Confession: before going vegan I’ve never heard of Seitan before. Nowadays, I hail Seitan every time I see it on the menu ;)!
Going vegan has made us aware of so many new foods, I feel like I have more variety in my diet than ever before. These best chicken-style seitan cutlets went from unknown to a staple for us.
So what is Seitan? Seitan is vital wheat gluten – the natural protein found in wheat. It’s basically all gluten and no starch, so it’s not as high in carbohydrates than you would think.
BUT if you have celiac disease or a gluten-sensitivity, then you will want to stay away from Seitan. For people who can handle gluten in their diets, Seitan is a great soy-free meat alternative to try.
Vital wheat gluten is 75% protein so Seitan recipes are protein-packed. Seitan has a chewy, meat-like texture and doesn’t usually taste like much unless you add seasonings.
In this recipe, a serving of 2 Seitan Cutlets has almost 30 grams of protein. Plus, it’s very low in fat and completely cholesterol free.
These best chicken-style seitan cutlets are SO good. They are battered, breaded, and fried in vegetable oil to create a very authentic ‘chicken’-cutlet flavor and texture.
These Seitan cutlets are the PERFECT vegan substitute for recipes like chick’n parmesan, chick’n cutlet sandwiches, chick’n rolls, chick’n piccata, chick’n and gravy, or just eaten alone with some ketchup and mashed potatoes.
The Best Chicken-Style Seitain Cutlets – in a pasta dish!
In this recipe, we made a simple lemon, olive oil, and vegan parmesan sauce that was DELICIOUS on top of spaghetti. I included the recipe for the lemon sauce below if you want to try it the same way we had it. We also added some steamed broccoli too… yum!
Next time we make this recipe, I’m going to try baking the cutlets instead of frying them. Frying cutlets is a traditional Italian method and they came out AMAZING but I’m curious to see how baking goes.
If you try baking them for this recipe, please let me know in the comments the time and temperature and how they came out!
As always, please leave a comment below if you try this recipe, and remember to share on instagram @pastabased!
4.4 from 51 votes
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Vegan Chicken-Style Seitan Cutlets
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
35 mins
Total Time
45 mins
The BEST Vegan Seitan Cutlets. Delicious vegan chicken-style seitan cutlets that can be used in a variety of dishes.
Course:Main Course
Servings: 8 cutlets
Calories per Serving: 177 kcal
Ingredients
Seitan
- 1cupvital wheat gluten
- 2tablespoonsnutritional yeast
- 2teaspoonsonion powder
- 2teaspoonsgarlic powder
- 1teaspoonsalt
- 1teaspoonblack pepper
- 1tablespoonsoy sauce
- 3/4cupvegetable broth
Batter
- 3/4cupflour
- 2teaspoonsoregano
- 2teaspoonsgarlic powder
- 1teaspoonblack pepper
- 3/4cupalmond milk(or other non-dairy milk)
Additional Ingredients
- 1cupItalian seasoned breadcrumbs(plus extra if needed)
- 1cupvegetable oil
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Simple Lemon Olive Oil Sauce (optional)
- 3/4cuplemon juice
- 1/3cupolive oil
- 1/3cupvegan parmesan cheese
US Customary - Metric
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a baking sheet and set aside.
Combine Seitan ingredients in a medium-bowl. Using a large spoon, mix until combined. Once combined, knead with your hands for a minute to form an elastic dough.
Separate dough into 8 roughly-equal sized pieces. Flatten each piece of dough between your hands to form a cutlet shape. Place evenly on the baking sheet and bake in pre-heated oven for 15 minutes, flipping halfway through. Let cool slightly.
Add your batter ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and mix into a thick liquid. Fill a separate, shallower bowl, with Italian breadcrumbs.
In a large skillet, heat 1 cup vegetable oil on medium-high heat. Make sure the oil has heated up enough before adding cutlets. Be careful because hot oil can splash.
One at a time, dip a Seitan cutlet in the batter. Shake off excess batter. Then dip the cutlet into the breadcrumbs, coating each side evenly.Then, place the cutlet into the hot oil.
Brown each side evenly, carefully checking and flipping, about 3-5 minutes on each side -- but this really depends on how hot your oil is. Use your judgment. While one cutlet starts cooking, you can batter and breadcrumb the next cutlet and place it into the pan. Don't overcrowd the pan, we capped the pan at 4 cutlets.
When each cutlet is done, place it on a paper-towel lined plate to drain excess oil. Use in Seitan Cutlet recipe of your choosing 🙂
Simple Lemon Olive Oil Sauce (optional)
Add all ingredients to a medium-sized bowl and whisk until combined. Serve over pasta.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition facts for cutlets without sauce:
Nutrition Facts
Vegan Chicken-Style Seitan Cutlets
Amount Per Serving (1 cutlet)
Calories 177Calories from Fat 9
% Daily Value*
Fat 1g2%
Sodium 741mg32%
Potassium 133mg4%
Carbohydrates 24g8%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 1g1%
Protein 16g32%
Vitamin A 85IU2%
Vitamin C 0.5mg1%
Calcium 88mg9%
Iron 2.5mg14%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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