Vegan Steak Recipe
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This best Vegan Steak recipe is the perfect wonderfully delicious substitute for your next fancy meatless steak dinner. A dreamy blend of cannellini beans, wheat gluten, and aromatic spices fused together to create an incredibly delicious dish. Just as meaty and tender as any filet mignon, you’ll be head over heels with the first bite.
What is Vegan Steak Made Of?
The ingredients can vary from recipe to recipe, as it can be made in various ways. I like to use wheat gluten or wheat protein along with creamy cannellini beans and a thick homemade tomato sauce in my recipe. This creates a perfectly tender and also chewy vegan steak. Soy protein and potato protein are just as commonly used as the wheat protein in different variations of the recipe.
Prepping Seitan Steaks
- Process the wheat gluten – In a food processor, combine all the steak ingredients until a dough forms. Don’t forget the tomato sauce, it’s what makes those steaks extra tender and juicy.
- Transfer to a cutting board – Knead the dough a few times and add more wheat gluten if it feels sticky. Knead until a fibrous texture is created as seen in the process photos above.
- Cut the dough – Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces, stretching each one until they’re between ½-1 inch thick.
- Boil – Bring a pot of water to a boil and boil the seitan for 25 minutes. You could also steam it but I prefer boiling to achieve a more chewier texture.
- Marinate – Whisk together all the marinade ingredients and lay the steaks in a single layer in the sauce. Let sit for 15 minutes on both sides for a total of 30 minutes.
- Cook again – Heat a cast iron skillet with a drop of olive oil in it and sear the steaks on each side until char marks form. Alternatively you can place them directly on your outdoor grill. Serve and enjoy with your favorite sauce!
Recipe Tips + Variations
- Storage – If storage is necessary, place in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Reheating – These steaks taste best right after they’ve been cooked. However, if you must, you can reheat them using the microwave or throw them into a skillet for a couple of minutes.
- Can you freeze plant based steaks? – I prefer cooking these steaks right after I make them. However, it’s possible to freeze them before you fry them. Simply combine them with the marinade in a sealed container and freeze them for up to 3 months.
- What is seitan? – Seitan is made out of the main protein found in wheat called “gluten.” It mimics the texture of meat. Wheat flour and water are kneaded together until the strands of gluten emerge, separating from the rest of the wheat. Seitan are those sticky strands of gluten.
- Serve Italian style – Serve this recipe with this amazing cherry tomato sauce, mashed potatoes, and creamed spinach listed below for an Italian affair.
- Alternative cooking options – For classic grill marks, use your typical outdoor grill or a cast iron griddle.
What to Serve With
Just like any other steak dinner, this recipe can be served with most of the classic sides you’re used to. Some of my favorites are:
- Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes
- This Vegan Creamed Spinach
- Coconut Spinach Rice Pilaf
- Roasted Broccoli
- Grandpa’s Cucumber Tomato Onion Salad
- Best Vegan Scalloped Potatoes
- Roasted Cauliflower Steaks
- Potato Salad with Dill
- Cacio e Pepe Pasta
- Citrus Rice.
Sauces for Seitan Steak
I haven’t found very many sauces that don’t just sing when added to the top of these steaks. There are too many to choose from! You’ll fall in love with any one on the list below, for me the cherry tomato and mango basil will always be the favorites.
- Cherry Tomato Sauce (as pictured)
- Argentinian Chimichurri
- Savory Mango Basil Sauce
- Vegan Shiitake Mushroom Gravy
- Heirloom Tomato Suce
- Chive Pesto or Vegan Aioli
- Italian Peperonata Sauce
- Sun Dried Tomato Pesto
- Vegan Caesar Salad Dressing
- Peppercorn Sauce.
Vegan Dinners
- Best Vegan Ribs Recipe
- Potato Jackfruit Stew
- Vegan Zuppa Toscana
- Sauteed Cabbage with Onions and Soy Curls
- Vegan Chicken with Broccoli
- Ultimate Vegan Chicken
- Mushroom Gyros
- Air Fryer Tofu.
how to make vegan steak
Vegan Steak
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup cannellini beans cooked (you can use chickpea, lentils or even black beans)
- 1.25 cups wheat gluten
- 2 tbsp soy sauce, tamari, shoyu or coco aminos
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/3 cup tomato sauce (thick homemade preferably)
- 1.5 tsp smoked paprika (or 1/4 tsp liquid smoke)
- 1/2 tsp granulated garlic
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 tsp grated beets for color (optional, i didn’t use any in these photos)
Marinade
- 4 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tbsp maple syrup (or brown sugar)
- 1 tbsp olive oil (optional)
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika (or liquid smoke)
- 1 pinch red chili flakes
- 3 Tbsp water
Instructions
- To the bowl of a food processor add the cannellini beans, tomato sauce, soy sauce, nutritional yeast, paprika, garlic and onion powders, dijon mustard and wheat gluten. Press the pulse button a few times then start pouring in the water. Process until a nice dough forms that isn’t sticky.3/4 cup cannellini beans, 2 tbsp soy sauce, tamari, shoyu or coco aminos, 1/4 cup nutritional yeast, 1/3 cup tomato sauce, 1.5 tsp smoked paprika, 1/2 tsp granulated garlic, 2 tsp onion powder, 1 tbsp dijon mustard, 1.25 cups wheat gluten, 1 tsp grated beets for color, 1/3 cup water
- Transfer the dough to a cutting board and kneed a few times. If it appears sticky just sprinkle with a little bit more wheat gluten and keep needing until incorporated and the dough isn’t sticky anymore. Continue to kneed and stretch until a nice fibrous texture is achieved.
- Cut the sietan dough into 4 pieces and stretch each one into uneven 1/2 inch to 1 inch thick pieces.
- Bring a medium sauce pan filled with water to a rolling boil. Add the sietan steaks one by one and boil for 25 minutes. Drain and pat dry each steak on a kitchen towel.
Marinade
- In a shallow bowl / tray whisk together the marinade ingredients until combined: soy sauce, brown sugar for caramelization, olive oil, onion and garlic powder, smoked paprika, water and chili flakes for some heat.4 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce, 1 tbsp maple syrup (or brown sugar), 1 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 1 pinch red chili flakes, 3 Tbsp water
- Add the cooked sietan steaks to the marinade in one layer and make sure to coat all over. Allow to sit for 10 minutes then flip over and marinate another 10 minutes.
- Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium low flame. Add a drizzle of olive oil and the sietan steaks. Work in batches here unless you have a big enough skillet that fits all 4 of them. Pan sear for a couple of minutes on each side until nice little char marks form.
- Alternatively you can cook these in a cast iron griddle or on the outdoor grill for extra smokiness and classic grill marks.
- Serve Italian style with the cherry tomato sauce, mashed potatoes and creamed spinach or any of the sauces suggested above.
Notes
- Storage - If storage is necessary, place in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Reheating - These steaks taste best right after they’ve been cooked. However, you can reheat any leftovers using the microwave or throw them into a skillet for a couple of minutes and use in sandwich with Tzatziki sauce or sliced up cold on a salad.
- Can you freeze them? - I prefer these steaks right after I pan sear them, however, it’s possible to freeze them before you fry them. Simply combine them with the marinade in a sealed container and freeze them for up to 3 months.
- Alternative cooking options - For classic grill marks, use your typical outdoor grill or a cast iron griddle.
It looks wonderful, but where is all that sodium coming from? There’s no salt in the recipe, and it’s easy to find low or no sodium tomato sauce and beans. Soy aminos can be used instead of regular soy sauce. 2004 mg per serving is incredibly high, and certainly not healthy!
It is most likely from the soy sauce marinade but don’t forget you are going to toss that anyways afterwards, however the nutrition calculator doesn’t know that. Enjoy ~ Florentina.
Is there a way to make it gluten Free?
Sorry Gigi, I have not tested this recipe gluten-free.
Try protein powder and/or xanxan gum. That’s what I plan to do. And I’m going to use coconut amino. It sounds so good but I’m not going to get sick over the gluten.
What would you suggest for gluten-free eaters? I can substitute tamari for soy sauce, but seitan is wheat gluten.
Thanks
I’m sorry Bunny but I have not tested this with a gluten free alternative, I’ll make sure to update if I get a comparable result in gf form.
This was really really good, deci they recommended and we’ll be making it again soon. My husband is already asking if we have any leftovers.
Absolutely delicious, haven’t had luck with sietan before but these steaks changed my mind, very impressive!
Made these for the first time yesterday, and am very happy with the result. Although Florentina mentioned she prefers them to be eaten right after cooking, I am actually enjoying them “day after” For some reason when they first came off the grill I felt like I could taste that vital wheat gluten, but today, sliced cold on a sandwich, I didn’t. When I make the next I will work on cutting down on the sodium by using less tamari in the marinade. I think I will try to sub in some sodium free vegetable broth. But all in all, this recipe means that I will no longer purchase vegan lunch meat or seitan “beef” strips. Homemade wins the taste war AND the price war!
Made this tonight and stuck to the recipe with all the times and measurements, it was super salty! It had to have been the soy sauce in the marinade. Next time I’ll either skip marinating or add water maybe (?) to tone down the saltiness from the soy sauce. Otherwise turned out great, my first time making any switch recipe!
Hi Darcy, it’s important to use a low sodium tamari or sub with coco aminos. Hope next try will be prefect 🙂