Seitan beef braised in wine makes a rich, savory centerpiece, perfect for festive gatherings. This plant-based dish draws inspiration from Italian braised beef but uses seitan for a meat-free twist. The recipe comes from Nadia Fragnito’s new cookbook NATALE: Recipes for a Vegan Italian Christmas. Marinating the seitan in red wine with garlic, herbs, and vegetables adds bold, aromatic flavors. It’s a show-stopping dish that’s sure to impress vegan and non-vegan guests alike.

To prepare, make a seasoned seitan dough with soy sauce, nutritional yeast, and herbs. After marinating, pan-sear the seitan until golden brown. Then, simmer it in the wine marinade to infuse deep, hearty flavors. This slow-cooking process creates a tender texture, making the seitan deliciously savory and satisfying. For extra richness, blend the remaining marinade and vegetables into a smooth, flavorful gravy.

Serve this seitan beef over creamy polenta and drizzle it with the warm wine gravy. This combination of textures and flavors elevates the meal, making it a perfect holiday main course. This dish pairs beautifully with roasted vegetables or mashed potatoes. With this recipe, you can enjoy the classic feel of a roast while keeping it fully plant-based.

Seitan beef braised in wine

This seitan beef braised in wine is the perfect festive roast. Inspired by traditional Italian festive foods, this completely plant-based recipe is sure to be a winner during the holidays.

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Servings

Ingredients

For the seitan

560 g gluten flour
70 g chickpea flour
5 tbsp nutritional yeast
270 ml vegan 'beef' or vegetable stock
60 ml sunflower or olive oil
4 tbsps soy sauce
4 tbsps tomato paste
2 tbsps Vegemite Marmite, or dark soy sauce
Drops of liquid smoke optional
1 tsp rosemary finely chopped
Few sage leaves finely chopped
2 garlic cloves crushed

For the marinade

750 ml full-bodied red wine
1 onion diced
2 celery sticks diced
1 large carrot diced
2 whole garlic cloves peeled
2 bay leaves
Few sage leaves
Sprigs of rosemary
3 tbsps vegan butter or margarine
Olive oil
2 tbsps vegan “beef” or vegetable stock powder

For the gravy

2 tbsps vegan butter or margarine melted
For the polenta optional
Salt
1 cup of instant polenta
2 tbsps vegan butter or margarine
20 g vegan Parmesan grated or 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast

Instructions

Make the seitan

In a large bowl, combine the gluten flour, chickpea flour and nutritional yeast. In another bowl, whisk together stock, oils, soy sauce, tomato paste, Vegemite or Marmite (dissolved in a bit of hot water if needed), liquid smoke, herbs, and crushed garlic.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix to form a cohesive, firm dough. Adjust with more gluten flour if too wet or more water if too dry. Knead well for 2 minutes until the dough becomes firmer and the gluten activates.
Wrap the dough with kitchen twine. This is mainly for appearances, but it can also help hold the seitan together as it cooks.

Marinate the seitan

Place seitan in a pot or bowl and add wine, onion, celery, carrot, garlic, and herbs. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight, turning occasionally to ensure even soaking.

Cook the seitan

Strain the wine, reserving both wine and vegetables.
In a large pot, heat 3 tablespoons of vegan butter and a glug of olive oil. Sear seitan on each side until it forms a brown crust, then remove it from the pot.
Add the reserved vegetables to the pot and and sauté for a few minutes, adding more oil if needed.
Return the seitan to the pot, pour in the reserved wine marinade, and stir in the stock powder. If the seitan isn’t mostly covered by the wine marinade, top up with water.
Simmer on very low heat for 50 minutes, ensuring the cooking broth doesn’t boil to avoid ruining the seitan’s texture. Turn the seitan several times during cooking.
Once cooked, remove the seitan and continue simmering the wine broth over a high heat, reducing it for 10 minutes. Allow the seitan to cool completely before serving. It improves in texture when allowed to rest overnight. Reheat when ready to serve.

Make the gravy

For the gravy, use an immersion blender to blend about 200 ml of the wine broth along with the cooked vegetables (remove herbs first). Blend in melted vegan butter until smooth.

Make the polenta (optional)

In a medium saucepan, bring 1 liter of water to a boil. Add large dashes of salt. Pour polenta in a slow steady stream, whisking briskly as you pour. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes or according to your polenta package instructions.
Stir occasionally to prevent the polenta from sticking. Remove from heat and stir in the vegan butter and vegan Parmesan or nutritional yeast. Serve immediately.

To serve

For a Piemontese style, arrange the seitan roast, carved or whole, on a bed of freshly made soft polenta. Drizzle over some of the gravy, reserving extra on the side.

This recipe was reprinted with permission from Nadia Fragnito from The Vegan Italian Kitchen and excerpted from NATALE: Recipes for a Vegan Italian Christmas. You can find her website here and her Instagram here.