This homemade seitan recipe using gluten flour provides an easy and inexpensive route to a great DIY version. Make sure to see the step-by-step at the end of this post, and a link to a roundup of delicious recipes using seitan.
Store-bought seitan can be quite good, or it can be shoe-leather tough, to use a non-vegan metaphor. And while it’s not ridiculously pricey, it isn’t as much of a protein bargain as beans, or even tofu. That changes when you make it at home.
I’ve been tweaking this simple formula for years, and though you’ll find a number of variations in books and around the web (incorporating chickpea flour, nut flours, flavorings, beans, etc.), it’s good to nail this basic recipe first, to get the feel of how to make seitan. Then, by all means, experiment as much as you’d like.
- A traditional Asian food long used as a meat substitute: You may have had seitan in dishes like Buddhist’s Delight or Mongolian “Beef” in Chinese restaurants.
- Protein dense and pleasantly chewy: This product of cooked wheat gluten is one of the most protein-dense plant foods available. Of course, seitan isn’t for anyone with gluten intolerance or sensitivity or who is celiac. Steer clear!
- Here’s my little secret: I believe that adding a mere teaspoon of baking powder to the dry mix makes all the difference when it comes to the texture. If I ever forget to add it, boom! It’s back to shoe leather toughness. So I make sure not to forget any more.
- Nutrition info: It’s tricky to analyze homemade seitan, but see this helpful article for an overview of average nutrition facts.
Do you enjoy recipes using plant-based proteins?
See Plant-Powered Protein by Nava Atlas
- Seitan’s meaty texture lends itself to many preparations. It’s great as a substitute for beef chunks in stews, stir-fries, fajitas, and kebabs. It’s great on the grill, too.
- Homemade seitan doesn’t require much effort. You just need a little patience for the few hands-on steps, resting time, and cooking. If you follow the steps outlined, this homemade seitan recipe can yield a more tender and flavorful result than the store-bought variety.
- It freezes well: When I make this, I often freeze half after it has been cooked and cooled (in an airtight container with some of the broth).
17+ Hearty Seitan Recipes —
Plus a Guide to This High-Protein Plant-Based Food
For a visual view of the process, make sure to see the photos following the recipe. They’re not exactly pretty, but might be helpful for your first couple of attempts.
Here's an easy homemade seitan recipe for this high-protein plant-based meat alternative. Transfer whatever portion of seitan you won’t be using right away to a container, then pour in enough stock to cover. Use within a few days or freeze. Seitan freezes very well, thaw out on the counter or in the refrigerator before using. Save any of the tasty stock that remains to use in soups, stews, and gravies. Homemade Seitan
Ingredients
Broth
Instructions
Notes
Gluten flour, baking powder, and optional nutritional yeast go into one bowl; a specific amount of water plus soy sauce or Bragg Liquid Aminos go into another. No, this isn’t a commercial for Bragg products, though they are good!
Once the wet and dry mixtures are combined, they’re kneaded for 2 to 3 minutes and allowed to rest for 15 minutes.
I like to divide the dough into two parts and stretch into two mini-loaf shapes. It’s not easy to shape and cut this springy dough, so use your muscles and a sharp knife to form, then slice into 1/2-inch segments.
In the meantime, a soup pot is filled with water, which is flavored with vegetable bouillon, more soy sauce or Bragg, and ginger, then brought to a slow boil. The slices of dough are gently dropped in one by one.
The dough puffs up like crazy at first. Use a cooking spoon to push down into the water; they’ll settle down after a while. The dough, which we can now call seitan, is cooked for 30 minutes. Don’t drain the broth; you can use it for other purposes and to cover the seitan when you store it in the fridge or freezer.
Scoop the seitan out of the liquid and cut into strips to use in recipes. Or, you can keep the pieces whole, then bread and sauté them to make cutlets.
Here, I’ve started to amp up the flavor by cooking the seitan strips in a marinade.
Vegan Mushroom and Seitan Stroganoff
- This epic post on 100 Vegan Seitan Recipes includes recipes for both pre-made and homemade seitan. It includes various seitan styles, including deli slices, pepperoni, chick’n style, etc.
- See more kitchen tips and vegan trends
This is so good. I really enjoyed the recipe. It is now my go to seitan recipe. I’ve battered and breaded small prices and baked in the oven for chik’n nuggets. And made made chik’n burgers with the bigger pieces just pan fried. Such a good simple recipe. Thanks!
Thank you for your kind comment, Sara Lee. I’m glad this works so well for you!
do you know how many calories in a serving?
Libby, it would be tricky to analyze homemade seitan, but this helpful article from Healthline has what would likely be average nutrition facts. I hope this helps! https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/seitan#nutritious
I used your recipe but not to a t and calculated about 90 calories per 100 gram serve. You can add in the ingredients into something like my fitness pal, then add in the total weight after boiling to get the calorie info.
Just a FYI for people who want nutritional info.
Thanks so much, Arnette, I’m sure this info will be useful to a lot of people!
Made this today and came out absolutely perfect, though I did have to use slightly more water (I used to spoon/level method for the flour). I seasoned it with some basic things like salt, pepper, basil, cumin, paprika, and garlic powder. The recipe really does yield roughly 2LBS of seitan, which is so budget-friendly compared to store-bought! Thank you!!
So glad you liked this, Kayla! I alternatively need to add a tiny bit more water or flour, depending on how exactly I measure. But it all seems to work out. I most often put half of it in the freezer, so I enjoy this generous yield as well.
Hey! After a long break I worked up the courage to attempt to cook seitan again! I found that the seitan is quite wet and soggy. Should I be squeezing out the excess water for recipes? It reminds me a bit of TVP.
Hi Tam, I’ve not experienced the seitan being soggy, but it is a tender rather than a “leathery” texture. I would say yes, you can squeeze out the liquid for recipes. It will help the seitan to become firm in recipes and to brown in a skillet or stir-fry. I’ll add that note to the recipe!
I make this weekly and frequently recommend it to others. It’s so easy and versatile to make and use; this is easily my favorite of all the seitan recipes I’ve made.
Thank you so much, Kristina — I’m glad you enjoy this. I make it frequently, too … in fact I’m due to make a batch tomorrow!
I made this, and it was amazing!!! After getting through my batch, I bought some seitan from the store out of laziness, but it didn’t match up to your recipe at all! 😛 Highly recommend!!
Wow, what wonderful feedback, thanks so much! I admit that I’ve done the same, but stopped — can’t beat the texture of this homemade seitan, not to mention the economy of DIY.
Best seitan recipe ever!! We pan fried it after your instructions to make a burger patty and it was so so so delicious! I loved that we could chew it without the leathery texture.
Thanks so much, Pree; I’m glad you like this easy way to enjoy (non-leathery!) seitan.
Can I mince the seitan pieces once cooked and put it in a chilli or bolognese?
Absolutely! It’s nice and tender, so it would be perfect for that.
Thanks much Nava Atlas. I never knew there is a way to do home made Seitan. Now, this is what I will do.
I hope you’ll enjoy it, Asja!
Oops! My name is Asha.
This is gorgeous!
Hello atlas
This a wonderful article
But do you have any guide of how to bake it
Thanks, Malcolm! Once you have your seitan made, following this recipe, you can blot it well and coat it with your favorite BBQ sauce and roast in the oven at 400º or 425ºF for about 25 minutes, stirring once or twice. If you want to use it in recipes that are baked in the oven, see this roundup; scroll down to the section that’s under In the Oven: https://theveganatlas.com/17-hearty-seitan-recipes-plus-a-guide-to-this-high-protein-plant-food/