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If you follow a plant-based diet and thought your days of grilling meat on the BBQ were over, take a look at these vegan grilled chicken breasts.
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They’re tasty, packed with protein, and easy to make yourself at home from scratch. This vegan grilled chicken is seitan-based. Seitan is a popular and versatile meat substitute. It’s made from wheat gluten, the protein found in wheat. This plant-based alternative is known for its dense texture and remarkable ability to absorb flavors, making it a popular choice in vegan cooking.
While you can buy seitan from the shops, it’s actually pretty straightforward to make at home. And Romy London describes this recipe as “great for seitan beginners.”
Here’s how to make it.
Read more: 15 Vegan Picnic Recipes
Grilled ‘chicken’ seitan recipe
Ingredients
- 350 g strong white bread flour minimum 12% protein
- Filtered water
- Oil for frying
- ½ tsp smoked paprika powder
- ¼ tsp salt
For the sauce:
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp tamari soy sauce
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp smoked paprika powder
- ¼ tsp fine salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Instructions
Creating a dough ball
- Place the flour into a large mixing bowl and create a well in the middle.
- Pour in a little water at a time until you can roll the dough into a firm dough ball and knead it in the bowl or on a lightly floured surface for 2-3 minutes until smooth.
Soaking the dough
- Transfer the dough back into the bowl and allow it to rest for 10 minutes, then completely fill the bowl with water to submerge the dough ball.
- Allow it to rest for at least 30 minutes.
- Washing the flour
- Once the resting time elapses, begin kneading the dough in the bowl underwater.
- It will start releasing its starches and the water should become white and thicken slightly (almost cream-like!).
- Knead the dough for 2-3 minutes, then discard the starchy water, pour in fresh water, and repeat.
- Your dough should require about 3 washes in total and the water should not be as thick and more see-through in the end. It's normal for the dough to almost fall apart in this washing process. Don't worry – it will come back together in the next step.
- Discard the water and place the seitan dough into a big colander.
- Rinse it under running water for 10 seconds, then set it aside for 30 minutes to rest.
Seasoning
- Remove the dough from the colander and give it a gentle knead between your hands, then place it into a kitchen machine with a dough hook, add the smoked paprika and salt, and pulse for 10-20 seconds. Alternatively, you can also incorporate the spices by hand.
Stretching and knotting
- Stretch the seitan dough until you can carefully knot it.
- Repeatedly stretch and knot it about 5-6 times – this step will help to create a chicken-like shredded texture in the dough, however, the knotting takes some practice, so if you're struggling, simply omit this step.
Pan-searing
- Carefully portion the seitan into 2-3 cutlets and heat roughly 2 tablespoon of oil over medium/high heat.
- Pan-fry your seitan cutlets for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until a light golden crust forms, then remove the seitan from the frying pan.
BBQ'ing
- Heat your BBQ to its full heat and combine all ingredients for the sauce in a little bowl in the meantime.
- Brush your seitan with the sauce on both sides and place it onto the hot BBQ grid.
- Grill it on both sides for 4-5 minutes or until golden, then remove it from the grill and serve it alongside delicious salads and your favorite vegan BBQ goodies.
- For this recipe to work out, it’s vital that you use high-protein, fine wheat flour. I recommend aiming for a minimum of 12 percent protein in your flour and I personally use a strong white bread flour by a brand called ‘Allisons’.
- You can also pan-fry these seitan fillets instead of BBQ’ing them. Simply heat a little oil in the pan beforehand, brush the fillets in the sauce and pan-fry for a few minutes on each side, until golden.
This recipe was republished with permission from Romy London.
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