Vegane Chicken-Nuggets (vegan seitan nuggets)
Homemade seitan nuggets, the gluten dough kneaded until genuinely elastic, then simmered gently in broth for over an hour to firm up before breading and frying. The long, slow simmer is what gives seitan its chewy, meat-like bite; rushed, it stays soft and pasty no matter how it is breaded afterward.
Prep40 min
Cook90 min
Rest360 min
Servings4
Christoph's seitan nuggets, the dough given a long, slow simmer to build the chewy, meat-like bite that a quick cook never achieves.
Ingredients
Written for a 4 L pot
Units
Temperature
Servings
Seitan
- 200 g vital wheat gluten rounded
- 20 g nutritional yeast rounded
- 5 g onion powder rounded
- 5 g garlic powder rounded
- 200 ml vegetable broth rounded
- 15 ml soy sauce rounded
- 1 1/2 L vegetable broth, for simmering rounded
Breading
- 80 g flour rounded
- 200 ml oat milk rounded
- 150 g breadcrumbs rounded
- 500 ml neutral oil, for frying rounded
Dietary labels are a guide, not a guarantee. If you have an allergy, read the ingredients yourself.
Method
- Whisk the vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, onion powder and garlic powder together. Add the 200 ml broth and soy sauce, and mix to a rough dough. Knead by hand for 5 minutes, until noticeably elastic and springy; it will feel very different from a normal flour dough.
- Shape the dough into a log and slice into 20 rough nugget shapes.
- Bring the 1.5 litres of broth to a gentle simmer in a wide pot. Add the seitan pieces and simmer, uncovered, for 60 minutes, turning occasionally, until firm and slightly springy. Lift out and let cool. This can be done a day ahead; the pieces keep well in their broth in the fridge overnight.
- Whisk the flour and oat milk together to a smooth batter. Dip each seitan piece in the batter, then coat in breadcrumbs, pressing gently to help them stick.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Fry the breaded nuggets in batches, about 3 minutes per side, until deeply golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper.
Method in the Thermomix
Written for a TM5 or TM6, 2.2 litre bowl. This covers kneading the gluten dough; simmering and frying stay conventional.
- Vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, onion powder and garlic powder into the bowl. Mix 5 sec / speed 5. Add the broth and soy sauce. Knead 2 min / dough mode, until visibly elastic.
- Tip out and continue by hand from step 2 of the hand method.
Notes
- Give the seitan the full simmering time. This slow cook is what firms the gluten structure into a genuinely chewy, meat-like texture; rushed, it stays soft and pasty no matter how well it is breaded and fried afterward.
- Knead the gluten dough properly before shaping. Under-kneaded gluten does not develop the same stretch and structure, giving a crumblier, less convincing result.
- The unbreaded, simmered seitan keeps for 4 days in the fridge in its broth, or freezes well, so it is worth making a double batch to have on hand.
- Fry the breaded nuggets fresh; they do not hold their crispness well once breaded and left to sit.
Ingredient substitutions
- Nutritional yeast adds a savoury depth; it can be left out, though the flavour will be flatter.
- Oat milk in the batter can be any plant milk.
- Baking the breaded nuggets at 200°C for 20 minutes, turning once, is a lighter alternative to frying, though the crust will be less crisp.
From Christoph Mayer