all of the ingredients for the rice paper skin, except the rice paper, to a shallow dish or pie pan and whisk. Place one sheet of rice paper into the liquid and let it sit there until it becomes completely soft. This takes several minutes. Gently lift the rice paper from the dish and place it in the middle of the foil repeat with a second piece of rice paper and kind of overlap it a bit on the first piece. Place the “turkey” roast on top of the paper and fold the edges of the rice paper up around the roast. Continue with the other 2 pieces of rice paper just the same as the first, draping each one over the top of the roast and tucking or pressing the edges of the paper around the roast. The paper should be very soft and sticky, and cling well to the roast.

11. Spray the top of the vegan turkey, and all over the rice paper with some oil or you can brush it. This step is needed to help prevent the rice paper from sticking to the foil.

12. Fold up the foil around the roast making a nice tight pouch Place the pouch on a cookie sheet and into the oven on the middle rack.

13. Allow the vegan turkey roast to bake wrapped in the foil for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes CAREFULLY open up the foil. The rice paper may have stuck a little, just gently pull the foil back. If it sticking a lot you can spray a little oil into the foil pouch as you are pulling it back and tends to help it pull away. Some rips in the skin is ok, it won’t really be noticeable! Just smooth it back down with a spoon in any spots it ripped. Allow the vegan turkey roast to bake an additional 30 minutes unwrapped.

14. Remove the roast from the oven and let cool a bit at room temperature. Loosly recover the roast and place into the fridge to rest for AT LEAST 6 HOURS. THE BREAST MUST REST!!! Seitan requires a rest to firm up and get that meat like texture we are trying to accomplish. If you do not allow the breast to rest you will likely not be pleased with the texture!

15. After you have allowed the vegan turkey roast to REST, you can reheat it in the oven at 350 degrees. Place the roast on a baking sheet with a piece of foil lightly draped over the top. Let the roast heat for about 20 mintues or so to heat through. After about 20 minutes uncover the roast and brush the skin with some vegan butter. Let it bake for another 10 minutes or until the top is golden brown and crispy.

16. Slice to serve with your favorite side dishes and extra cranberry sauce!!

TROUBLE SHOOTING:

• If your turkey roast comes out looking bready once you slice it, and has little holes throughout it, you likely have an oven baking hotter than it is registering. You can get an over thermometer to check the temp, or knock the temp back 20 degrees the next time you bake it. You can also let it bake for 40 minutes wrapped up, and unwrapped for 20 minutes.

• You may have also not kneaded the dough long enough. Make sure you let it knead for a minute or two. The longer seitan knead the firmer it will be and we want a rather firm seitan for this recipe.

• If your roast forms a “skin bubble” that defates after you have let it rest, then you likely did not wrap the foil tightly enough. Make sure it is wrapped tightly!

• If the rice paper is sticking too badly to your foil you can first wrap the roast in parchment paper sprayed with oil then in the foil. I have always just wrapped it right in the foil but have had people claim this is their method and that it works well.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Easy Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Vegan Cornbread Dressing with Jackfruit

Vegan Green Bean Casserole Cups

vegan flank steak

Vegan Salami

Many, many, many, months ago my friend Rosemary Kate sent me a text asking if I had made a vegan salami yet.

I had not. I had, however, thought about it, but had not tried it at that point. So I got right to work.

Guys, some things just don’t come that easily. Like you may try a recipe 5 times before it works out, or doesn’t.

In this case I think I made 5 or 6 salamis and was just not really satisfied with how it looked.

I mean I know looks are not what counts in life, but where food is concerned, they kind of do matter. And when you are trying to mimic a classic meat, you want people to look at it and say, “oh is that vegan salami”, so I just kept on trying.

After attempting to mimic the fat bits with white seitan and it always failing, I tired small tapioca pearls.

My daughter and I have been mulling over the idea of using tapioca when I saw a fellow recipe creator and Facebook friend, Aleksandra (go join her Facebook group Creative Vegan Cooking! You will find so much inspiration there, I promise) make a beautiful seitan with tapioca!! And our suspicions were confirmed about using tapioca as the fat bits! She is a genius. I knew that already, but this sealed the deal.

I only had small pearls on hand so I tried that at first. And at first, that seemed like it was going to work. But once the salami baked up, the pearls were lost! Sigh…attempt number 5, at least.

So you 100% NEED TO USE THE LARGE PEARLS. They do not get lost in the dough. I had to order mine online because I could not easily find them at a regular grocery store.

Now if you do not care about it actually looking like salami, you do not have to use the pearls at all!! The only single thing those pearls do is recreate the fat bits in a non vegan salami. That is it. The taste and texture will be the same without them.

I am just tenacious and stubborn to a fault and would not dare post a vegan salami until I felt like it at least somewhat resembled a traditional salami.

This vegan salami recipe is pretty quick (mixing and baking that is) and easy to make. It does take some time for those pearls to soak, so keep that in mind when you go to make this vegan meat. You will need to soak the tapioca for about 4 hours. You will also need to allow for the VERY IMPORTANT REST TIME. And I yell this because you 100% have to let this salami rest before you go slicing into it. The texture depends on it.

I say this so you understand you will make vegan salami today and probably not eat it until tomorrow! But that is ok, good things come to those who wait, and this vegan salami is worth the wait.

It is also worth the savings. Store bought vegan meats are not very cheap. But if you make your own at home it will be pennies to the dollar you spend on pre-made vegan meats! That is reason enough for me to make my own vegan deli meats at home. They are so affordable and easy to make, once you start, there will be no looking back! Promise!

So go, make some vegan salami and stack it high on a cracker with a nice slice of vegan cheese, or on your favorite sandwich! It really is delicious and so easy to make your own vegan salami right at home!

INGREDIENTS:

• 16 oz of super firm tofu (the kind in vacuum sealed package)

• 1 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten

• 1/4 cup LARGE tapioca peals, plus hot water to soak them

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 1/4 cup tapioca or corn starch

• 1/3 cup diced cooked beet (buy in a jar or tin, or you can wrap in foil and bake at 400 degrees until tender. After it has baked the peel easily comes off)

• 2 tablespoons tomato paste

• 1 tablespoons No Beef or Vegetable Better Than Bouillon. or some other vegan bouillon paste or powder

• 2 teaspoons onion powder

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 2 teaspoons dried mustard

• 2 teaspoons sugar or monk fruit sweetener

• 1-2 teaspoons black pepper

• 1 teaspoon salt (optional)

• 2 tablespoons neutral flavored oil (you can also use water instead)

• 1-2 teaspoon liquid smoke

• 1-2 teaspoons dried red pepper flakes

• 1-2 tablespoons water if needed

*I use SUPER FIRM TOFU that is packaged in a sort of vacuum sealed wrapper. This tofu if much firmer than firm or extra firm and does not hold much water. Because of this you do not need to press this tofu AND it yields a much firmer seitan than regular or extra firm tofu. If you can only find firm or extra firm tofu then you will need to press it really well first, I suggest at least 30 minutes.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a medium sized bowl, add 1/4 cup of large tapioca pearls. Cover the pearls in HOT water. You can also add 1 teaspoon of bouillon if you like but don’t have to. Let the pearls soak for about 4 hours. Once they are done soaking, drain and set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

3. Add the cooked beet to a food processor or high speed blender, and blend until the beet is well minced and broken down.

4. Add the tofu (no need to press if using super firm) broken up into pieces into the food processor, or blender with the beet, and blend for a minute. You want to blend until the tofu iis good and broken down.

5. Food Processor Instructions: 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 a tablespoons or of water, just don’t add too much more! You need a firm dough for this recipe.

6. Blender Instructions: If you are using blender then break down the beet and tofu in the blender and get it as smooth as you can. Add the tofu and beet mixture to a bowl with the remaining ingredients and mix by hand. You will have to get the dough as mixed as you can then turn it out onto a clean surface to knead the dough by hand unit it comes together. You alternatively could add the tofu and beet mixture and remaining ingredients to a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, and allow it to mix and knead that way.

7. 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 large rectangle shaped loaf with the dough. Try to stretch and flatten the dough out as much as you can.

8. Sprinkle and few tablespoons of the tapioca pearls evenly over the dough and press them in the best you can with your hands (they like to pop out of the springy dough.) Now fold the dough in half and sprinkle more pearls, pressing them in. fold again, adding more pearls, repeating this process until you can not fold the dough any more, and you are out of pearls ( as you fold pearls will spring out as mentioned above, its ok if you don’t get them all in there.)

9. Once you have gotten all of the pearls (or as many as you can) into the dough, cut it in half. Begin kneading one piece at time by hand until the dough comes back together and is somewhat smooth.

10. Shape each piece of dough into a 7 or 8 inch log. You will need to roll and pinch the dough to get it as smooth as you can. Adding the tapioca pearls makes getting the dough smooth a little more difficult than if you were making something like a pepperoni. But it will get smooth, I promise.

11. Take two pieces of aluminum foil about 3x bigger than each log of dough, and lay it out flat. Coat the foil in spray oil or wipe it down with any oil you have. Place a log of seitan at one of the long ends of the foil and begin rolling. Once you have it rolled up tightly in the foil, twist up the ends of the foil nice and tight (see picture) like foil arms.

12. Take a dutch oven, cast iron skillet, or even a baking dish, and use the foil ends to drape the salamis over the pot or pan. You want them suspended and not touching the bottom. If the salami is baked resting on a pan, the bottom tends to flatten a bit and brown while it bakes. This will help you keep a nice round shape without a water bath, and the bottom won’t brown!

13. Place the pot or pan in the oven on the middle rack, and let the vegan salamis bake wrapped for 1 hour.

14. Remove from the oven and allow to cool enough to open the foil. Allow to further cool at room temperature. Once cooled place in a zip lock bag or airtight container in the fridge.

15. Leave the vegan salami in the fridge to rest for at least 6 hours. I normally just leave mine to rest over night. The salami MUST REST! Seitan will firm up only after it has a nice long rest in the fridge! If you want a firm sliceable vegan salami then you have to let it rest, y’all!

16. Store rested vegan salami in the fridge for up to 10 days in an air tight container, or freeze for up to 6 months.

Trouble shooting issues with your vegan salami:

1. If your vegan salami seems too doughy after it has rested, then you may not have kneaded it long enough. The longer you knead seitan dough the tougher / firmer it will get. Make sure to let the dough knead a few minutes. Also make sure you wrap that foil nice and tight!!!

2. It also may be that your oven temp is off and is not the temperature it is registering. You can get an oven thermometer to check the real temp or next time just let it bake an extra 20 minutes.

3. If you seitan seems bread like, with little holes in it after it has rested, once you slice it, then your oven may be cooking hotter than it registers or you maybe have cooked it too long. Again, can get an oven thermometer and check the temp, or just knock back the temp 20 degrees or so then next time you bake it.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Deli Glazed Ham

Vegan Dry Rubbed Brisket

Vegan Deli Sliced Turkey

vegan flank steak

Vegan Carne Asada Queso Fries

My love for carbs is strong, especially french fries.

I would chose salty over sweet every time and a potato over most other foods always.

Offer me loaded cheese fries and its game on.

I recently saw a recipe for carne asada queso fries and quickly decided that was a recipe I was 100% going to veganize it.

I have never made carne asada pre vegan so I am not sure how it compares but the flavors in this recipe are delicious and I am a big fan of the vegan flank steak marinated in the mix of citrus, garlic, and cilantro. This marinated flank steak would be delicious in lots of things, from tacos, quadrilles, nachos, or even topping a salad.

I make serval different queso recipes, meaty queso, spicy queso, nut free queso, so if you are making these fries you don’t use the white queso I used in this recipe, you can check out all of queso recipes on the site and pick your fave. For this recipe I wanted a classic white queso with a little kick, so thats the one I made!

Fro the carne asada I had to create a vegan flank steak recipe that would easy enough for even a new vegan to make, and I wanted it to be fairly quick and fuss free. You will have to make the steak ahead of time and let it rest. So if you want these fries in your future, you will have to get the flank steak started early in the morning if you want to eat these fries later that night.

The flank steak bakes up quickly but requires at least a 4 hour rest. Once it has rested then you need to allow it to sit in the marinade for a few hours.

You only need half a batch of vegan flank steak for this recipe, so you can bake up a batch and freeze the other half for later. The vegan flank steak works great on its own for fajitas, tacos, nachos, sandwiches, whatever!! It so quick and easy to make and a staple I keep around now for recipes like these fries!

We topped our vegan carne asada fries with and easy homemade guacamole, tomatoes, sour cream, and extra cilantro.

I also used frozen fries for this recipe. I used to always make homemade fries but recently I have just started buying Trader Joes frozen fries and been plenty happy with them.

I give deep frying, air frying, and baking instructions for the fries. I personally have not deep fried a french fry since I bough an air fryer a few years ago. It is maybe my favorite kitchen appliance next to my vitamix! Game changer y’all!

So if you are a fan of cheesy loaded fries, these vegan carne asada fries might be a new loaded fry for you to try and love. I know I am now a BIG fan of these!

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 russet potatoes (for making homemade fries. You can also use frozen fries)

• 1/2 batch vegan queso

• 2 avocados

• juice from 1 lime

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• vegan sour cream, diced onion, dicd tomatoes (all optional)

• oil for frying, OR you can air fry or oven bake the fries

Vegan Carne Asada (Flank Steaks):

• 2 vegan flank steaks (1/2 recipe)

• 1 cup orange juice

• juice from 2 limes

• 1 tablespoon oil

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon black pepper

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 1 jalapeno, diced (optional)

• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, plus extra for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. To prepare the carne asada, fill a large zip lock bag or shallow baking dish with the ingredients listed above. The flank steak (that has been previously baked and rested) juice, herbs, and spices. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours but the longer the better.

2. If you are making homemade fries, wash and cut the potatoes into fries, leaving the skin on the potatoes (or use frozen fries) If you wish to deep fry the fries, heat a large skillet with several inches of oil over medium heat. Once the oil is nice and hot add the fries in batches (do not over crowd the pan) until they get nice crispy. Remove the fries placing them on a cooling rack that is sitting on a paper towel lined baking sheet, and continue with remaining potatoes. I typically double fry mine (if using fresh potatoes.) This means that after I have fried all the potatoes once, I repeat with the already fried fries to get them extra crispy. You can also air fry the fries by misting them with oil and placing them in the air fryer at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes. You can also oven bake the fries at 400 on a cookie sheet being sure to turn them a few times as they bake. Bake until nice and crispy.

3. Make queso according to instructions. If it gets cold before you are ready to use it, you can reheat it in the pot and add a little more water to thin it back out. (it will thicken as it cools)

4. Heat a grill over medium/ high heat. Spray the grates with some oil to help avoid sticking. Remove the steaks from the marinade place on the hot grill for about 5 minutes per side, or until you get some nice grill marks and char on the steaks.

5. Once the steaks have cooled a bit, slice and cut into small bitesize cubes.

6. Scoop 2 avocados out of the peal and into a bowl. Mash with a fork. Sprinkle salt and add the juice from one lime. Mix it all up.

7. Top the fries with the vegan carne asada, queso, guac, vegan sour cream, diced tomatoes, onion, and extra cilantro to serve.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Philly Fries with Beer Cheese Sauce

Loaded Vegan Roasted Red Potatoes

Bbq Jackfruit Fries

vegan flank steak

Vegan Flank Steak

vegan flank steak

Often I find myself waning to make vegan versions of old steak recipes I used to love.

Things like steak fajitas, steak and cheese quesadillas, steak tacos, and even beef pot pies.

In order to recreate these classic recipes I needed to make an easy all purpose “steak” that could be used in a variety of ways.

I opted to try my hand at a vegan flank steak because that way I could form it thin so it would cook quickly, and the rest time would be fairly short.

If you have tried my recipe for vegan baked chicken breast, this recipe is sort of the same. A quick and easy seitan recipe that freezes well and can be used in a variety of recipes.

If this is your first go at seitan, trust me when I tell you this recipes is EASY. Like so easy. Mix the dough up, form into a steak shape, bake for half an hour, and let rest. So, So, So easy, y’all!

I used super firm tofu and I explain why below. Please read the notes concerning your tofu choice and also trust me when I tell you if you can find super firm, it is your best option!

As a new addition for flavor in this recipe is used store bought sofrito. You can find sofrito in the Hispanic grocery isle in your local grocery store, or google a recipe to make your own. If you are not familiar with sofrito, it is basically a blend of vegetable herbs and spices used to flavor various dishes. It’s so good in so many recipes and worth including as a fridge staple to add a quick and easy punch of flavor to lots of dishes.

Please read the label…this is another example of thinking something is vegan that may not be. I originally googled Goya brand and read it was vegan. I bought AND used this brand for a while without reading the tiny print on the label. Later I was told it is in fact not vegan and contains pork. To say I was upset is an understatement.

I also apologize for my first version of the recipe stating I used a brand that is in fact NOT vegan.

Otherwise this recipe is pretty straightforward, basic, and tasty.

Making your own seitan at home will save you so much money over buying frozen pre-made seitan. It is easier than most people think and actually pretty healthy .

Vital wheat gluten has a good amount of protein per serving, as much as lean chicken, and using the super firm higher protein tofu adds even more protein to this flank steak recipe. Seitan is low calorie as well. So unless you have a wheat intolerance, seitan makes a great protein source or vegans and vegetarians.

So go forth and make vegan flank steak without fuss or worry you will mess it up. You probably won’t. And then go and make all those steak dishes you may have been missing!

Did somebody say steak fajitas!!!

vegan flank steak

INGREDIENTS:

• 16 oz super firm tofu (the kind that is vacuum sealed not in a tray of water)

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten

• 2 tablespoons tomato paste

• 3 tablespoons sofrito, tomato cooking base (make sure the brand is vegan, I used Goya at first because the internet said their products are vegan, then learned they are NOT)

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 1/4 cup corn or tapioca starch

• 1 tablespoon No Beef, or Vegetable Better Than Bouillon

• 1 teaspoon black pepper

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 2 teaspoons onion powder

• 2 tablespoons nurtural flavored oil

• 1 -2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• any all purpose seasoning you like for coating

***I use SUPER FIRM tofu in this recipe. The kinds that is high protein and vacuum sealed in very little water. This makes a big difference in the texture of this flank steak vs using even extra firm tofu. If you opt to use extra firm tofu you will need to press the tofu very well before using, making sure to remove as much water as possible.

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 (just not the all purpose seasoning for coating ) 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.

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, Press the dough out into a large oval about 1/4 inch thick.

4. Cut the dough into 4 pieces and sort of shape them into a flank “steak” like shape. (see photo above)

5. Spray a cookie sheet with some oil or line it with aluminum foil and spray the foil. Place the “steaks” on the pan and spray the tops with some oil as well. Give them a generous sprinkle with whatever all purpose seasoning you like.

6. Cover the baking sheet tightly in another large piece of foil. We do this to allow the seitan to steam inside the pan and not dry out!

7. Place on a baking sheet in the oven on the middle rack. Bake sealed for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes carefully open up the foil, and continue baking for another 10 minutes.

8. Remove finished flank “steaks” and let cool at room temp. Seal the foil back up and place the “steaks” in the fridge to rest for at least 6 hours. This step is important to get the texture we are trying achieve. If you try and serve it before it rests it will not be nearly as firm.

9. You can slice and reheat the streaks in a pan to use for tacos, fajitas, sandwiches. You can grill the steaks or reheat it the oven covered with foil at 350 degrees.

10. The flank “steaks” can be refrigerated for up to 10 days and frozen for up to 6 months in air tight container or freezer zip lock bag.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Ham

Vegan Turkey Breast with Crispy Skin

Vegan Baked Chicken Breast

vegan flank steak

Homemade Vegan Hotdogs

Hot diggity dog, y’all.

I love a good vegan hotdog. That said, I have not found many vegan hotdogs that I would consider “good.”

I won’t go name dropping any specific brands here, but if you have ever tried to grill a store-bought vegan hotdog, you may have noticed they can be a little rubbery, and just plain weird.

I am a big fan of Beyond brand sausage, and that is our normal BBQ go to, but they ain’t cheap when feeding a family of 6 and they also are not a hotdog…..they are sausage…..and sometimes you just want a chili slaw dog.

So I finally decided I had enough of subpar vegan hotdogs, and it was high time I just made my own.

Y’all, its not hard to make your own vegan hotdogs! It just takes a pack of super firm tofu, some vital wheat gluten, a few pantry staples, and a little patients.

If you have made any of my deli meats you know how easy they are. These vegan hot dogs are close to that easy. They just take a little more time to wrap up so they can steam and keep their shape.

I know a lot of people have feelings about foil. But because these hot dogs need to steam and keep their shape, foil is in order here. If you are anti foil, you can bake them in a covered dish, but they will NOT hold their shape and the texture isn’t as good as if they were wrapped and steamed. You have been been properly warned.

So, if you have yet to find a vegan hotdog you dig, then try your hand at making your own!! They are pretty easy to make, with fairly easy to get ingredients, and in my opinion (and even my picky kids opinions) they are really pretty tasty!

Hot diggity (vegan) dog!!

INGREDIENTS:

I have some notes for trouble shooting this recipe at the bottom of the page. Be sure to give them a read!

• 16 oz package of super firm tofu, the kind that is vacuum sealed in little water

• 1 and 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten

• 1/3 cup yellow onion

• 1/4 cup sauerkraut (just the cabbage, not the juice)

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 2 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch

• 3 tablespoons ketchup or tomato sauce

• 2 tablespoons neutral flavored oil

• 1 tablespoonNo Beef Better Than Bouillon, or vegan beef bouillon powder

• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• 1 teaspoons ground coriander

• 1 teaspoon dried mustard

• 1 teaspoon paprika

• 1-2 teaspoon garlic powder

• 2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• a few tablespoons water if needed

INSTRUCITONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Dice the onion. Break up the tofu and place it into a food processor with the regular metal blade along with the onion and sauerkraut. Run the processor for around a minute until the tofu and onion are 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 a 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, forming a kind of rectangular shaped loaf with the dough.

4. Evenly divide the dough into about 16 pieces. If you want larger hot dogs you can divide it into 12 or 14 pieces.

5. Using your hands shape the dough into a hot dog shape. Smooth the dough out by rolling it out on a clean cutting board or counter top. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough.

6. Wrap each hotdog in a piece of foil that has been sprayed with a light mist of oil. Lay the hotdog at one long end of the foil and roll it up, twisting the ends tightly. Make sure the foil is smooth. If there are a lot of wrinkles in the foil it will cause creases in the hotdogs.

7. Place the foil wrapped hotdogs seam side up in a 9x13 baking dish (you will need 2 baking dishes to fit all the hot dogs) fill the bottom of the dish with about half an inch of water ( this is why the seam side needs to be up on the foil, you don’t want water getting into the foil!)

8. Place the pans in the oven and bake wrapped for 30 minutes.

9. Carefully remove the hotdogs from the oven but leave them in the foil. Pop them in the fridge to rest and firm up still wrapped in the foil for at least 5 hours. So if you want these for dinner, bake them up in the morning or the day before.

10. You can heat the hot dogs on the grill, in a pan, in the oven or boil them to serve. If you cook then a pan on the stove or on the grill, make sure to give the pan or grill a good spray so they do not stick. These got dogs will freeze well for up to 6 months or refrigerate for up to 10 days in an airtight container.

NOTES:

*I experimented with cooking methods for these hotdogs. I tired cooking them wrapped in foil, and I also tired baking them on a pan just covered in foil. Cooking the hotdogs unwrapped did not yield a desirable shape or texture. Wrapping them in the foil may seem tedious, but it actually does not take very long.

*I use SUPER FIRM TOFU that is vacuum sealed and not sitting in a tray of water. If you can not find this tofu and use extra firm, then you will need to press as much liquid from the tofu that you can. It will still work but the texture is still much better when you use the super firm.

*If you hotdogs come out bread like, or have little holes in them, your oven likely cooks hotter than what it registers. You can get an oven thermometer or bump the temp down 10-15 degrees the next time you bake. Because these hotdogs stay wrapped the whole time in a water steam bath, they are less likely to have this happen. If it does happen you may also need to knead the dough more the next time.

*When I say let the hotdogs rest, I mean it. Seitan NEEDS TO REST or you are likely not going to be pleased with the texture. Don’t email me if you bite right into one right away and the texture is weird…..the hotdogs MUST REST. Good fake meats come to those who wait..or something like that :)

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Savory Beet and Tempeh Burger

Casey’s Corner Slaw Dogs

The Best Vegan Chili

Vegan Chicken Philly Cheesesteak

I used to work at Chili’s. Yeah the baby back rib place with the song.

This was back in college and I was extra broke and one of the perks was being able to eat after my shift for half price.

At the time Chili’s had a sandwich which I ate almost every day before it was taken of the menu. It was a chicken tejas sandwich and it was basically a chicken philly. I honestly could not tell you today what was in it. It has been 20 years ago…but I remember how much I loved it.

I remember the heartbreak I felt when they announced it was coming off the menu and eating the very last one our location had because one of the cooks and I were friends and they saved it for me.

Clearly I have a real attachment to that sandwich, enough so to retell my pretty uninteresting story. But, I told it because that is why I decided to make this sandwich. I was thinking about the Tejas sandwich the other day and how a local food truck here has a vegan philly that I like but the “meat” is more of a mock beef. And at the end of the day, I really just wanted a vegan chicken philly. So I made one!!

Our easy vegan baked chicken is well, actually really easy to make, and since it makes 8 breasts, you can can really get a few meals out of it. The seitan freezes really well, so I normally cook up a batch on the weekend and pop it into the freezer or fridge to use throughout the week.

And lets talk about he cheese!!! The easy vegan cheese sauce that you will want to eat on EVERYTHING!! I say to use half a batch and that means you can easily just make half a batch OR make a whole batch, use half, and save the other half for alllllllll kinds of things. Pizza cheese, lasagna , dipping chips, making quesadillas or enchiladas, dip your fries in it, put it on a burger, on some nachos, in a casserole. So many ways to use it up!

So in conclusion, if you love a chicken philly too, and want a solid vegan chicken philly, this might just be the recipe for you! Pretty easy, super delicious, gooey, cheesy, chicken-y, sandwich magic!

And if you ever had the joy of eating a Chilis Tejas sandwich (that would require you being over 25 years old, sooooooooo yeah, now I feel extra old) let me know!! Because if you ever did get to eat one then you know exactly what Im talking about!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 batch Easy Vegan Baked Chicken

• 1/2 batch Vegan All Purpose Cheese Sauce

• 1-2 bell peppers (any color you like0

• 1 small yellow onion

• 8 oz button mushrooms, sliced

• 1-2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce or liquid aminos

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 1/2-1 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 4-6 hoagie sandwich rolls

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Prepare vegan chicken breast as instructed. You will need to allow the chicken to rest. So prepare it in the morning or the day before. You willl use half a batch and can freeze refrigerate the other half for another quick meal, later!

2. Once chicken has rested thinly cut 4 breast length wise.

3. Thinly slice the onion and pepper. I used 2 peppers but I like peppers. One would work fine as well.

4. Prepare the cheese sauce as instructed but wait to cook it until the sandwiches are made.

5. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add a few teaspoons of vegan butter or oil. Add the onions, garlic, and peppers and cook until the onions are translucent. Add the mushrooms, chicken strips, spices, and soy sauce. Cook until the mushrooms are nice and soft.

6. You can slice and heat the buns in the oven or slice and toast them up, open side down, in a buttered skillet. Or leave the bread not toasted, if you prefer.

7. Evenly divide the vegan chicken Philly mixture between the buns. I was able to make 6 sandwiches with my filling.

8. Add the cheese sauce to a pan and heat over medium heat, whisking continuously until the sauce has thickened to the consistency of queso. Drizzle cheese sauce over the sandwiches to serve. You can also add some diced green onions if you like.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Dry Rubbed Vegan Brisket

Vegan Chicken Parmesan Sandwich

Vegan Beer Battered Fish Fillets

Vegan Chicken Tikka Masala with Tandoori Seitan

Indian food is something my husband and I have never seen eye to eye on. I adore it. I would eat it all the time and be so very happy. My husband will not.

So going out to eat Indian food is something I just stared going to do with my girlfriends. There is no need to drag Dave out and make him eat a food he doesn't like. I am a nice wife. Here is my proof if ever there was any question.

Before we were vegan or even vegetarian, I would go to Indian restaurant near us that served tandoori chicken tikka masala. It was tandoori chicken with a side of the sauce for dipping. I always loved this more than having the chicken simmered in the sauce. The chicken was so delicious and flavorful on its own, that I only wanted a little sauce with it. I have always been one to order sauces, dressing, condiments on the side. I have not found another restaurant near me that serves it this way, and that was always my favorite thing to order.

You can simmer this recipe in the sauce which I did here since it is more the norm. Or you can serve the vegan tandoori chicken with the sauce on the side. You can decide for yourself how you would prefer to eat or serve this dish! Oh the power of choice….its glorious.

Making Indian food at home is also something I hardly ever do since 2 out of 6 people in my house actually enjoy it. The handful of times I actually have made Indian food, I have had a ton of leftovers to give away. I also am no expert at Indian cuisine but have always enjoyed trying new Indian recipes.

But the other day I was thinking about how much I miss chicken tikka masala and how I really wanted to make it with seitan vs tofu which is what I have done in the past. I also knew I could make it and share it with my friends next door, Yanira and Dustin, because they also love Indian food! I was confident I could try and make a vegan tandoori chicken that would be super flavorful on its own or could be turned into vegan chicken tikka masala as well. I basically just researched oven tandoori chicken recipes and decided how I could adapt that to work with seitan.

And being that the vegan oven tandoori chicken turned out so well, the next obvious step was tikka masala!!

This sauce is super simple to whip together and really flavorful. I keep the spice heat low so that at least a few of my kids will eat it, but feel free to kick it up if you like it HOT!

Since the chicken takes a day to make and allow to rest, I make the chicken the day before I want this dish. You can even make several days in advance. I tend to make seitan chicken or turkey when I have a few hours of free time, and then its ready and rested when I need it! The resting part is super important or optimal texture so you have to trust me when I tell you it is so much better when it rests.

The sauce its pretty quick and If the vegan tandoori chicken is already made and ready to go, this dinner can be done in less than an hour! You could also use any pre-made vegan chicken you can find or like for this dish, although it will not be as flavorful as the vegan tandoori chicken. You could also marinade some tofu in the tadoori seasoning and cook it up to add this recipe if you are at a place where you want to attempt seitan. It would probably still be really good!

Fry up a batch of vegan naan and you have a really delicious, and pretty easy vegan Indian dinner at home. And if your family doens’t love Indian food either, find a friend or neighbor that does and share :)

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INGREDIENTS:

• 1 batch Vegan Oven Tandoori Chicken

• 1 14 oz can of tomato sauce

• 1/4- 1/2 cup water

• 2 tablespoons vegan butter

• 1 large onion, finely diced

• 2 tablespoons minced garlic

• 1 tablespoon grated ginger or ginger paste

• 2 teaspoons garam masala

• 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin powder

• 1 teaspoon chili powder

• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric

• 1 teaspoon ground coriander

• 2 teaspoons brown sugar

• 1 1/4 cups vegan plain unsweetened yogurt or sour cream

• handful of chopped cilantro

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a large deep skillet, add the vegan butter over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is translucent.

2. Add the dry spices and let them cook for minute with the onion and garlic. Next add in the the remaining ingredients, EXCEPT for the sugar, water, and yogurt, stirring well, and reducing the heat to low. Let the sauce simmer for about 20 minutes.

3. Dice the tandoori vegan chicken pieces. Stir in the yogurt, sugar, and 1/4- 1/2 cup of water depending on how thick or thin you would like the sauce. Add in the cubed vegan tandoori chicken pieces and let them simmer in the sauce for another 20-25 minutes.

4. Serve vegan chicken tikka masala over basmati rice and garnish with fresh cilantro.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Oven Tandoori Chicken

Vegan Deli Sliced Turkey Breast

Vegan Country Fried Steak

Vegan Oven Tandoori "Chicken"

Indian food is something my husband and I have never seen eye to eye on. I adore it. I would eat it all the time and be so very happy. My husband will not.

So going out to eat Indian food is something I just stared going to do with my girlfriends. There is no need to drag Dave out and make him eat a food he doesn't like. I am a nice wife. Here is my proof if ever there was any question.

Before we were vegan or even vegetarian, I would go to Indian restaurant near us that served tandoori chicken tikka masala. It was tandoori chicken with a side of the sauce for dipping. I always loved this more than having the chicken simmered in the sauce. The chicken was so delicious and flavorful on its own, that I only wanted a little sauce with it. I have always been one to order sauces, dressing, condiments on the side. I have not found another restaurant near me that serves it this way, and that was always my favorite thing to order.

Making Indian food at home is also something I hardly ever do since 2 out of 6 people in my house actually enjoy it. The handful of times I actually have made Indian food, I have had a ton of leftovers to give away. I also am no expert at Indian cuisine but have always enjoyed trying new Indian recipes.

But the other day I was thinking about how much I miss chicken tikka masala and how I really wanted to make it with seitan vs tofu which is what I have done in the past. I also knew I could make it and share it with my friends next door, Yanira and Dustin, because they also love Indian food! I was confident I could try and make a vegan tandoori chicken that would be super flavorful on its own or could be turned into vegan chicken tikka masala as well. I basically just researched oven tandoori chicken recipes and decided how I could adapt that to work with seitan.

So I made my favorite seitan recipe and did just that. You really do need a roasting pan for this recipe or need to figure out a way to fashion something similar. Air needs to be able to circulate around the pieces of seitan while it bakes and also it needs to be wrapped in foil so it cooks all the way through without drying out. Truth be told, I had to borrow a pan from my neighbor, Fran. I will now be buying one because I will be making this all the time.

Despite my husbands feeling of Indian food, he actually seemed to like this vegan tandoori chicken. I tried to keep the heat down with the spices in hopes that he would actually eat it.

So if you loved tandoori chicken pre vegan, and have wanted to try you hand at making it at home, I think this recipe is a winner! It does take some time to cook it and allow it to rest. Trust me when I tell you to let it rest, as seitan firms up and the texture gets far more meat like if you let it rest!!! Just make this chicken a day or two before you actually want to eat it! Good things come to those who wait and all that jazz!

*You will need a roasting pan with a rack and aluminum foil for this recipe. This recipe will also take some time. Marinating and cook times equal 2 hours. There is also a need for the “chicken” pieces to rest to firm up after cooking. It is best to prepare this dish the day before you wish to eat it.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 block super firm tofu (the kind that is vacuum sealed in little water)

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten

• 1/2-3/4 cups water

• 2 tablespoons tapioca starch

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 2 tablespoons neutral flavored oil

• 1 teaspoon salt (optional if they Bouillon isn’t enough for you)

• 2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1-2 teaspoons garlic powder

• 1 tablespoon No Chicken Better Than Bouillon

• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke

• 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning or Trader Joe’s Chickenless seasoning

TANDOORI MARINADE:

• 1 cup plain vegan yogurt

• juice from 1 small lemon

• 1 teaspoon allspice

• 1 teaspoon black pepper

• 2 teaspoons salt

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 2 teaspoons ground ginger

• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika

• 3 teaspoons minced garlic

• 1-2 teaspoons Thai chili paste/ garlic chili sauce (its super spicy so add according to your tolerance)

• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

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! 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, forming a kind of flatned oval shaped loaf with the dough. Cut the dough into about 12 chicken breast triangular shapes.

4. In a large bowl or baking dish, whisk the marinade ingredients together. Add the the seitan pieces to the marinade . Place in the fridge for about an hour.

5. Preheat oven to 425 degrees once the seitan is almost finished marinating. Spray the pan rack with some cooking and place the seitan pieces in the roasting pan on the rack spacing the pieces, making sure they are not touching. Brush the pieces of seitan with any leftover marinade from the bowl, covering any bare spots on the seitan.

6. Using 3 or 4 large pieces of foil, completely cover the pan, trying to seal it up the best you can. We are trying to create a makeshift tandoori oven and also make sure the seitan steams inside the pan so it cooks through but doens’t dry out. Place the pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for one hour. Do not open the foil to peek! It’s gonna be fine in there, I promise. After one hour remove the foil (Save for wrapping the seitan piece to let them rest later.) Give the seitan pieces a little spray with some oil and flip the pieces. Let it bake uncovered for 30 more minutes.

7. Let the “chicken” pieces cool at room temperature. Once they have cooled off, wrap them in the reserved foil and place in the fridge for at least 6 hours. I normally make this the day before I want to eat it.

8. To reheat the “chicken” preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place “chicken” pieces on a baking sheet and heat until warmed through. Serve as is with rice or you can prepare and serve as Vegan Chicken Tikka Masala.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Deli Sliced Turkey

Garlic Lemon Vegan “Chicken” Breast with Crispy Skin

Vegan Dry Rubbed Brisket

Vegan Slow Cooker Brisket

Slow cooker roast is the thing I used to ask my mom to make me ever time she came to visit before going vegetarian then vegan.

My moms roast is better than your moms roast….I mean, that’s maybe kinda of mean, and maybe your moms roast is amazing…so, never mind.

But once you stop eating meat, your moms roast is a thing of the past and you only have memories of the smell and the nostalgia of it all.

Truly my favorite part was always the veggies more than the meat. I LOVE potatoes and carrot that have been cooking in a crock pot all day!

But these days I make a pretty mean vegan brisket, and after many disappointing attempts at a vegan roast, it finally dawned on me that I should just try and use my brisket. The brisket is made with vital wheat gluten and jackfruit. It is covered in a spice rub and is actually one of my favorite seitan recipes! So instead of wrapping in foil to cook in the oven, I seared it, and made my moms roast recipe, just meatless…..and it was amazing.

I cooked my roast for 6 hours on high heat. One thing I have noticed is not all slow cookers/ crock pots are created equal and some cook faster and seemingly hotter than others. My moms crock pot cooks so much faster than mine. So keep an eye on the roast. You may only need to cook it for 5 hours.

This brisket roast is tender, flavorful, and delicious. The veggies are just as good as moms roast veggies and that part made the happiest of all.

Just because you give up meat does not mean you have to give up recipes you always loved. Recipes that remind you of home and family and growing up. You just have to learn how to adapt those old recipes into something new and vegan! This brisket will hopefully bring you back to memories of your favorite old slower cooker roast recipe.

I hope you and your family will enjoy this recipe as much as we have! Happy eating, y’all!

INGREDIENTS:

You will need slow cooker/ crock pot for this recipe.

BRISKET:

• 1 can jackfruit in brine

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten

• 1/4 cup tapioca starch

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 1 teaspoon Vegetable Better than Bouillon

• 2 tablespoons water

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce or coconut aminos

• 2 tablespoons oil ( I used grape seed)

• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 2 teaspoons onion powder

• 2 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce

• 2 teaspoons cumin

• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika

• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

• 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper

DRY RUB:

• 1 teaspoons dried rosemary

• 2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon pepper

• 2 teaspoon dried thyme

INGREDIENTS:

• 4-5 russet potoates

• 1 yellow onion

• 5-6 carrots

• 4 cups water

• 1 tablespoon Vegetable Better Than Bouillon

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 1/4 to 1/2 cup red wine

• 2 teaspoons each, thyme, and rosemary

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 1 or 2 bay leaves, optional

Instructions:

1. Drain and rinse the jackfruit. Chop the jackfruit in your food processor by pulsing a few times.

2. Add the remaining ingredients to the food processor and mix for a minute, until a sort of dough forms.

3. If you do not have a food processor, finely chop the jackfruit using a sharp knife. In a medium bowl add the jackfruit and remaining ingredients. Using your hands, (I promise its just easier) mix all of the ingredients together until a dough forms. Knead the dough by hand for a few minutes.

4. Form the dough into a sort of oval shape, mimicking a brisket.

5. Mix up the ingredients for the dry rub in a bowl.

6. Pour dry rub into the middle of a clean surface like a cutting board. Take the “brisket and roll it in the rub to cover all sides.

7. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and give it a spray with some oil. Once it is nice and hot place the brisket into the skillet letting it cook on each side just a few minutes to sear the “roast.” This step just helps give the outside a firmer texture and helps keep the outside coating on while in the crock pot.

8. Wash the veggies. Quarter the potatoes, carrots and onion.

9. Set you slow cooker to med/high heat for 6 hours. Add the water, wine, seasoning, garlic and bouillon to the pot. Give it all a whisk. Place the brisket in the center and spread the veggies around it.

10. My slow cooker seems to cook extra slow. My moms seems to cook way faster. Times may need to be adjusted depending on your slow cooker. But somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 to 6 hours is probably good!

11. After about 3 hours of cooking pull the brisket up out of the liquid and let it rest on top of the veggies for the remainder of the cook time.

12. Serve the brisket as is with veggies or you can serve over rice.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Turkey Style Roast with Crispy Skin

Vegan Pastrami

Beyond Meat Vegan Meatloaf

Vegan Country Fried Steak

My mom is an incredible cook, even though she will try and tell you I did not inherit my cooking skills from her. She is lying.

Where cooking southern food is concerned, my mom and Grandmama taught me everything I know. My mom made cube steak on the regular, and when I did eat meat, I thought she made the best fried chicken on the planet. My mom can fry the heck out of some food and make you want to weep with joy while you eat it.

Also, if you ever travel much in the south east, you quickly learn there is a Cracker Barrel at like every other interstate exit.

To say we ate out at Cracker Barrel weekly in my childhood would not be that much of a stretch. If my mom was in the mood to cook us dinner (she may be a good cook but she hates doing it) we were likely eating out somewhere that still served some variation of southern food.

My favorite thing to order for years at Cracker Barrel was the chicken fried steak, or country fried steak, depending on what you want to call it. It is basically just cube steak that has been extra tenderized, battered, and fried. Yes, in the south we even batter and fry steak.

So obviously once going vegan, country fried steak was off the menu for me. But once I learned to make basic seitan, and realized how wonderfully it fries up, I knew I had to make country fried seitan steak!!!

I have often said in the south you are born with hot oil coursing through your veins, because we fry everything.

Well y’all, it is flipping delicious. Basic seitan is so easy to make, too! I simmer mine for an hour but it only takes a few minutes to mix up! I often make a double batch because it freezes so well. On busy weeknights, all you have to do is thaw it, and you are ready to bread and fry it, or use it in any of the other gazillion ways you can use seitan.

I also love white sawmill gravy to top this vegan steak, but if you are not a fan you could always make a brown mushroom gravy to pour on top. It is basically blasphemy if you do, but I guess I will forgive it if you don’t know any better.

We always serve our vegan country fried steak with mashed potatoes, again slathered in the same vegan sawmill gravy, green beans, and fluffy southern biscuits, or cornbread. It is also good the next day, reheated and put on a biscuit for breakfast, just so you know!

Even if you have never heard of country fried steak, I can not urge you enough to try this vegan version. It is comfort food at its finest and if there is anything I have learned for many generations of fine southern women in my life, it is comfort food!

INGREDIENTS:

BASIC SEITAN WITH JACKFRUIT:

• 1 can jackfruit in brine

• 1/4 small white onion

• 1 and 2/3 cups vital wheat gluten

• 1/2 cup tapioca starch

• 1/4 cup water

• 2 teaspoons Vegetable Better Than Bouillon

• 2 teaspoon liquid smoke

• 1 teaspoon onion salt

• 1 teaspoon minced garlic

• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric

• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

• 1 teaspoons of your favorite all purpose seasoning

• boiling liquid: 5 cups water plus 2 teaspoons butter than bouillon, 1 - 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

STEAK BREADING:

• 1 cup all purpose flour

• 1 sleeve vegan round. “butter” crackers

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

• 1 teaspoon all purpose seasoning

• 1 cup unsweetened plant milk

• 1/4 cup plain vegan yogurt or sour cream

• Oil for frying

SAWMILL GRAVY:

• 2 tablespoons vegan butter

• 1/4 cup all purpose flour

• 2 cups unsweetened plant milk (I use almond)

• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Add 1/4 peeled onion to a food processor and pulse until the onion is finely minced. If you do not have a food processor use a blender.

2. Drain the jackfruit and rinse. Place jackfruit in a food processor ( or blender) and pulse until it is finely minced. Add the remaining ingredients (minus the boiling liquid or breading ingredients) and process for a few minutes, allowing a dough to form and giving it enough time to knead. (watch the posted video for the basic idea of making setian, the video recipe does not include jackfruit but can be found on the site, Basic Seitan)

3. If you do not have a food processor, add the minced ingredients to a bowl with the remaining ingredients. Mix until all of the ingredients are well incorporated. Once a dough has formed, turn it out onto a clean, flour dusted surface, and knead by hand for 2 to 3 minutes. The dough should look like the pictures above.

4. Bring a large pot with the boiling liquid to a boil. Once the liquid is boiling reduce the heat to low.

5. Flatten the seitan dough ball into a disk shape. Cut the disc into quarters and press flat once again. Place the dough quarters into the boiling liquid. Allow the seitan to simmer for 30 minutes. Gently flip each piece using tongs, and continue to simmer for 30 more minutes. Remove the seitan from the pot and place on a paper towel lined plate. Let the seitan cool to room temperate.

6. Once the pieces are cool, you want to slice them in half lengthwise creating 8 steaks.

7. To coat the steaks begin by finely crushing the sleeve of butter crackers. I normally just use my hands and crush them right in the package. You can also pop them in the food processor or blender to crush them, or dump them into a zip lock had and crush them using the heel of your hand or a rolling pin.

8. In a medium shallow bowl or pie plate, mix the crushed crackers, flour, salt, pepper, and seasoning. In another medium bowl, whisk the plant milk and yogurt together.

9. Dip each steak into the milk and yogurt mixture then press them into the cracker flour mix, making sure the steaks are totally coated in the mixture.

10. Heat a large deep skillet with a few inches of oil over medium heat until nice and hot. You can poke a wooden chopstick or skewer into the oil and if tiny bubbles form around it, the oil is ready. Place 3 or 4 steaks in at a time, allow each side to fry for a few minutes until crisp and golden brown. Place finished steaks on a cooking rack placed on top of a paper towel lined baking sheet. This allows the excess oil to drip off but keeps them crisp. Repeat with remaining steaks.

11. To make the gravy, heat another deep skillet over medium heat, add the vegan butter once the pan is hot, then whisk the four into the melted butter. Let the flour cook for few minutes then whisk in the milk. Add the salt and pepper and continue whisking until the gravy has thickened.

12. Serve the steaks with the sawmill gravy and your favorite sides.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Fried Green Tomatoes

Cream Vegan Cheddar Mac and Cheese

Vegan Cheesy Tater Tot Casserole

Vegan Turkey Style Roast with Crispy Skin

I have made many a vital wheat gluten roast in my time, yet they have always been more in the faux beef or pork family. This year for the holidays, I tried experimenting with more of a turkey style roast, and was pretty happy with the outcome.

This time I used rice paper to help create a crispy “skin” on the roast and I tell ya, that’s my favorite part! You can serve this roast right out of the oven, or let it rest in the fridge for a day to firm up some. I totally sliced and ate some when we are taking pics right out of the oven, and it was delicious! It would have been even more delicious on a pile of mashed potatoes covered in gravy, and that is my Thanksgiving plan!

If you let the roast rest in the fridge to firm up, the skin will lose its crispness, and you have to reheat it to get the skin to crisp back up, not unlike real meat. So, you can allow it to rest and pop it back in the oven to allow the skin to get crispy again, or slice the roast and reheat it in a pan, which is what I like to do for sandwiches.

In this recipe we use Herbs de Provence. This is a French herb blend that is pretty similar to poultry seasoning but with a few additional herbs. I LOVE it and use it in all kinds of recipes. I have added a link to amazon so you can give a look if you haven’t seen it before, but you can find it pretty easily in the spice section of most grocery stores now, and even Trader Joe’s now sells it.

If you do not have a food processor, you can still make this recipe. You would at least need to blend the onion and jackfruit in a blender to get it very broken down, then add it along with the other ingredients to a large bowl and knead by hand for about 5 minutes

Even if the ingredients are new and seem intimidating, making seitan (vegan meats from vital wheat gluten) is really as easy as making a simple dough. I promise!!! And if you have a food processor it’s really ridiculously easy. Here’s a video that explains the entire process.

Making your own vegan meat is also really affordable, which is another bonus! Try this recipe to use for lunch meat slices or as a holiday main dish, either way you will likely be surprise just how easy and delicious making you own vegan meat can be!

INGREDIENTS:

You will need aluminum foil, and a baking sheet for this recipe

• 1 can jackfruit in brine

• 1/2 small yellow onion

• 1 1/3 cup vital wheat gluten

• 1/3 cup tapioca starch

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke

• 1 teaspoon dried sage

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 2 teaspoons Herbs de Provence, or Poultry spice

• 1 teaspoon minced garlic

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

• 2-3 teaspoons water if needed

RICE PAPER SKIN:

• 2 tablespoons white wine

• 3 tablespoons water

• 2 teaspoons Herbs de Provence

• 1 teaspoon Vegetable Better than Bouillon

• 3 sheets rice paper

INSTRUCTIONS:

preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. In a food processor, add the drained and rinsed jackfruit, and the 1/2 onion. Process for a few minutes until the onion and jackfruit are finely minced, almost mushy.

2. Add in the remaining ingredients except the water. Process for several minutes. You want the mixture to come together into a dough you can handle. Allow the food processor to run for a full minute or two to knead the dough. If it seems too dry and is crumbly, add in some water until it comes together.

3. After the dough has hung out in the food processor for several minutes, remove and place onto a clean dry surface. Continue to knead the dough while forming it into a smooth oval shape.

4. Spray a large piece of aluminum foil with spray oil, or brush the foil with some oil. This step is important because the oil is going to prevent the roast from sticking to the foil.

5. Add all of the ingredients for the rice paper skin, except the rice paper, to a shallow dish or pie pan and whisk. Place one sheet of rice paper into the liquid and let it sit there until it becomes completely soft. This takes several minutes. Gently lift the rice paper from the dish and place it in the middle of the foil. Place the “turkey” roast on top of the paper and fold the edges of the rice paper up around the roast. Continue with the other 2 pieces of rice paper just the same as the first, draping each one over the top of the roast and tucking or pressing the edges of the paper around the roast. The paper should be very soft and sticky, and cling well to the roast.

6. Fold up the sides of the foil making a pouch, pinching the foil together well along the top to form a tight seal, and twisting the ends of the foil. Place the pouch on a baking sheet in the oven on the top rack. Allow the roast to bake in the sealed pouch for half and hour. After half an hour, carefully remove the roast from the oven and open the pouch, making sure the tops and sides of the roast are exposed. If you sprayed the foil well the rice paper should not be sticking too badly to the foil. If it is, gently pull it away form the foil and push torn rice paper back into the roast. Give the top of the roast a spray of oil or light brushing and return it to the oven for another 40 minutes.

7. I suggest letting the roast cool and firm up at least over night in the refrigerator wrapped back up in the foil pouch or in an airtight container. When ready to serve the roast just pop it back in the oven on a baking sheet at 350 for 15 minutes or so to warm and crisp the skin back up. You can also slice the cold roast and reheat the slices in the pan. You can serve the roast immediately after cooking it, but I will not be as firm as it would be if you allow it to rest.

If you like this recipe, try these:

Vegan Dry Rub Brisket

Popcorn Tofu

Vegan Pastrami

Vegan Dry Rubbed Brisket

When we used to eat meat, smoked brisket was on the top of my meat favorites list!

Brietet Sandwichs, brisket knish, brisket slathered in bbq with side of baked beans and potato salad. Now I am super hungry!!

Obviously its been a LONG time since we have eaten brisket, but from what I remember, this vegan brisket is a close second!

We added some jackfruit to the jazzed up seitan recipe to add some extra meaty texture and it worked great. This vegan brisket is perfectly seasoned and coated in a savory, sweet dry rub.

If you have a food processor this recipe could not be easier. Just dump everything in there, let it mix and knead. Wrap it, bake it, and LET IT REST. Really, head my warning, it must rest to firm up. Don’t come at me if you cut right into yours and its not firm. I warned you!!

You can serve it as is, or pop it on the grill with some BBQ sauce and sliced up for the most delicious BBQ brisket sandwich. I have added a drool worthy picture below of said magnificent sandwich!!!

It firms up nicely and can be sliced extra thin using a mandolin, if you let it rest as stated above!

So if you have been missing smokey, savory, dry rub crusted brisket, hopefully this recipe will do the trick! I for one know what’s going to be on our grill this summer!

! Glory Glory! Brisket is back, baby!!!

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INGREDIENTS:

You will need aluminum foil, and a 9x13 baking dish for this recipe

• 1 can jackfruit in brine

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten

• 1/4 cup tapioca starch

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 1 teaspoon Vegetable Better than Bouillon

• 2 tablespoons water

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce or coconut aminos

• 2 tablespoons oil ( I used grape seed)

• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 2 teaspoons onion powder

• 2 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce

• 2 teaspoons cumin

• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika

• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

• 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper

DRY RUB:

• 3 tablespoons smoked paprika

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

• 2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon pepper

• 1 teaspoon thyme

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INSTRUCITONS:

preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Drain and rinse the jackfruit. Chop the jackfruit in your food processor by pulsing a few times.

2. Add the remaining ingredients to the food processor and mix for a minute, until a sort of dough forms.

3. If you do not have a food processor, finely chop the jackfruit using a sharp knife. In a medium bowl add the jackfruit and remaining ingredients. Using your hands, (I promise its just easier) mix all of the ingredients together until a dough forms. Knead the dough by hand for a few minutes.

4. Form the dough into a sort of oval shape, mimicking a brisket. Tear off a piece of foil that is about 3 times the size of the dough.

5. Mix up the ingredients for the dry rub in a bowl.

6. Pour dry rub into the middle of the foil. Take the “brisket and roll it in the rub to cover all sides.

7. Spray the brisket and the foil with some cooking spray and wrap the brisket in the foil, sealing it up. Just make sure it is going to be easy to open.

8. Place the foil covered brisket into a 9x13 pan and place in the oven on the top rack. Bake sealed for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes open up the foil pouch and continue baking for another 30-40 minutes.

9. Allow the brisket to cool and rest in the fridge overnight. The brisket should slice easily once cooled. It should even be firm enough to thinly slice on a mandolin.

You can also baste the brisket it BBQ sauce and grill to reheat. I normally place brisket on a piece of foil on the grill to avoid a mess. I let it grill with the lid closed just until its heated through, then slice for sandwiches.