Homemade Vegan Chicken Nuggets

I have mentioned before I have a lot of kids.

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

To us it’s the perfect number!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

INGREDIENTS:

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

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten

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

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1-2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1/2 teaspoon sage

• 1/2 teaspoon rosemary

• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• 2 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 2 tablespoon neural flavored oil

• 1/2 to 3/4 cups water

• 1 teaspoons salt

THE COATING:

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

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour

• 1/2 cup tapioca or corn starch

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup vegan yogurt or sour cream

• 1/2 cup unsweetened plant milk

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

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Popcorn Tofu

Vegan Southern Fried Chicken

Vegan Deli Sliced Turkey

Vegan Chocolate Cobbler

I am from the south and in the south, cobbler is a staple dessert.

Easy dump cobblers and cakes were an absolute staple in my family, especially growing up, and even still now.

Have you ever heard of the a Cupa, cupa, cupa, cobbler…its literally a cup of sugar, cup of flour, cup of milk, fruit and butter. It is, to this day, my step mom’s go-to peach cobbler recipe! And y’all, its delicious…and soooo flipping easy!

This chocolate cobbler isn’t as easy as the cupa, cupa, cupa reicpe, but its still pretty dang easy.

You just mix up an easy batter, sprinkle with some sugar and cocoa and pour hot water on top. Then kitchen science/magic does the rest.

The batter bakes up and rises to the top, the sugar, cocoa, and hot water end up on the bottom, and turn into a gooey fudge sauce.

This vegan chocolate cobbler takes minutes to mix up, and about an hour to bake. It is actually best hot, so you can scoop it right out and slap some vegan ice cream on top and you are good to go!

It taste like and extra gooey vegan brownie that has been drenched in chocolate sauce. You can can skip the ice cream but I wouldn't dream of it. I think the hot cobbler with the cold ice cream is the only way to eat any cobbler. It would be delicious with a vegan whip cream as well, but vegan vanilla ice cream is my go- to.

So if you are looking for a quick and easy dessert to satisfy even the strongest chocolate craving, this might be what you are looking for. It’s so easy I am certain my 9 year old, that only currently makes bowls of cereal or ramen, could make it. So I will go ahead and declare this a fool proof recipes, so easy even a kid can make it!!!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup all purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

• 3 tablespoons vegan melted butter

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

• 3/4 cups sugar

• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder

• 1 cup vegan chocolate chips

• 1/2 cup plant based milk (we like to bake with oat milk)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

TOPPING:

• 1/4 cup cocoa powder

• 3/4 cups brown sugar

• 1 3/4 cups hot water

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa. Add the melted butter and plant milk and mix until well combined. The batter should be close to the consistency of a brownie batter. If it still seems a little dry, you can add a few extra splashes of milk. Fold in the chocolate chips.

2. Prepare an 8x8 baking pan by giving it a good spray with some oil, or you can wipe the inside of the pan down with some oil and paper towel.

3. Pour the batter into the pan.

4. In another bowl whisk the cocoa powder and brown sugar for the topping. Sprinkle it on top of the batter in the pan. So NOT stir it in, just sprinkle it in an even layer on top.

5. Pour the hot water over the top of the topping. Again, do NOT stir. Just leave it be…seriously it’s that easy, y’all.

6. Place the pan on the center rack of the preheated oven, and bake for about 45 minutes, to an hour. You want the batter cooked though, but there will be gooey, fudgy, syrupy, chocolate on the bottom, so as long as the top later seems cooked through and a tooth pick inserted comes out clean, its done.

7. Scoop into bowls, and top with vegan ice cream ,or whipped cream to serve.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Chocolate Fudge Pie

Vegan Chocolate Orange Cake

Vegan Coca-Cola Cake

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 Sweet Potato Hand Pies

If there is a pie I love equally to pumpkin pie, it is sweet potato pie. And if I’m being honest, I might even like sweet potato pie more than pumpkin.

In truth, when I was a kid I probably couldn’t even tell the difference between the two. The flavors and and spices are similar. The texture however is just a bit different.

Pumpkin pie tends to be denser, creamier, and smoother. Whereas sweet potato is lighter and seems to have a little more texture, and oomph to it. for lack of a better, more scientific description.

I grew up in the south, so sweet potato pie has always been a staple on any holiday table.

Sweet potatoes are fairly inexpensive, and easy to find year round, unlike a pie pumpkins that tend to only be available the the fall in winter, when they are in season.

I also really love these vegan hand pies because they bake up so fast, are super easy to make vegan, and work well for serving at parties or as a holiday dessert. They also make nice treat to take into the office to share, or gifts around the holidays.

They work great for bake sales as well because its way easier to walk around holding hand pie than it is trying to walk around with a slice of pie on a plate. That’s just a fact.

So once again our amazing daughter, who is one of the best pie bakers I know, (this is fact, not biased opinion, that kids can out bake most adults I know) came in strong with a delicious crust while I whipped up the filling.

The dough for this vegan hand pie is delicious and also pretty easy to make. If you are not in the mood to make homemade pie dough however, you can always buy a vegan store bought roll out pie crust. Many brands are not vegan but there are brands that are. Often Lard is added to the curst so just be sure to check the ingredients or this vegan pie crust list from PETA.

These vegan sweet potato hand pies are sweet, buttery, gooey, and full of my favorite fall spices. We actually used a chai spice blend for the potatoes and the glaze, but you can use any mix of fall spices, like cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg. Whatever you like, or have on hand, add that!

So, if you have never had sweet potato pie but you are a fan of pumpkin, let me encourage you to try it!! Really, it is so delicious. Or if you have and love it as much as I do and need a vegan version of an old favorite, we are happy to oblige!

INGREDIENTS:

THE FILLING:

• 3 cups of peeled, diced sweet potatoes

• 3 tablespoons brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• pinch of salt

• 1 tablespoon maple syrup

• 1 1/2 teaspoon chai spice blend (see how to make further down the page) or the spices listed below.

• 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

• 2 tablespoons corn or tapioca starch

THE DOUGH: (or use Pre-made vegan pie dough)

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 3/4 cups cold vegan butter

• 1/4 vegan shortening

• 2 tablespoons ice water if needed

• 2 tablespoons plant milk plus 1 tablespoon maple syrup to brush dough with before baking

THE GLAZE:

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

• 1 1/4 teaspoon chai spice mix (see below) or use a blend of any fall spices you like

• enough maple syrup to bring it all togehter

CHAI SPICE BLEND:

This spice can be made and stored in an air tight container and used for all kinds of fall themed desserts!

• 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon

• 1 tablespoon ground ginger

• 1 tablespoon ground clove

• 1/2 tablespoon ground cardamom

• 1/2 tablespoon ground black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Begin preparing the dough by adding the flour, sugar, salt , cold butter, and shortening to a food processor or a large bowl. If using a food processor, pulse until a crumbly dough forms. Add the ice water a little at a time if needed to bring it from a crumbly dough to a ball of dough. If using a bowl, mix ingredients with a spoon, again only add the water as needed until dough forms.

2. Flatten the dough into a rectangle shape and tightly wrap with plastic wrap. Pop the dough in the fridge for AT LEAST 2 hours. You can pre make the dough a day or 2 ahead of time as well.

3. While the dough is resting begin preparing the filling by brining a large pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, carefully add the cubed sweet potatoes. Cook unit the potatoes are soft and able to be pierced with a fork. Drain the water and return the potatoes to the pot.

4. Add the brown sugar, starch, maple syrup, and spices to the pot. Using a hand potato masher or electric hand mixer, mash the potatoes until smooth. Let the mixture completely cool.

5. Once the dough has rested, remove from the fridge and allow to sit out on the counter for about 5 minutes. On a large, clean, lightly floured surface, begin rolling the dough out into a large rectangle until it is somewhere between 1/8- 1/4 of an inch thick. You don’t want the dough too thin so it rips when you are forming the pies, but not too thick either. (refer to picture above)

6. Using a small cereal bowl or something similarly sized, cut circles from the dough.

7. Scoop a few tablespoons for filling into the center of each circle. Gently fold the dough over and use a fork to press into and seal the dough around the edges, making sure the two sides of dough are actually pressed together.

8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut two slits in the tops of the pies. Mix up about 2 tablespoons plant milk ( oat milk browns really well) and a tablespoon of maple syrup and brush the tops of the pies with the mixture. Place the hand pies on a parchment lined baking sheet.

9. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake the pies on the center rack for about 25 to 30 minutes. Or until the pies are browning and seem cooked through.

10. Allow the vegan sweet potato hand pies to cool at room temperature for about 10 minutes.

11. Mix up the glaze ingredients in a small bowl and add just enough maple syrup until you have your desired consistency. Spoon glaze over pies and let set before serving. You can sprinkle some extra cinnamon or chai spice on top of the glaze if you like.

12. Store hand pies in an airtight container in the fridge or at room temp.

Yields 9-10 pies, or you can make smaller pies using a smaller bowl and it would yield more

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Pumpkin Spice Pop-Tarts

Vegan Sweet Potato Pie Smoothie

Vegan Sweet Potato Pancakes

Vegan SpaghettiOs with Meatballs

Like most kids raised in the 80s and 90s, I ate a LOT of lot of pre-made, prepackaged convenient food.

With two woking parents, we ate things that were quick and easy, that we could make ourselves as kids.

Soups in a can , microwavable dinners, ramen from the packet, Hamburger Helper, Lunchables, and my fave, SpagettiOs WITH meatballs. Always with the tiny little meatballs.

We grew up living with my dad and I was always his grocery shopping helper. He was the king of couponing, and even had a little black coupon accordion style pouch he took with him. This was well before the couponing craze, tv shows, and websites dedicated to the art of coupon clipping. He was just a single dad, trying to save money, raising 2 kids.

The advantage to being his grocery store helper was getting to choose my lunchables and which cans of SpagettiOs I got. I always chose meatballs, and rarely was allowed to get the “character brands” that cost more just because there was a picture of Garfield or Alvin and Chipmunks on the can.

My kids have never had a can of SpagettiOs. SpagettiOs are not vegan. Which again it is one of those products that really could be, but isn't . How sad for my sweet vegan/dairy allergy kids who can’t eat the food of my youth and know what its like to have your own personalized can of spaghetti and meatballs.

Oh wait, they can! Because making your own vegan SpaghettiOs is actually SUPER SIMPLE.

Look, if you don’t want to make your own homemade vegan meatballs, don’t. Use frozen. And if you can’t find little O noodles at your local store (I looked everywhere and couldn’t find them locally) you can order them online or you can use any noodle shape you like! Easy Peasy.

I think the saddest part for me was that 2 of my 4 kids are not fans. Weird, I know. I, as a grown up lady, still love them as much as I did when I was a kid. Like cramming them in my face at an embarrassing rate, filled with nostalgia and pure joy.

But then again, half of my kids also don’t like chocolate or pie, or vegan hamburger, so I don’t trust that half anyways.

So if you have missed a good ol can of SpagettiOs because you are vegan or have a diary allergy, the answer is easy homemade Vegan Spagettios with Meatballs. I promise, they won’t disappoint (well maybe they won’t disappoint 2 of your 4 kids….still scratching my head over this one)

INGREDIENTS:

Yields 6-8 servings but would also freeze well. This recipe would be great for meal prep for school lunches or quick weeknight dinner.

• 3/4 lbs pasta of your choice. We used round ring pasta that I found on amazon

• 2 (28 oz) cans stewed tomatoes, or whole peeled tomatoes ( they will be blended up so use any 28 oz can of tomatoes you have)

• 1 small yellow onion

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 2 cups water

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 1-2 teaspoons salt

• 1/2-1 teaspoon black pepper

• 1 batch homemade vegan meatballs, or one bag frozen

VEGAN MEATBALLS:

• 1 lb vegan vegan ground of your choice (we used Beyond Meat Brand)

• 1/4 cup vegan panko bread crumbs

• 2 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch

• 2 teaspoons garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Combine the vegan ground meat along with remaining meatball ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Mix well. Using a 1 inch cookie scoop or a regular spoon, scoop up the mixture and roll into small meat balls. Place the vegan meatballs on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until cooked through.

2. While the meatballs are baking, bring a large pot or dutch oven full of water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook until they are done. Drain the noodles and leave them in the colander.

3. Quarter the onion and add it along wit the canned tomatoes to a blender or food processor and blent until smooth.

4. Pour the blended tomatoes into the pot that you boiled the noodles in. Add the sugar, salt, pepper, and garlic to the pot. Bring to a simmer. Add in the water, noodles, and meatballs. Let everything hang out and simmer for about 25 minutes, stirring to keep the noodle from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

5. Serve as is or sprinkled with vegan parmesan cheese. You can store in the fridge for 5 days or freezer for 2 months.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

Vegan Cheeseburger Helper

Vegan Cheeseburger Egg Rolls

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 Chai Spice Cookies

We are big chai fans in this house. Well, at least half of us are.

Recently we stumbled upon a recipe book with all kinds of chai spice recipes in it, and it got our wheels turning.

One of my daughters favorite cookies to bake is a Vegan Mexican wedding cookie. You may call it a Russian tea cookie, a snow ball, or some other name because there are so many.

We often make these cookies gluten free and have added instructions to make them gf if that is your preference! Just use any good all purpose gf flour blend and they will turn out great!

So she decided that it would be extra delicious to mix the Mexican wedding cookie with a little spice so to speak. The perfect blend of warm chai spices with a nutty powdered sugar covered cookie that almost melts in your mouth!

Y’all, I could not stop eating these vegan chai spice cookies!! They are addictive, perfectly spiced, and taste like fall!!

These vegan chai spiced cookies are pretty easy to make but a little time consuming if you decide to shape them into a crescent. This is why we normally just shape them into balls.

These cookies are great for just about any occasion, or fall holiday. I mean, we made them on a random Monday because we were in the mood for cookies, which seems like a good enough occasion for me!!

So if you are a fan of a buttery, traditional snow ball/Mexican wedding/Russian tea cookie, and love all things chai, I know without a doubt you will love these easy vegan chai spiced cookie.

INGREDIENTS:

Chai Spice Blend: (keep stored in a cool dry place in an air tight container)

• 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon

• 1 tablespoon ground ginger

• 1 tablespoon ground clove

• 1/2 tablespoon ground cardamom

• 1/2 tablespoon ground black pepper

Cookies:

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour or gluten free flour blend (we use this one, it is hands down the best we have tried)

• 1 cup vegan butter, softened

• 1 cup powdered sugar, plus extra for rolling

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)

• 2 teaspoons chai spice blend

• 1/4 teaspoons salt

• 1 cup almond meal ( ground up almonds)

• 1/2 teaspoon chai spice blend, plus 1-1 1/2 cup powdered sugar for coating

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. In large bowl mix softened butter and sugar until creamy. Add in the vanilla and almond extracts and mix.

2. Add in the dry ingredients and mix until well incorporated. The dough be dry but wet enough to hold the shape of a ball. You can find almond meal in the baking section of most stores now. It is NOT almond flour. It is more coarse. We normally just pop some almonds in a blender to make the meal.

3. Line 2 baking sheets wth parchment paper. Using a small cookie scoop or a talbesppon, scoop dough and roll into balls. The cookies do not really spread, so you do not have to space them out too much. You can also scoop the dough and shape it into a crescent shape. Whatever is your preference, but shaping them into balls is a lot quicker!

4. Bake for about 12-15 minutes, just until the cookies are starting to brown around the edges.

5. Allow cookies to cool completely before rolling them in chai spice and powdered sugar. If the cookies are even still warm it will cause the powdered sugar to cake up and melt on the cookies. So make sure they are totally cool.

6. Store cookies in an airtight container.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Cinnamon Sand Dollar Cookies

Chocolate Covered Boozy Cherries

Vegan Maple Pecan Blondies

Easy Vegan Baked Chicken Breast

If you are vegan or vegetarian and enjoy a good meat substitute every now and again (or every single day) you might know by now that the store bought options out there are not all created equal.

One of the things I have found the hardest to find is a basic grilled “chicken” substitute that isn’t full of weird ingredients or isn’t super over priced.

I found kind of groove creating really easy, really delicious, and inexpensive vegan deli meats, so decided all those same seitan principles would apply with an easy vegan baked chicken.

I have various vegan chicken recipes on the site. Battered, fried, crispy skin covered, tandoori style, but I had yet to type up a recipe for a basic, all purpose, vegan baked chicken.

You can use this vegan chicken in any recipe you would use chicken in. It mixes up in minutes and bakes in a little over half an hour. It also needs to rest like all seitan, but not for nearly as long a lets say a vegan turkey breast or vegan ham because these pieces are small and will firm up a little more quickly!

You can freeze this vegan chicken after it has baked and thaw what you need in a pinch. I like to bake up a batch on the weekend and have it to use throughout the week, making my meal prep that much easier.

The texture is super spot on “meaty” and the flavor is like, well, chicken! You can sprinkle any all purpose seasoning you like on the breasts before you bake them. I like a chili lime seasoning, hickory, or even an all purpose greek seasoning. Use whatever your little hear desires.

Please do read the note concerning my tofu choice. I use super firm tofu for optimal texture. If you choose to use extra firm, you will need less water in the recipe. It will work, but I still get a better result with the super firm kind. And as an added bonus, the super firm has nearly double the protein of regular or extra firm water packed tofu. That way when someone rando asks you the age old question “ but where do you get your protein” you can just laugh and laugh and laugh knowing you are about 15 grams per severing of the super firm tofu!!

Just know it is so super easy to make your own vegan chicken at home. You no longer have to search for, and waste money on store bought vegan chicken that probably isn’t anywhere near as good as this easy and afforable homemade vegan chicken breast!

INGREDIENTS:

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

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten

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

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1-2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1/2 teaspoon sage

• 1/2 teaspoon rosemary

• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• 2 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 2 tablespoon neural flavored oil

• 1/2 to 3/4 cups water

• 1 teaspoons salt

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 chicken 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 by 25 degrees and keep the seitan covered the whole bake.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

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

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

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

4. Line a baking sheet in parchment paper or foil, spray with oil. Evenly space out the seitan chicken pieces making sure they are not touching. They will expand as they bake. Spray the tops with oil and give them a sprinkle with any seasoning you like. Tightly cover the entire pan in foil, tucking the edges tightly around the edges of the pan. We want the seitan to steam inside the pan. Place the pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 25 minutes.

5. Open up the foil and allow the seitan chicken to bake for another 10 minutes uncovered. These chicken seitan pieces are thin, 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.

6. 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!

7. You can reheat the chicken in the oven on 350 degrees covered in foil until warmed through. You can slice or cube the chicken to use in just about any recipe that requires a chicken substitute. Use in fajitas, tacos, casseroles, sandwiches, pastas, or as is.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Fried Chicken

Vegan Chicken Parmesan Sandwich

Vegan Turkey Style Roast with Crispy Skin

Vegan Buffalo Chicken Sandwich with Celery Slaw

Way back when I was not vegan, a buffalo chicken sandwich was my go-to take out order.

I like spicy food and my husband is not really a fan. So when it was just the two of us, I never cooked anything with buffalo sauce because he wasn’t going to eat it.

But eventually we had kids, and a few of those kids have grown up to love buffalo everything just like me! Glory glory hallelujah!! Now I can finally justify a buffalo sauce themed dinner!!

My all time favorite buffalo chicken sandwich was at a place in Jax called, Chomp Chomp. If you live in Jax or have visited and ever eaten there, then you know! They sadly closed last year and broke many a locals heart.

Their buffalo sandwich was a perfectly crispy chicken sandwich, extra hot, extra drippy, slathered in celery slaw and blue cheese. CELERY SLAW, Y’ALL. Blue cheese celery slaw!!!!

I mean its been a long time ago that I ate that sandwich, and went back to a vegetarian diet pretty soon after I did eat it (they did offer a vegetarian version.) I had a bit of a slippery relationship with being vegetarian for some years due to being pregnant and at the time and being made to feel like I needed to eat meat and was not getting enough protein.

Ahh the age old “but how are you getting enough protein?” question. Did you know that the super firm tofu I use to make this vegan chicken is actually high protein! 14 grams per serving, actually. Cleary I now see that was all a load of garbage. Live and learn. The more you know and all that jazz…..moving on.

Fast forward to being vegetarian then vegan, and my order eventually changed, but even their vegan eats were delicious. But, I never got over missing that perfect buffalo chicken sandwich.

So, in honor of the closing of one Jacksonville’s best down town eateries, I have decided to recreate the Chomp Chomp Buffalo sandwich and make it VEGAN, full of protein for all the haters, extra spicy, and dripping with a pile of homemade vegan blue cheese slaw, and extra vegan blue cheese.

Don’t be intimidated by making your own vegan fried chicken. It is actually really easy. I have linked the recipe to our southern fried chicken for this sandwich. I am always preaching how easy seitan making is, and really y’all, its so easy. It mixes up in minutes, bakes in a little over half an hour, and fries up extra fast.

The catch its seitan has to rest to get it to meaty texture we all want. If you try and eat it right away it can be spongy and not great. Just let it rest! LET THE BREAST REST!

Seitan also freezes really well so if you are making a sandwich for one, two, four, six, whatever, you get 8 vegan chicken pieces from this recipe. They will actually freeze beautifully for up to 6 months. You can make all kinds of things out of one batch of vegan chicken breast. You don’t have fry them. You can thaw leftovers and use them in stir fry, make vegan chicken salad from them, use them in any dish you would need a vegan chicken for!!

The point I am trying to make is that the effort and time involved in making a batch of this seitan is 100% worth it! And once you make it, you can make one of the most delicious vegan buffalo chickens sandwiches ever!

Thanks again for the inspiration Chomp Chomp, you are missed. Please, please, make a come back..and if you do, give me call, I’ll be happy to help with some vegan offerings ;)

*This recipe will yield up to 8 chicken sandwiches. If you do not need 8, you can freeze any leftover chicken breast for later use, for up to 6 months. You can store any leftovers in the fridge for up to 10 days in an airtight container.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 batch vegan southern fried chicken (you do not need to add the rice paper skin)

• 1 batch vegan blue cheese dressing

• Vegan hamburger buns (we used Dave’s new Killer Hamburger Buns)

• 6-7 stalks of celery

• 2/3 cups matchstick carrots

• salt and pepper to taste

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

• 1/2-1 cup Franks Buffalo Sauce (depending on how many sandwiches you are making)

• 1-2 teaspoons vegan buttter

• 1 teaspoon garlic salt

• extra hot sauce if you want the sandwich EXTRA spicy

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Prepare the chicken according to the recipe. The chicken is made from seitan and needs to rest in the fridge before frying. It will need to be made the day before or at least 6 hours before frying. For this recipe I did not add the rice paper skin. Just form the “chicken” breast and bake. Then LET THEM REST!!

2. Prepare the vegan blue cheese according to the directions. You could also use store bought.

3. To prepare the slaw, cut the celery stalks length wise and as thinly as you can get them. Like thin matchsticks. Then cut them into quarters the other way. Toss the celery and the carrot match sticks into a blender or food processor and pulse a few times to chop it all up. If you do not have a blender or food processor you can try to finely chop the slaw by hand. You just want a slaw consistency. If you are making only a few sandwiches, you can easily half this recipe.

4. Add the celery and carrots to a bowl and mix with the vinegar, 2-3 tablespoons of vegan blue cheese dressing, and salt and pepper to taste.

5. In a medium size microwave safe bowl, heat the Franks hot sauce and butter for 1 and half to 2 minutes. You just need the Franks heated through and the butter melted. Mix in the garlic salt and dip each vegan fried chicken breast into the sauce to coat fully.

6. Smear some vegan blue cheese dressing on the top and bottom bun, add a coated piece of vegan fried chicken, and top with a generous portion of celery slaw to serve. (also is suggest a pile of napkins!)

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Challah

Vegan Fried Chicken and Waffles

Vegan Parmesan Chicken Sandwich

Vegan Beef Bourguignon with Mashed Potatoes

Beef Bourguignon, sounds super fancy….and I guess it kind of is, but really it’s pretty much just a thick and flavorful beef stew, and in the case it’s VEGAN.

Beef bourguignon originated in France and is really just a hearty beef stew where the beef is braised in red wine.

Yes, it has wine in it. So if you do not partake, then this is not really the recipe for you. I mean it originated in a region known for the cattle and wine. So if you leave out the wine you just a have a thick vegan beef stew which is fine, I do have a tasty vegan beef stew recipe you can try. But the wine is really what makes this recipe soooo delicious.

So, how does a vegan make a vegan beef bourguignon you might ask? Well for starters we need to make a convincing vegan beef. Making seitan is really a lot easier than one may think. This recipe for vegan beef tips is REALLY EASY, but it needs to rest. If you know me and are familiar with this blog, you have probably heard me shouting to let the seitan REST!!! And I’m not kidding. Let it rest y’all. Please!!!

Now don’t freak out about how long it takes between making the seitan and eating it. Just know if you want to make this for dinner, you need to get those beef tips cooking bright and early, or even better, the day before you acutely need them. Good things come to those who let the dang seitan rest! And these vegan beef tips are pretty dang good and worth the rest time. I made mine in the morning and had the stew for dinner.

Once the seitan is good to go, you can begin the stew. I like to let mine slowly cook in the oven. You just get it going on the stove top, pop it in the oven, and go about your day. That way that vegan beef soaks up all the lovey flavors from the stew, the wine and liquid reduces, and it thickens up to a velvety perfection. Seriously, if you are home for the weekend cleaning, relaxing, or putzing around, that is the perfect time to make this recipe.

No, this recipe is NOT QUICK. Again I repeat, good things come to those who wait. This is a Sunday dinner kind of recipe, a holiday kind recipe, a “you need a nice meal for entertaining or convincing your inlaws not all vegan food is lettuce” kind of recipe. And in my opinion it is worth the time spent on it.

Three of my four kids ate it and went for seconds. We can’t count the 4th, she is only 4 and pretty much in that beige diet phase where getting her to eat a full meal or anything of color or interest is a daily struggle. I am thankful she still likes a ton of raw veggies and berries, but don’t you dare suggest she eat a cooked vegetable at this juncture..sigh….toddler parents probably know my struggle here. Don’t worry, I now have teenagers too, and they will grown up and eat lots and lots of things.

Serving this meal with a nice glass of red wine, a side salad, and some crusty bread to soak up all of the delicious wine laced, gravy like goodness is a must. It is one of those dinners you eat slowly, you savor, and enjoy every last bite. So you might need two glasses of wine. Or maybe thats just me.

Also, we serve our vegan beef bourguignon over the creamiest vegan mashed potatoes. I think this is one of my favorite parts of this meal. In my regular vegan beef stew I add potatoes to the stew. In this recipe we are ladling the stew over mashed potatoes, which I prefer. Carbs, wine, warm comfort food. I’m allllll in!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced

• 1 cup sliced carrots

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour

• 2 teaspoon tomato paste

• 2-3 cups sliced button mushrooms

• 2-3 teaspoons No Beef Better Than Bouillon, or a bouillon powder **

• 1 1/2 cups water **

(**you can also reserve 1 1/2 cups of boiling liquid from the beef tips and use that instead of the water and bouillon listed here)

• 1 1/2 cups dry red wine

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 2 tablespoons dark cocoa powder

VEGAN BEEF TIPS:

super firm tofu, vacuum sealed

• 1 (16 oz) block of super firm tofu, the kind that is vacuum sealed, not in a tray of water

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten

• 1 tablespoons No Beef Better Than Bouillon (or a vegan beef bouillon powder)

• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 2 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch

• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

• 2 teaspoons vegan Worcestershire sauce

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce or coconut amnios

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 1 tablespoon tomato paste

• 2 teaspoons dried thyme

• 2 tablespoons neutral flavored oil

• 2 tablespoons water (if needed)

**If you can not find the super firm, vacuum sealed tofu, you can use extra firm tofu, but you will need to press it for at least half an hour. You will likely not need to add any water to the recipe and the texture will still be nice, but I still prefer the super firm tofu (sometimes called high protein tofu.)

BOILING LIQUID:

• 6 cups water

• 2 teaspoons No Beef Better Bouillon

• 2 splashes soy sauce

MASHED POTATOES:

• 4-5 large russet potatoes, peeled and diced

• 2 tablespoons vegan butter

• 2 tablespoons vegan cream cheese or plain vegan yogurt

• salt and pepper to taste

• a few splashes of plant based milk

INSTURCTIONS:

1. For the beef tips: 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.

   * If you do not have a food processor, you can try and break down the tofu in a blender. You want it the consistency of a thick ricotta, almost. You can try adding the liquid ingredients in with the tofu to help break it down. Once you break it down you can mix the rest by hand, making sure to knead the dough well, for about 5 minutes if doing it by hand.

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 oval shaped loaf with the dough. Cut the dough into 4 pieces and shape them into ovals. (see pictures above)

4. Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a large pot, or dutch oven. Add the bouillon, and soy to the pot. Add the seitan pieces and reduce the heat to medium low. Allow the seitan to simmer for 30 minutes then flip the pieces. Let simmer another 30 minutes. Remove from the liquid and place in a shallow dish or on a plate. Lightly cover and allow to rest in the fridge for 4-8 hours. This helps firm up the seitan yielding a more meaty and less spongy texture. I often prepare the seitan the day before I intend to use it!

5. Cut 3 of the 4 pieces of seitan into roughly 1 inch cubes. You can save the 4th piece for something else like sliced thin for sandwiches, or freeze it for later. It makes a nice stir fry beef as well.

6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, moving the oven racks so you have enough room to fit a the dutch oven or oven safe pot.

7. In a large dutch oven or oven safe pot, heat a few teaspoons of oil or vegan butter. Add the sliced onions, garlic, and carrots and liquid smoke to the pot. Cook until the onions are translucent. Add the flour and cook for about a minute.

8. Whisk the bouillon into the water or use the reserved beef tip boiling liquid. Slowly add the broth and wine to the pot whisking the flour into the liquid. Add the tomato paste, dried thyme, pepper, and vegan beef tips. Bring the liquid to a boil, then carefully transfer the pot to the oven with the lid on.

9. Allow the vegan beef bourguignon to cook in the oven for 2 hours. After 2 hours add the sliced mushrooms and cocoa powder to the pot and allow to simmer another 30 minutes.

10. Peel and dice potatoes. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the potatoes, and boil until they are tender and can easily be pierced with a fork. Drain the water and return the potatoes to the pot. Mash potatoes and remaining ingredients with a hand masher or electric hand mixer until creamy.

11. Sever vegan beef bourguignon over mashed potatoes. Garnish with fresh thyme or parsley if you like.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Beer Cheese and Potato Soup

Beyond Sausage with Cabbage and Cider

Vegan Lasagna Soup with Beyond Meat

Vegan Hawaiian Rolls

Before we went vegetarian, never mind vegan, I could put down some Hawaiian rolls.

Every single Thanksgiving my family would buy a Honey Baked Ham and I would look most forward to the leftover ham sandwiches with mayo on a Hawaiian roll. It was my favorite sandwich that I only got to eat once a year.

For years and years my husband and I have talked about missing that sandwich. So I decided enough was enough and it was high time I make a convincing vegan ham.

Well, I did. But I still needed a vegan Hawaiian roll, so set my 14 year old to task with coming up a with a vegan version of the best roll on the planet (just my opinion but seriously, it is the best)

I have talked more than once about how amazing our 14 year old is (all of our kids are really rad, actually) but P can bake ANYTHING and make it vegan.

It took her just one attempt at veganizing a Hawaiian roll recipe to develop the most perfect Hawaiian roll I maybe ever have had.

Sweet, soft, and just waiting for a big pile of vegan ham and some mayo.

And just like that. all the stars aligned and there was finally nostalgic food joy in our house year around. Glory glory!!

These vegan Hawaiian rolls are gonna take you some time. They are after all a yeast roll and those just take time to rise. It is what it is. So make sure if want these for dinner to start them in them several hours before you are wanting to eat.

And let me just mention before you ask or comment, these rolls are suppose to be sweet. Sweet and a little savoy. In case you have never had one. The pineapple juice is key ingredient so no, you can not swap it out. If you do, it will not be a Hawaiian roll. It will be some other kind of roll and thats ok, but it won’t be a traditional Hawaiian roll.

They are best warm, right out of the oven, but they keep well for a few days and are still delicious at room temp.

And if you are also a fan of ham on Hawaiian, try our vegan ham recipe. It is so easy to make, and really affordable. I am talking $4 for about a pound and a half of vegan deli meat. Y’all, you will never have to pay too much for vegan lunch meat ever again!! And if you don’t like ham, I have turkey, brisket, and pastrami recipes as well!!

If you are not in it for the sandwiches, then these rolls make a perfect bread side for just about any meal. They are great for BBQs, pot lucks, or just Sunday night dinner.

Thanks again to our brilliant P for all of her veganizing genius and these rolls.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour

• 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar

• 2 starch eggs ( 2 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch+ 6 tablespoons water, mixed)

• 1/4 cup melted vegan butter

• 1/2 cup warm oat milk (100-110 degrees, if it’s too hot it will kill the yeast, it should be about the temp of hot water from the tap as a gauge if you don’t have a kitchen thermometer)

• 1/2 cup pineapple juice, room temp

GLAZE:

• 3 tablespoons oat milk

• 3 tablespoons maple syrup

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or large bowl if mixing by hand, add the pineapple juice, warm milk, melted butter, starch eggs, sugar, salt, and yeast.

2. Add 2 cups of flour and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to incorporate the wet ingredients with the dry. The dough will be shaggy, loose, and sticky.

3. If using a stand mixer, attach the dough hook. On medium/low speed begin adding remaining flour until the dough comes together. If the dough seems a little too dry, add a tablespoon of water. If it seems too wet, you can add a few extra tablespoons of four. Let the dough knead in the mixer for 5 minutes unit a smooth, soft dough forms.

4. If mixing by hand, add a little flour at a time mixing by hand unit the dough forms. Turn dough out onto a clean floured surface and knead by hand for 5 minutes. (it will be a good workout, to work off all those carbs you are about to cram in your face)

5. Lightly coat a large mixing bowl with some oil. Place dough in bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen bowl. Place the bowl in a warm place and allow it to rise until doubled in size. This should take about an hour but will depend on how warm it is in your house. It could take a bit longer. I let my dough rise in my oven with it turned off.

6. Lightly coat or spray a 9x13 pan with oil.

7. Turn the dough out onto a clean surface and divide it into 15 equal pieces. You can eyeball it, or if you are the kind of person that needs them to be EXACTLY the same size, use a kitchen scale. Roll each piece of dough into a ball place them in the 9x13 pan.

8. In a small bowl mix 3 tablespoons oat milk and 3 tablespoons maple syrup. Brush the tops of the rolls and cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen bowl. Let rise again for 30 minutes. You can use any plant milk you have but oat milk browns better than the rest.

9. While the rolls are rising, preheat oven to 375 degrees.

10. Uncover and bake rolls on the middle oven rack for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

11. Store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temp.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Deviled Eggs

Vegan Deli Glazed Ham

Easy Vegan Macaroni Salad

Vegan Cheese, Bacon, and Jalapeño Stuffed Bread

Bread, check.

Vegan cheese, check.

Vegan bacon, check.

A little spice, check.

To sum it up, this is a perfect meal in my opinion.

I love carbs, I love vegan cheese, I love bacon, and I love a little pepper spice to top it all off.

I recently saw a similar thing done, but it was not vegan. But like most things, you can easily make it vegan and not be left out of the stuffed cheesy bread party. I mean anything they can make we can make vegan these days.

I started with a loaf of artisan bread and sliced it up to create little pockets for the filling. Then mixed up the vegan cheesy, gooey, filling and piped it right in. Easy peasy. Then sprinkled some more vegan cheese on it and baked it right up until it was bubbly, and gooey and crispy and ready to shove in my face.

I actually made this for lunch for my kids and had leftovers the next day, but I think it would work well for a party, or movie night snack as well.

If you are not into vegan bacon you could always slice up some vegan pepperoni and dip the bites into some marinara! Then it would basically be pizza bread. I mean come on! I would eat that all day. I would dip it just they way it is in marinara because I love red sauce.

You can buy some vegan cheeses at the store or check out the site from homemade versions of all the cheeses you need to make this vegan stuffed cheesy bread.

And if you are not a fan of spice, leave out the peppers. You do what you want to do here. Your bread, your rules.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 round artisan bread loaf, store-bought or homemade

• 10-12 slices vegan bacon, I used lifelight

• 1 (8 oz) container of vegan cream cheese, or 8 oz homemade

• 1/2 cup vegansour cream

• 1-2 teaspoon minced garlic

• 1 teaspoon onion salt

• 3 tablespoons vegan mayo

• 1 cup shredded vegan cheddar cheese

• 1 cup shredded vegan mozzarella cheese

• 1 jalapeño seeded and finely diced

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

1. Finely dice the bacon and cook it unit crispy in a small skillet. Let it cool.

2. Cut the round bread loaf in a cross hatch pattern as deeply as you can without cutting through the bottom. I suggest using a sharp serrated knife. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

3. In a medium bowl mix the garlic, cream cheese, mayo, sour cream, bacon, jalapeños, and half a cup of each shredded cheese.

4. Fill a piping bag, or zip lock bag with one corner tip cut off, with the cheese mixture. Pipe the mixture into each opening you cut in the bread, making sure to try fill each gap fully with the mixture.

5. Sprinkle the top of the bread with remaining shredded cheese.

6. Bake on the middle rack for 20- 25 minutes or until all of the cheese is gooey, bubbly, melty. Garnish with extra pepper slices and bacon if you like.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Stuffed Bagel Bites

Vegan Peppernoi Pizza Nachos

Vegan Cheese Stuffed Pretzels

Coconut Tofu (Vegan Coconut Shrimp)

Once upon a time, not too long ago (isn’t this how all the memes ripping on food blogs begin?) I created the most perfect popcorn tofu when trying to recreate popcorn chicken from a local grocery store that I used to love.

I actually saw a similar method being done with chicken and changed it up a bit for the tofu. It yielded the crispiest most convincing popcorn tofu in all the land (or at least maybe Jax Florida, but we can debate this later.)

Then one day recently, I was thinking about things my husband used to love a million moons ago, and coconut shrimp was high on that list. So I decided I could win some major wife points if I tried to make him a vegan version to rival what he vaguely remembered of a past favorite.

I actually have a coconut tofu recipe on the site and it is delicious, but you bake it and the texture is not the same. Still delicious, just not what I was going for here. I wanted super crispy, dippable coconut “shrimp.’

So the most rational and easier solution was tweaking the popcorn tofu recipe into something new and very exciting. And I did, and it was everything my sweet husband hoped it would be.

I coated the tofu in coconut milk instead of almond milk and used panko for an extra crunch. We also whipped up one of our favorite dips, Creamy Chili Lime, and dipped it that.

We ate ours with coconut lime rice, and I promise I will add this recipes ASAP because it is so easy and I don’t want to eat any other rice ever (thats a lie, I will always eat Spanish rice with pigeon peas, always.) but seriously its so good and almost too easy.

So all you reformed coconut shrimp lovers out there looking for a perfect alternative, this is it. I promise it will give you the outside crispy coconut crunch with a chewy shrimp like inside, just using a good ol block of tofu.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 block extra firm tofu

• 3/4 cups corn or tapioca starch

• 1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs (not all brands are vegan)

• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

• 1/2 cup vegan plain yogurt (I use Kite Hill)

• 1/2 cup coconut milk from the can

• 1 teaspoons salt

• 1 1/2 teaspoons each, garlic, onion powder and all purpose seasoning (we use a greek seasoning)

• oil for frying

Creamy Chili Lime Sauce:

• 1/3 cup vegan mayo

• 3 tablespoons sweet chili sauce

• juice from 1/2 lime

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Remove tofu from package and drain. Wrap the tofu in a clean kitchen towel or some paper towels and place a few books, or a heavy pan on top. Let the tofu sit for 15 minutes to press out any extra water.

2. Cut the tofu block in half, then cut halves into 1/2 inch strips. Using your hands, break off pieces of the strips to form little tofu nuggets.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the yogurt and milk.

4. In another, bowl whisk 1/2 cups of the starch and all of the seasonings.

5. In another bowl, add the bread crumbs and coconut.

6. First toss the tofu into the starch and seasoning mixture

7. Next add the tofu to the milk and yogurt and stir. All of the liquid should be absorbed by the tofu, although it will be a sticky mess. Now sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of starch over the tofu and toss.

8. Using your hands (I promise, it’s just easier) pick up a small handful of tofu and toss it around in the breadcrumbs until fully coated. You can use your hands to separate any tofu that got clumped together, sifting it though your fingers. Place coated tofu into a dish, and repeat until all of the tofu is coated.

9. Heat a few inches of oil in a high sided skillet. I use my cast iron for this. While the oil is heating, place a wire cooling rack on top of a paper towel lined baking sheet. This is where you will place the finished tofu to cool.

10. Once the oil is nice and hot, carefully add the tofu in small batches to the pan (you can poke a chopstick into the oil, and if tiny bubbles form around the stick, the oil is ready). Using a slotted spoon, keep the tofu moving around for a few minutes to make sure all of the sides get nice and crispy. Once tofu is browned and crispy, remove and place on a wire cooling rack. Repeat with remaining tofu.

11. If making the Creamy Chili Lime whisk all ingredients together and store in an air tight container in the fridge. Server with dip and any side you like.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Crispy Coconut Tofu with Tropical Rice

Popcorn Tofu

Bang Bang Tofu

Vegan Spanish Rice with Pigeon Peas

Rice and beans, or in this case, rice and peas.

I had never in my life had a pigeon pea until my friend Yanira introduced me to them. She cooked them up in a big batch of Spanish rice, and oh my gosh, I could live of this dish.

It is so easy to make and super inexpensive. And it can easily feed a family of 6 with a side salad, or as a side for taco night, and there are still leftovers.

This Spanish rice is so quick and easy to make. You can use any long grain rice, I normally just use basmati because it is what I have on hand.

You just need a can of tomato sauce, the peas, an onion, and few pantry spice staples. Thats it! So easy!

I can easily find canned pigeon peas in the international isle at my grocery store in the Hispanic section. I have no solid description of them other than delicious. If you have never had a pigeon pea, then trust me, you are missing out!

All I know is that if I am making rice and beans (peas) this is the recipe I am making. It cheap, filling, delicious, easy, and flavorful. So pretty much the perfect recipe!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 small yellow onion, finely diced

• 2 cups any long grain white rice

• 2 tablespoons oil

• 3 1/3 cups water

• 15 oz can tomato sauce

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 2 teaspoons No Chicken, or Vegetable Better Than Bouillon ( you can also skip this and replace the water with 3 1/2 cups veggie broth)

• 15.5 oz can pigeon peas

• 1 teaspoon cumin powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Heat a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat with the oil. Once the oil is nice and hot toss in the onion and garlic and cook until translucent.

2. Next add the rice to the pot and let it cook a few minutes until it begins to brown.

3. Whisk the Better than Bouillon with the 3 1/2 cups of water and add it to the pot along with tomato sauce, cumin, salt, and pepper. Give it a good stir.

4. Cover the pot and let the mixture simmer for about 20 minutes. Drain and rinse the can of peas and add them to the pot. Let simmer 10-15 more minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is cooked through.

5. Stir in fresh cilantro and serve.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Crispy Coconut Tofu with Tropical Rice

Sesame Tofu Tacos with Asian Slaw

Vegan Cashew Queso

Vegan Pepperoni Pizza Rolls with Cream Cheese Drizzle

I have a friend named Aurora who used to food blog, but now days is focusing her energy on her newest project, MurderMuder News! The only place you need to go for your True Crime news fix!

I am a true crime fanatic and if you adore a good true crime website/podcast/ documentary as much as I do, then you must, MUST go right now and follow Aurora and Angelina over at MurderMurder News and on their youtube channel for all things true crime related! Also she is just great and I promise you will love her!

That said, she messaged me the other day telling me I really need to veganize this recipe she found over at Thrillist.com. So naturally I knew she was right and decided to give it a go.

After poking around the interwebs I saw this is actually a thing people do…make pizza into a kind of cinnamon roll hybrid. How am I just now seeing this?!?!?

Rolling up pizza toppings into pizza dough and cutting and baking them like a cinnamon roll!! FLIPPING GENIUS, Y’ALL!

Had I known this was a thing years ago, I might weigh a lot more than I currently do, and I would have been making these weekly…I guess I am gonna have to step up my gym game.

Veganizing these was actually pretty easy. After looking around at what is standard pizza roll protocol, I decided I liked that the folks over at Thrillist added a cream cheese drizzle (not the norm elsewhere from what I saw) to mimic an icing if you will. Also I will add cream cheese or sour cream to just about anything so it seemed only right! I also added extra marinara because I LOVE sauce and want to dip alllll the things.

For the filling I used a store bought marinara, some shredded vegan mozzarella, and homemade vegan pepperoni. I guess if you are feeling too lazy to whip up some pepperoni you could add olives, mushrooms, peppers, or whatever you want. Just be careful to keep the stuffing sliced thinly and don’t over stuff!!

If you are into making your own pepperoni, its easy. Our recipe is super easy and will give you 2 “sticks” of pepperoni. You only need half of one for this recipe so you will have plenty leftover to snack on with cheese and crackers, add to a salad, or freeze for later.

So if you want a little something different on pizza night, try rolling that mess up like a cinnamon roll, don’t skip that cream cheese drizzle, and make sure you have extra sauce for dunking. And if you love true crime you can eat these rolls while watching the ladies over at Murdermurder News on youtube. Sounds like the perfect Friday night to me.

INGREDIENTS:

• 16 oz pizza dough ( homemade or store bought)

• 4-6 oz of vegan shredded mozzarella (homemade or store bought)

• 1/2 cup marinara sauce, plus more for dipping

• 1 tablespoon vegan butter

• 2 teaspoon garlic powder, divided

• 1/4 of a batch of homemade vegan pepperoni, thinly sliced (half of one stick)

• 1/3 cup vegan cream cheese ( homemade or store bought )

• A few splashes plant milk

• Dried basil or parsley

• 1/4 cup or so of corn meal

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

1. If you are using pre-made pizza dough, remove it from the fridge and let it rest for about 10 minutes. It will stretch better if you do. Once it has sat, flour your hands to stretch it out to a large 16x12 inch (give to take) rectangle. You can also roll the dough out using a rolling pin, I just have always preferred to stretch it! It will be sticky so adding flour to your hands and work surface will help.

2. Melt a tablespoon of butter and mix in 1 teaspoon of garlic powder in a small bowl. Brush the dough leaving a 1 inch border around the edge that you don’t brush.

3. Spread the sauce evenly over the dough, remembering to keep the 1 inch border. Lay out the thin pepperoni slices in a single layer, and sprinkle the top with the cheese.

4. Starting at the 16 inch side facing you, roll the dough into a log as tightly as you can. If you don’t roll it tightly enough, the filling will fall out when you cut it ( I may have lived this exact scenario the first batch I made, just trust me.)

5. Using a very sharp knife, carefully cut 10 evenly sized rolls from the dough.

6. Dip the bottoms of the the rolls in some corn meal and place them on a baking sheet or in a 9x13 casserole dish about an inch or so apart. Place the rolls in the oven with the rack positioned in the middle. Bake for 25 or 30 minutes, or unit the dough seems to be browning and done, and the cheese is bubbling and melted. Remove and let cool just a bit.

7. Place the cream cheese along with 1 teaspoons of garlic salt in a small bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds to soften. Mix in about a tablespoon of plant milk or as much as it takes to thin the cream cheese out enough to drizzle over the tops of the pizza rolls. Not too thin, not too thick, about the consistency of icing. It really will depend on the brand of cream cheese you are using as to how much milk you will need to thin it out.

8. You can serve as is, or I like to also drizzle some extra sauce on top and sprinkle with some dried basil or parsley.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Cheese Stuffed Pretzels

Vegan Pizza Nachos

Vegan Stuffed Crust Pizza

Vegan Egg Roll in a Bowl

Lets talk about easy and pretty healthy dinner recipes.

I love them. I mean don’t we all.

Especially on hectic weeknights where we don’t want to eat out but want something more filling than a sandwich.

Well let me introduce you to the vegan egg roll in a bowl!

This recipe has been popular for a while out there on the internet. The low carb crowd has been raving about it for years, and I am just late to the party. I am not sure why I didn’t try whipping this up sooner. I think as I have gotten older I have had to become more carb conscience.

If I want to keep eating donuts at my regular rate, I have to find other places to cut some of those carbs…and I 100% plan on always eating donuts…soooo

Back to how easy this is, oh and tasty…tasty is a bonus to the easy. Lots of recipes are easy but not necessarily tasty. This one is both. As a matter of fact, some of my kids teenage friends were over when I made this, and not only happily ate it, but went back in for seconds.

This vegan egg roll in a bowl recipe will take you a grand total of maybe 20 minutes start to finish. Even less time if you don’t chop the cabbage yourself and you buy that pre shredded stuff. I mean you might wait in a drive thru line longer than that. I am pretty certain my Chinese take out place never had my food ready in 20 minutes.

And when it comes to taste, well iIt taste like all the good parts of the egg roll without the guilt. No frying, not carby egg roll wrapper, just all the goodies from the inside.

I like to add edamame to mine. You could add mushrooms, bean spouts, water chestnuts, whatever you like. The more veggies the merrier.

So if you need quick, easy, and tasty, this vegan egg roll in a bowl is just the thing. And maybe now you will feel less bad about the donuts for dessert?!?!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb vegan ground “meat'“ (I used Beyond meat)

• 4 cups shredded cabbage (green, or a mix of green and purple)

• 2 cups match stick carrots

• 1 small onion thinly sliced

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 1-2 teaspoons mined ginger

• 1/4 cup soy sauce or coconut aminos

• 1 teaspoons sesame oil

• 2 teaspoons neutral tasting oil

• Optional: 1/3 cup edamame, sesame seeds, sliced scallions, cilantro

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Heat a large skillet or wok over medium hight heat. Add oils to a the pan once hot. Add the onions and garlic and cook until the onions are translucent and soft. Add the ground “meat” and cook until brown. Add the ginger to the pan.

2. Next, add the shredded cabbage, carrots, and soy sauce. Reduce the heat to medium/low and cook unit the cabbage softens. This can be a preference thing. I like my cabbage to have a little bite so just cook it until it gets to that point. If you like it totally soft, cook until that point, stirring the mixture around to avoid anything sticking and burning to the pan.

3. If adding edema, add towards the end of cooking the cabbage.

4. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, green onions or cilantro to serve.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Lasagna Soup

Unstuffed Vegan Cabbage Rolls

Vegan Cheeseburger Macaroni Helper

Vegan Cheeseburger Macaroni Helper

Raise your hand if you ate your weight in Hamburger Helper as a child….anyone? Beuller?

Maybe it was just me?

My dad was the one who grocery shopped growing up and for the most part, the one who made dinner every night.

Our choices were normally any box of Hamburger Helper in the cabinet, Hormel Chili over rice, or some meat and potatoes. As a kid I had zero complaints. As now a vegan adult, I see the issue.

I do not think I have eaten any Hamburger Helper in nearly 25 years, but that doesn’t mean I don’t miss is from time to time, ya know for nostalgia and also because if I am being honest, it really did like it.

Lets break it down shall we. Meat, some kind of carb like noodles or potatoes, and normally some creamy or cheesy sauce. What is not to love, really. Growing up Cheeseburger Helper was my fave! So I felt it was high time I veganize it so I could relive my childhood and share one of my faves with my own kids.

This recipe is super simple. All you need is 1 pound of you favorite vegan ground meat, some noodles and the easiest and most delicious vegan cheddar sauce there ever was.

This dinner comes together quickly, is hearty and full of flavor! Those are my favorite kinds of weeknight dinners.

So even though you can’t dump this all from a box with a smiling white gloved character waving at you, its almost just as easy, and in my honest opinion, way better, and now vegan! Just add a salad or another vegetable side and you have pretty healthy, filling meal in not time at all.

High five to my dad for always cooking for us and teaching me how to grocery shop and coupon, and high five to that white gloved little Hamburger Helper man and his contribution my childhood.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb ground vegan meat (I used Beyond Beef)

• 1 small yellow onion, diced

• 2 cups macaroni noodles

• 2 tablespoons tomato paste

• 2 1/2 cups water (you can also use veggie stock. If you do, eliminate the Bouillon)

• 2 teaspoons Vegetable Than Bouillon

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 1 teaspoon paprika

• 2 teaspoons sugar

CHEESE SAUCE:

• 1 cup cashews or sunflower seeds (plus water for soaking)

• 2 cups water

• 4 talblespoons nutritional yeast

• 4 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch

• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika

• 1 teaspoon turmeric

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

• 2 teaspoons light miso paste or 1 tablespoon sauerkraut (just cabbage, not the liquid)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Add cashews or sunflower seeds to a microwave safe container and cover in water. Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Drain water. If you do not have a microwave you can boil the nuts in a small pot of water for three minutes on the stove top.

2. Add the nuts/seeds and remaining cheese sauce ingredients to a high speed blender or food processor and mix on high until the mixture is completely smooth and not bits or nuts or seeds remain. Set aside.

3. In a large skillet over medium heat, add the onion and and ground vegan meat. Cook unit the meat has browned and seems cooked through.

4. Whisk the Better Than Bouillon into the 2 1/2 cups water (or use vegetable stock.) Add the macaroni noodles, water, seasonings and tomato paste to the pan. Give it a stir. Reduce heat to low and place a lid on the pan.

5. Allow the mixture to cook for about 10 minutes, stirring a few times or until the noodles are al dente, cooked but not quite finished.

6. Pour the cheese sauce into the pan and stir. Allow the sauce to thicken as it heats, stirring as it begins to thicken. Allow the mixture to cook another 5 minutes or so, or until the noodles have finished cooking and the sauce has thickened and is good and creamy.

7. Garnish with fresh parsley or even cilantro (thats my fave) and serve. Store any leftovers in the fridge for up to 4 days.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Chicken Divan with Jackfruit

Beyond Sausage with Cabbage and Cider

Vegan Cincinnati Pumpkin Chili

Vegan Chicken and Waffles with Strawberry Butter

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.

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 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)

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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:

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. In small bowl mash the vegan butter up and mix in the finely diced strawberries.

7. 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.

8. 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.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Chicken Parmesan Sandwich

Vegan Cheese Grit Waffles

Vegan Country Fried Steak

Vegan Pepperoni Pizza Nachos

Pizza night just got at lot more fun with these vegan pepperoni pizza nachos.

Sure, you could just go ahead and make a regular pizza but eating pizza that is also a nacho is sorta just better sometimes.

It’s as easy as cutting up your pizza dough into bite size pieces before baking it up, then loading the pizza “chips” with all your favorite pizza toppings.

We topped ours with the best All Purpose Vegan Cheese Sauce. It is easy to make and works so well for pizza and even better for these nachos. Just drizzle, pour, drowned these nachos in this vegan cheese sauce and pop them back in the oven until the sauce gets gooey, bubbly, perfectly melty mozzarella like….its magic really.

Next top the pizza with whatever toppings you like. We love vegan pepperoni in this house and it is more than easy to make yourself. If you have never made your own vegan pepperoni or other vital wheat gluten based vegan meats, trust me when I tell you, it’s easy. It mixes up fast, bakes rather quickly as well, but it does need time to rest. So if you want pepperoni for dinner, you better get started at breakfast, or just get in the habit of keeping some in the fridge for pizza, cheese and crackers, or even as a salad topper.

We also added some green and black olives, became I love ALL olives, but you can add any veggie you like. Or if you are a family, or friends divided, just sprinkle the toppings you like on your half or quarter of the pan.

These vegan pizza nachos work well for a snack, lunch, dinner, or even party appetizer. They also reheat just as well as pizza, right in the oven, so don’t fret over any leftovers you may have. Just pop them back in the oven for 10 minutes or so and you are good to go.

So cheers to the marriage of two of the best foods ever made. Pizza and nachos are a match made in snacking heaven!

INGREDIENTS:

This recipe will make enough pizza nachos for 4-6 people as a meal. If you want just a snack or are feeding less people, half the recipe.

• 1/2 batch Easy All Purpose Vegan Cheese Sauce

• 1/2 jar vegan marinara sauce

• 1 Vegan Peperoni thinly sliced

• 2 batches vegan pizza dough. Store bought or homemade

• Black and green olives, onions, peppers, mushrooms, or whatever pizza topping you may like

• Fresh basil and vegan parm for garnish

INGREDIENTS:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

2. Roll the pizza dough out at thinly as you can and cut it into chip sized triangles. Spread the triangles out in a single layer on several cookies sheets. Pop the cookie sheets into the oven and bake for about 10 minutes or until the pizza dough is cooked though and begging to brown. Remove from oven and set aside.

3. Prepare cheese sauce according to instructions. You can either make full batch of cheese sauce and save half for another recipe (it keeps for a week or can be frozen) or just prepare half a batch.

4. Arrange the pizza “chips” in a pile on one baking sheet. Drizzle with desired amount of marinara and cheese sauce. Top with pepperoni slices, olives, and whatever other veggies or toppings you may like. Place the cookie sheet back in the oven and bake at 425 degrees for 5-10 minutes, or unit the cheese sauce is bubbling and browning.

5. Remove from oven and garnish with fresh basil and vegan parmesan cheese to serve.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Caesar salad Nachos with Fried Soy Curls

Vegan Stuffed Crust Pizza

Vegan Matzah Nachos

Vegan Cheese Stuffed Soft Pretzels

Bread, in any an all forms is my favorite food. My next favorite food is vegan cheese.

I had to do a brief stint gluten free when our last daughter was born and we were trying to sort out her allergies. I actually had to give up dairy, wheat, and soy and it was giving up bread that did me in. I never touched dairy again, but bread, she’s my love language.

So obviously I needed to sort out an easy and delicious vegan soft pretzels recipe pretty quickly because soft pretzels are in my top 5 favorite breads. I mean come on, they are buttery, salty, soft, warm perfection.

I decided our vegan challah dough would work perfectly for creating the perfect vegan soft pretzel and I wasn’t wrong.

Don’t be intimidated by the aquafaba. It’s just bean cooking liquid and if you whip it up it acts like egg whites, which works really well in place of eggs in baked good!! I typically just use a can of chickpea liquid but any canned bean liquid will work!

After talking to someone (Pen) on Instagram recently who mentioned cheesy pretzels and lightbulb went off, and after chatting with on of the kids about it, we knew we had to stuff them with cheese….and beer cheese at that. One of my favorite ways to eat a vegan soft pretzels is with vegan beer cheese dip. But stuffing dough with a wet ingredient often proves tricky so I needed to make a hard vegan beer cheese is that was what we could easily stuff them with!

So I did, and IT IS AMAZING. I love beer. I love cheese, I love bread. I love everything about a beer cheese stuffed pretzel!!!

Even if you are not into beer cheese, you can stuff them with any vegan cheese you like. We actually stuffed half with vegan mozzarella. We have over 30 vegan cheese recipes on the site and any one of them would be delicious stuffed inside these pretzels.

So go make some soft pretzels! I promise your friends or family will be happy to help you eat them, or you can hoard them for yourself. I won’t judge you!

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 cups all purpose flour

• 1 1/4 cup whipped aquafaba (measure the whipped product, not the bean liquid)

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 1/2 cup oil (I use grape seed but you can use any neutral oil you like)

• 4 1/2 teaspoons dry active yeast

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• 1 tablespoon salt

• 1 cup hot water. I just use hot water from the tap, you don't want it too hot or the yeast will die, and it will not activate

• 2 tablespoons baking soda ( This is for the water you dip the pretzels dough in before baking)

• About 2 cups vegan shredded cheese, (we used mozzarella and homemade Beer Cheddar)

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a large glass bowl mix hot water, yeast, and 1 tablespoon sugar.

2. Let the that sit for 10 minutes to activate, or until the mixture is super foamy at the top.

3. In a stand mixer add the yeast mixture, aquafaba, sugar, oil, salt, and 2 cups of flour. (you can mix by hand, just mix the above, and add remaining flour slowly. You will need to knead it for the same amount of time. It's a good workout though!

4. Mix until all of the ingredients are incorporated, then add in the remaining flour. I typically will hand mix the first 2 cups of flour in, or use my paddle attachment and replace with the dough hook when I add the remaining flour.

5. The dough should come together and not be sticky, if it seems sticky you can add 1/4 more flour a little at at time until the dough comes together. Your goal is smooth, and elastic-y dough, not sticky.

6. Let the dough kneed in the mixer on low/medium speed for 10 minutes. The dough should be smooth at this point and have a sort of bounce back if you poke it.

7. Form dough into a nice ball, and place in a lightly greased glass bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel, and place inside your oven turned off, OR on the bread proof setting if your oven has one.

8. Bring a small pot of water to a boil and place in the bottom of the oven. The heat and steam from the water will help the dough to rise.

9. Let dough rise about an hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.

10. Remove dough from bowl and split in half. Next, evenly divide each half into 8 equal pieces.

11. Flatten each piece into a rectangular shape about 3 to 4 inches by 3 to 4 inches.

12. Sprinkle a few tablespoons of shredded vegan cheese into the center of the dough rectangle. Fold the rectangle in half and pinch the seam closed, making sure it is sealed well. If the seam comes open the cheese will fall out.

13. Begin squeezing the sealed dough into a rope shape, using both hands and letting gravity help. You will need a 10 to 12 inch rope. Be careful not to allow any holes to rip in the dough. If a hole forms, do your best to pinch it back together.

14. Take each rope and make a U shape. Take the tops of the U, cross then twist them once. Now bring the crossed dough over the bottom of the U. ( the pictures will help if this is confusing.)

15. Allow pretzels to rest for about 15 mintues. While this is happening bring a large pot of water to a boil. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Once pretzels are done resting, add about 2 tablespoons of baking soda to the water.

16. Add pretzels 2-3 at a time into the water for about 30 seconds. You will need to flip them half way through. Just use a slotted spoon and gently turn them over in the water. Return them to a parchment lined cookie sheet once they come out of the water.

17. Brush pretzels with leftover aquafaba, and sprinkle with some corse sea salt before putting in the oven.

18. Bake pretzels for 15- 20 minutes. I normally move my top rack to the highest position for this. That way they get nice a brown. You will need to keep a close eye on them, and if they brown really quickly, move them to a lower rack for the remainder of the bake time.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Breakfast Stuffed Biscuits

Vegan Stuffed Bagel Bites

Vegan Chorizo Empanadas