How To Make The Perfect Seitan Roast (Vegan) - Swoontastic.com | Easy Vegan Recipes (2024)

This is my ultimate, VEGAN, juicy, succulent, savoury, herb-crusted seitan roast recipe. I’ve perfected this festive roast over 3 years and have hosted fully vegan festive lunches for my omni family several years in a row with rave reviews.

This incredible vegan seitan roast takes under 2 hours to make from start to finish and will blow your mind. Serve over the festive season or at holidays with an assortment of plant-based sides, sauces and gravies. To make things easier for yourself, have loved ones bring naturally vegan dishes such a roast potatoes, carrots and peas, salad and sweetcorn – just ask them to use olive oil instead of butter.

To save time you can also use a couple of ready-made vegan sauces along with your home-made gravy (below.)

Here’s what my vegan festive menu included this year:

• Herb-crusted seitan “beef” roast.
• Pan-seared seitan “gammon” roast. (Recipe coming soon)
• Quorn chicken schnitzels.
• Cheesy cauliflower and broccoli bake with vegan sausage.
• Savoury rice with onion, mushrooms, peas, peppers, etc
• Sweetcorn (aka creamed corn).
• Baby carrots drizzled with agave.
• Peas drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with mint.
• Roast potatoes.
• Gravy made from left over seitan broth.
• Brown onion gravy (store bought – I used Ina Paarman brand.)
• Mushroom sauce. (Created a basic bechamel and added mushroom stock.)

You and your loved ones will be feasting for days on this totally plant-based holiday spread!

How to Make A Seitan Roast

1. Add the following dry ingredients, which are the base of your seitan meat,to a large mixing bowl:

• 2,5 cups of gluten powder (essential)
• 1/4 cup of chickpea flour (essential)
• 2 teaspoons agar agar (strongly recommend, but not essential.)

2. Add the following dry ingredients to create a savoury, beefy flavour profile:

• 1/2 teaspoon each of dried oregano, sage, thyme
• 1/5 teaspoon each of dried rosemary
• 1 tablespoon Chinese 5 spice mix
• 1 tablespoon masala mix
• 5 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1,5 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon mushroom powder.

MUSHROOM POWDER NOTE: If you can get your hands on porcini or shittake mushroom powder, you can use that, alternatively just make your own by cutting up and grinding some dried shittake mushrooms in your grinder or blender to form a powder. That will work great too, I use it often!

3. Whisk all dry ingredients well.

4. Now, combine the below wet ingredients:

• 1 beetroot, peeled, chopped and blitzed in a food processor
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons vegan worcester sauce (maggie lazenby)
• 2 tablespoons red wine (optional)
• Water as needed (start with 1,5 cups)

5. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, to form a dough.

6. Put 2 tablespoons of oil on a breadboard, and use this to knead your dough. This kneading process activates the gluten which makes your ‘meat’ sinewy. If you do not knead enough, your seitan will be spongy and breadlike. Knead for at least 10 minutes, stretching from time to time until your wet dough has developed a sinewy sheen.

Optional: Wrap your seitan in cheesecloth and butchers twine to create a traditional roast meat shape.

7. Make a broth to simmer your seitan. You can create a broth from scratch using all the ingredients below, or you can add only the starred wet ingredients to store-bought vegan beef stock. Bring to the boil a large pot containing :

• 1 tablespoon oil*
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste*
• 3 tablespoons marmite*
• 2 tablespoons vegan Worcester sauce (Maggie Lazenbys) *
• 1 carrot cut into 2cm chunks
• 1 onion, peeled and halved
• 1 tomato, quartered
• 3 cm of fresh ginger, cut in thirds
• 4 – 6 whole cloves garlic
• 5 shittake mushrooms, chopped (can also use dried shittake)
• 3 – 5 bay leaves
• 7 – 10 sprigs thyme
• 2 large sprigs rosemary
• 1 – 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1,5 teaspoons salt
• black pepper
• Enough water to cover your dough – depending on your pot size. Start with 1.5 – 2 liters.

NOTE: Bring the broth to the boil and after about 5 minutes, taste it. Adjust with salt, pepper or sugar to get the flavor to your personal taste. When you are happy, move on to step 8.

8. Add seitan dough to pot and reduce heat to a low simmer immediately or the meat will get tough. Simmer seitan on a very low bubble for 45 – 50 minutes. Make sure that it does not reach a full boil again.

9. Remove seitan roast from pot and allow to cool, then remove wrapping. Move onto step 10 if serving same day, or store in a container in the fridge with the strained broth, overnight. You can also cover in broth and freeze for later use, especially great when making bulk batches. Save any extra leftover broth for frozen stock cubes or keep to make your delicious gravy, which you can thicken with a bit of flour before serving.

10. Season seitan roast with salt and pepper, rub in oil then roll in 1/2 cup of of flour and fresh herbs of your choice. I used a 1/2 a cup each of the following fresh herbs, chopped, with 2 tablespoons of freshly ground black pepper:

• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Sage
• Parsley

11. Fry seitan roast on high heat for approx for 15 minutes to sear, turning every 3 minutes or so to crust each side.

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