Basic Seitan

Basic recipe for seitan. Feel free to experiment by adding herbs and spices to the dough.

Yield: about 1 pound

Time: 1½ hours

Tools

  • 2 bowls
  • wooden spoon
  • large stock pot

Ingredients

Seitan dough

Seitan broth

  • 8 c water
  • ¼ c soy sauce
  • ¼ c nutritional yeast
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 t dried herbs (thyme, oregano, rosemary…)

Directions

Combine the gluten and yeast in one bowl, and the wet dough ingredients in the other.

Mix the wet into the dry to make a thick, fairly stiff dough.

Knead for 5 minutes, until you see lots of strings of gluten forming. (Add a bit more liquid if needed.)

Let the dough rest for 15 minutes, then knead for a couple minutes until smooth and elastic.

Combine the broth ingredients in the stock pot and bring to a simmer.

Divide the seitan dough into 4 pieces, then flatten each one between your hands and carefully add to the simmering broth.

Partly cover and simmer – don’t boil – for an hour, turning each piece every 15 minutes or so.

If not using right away, let the seitan cool in its broth and then transfer both to a container. It will keep for 4-5 days.

Notes

While cooking, the seitan will double in size, so be sure to use a nice big pot.

Don’t discard the broth! It’s incredibly flavorful, and makes a terrific gravy.

Help

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Homemade seitan