Homemade Seitan
Seitan is a food made from gluten protein that has been extracted from wheat flour. It has a springy texture, with protein strands similar to those in chicken running through it, making it a reasonable replacement for meat in vegan or vegetarian dishes.
Ingredients
- 10 oz (280 g) high-gluten wheat flour (such as bread flour)
- Water
Ingredients for 2 servings (285 g) · the original recipe
Method
- 1
Add 2 cups water to the flour. Knead together until well-combined and elastic. It is advisable to keep hands wet so that the dough doesn't stick to the hands.
- 2
Cover dough with water, and place in refrigerator for 1 hour.
- 3
Gently knead the dough underwater until water is cloudy; dump cloudy water and replace with clear, cold water. In the beginning the dough can still easily dissolve underwater so it is advisable to only cautiously squeeze it against the bowl. Later you might find it easier to knead over the water, squeezing out the water, and only to dip the mass into the water to wash off the starch, if the mass contains too much water you easily wash out the gluten as well. The enriched water can be used to gain the insoluble starch, which settles on the bottom of the container, and what remains can serve as a base for grain milk.
- 4
Continue kneading and replacing water until water remains clear after kneading. At the end, you should be left with a mass of gluten.
- 5
Divide gluten mass into loaf- or roll-shaped halves. At this point, there are several things you can add to the mass: Soy sauce (recommended): traditional in the making of seitan. Spices: seitan can simulate Italian sausage by adding the correct spices, or adding poultry seasoning can make the seitan more similar to chicken or turkey. Nutritional yeast (recommended): B12 found in some brands of nutritional yeast is a vitamin that is usually obtained through meats, eggs and/or dairy products.
- 6
Place gluten loaves in pot, and cover with vegetable broth or dashi.
- 7
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer; simmer for 1–1.5 hours.
Stovetop - 8
Remove from heat and serve as desired or use in place of meat.
Recipe from Wikibooks Cookbook, written by Wikibooks contributors. Used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence; the ingredient list and method on this page are taken from that page and edited (its notes, tips and variations are not reproduced), and are available under the same licence. The macros, equipment tags and scaling are Ma Kitchen’s own and are not the source’s figures. Ma Kitchen is not affiliated with or endorsed by Wikibooks Cookbook. Copied on 2026-11-12.
Ratings and comments
0 votes · 0 comments. Rate it on its own, or add a comment for the next cook.
Made it? Sign in to rate it and leave a note for the next cook.