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

• 1 c vital wheat gluten
• ¼ c nutritional yeast
• ¾ c water or vegetable broth
• 1 T soy sauce
• 1 T olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced

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.

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