Vegan Pork Chops

Truth be told I was never a big fan of pork chops growing up. I never really ate them until marrying my husband and being given a recipe by his aunt for a dish they called stuffed pork chops, which my husband loved.

This said, pork chops were never really on my make a vegan version to do list until recently. Like many recipes on the blog, this one came about when I was asked by a Facebook friend named Peter if had a pork chop recipe.

I thought it should be simple enough and why not give it a go. I had not thought about those stuffed pork chops in nearly 20 years but instantly I knew what I wanted to try and make with these vegan pork chops if they did work.

This seitan is easy and straightforward. If you have made my vegan ham, then this recipe is really similar with a few changes and I used my easy vegan chicken breast method for shaping and baking up these vegan pork chops.

They will keep in the fridge for about a week and can be frozen for up to a month for easy meal prepping.

You can dredge these vegan pork chops in flour and quickly pan fry to reheat. You can bake them, or simmer them in a sauce after they have rested. Use them any way you would use a non vegan pork chop!

And thanks again to Peter for inspiring me to make something I would have probably never made otherwise!!!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 block super firm tofu, 14-16 oz

  • 1 and 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten

  • 1/4 cup diced white onion

  • 1/4 cup blueberry or grape jelly

  • 2 tablespoons stone ground mustard

  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

  • 1/4 cup tapioca starch or corn starch

  • 1-2 teaspoons minced garlic

  • 2 teaspoons smoked paprika

  • 1 teaspoon black pepper

  • 1 teaspoon coriander

  • 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

  • 1/8 teaspoon allspice

  • 1 teaspoon salt if you think it needs more (the bouillon adds a bit of salt as is)

  • 1 tablespoon Garlic or Vegetable Better Than Bouillon (I used garlic)

  • 2 teaspoons liquid smoke


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. *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.


INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

  1. Add the onion to the food processor with the regular metal blade and let it mince up a few seconds. 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. If the dough seems too sticky, add a few more tablespoons of VWG.

  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 oval, flattened out shaped with the dough. Cut the dough into 8 triangles. Using your hands, form the triangles into a pork chop shapes.

  4. Line a baking sheet in parchment paper or foil, spray with oil. Evenly space out the seitan pork chop pieces making sure they are not touching. They will expand as they bake. Spray the tops with oil and give them a sprinkle with any seasoning you like. Tightly cover the entire pan in foil, tucking the edges tightly around the edges of the pan. We want the seitan to steam inside the pan. Place the pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 30 minutes covered the whole time.

  5. Remove from oven and let the seitan cool at room temp them transfer to the fridge for about 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!

  6. Once the vegan pork chops have rested, you can use them in whatever pork chop recipe you like. You can reheat them by baking, or pan frying until heated though as well.

  7. They will keep in the fridge for a week or freezer for 6 months.



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