Fresh Herb-Crusted Seitan Cutlets
Seitan is a meat alternative like tofu and tempeh. Its main ingredient is gluten flour, the natural protein found in wheat once the starch and bran have been removed. When combined with water, it creates a sticky, taffy-like dough that is fun to work with. You can find small packages of prepared and flavored seitan in health food stores for about $5 but if you make it yourself, you’ll not only save lots of money, but you will have the option of personalizing it with flavorings and cutting it into more workable shapes.
Seitan is versatile, nutritious, filling, and fun to make. It’s not only high in vitamins and minerals, but is nearly fat free and is packed with protein. One 4 oz. serving gives you approximately half of your recommended protein for the day! Some of my favorite ways to use seitan is to snip it into small pieces and use it in chili, cut it into bite-size pieces for stir-fry, or in this case, bread large pieces and make them into breaded cutlets. If your kids are picky eaters and like chicken strips (like I did when I was small), this is an EASY, CHEAP, and NUTRITIOUS way to give them a meat-free, protein-packed meal that is perfect for picky taste buds.
The basic recipe just calls for a few ingredients- gluten flour, nutritional yeast flakes, Bragg’s, oil, and water. You can find it at the end of this blog post and and use it as a building block for your culinary creativity. You can use virtually any spices and/or herbs you like- just add to the dry ingredients before mixing in the wet ingredients. Some ideas: mustard seed, cumin, chili powder, cayenne, black pepper, oregano, sage, thyme, etc.
Fresh Herb-Crusted Seitan Cutlets
Vegan, Dairy Free
Serves 6
2 c. vital wheat gluten
6 Tbsp. nutritional yeast flakes
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. mustard seed
1/2 c. Bragg's liquid aminos (or soy sauce)
2 Tbsp. oil
1 c. water or low sodium vegetable broth
2 c. homemade bread crumbs
1 c. almond milk (dairy, soy, or rice will work too)
1/4 c. fresh chopped herbs (I used oregano, sage, and thyme)
additional oil for browning
additional oil for browning
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
In separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients together.
While whisking the wet ingredients, pour them into the dry ingredients and knead into a ball. Separate into 6 balls and flatten each piece.
Spray a baking sheet with oil and lay your seitan out in a single layer.
Cook 30 minutes or until you like the consistency.
After cooking in oven, take them out and cut the large pieces into desired shapes.
To prep your breading station, place half of milk in one bowl, and half of breadcrumbs in the other.
First dip your seitan in the bread crumbs. Dip in the almond milk then again in bread crumbs, making sure to coat all sides. Do this to all pieces and set aside. When your breadcrumbs become soft/wet and your milk is getting low, add the rest to each bowl.
Heat 2 tablespoons of canola oil in a saute pan until smoking. Carefully place seitan pieces in single layer. Once they brown on one side, flip them over and brown on other side. Place finished seitan on a paper towel-lined plate. Continue this process until all of the seitan is browned to your liking.
On this occasion, I served these cutlets with vegenaise sauce with lemon and fresh herbs, halved and roasted Brussels sprouts, and local Francese bread.
Basic Recipe for Seitan
Vegan, Dairy-free
Serves approx. 6
2 c. vital wheat gluten
6 Tbsp. nutritional yeast flakes
1/2 c. Bragg's liquid aminos (or soy sauce)
2 Tbsp. oil
1 c. water or low sodium vegetable broth
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.
In separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients together.
With kitchen sheers or with your hands, cut or tear the seitan into any size. Larger pieces work well for roasting with vegetables, medium pieces work for stir-fry or sautés, and smaller pieces are great in chili.
Spray a baking sheet with oil and lay your seitan out in a single layer. The pieces shrink a bit, so they can be relatively close together on the sheet. Cook 30 minutes or until you like the consistency. Smaller pieces cook faster so keep an eye on them. From there, you can use right away or store the seitan for a few days in the refrigerator and use them in stir frys, soups, chilis, etc. If you come up with a good seitan recipe, let me know!
