Made with just four ingredients and cooked in a pressure cooker, this Basic Seitan Recipe couldn't be easier to make and comes together in less than 30 minutes!
When I first decided to adopt a plant-based diet, I never thought I'd venture into the realm of faux meats. I probably didn't even know what products like tempeh or seitan were in the beginning, and I'm not even sure if I had ever cooked tofu before. I believe it was through visiting restaurants and traveling that I first discovered faux meat and cheese products like seitan. Thankfully the amount of plant-based meats, cheeses and milks in America and other countries are starting to expand dramatically and that's super exciting and will people more easily transition to a plant focus diet if they desire.
Today I want to share with you the easiest Basic Seitan Recipe. And by basic, I really mean basic. The spices I used for this recipe are just garlic powder and salt, but if you know what recipe you'll be using this seitan in after it's cooked, feel free to add in extra spices that will pair well with your recipe.
My hopes is that after reading this post, you'll be less intimidated by faux meats and will have some new inspiration for your next meal! I love using my pressure cooker to cook seitan, but there are other methods for cooking seitan too.
The dough for this Basic Seitan Recipe comes together in seconds...literally seconds. In a bowl you just mix together the dry ingredients. Then once you add in the water and start stirring, you'll see a dense, squishy dough form in a matter of seconds. After a little bit of kneading you'll be ready to cut up your seitan and cook it.
I absolutely love my pressure cooker for so many reasons, but especially when it comes to cooking seitan. By using a pressure cooker you don't have to monitor the seitan as it cooks and I find that my pressure cooker creates perfect seitan every time. But like I mentioned above, if you don't have a pressure cooker you can easily simmer (not boil) the seitan in a mixture of veggie broth, soy sauce and water for about 45 minutes.
Please let me know if you try out this Basic Seitan Recipe or if you have any tips or tricks for how to cook Seitan without a pressure cooker.
📖 Recipe
Basic Seitan Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup vital wheat gluten
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¾ cup water
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Add in the ¾ cup of water and stir the mixture together. A squishy dough will come together immediately, but just keep stirring until all the dry ingredients are incorporated into the dough.
- On a cutting board, knead the dough for about 3-5 minutes until you press your finger into the center and the dough bounces right back.
- Chop the dough into bite-size pieces and place them in an even layer on the bottom of your pressure cooker.
- Pour water into the bottom of your pressure cooker until water is almost covering the top of the seitan pieces. It's okay if some of the seitan is still above the water line.
- Cover your pressure cooker and cook the seitan on the manual or meat setting for 16 minutes.
- After 16 minutes, release the pressure and remove the pressure cooker lid.
- The seitan will have expanded so feel free to cut the seitan chunks into smaller bite size pieces.
- Use the seitan in stir fries, curries, or on top of pizza.
Tami H says
I made this seitan a couple of days ago. LOVE the ease of preparation, quick cooking time and minimal ingredients. It tastes great in a stir-fry sauce I made. However, it did come out a bit chewier than I would like. Any tips on what I could be doing wrong? Over kneading? Although, I only kneaded a minute or two until it sprang back when poked with my thumb… Do I need to knead it longer? I really want to perfect this because this is so simple and a game changer! Thank you so much for all your recipes and all the work you do. I truly appreciate it. I just got your book and I’m looking forward to working my way through your recipes.
Faith VanderMolen says
So glad you enjoyed the ease of this recipe! I can be a little chewy as I use very few ingredients. If you used some blended veggies or lentils instead of some of the water it could have a better texture. I've been experimenting with this seitan burger recipe, which also talks about how freezing the seitan makes for a better texture. So you could try freezing it! I'm honestly still a newbie, but I hope to share more recipes and tricks as I keep recipe testing!
Rachel says
This was the easiest seitan recipe ever! Instead of the seasonings I just dissolved some vegan chicken bouillon paste into the water to give my seitan a chicken flavor. So good!
Faith VanderMolen says
Brilliant! I'm definitely going to do that next time!
sherice says
I'm so excited to try this recipe! I grew up in a seventh day adventist family and have been eating soy meat and gluten steaks (what my family calls seitan) my whole life.. (not on the daily mind you)
There's a canned brand called veggie scallops that I LOVE which is basically Seitan! I will coat them in some nooch and red chili flakes and fry them up crispy in coconut oil and put them on caesar salad or just munch on them by themselves!! I'd much rather eat this than the canned version!!
Faith VanderMolen says
Hi Sherice! I really hope you enjoy this simple recipe! And the say you plan to cook the seitan sounds amazing...I'm coming over for dinner!
Laura says
Greetings to you! I cannot eat wheat, I know there is a version of seitan you can make out of chickpeas but I have not tried it yet cause I have bot had the chickpeas, Have you made it? I really appreciate your wonderful recipes and all pf your hard work. Thank you.
Faith VanderMolen says
Hi Laura! I've actually never tried or even heard of seitan made from chickpeas, but it sounds amazing! I wish I could be more help. I hope you find a wheat-free recipe that works for you. Thanks so much for saying hi!
Aunna says
Can you freeze this seitan?
Faith VanderMolen says
Hi Aunna! I haven't tried it, but I think it should work fine. Keep me posted on how it goes if you try it!
Anne Harrison says
thanks mate, just what i needed, basic. basic. basic.
Faith says
I'm so glad you found this recipe helpful Anne! Thanks so much for letting me know and feel free to rate the recipe so others can find it!
Dency says
Oh boy! I feel so bad I just found out this great blog today! And yes I was looking for something basic too! Thanks a bunch!
Another Malaysian fellow,
Dency
Faith says
Thanks for commenting Dency! Nice to meet another friend from Malaysia!
Lesley Mussett says
What is vital wheat gluten?
Faith says
Hi! Gluten is the protein found in wheat. Vital wheat gluten is gluten made into flour form. Hope that helps! You can find it on websites like iHerb and Amazon.