If you are from the United States, in particular the southeastern region of the United States, you probably know all about chicken and waffles.
Although research will tell you that people believe this dish originated in Harlem and there is chatter of it coming from the Pennsylvanian Dutch, way way back in the day.
So who really knows but whoever thought it up, I so very thankful they did.
Growing up outside of Atlanta I was no stranger to the dish but it was not until adulthood that I finally ate it.
We did not eat many waffles as kids, or even pancakes for that matter. We ate cereal or whatever other thing we could make ourselves, or my dad made eggs.
So when I was all grown up and had the chance to finally eat my first plate of chickens and waffles I thought I might have died and gone to heaven.
I am not normally a fan of super sweet breakfast foods first thing in the morning , and if and when I do make pancake or waffles, it is often for dinner.
But chicken and waffles are different. Because it’s fried chicken on a waffle. It’s enough savory to cut the sweet, and that makes it perfect!!!
A local restaurant where we live was my favorite place to order non vegan chicken and waffles back before we were vegan, because they added strawberry butter and maples syrup with hot sauce…if it sounds weird, it’s not. It’s amazing. All hail the Metro Diner for their chicken and waffle genius!! Except theirs is not vegan soooo…
So, I knew I had to make a vegan equal to my favorite chicken and waffle recipes and that is just what I did.
Everyone out here needs to have chicken and waffles this way, even us vegans. So I used my easiest, best seitan chicken recipe, fried it up, tossed it on some waffles with an easy strawberry butter, and drizzed it all with the pure maple syrup spiked with a few heavy shakes of hot sauce.
I could have cried I was so happy we I was eating this! I had been SOOOOO long, TOOOOOO long since I have eaten one of my most favorite pre vegan meals. I could no wait to share this recipe as I feel so strongly that everyone needs to eat this meal at some point in their lives!!
As my mom says, don’t knock it til you try it. So if you are thinking this is not something you would ever want to eat, you are probably mistaken, And if you already know the pure joy of eating chicken and waffles and have waited for the day you could eat a vegan equal, today is your lucky day.
INGREDIENTS:
SEITAN CHICKEN:
1 (16 oz) block super firm tofu (in the vacuum sealed package)
1 cup vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons corn or tapioca starch
1 tablespoon Not Chicken Better Than Bouillon. You could also use Trader Joes Chickenless season salt or some other no chicken flavoring or bouillon.
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon sage
2 tablespoons neutral flavored oil (replace with water if oil free)
1 -2 teaspoons liquid smoke
1/2 to 3/4 cups water
CHICKEN COATING:
1/2 cup plain unsweetened vegan yogurt or sour cream
1 cup plant milk
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup tapioca or corn starch
2 teaspoons each, garlic powder, dried thyme, salt, onion powder, sugar
1 teaspoon each turmeric, cinnamon, black pepper, smoked paprika
1/4- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
WAFFLES:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
4 tablespoons white sugar (If vegan, not plant based, make sure the brand you use is in fact vegan, not all white sugars are. I use Florida Crystals)
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cup plant based milk
2 tablespoon melted vegan butter or oil
STAWBERRY BUTTER:
1/3 cup vegan butter
2 strawberries, finely diced
*You will also need maple syrup ,and if you can just trust me here, you will need a few splashes of your favorite hot sauce!!
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degress
MAKING THE SEITAN CHICKEN BREAST:
*If you attempt this recipe with REGULAR EXTRA FIRM TOFU you will need to press it well, and reduce the water added to the recipe. Add the water last only a tablespoon at time until the dough resembles the picture. This will cause varying results and I really do suggest finding the super firm, vacuum sealed, high protein tofu if you can. It gives the seitan a far better texture.
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.
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.
Once you have a smooth but firm dough, remove it from the food processor and place on a clean counter. Knead the dough with your hands for about a minute, forming a kind of oval, flattened out shaped with the dough. Cut the dough into 12 triangles. Using your hands, form the triangles into a fat chicken tender shape. (the pictures above are from when I make regular fried vegan chicken breast. For this recipe I like to form them more into fat chicken tender shapes vs a thin breast. Somehow I lost my pics I took for this recipe so these will serve as a rough guide. Just make them fatter)
Line a baking sheet in parchment paper or foil, spray with oil. Evenly space out the seitan chicken pieces making sure they are not touching. They will expand as they bake. Spray the tops with oil and tightly cover the entire pan in foil, tucking the edges tightly around the edges of the pan. We want the seitan to steam inside the pan. Place the pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
Open up the foil and allow the seitan chicken to bake for another 15 minutes uncovered. These chicken seitan pieces are small, if you know your oven cooks hot or the temp is off, you may need to adjust your cook time by 5-10 minutes. If the seitan over cooks it tends to form tiny holes that look like bread. That is often an indication you oven temp is off and you may need a oven thermometer to check the actual temp.
Let the seitan cool at room temp them transfer to the fridge for at least 6 hours to rest. I often bake the seitan the night before I wish to fry it. But you could also bake it in the morning and it would be fine to fry by dinner. Seitan requires a nice long rest to firm up and achieve a more meaty texture. The longer you can let it rest, the better!
VEGAN FRIED CHICKEN AND WAFFLES:
Begin by making the waffles: In a large bowl whisk the dry waffle ingredients. Add in the wet ingredients and mix until the batter if fully combined and free from most lumps. If the batter seems a little too thick you can add a splash more of plant milk. Heat your waffle maker and make the waffles according to your waffle maker instuctions. I am able to get 4 large waffles from the batter. Half of one large waffle is a serving in our house. If you are making this dish for less people, just half the waffle batter recipe. Once all of the waffles are made, pop them on a baking sheet covered in foil into the oven set to 150-200 degrees so they stay warm while you fry the vegan chicken.
Remove the rested vegan chicken from the fridge. In a medium sized bowl or pie pan whisk the plant milk and yogurt for the chicken coating. In another larger bowl mix the starch, flour, and seasoning together. Dip a chicken piece first into the wet mix, then over to the dry making sure to fully coat, then back in the wet, and one more time in the dry mix. Repeat with remaining pieces of vegan chicken. Double coating the vegan chicken pieces will give them a nice crunchy coating.
Pepare a baking sheet with a few paper towels and place a metal cooling rack on top. This will be where you place the chicken pieces once they have fried.
Heat a large cast iron skillet or other high sided pan with a few inches of oil over medium heat. You can use any neutral flavored oil for frying that you like. I use grape seed but you can use peanut or canola oil. You can make sure the oil is hot enough by poking a wooden chopstick or skewer into the pan. If tiny bubbles form around the stick, the oil hot enough is ready for frying.
Add vegan chicken in batches making sure not to over crowd the pan. Fry on each side util crispy and golden brown. Place finished pieces on the wire rack you prepared. Placing the pieces of vegan chicken on a cooling rack vs straight onto a plate with paper towels allows the excess oil to dip off and keeps the pieces crispy. This is true with any food you are frying.
In small bowl mash the vegan butter up and mix in the finely diced strawberries.
I like to heat a cup or so of maple syrup and add a few splashes of hot sauce. This may sound weird but trust me on top of the chicken, it is so, so, so delicious.
To serve, place 1/2 to 1 whole waffle on a plate with 1 to 2 vegan fried chicken strips on top. Top with a scoop of vegan strawberry butter and drizzle with maple syrup.
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