Seitan

Seitan is a food I avoided for a long time since it looked SO VERY MUCH like meat.  But then I realized I was eliminating a whole host of meal options, based purely on what the food looked like!

Initially, I used store bought seitan for recipes like stroganoff, stews, and stir-fry. White Wave is one brand of commercially prepared seitan that is pretty universally available in this area of the US.

But then somewhere along the line I ran across Bryanna Clark Grogan's recipe for homemade seitan.  Not only is it delicious, it compares to the store bought version about the way homemade bread compares to store bought bread!!

Homemade seitan makes for a
stunning holiday meal centerpiece

Its leftovers can be used
anywhere one would use
leftover animal-based roast

Making your own Seitan

Making seitan is very easy.  It is much like making homemade bread ... it takes a lot of time from start to finish, but most of that time it is either resting or baking.  The actual amount of time you are actually working with it is probably 45 minutes to an hour, less as you get used to the process.

There are many recipes for seitan, but I've found Bryanna's to be most unique in that it is very tender, not at all rubbery or tough, and slices very easily into very thin slices. 

If you want to try Bryanna's recipe, start here, and read about pan sizes and shapes to use, then check out her seitan "turkey" recipe here.  See below for pictures of the process.

To make seitan, one kneads the dough for about 20 minutes total, in two separate ten-minute segments.  Bryanna gives complete directions in the link above for making it in either a mixer with a dough hook, or in a bread machine.

Using a Food Processor to Make Seitan

For folks who want to use a food processor, I have adapted her directions for using that appliance to do the kneading.   Using a food processor reduces the amount of time one needs to process the gluten. 

In an 11-quart food processor, following Bryanna's recipe, where she says to add your Wet Mix to the Dry Mix and knead initially for 10 minutes, combine all your Dry Ingredients in the food processor bowl (with the PLASTIC dough blade) and pulse to mix these.  With the food processor running, add the Wet Mix, and process.  Mix for about 30 seconds to 1 minute at a time, stopping to scrape down the sides and bottom in order to incorporate all the dry ingredients.  Process until the liquid goo starts forming into a ball of dough, then process for 1-2 minutes more -- until the mixture starts to become more uniform, but not yet perfectly silky smooth.

Below are two pictures of the dough after this first knead (this was done in a food processor, but the dough would look the same in either a food processor or mixer with a dough hook):

Click on either picture to view full size This will better allow you to see the dough's texture

Stop and give the dough a one hour rest, as per Bryanna's directions (just leave it in the food processor with the lid on).

After the one hour's rest, process for another 60-90 seconds, stopping every 30 seconds or so to check on the dough's development, until the dough is super shiny and very glossy and smooth.  Stop kneading when the dough looks like the photos below:

The 3 pictures below were taken when the kneading was complete. The first two show what the dough looks like in the food processor bowl. The lower picture shows the dough once you take it out. Click on each picture to view full size and get a better feel for the texture.

Continue as directed in Bryanna's recipe for shaping and baking.

Gravy

Bryanna's link to her "turkey" seitan recipe includes a very tasty gravy.  (It is the recipe I used in the photo below with the seitan cubes in gravy over rice.).

The only addition to Bryanna's recipe is that I add about a tablespoon of cornstarch (dissolved in a tablespoon of cold water) during the final cooking step in order to get it to the thickness I prefer.

back to top