Made rich with creamy cashews and fragrant spices, this hearty Vegan Seitan Tikka Masala will impress even your meat loving friends!
The day this Vegan Seitan Tikka Masala came into fruition my evening plans went from being a relaxing night with one friend, to being a full day where I was rushing around trying to figure out what to feed 8 people for dinner.
If you follow me on Instagram, you may have heard parts of this story from my insta-stories, but basically I was home alone a lot last month. Brett was out hiking with his friends and I wasn't expecting him home until Saturday. On Tuesday my friend and I had planned to cook dinner together the next day and attempt to make Vegan Tikka Masala using seitan, something I had never done before. We were gonna make one dish and enjoy a chill night together over a meal and probably watch a movie afterwards.
However that Tuesday night Brett texted me saying that he and his friends would be back the next day around dinner time, just when my friend and I were going to be having our girl's time. My friend and I decided to pick out some more indian recipes and make a feast for everyone.
I have a fear of cooking new recipes for people that I'm hosting. Somehow it still ends of happening cause I love experimenting, but it still makes me nervous to serve a recipe I'm not confident is delicious. I get especially nervous when I serve overtly vegan food, like seitan. I've only cooked with seitan for Brett and I and I had never served it to guests, so I was worried that they would think it was the strangest thing ever.
But as my friend and I started preparing this Vegan Seitan Tikka Masala and as the sauce was bubbling on the stove, I knew it would be a hit. The sauce itself is so rich and fragrant and the sour cream marinated seitan adds a subtle tanginess to the dish. My friend who helped me cook dinner especially loved the seitan and everyone else gave it a big thumbs up. Even my very non-vegan guy friend said it was almost believable as real meat.
This dish seems complex and tedious, but it is easier than it looks, especially if you can get your hands on store bought vegan sour cream. If not I used this vegan sour cream recipe from Oh She Glows and it was spot on. I also think hearty vegetables like king oyster mushrooms or cauliflower could be used in place of the seitan. Get creative and use this delicious Tikka Masala sauce as a base!
Oh, and be sure to pair this recipe with some Homemade Chapati!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Seitan Tikka Masala
Ingredients
- 1 batch Basic Seitan Recipe
- ½ cup vegan sour cream
- 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons garam masala divided
- 1 onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 14 ounces chopped tomatoes
- ¼ cup minced cilantro
- juice of ½ a lemon
- ½ cup plain cashew cream
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
Instructions
- First prepare a batch of Basic Seitan.
- In a bowl mix together the sour cream and 2 teaspoon of garam masala.
- Mix the seitan into the sour cream mixture and set aside.
- In a sauce pan, sauté the onion and garlic until soft.
- Add in 1 tablespoon garam masala and cook another minute.
- Pour in the tomato sauce and chopped tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes
- Add in the sour cream coated seitan, ½ cup cashew cream and minced cilantro and allow the dish to simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add in the juice of ½ a lemon and salt to taste.
- Serve warm over rice.
Tracey says
Yum! If I don't make the seitan from scratch how many ounces do you suggest buying?
Faith says
This really is one of my favorite recipes on the blog so I hope you like it! As for the amount, I'm not sure how many ounces, but I'm guessing about 3 cups worth of chopped seitan?? Maybe buy a little more than you think you'll need so you can add more if it's looking too saucy in the end. Sorry that's not a specific answer! Let me know how it turns out if you try it out!
Casey the College Celiac says
Talk about creamy heaven! I've only had tikka masala once and I've been dying to recreate it dairy-free!
Faith says
Well I hope you can make this recipe because it's amazing! Thanks Casey:)
Laura @ Sprint 2 the Table says
I love this idea! That sauce looks insanely good. I'm always cooking new recipes for parties too. It's such a good opportunity to try things that would normally be too much for two. It (mostly) works out. 🙂
Faith says
You can always substitute the seitan for cooked chicken too Laura! This recipe is just so good. I hope you make it!