While there are a lot of tasty turkey alternatives on the market now for us vegetarians and vegans to choose from, if you are like us, you’re tired of Tofurky and want to try something different this year. Or maybe you just prefer to cook something up from scratch so that you know exactly what’s going into your dinner. If so, you have to try our flavor-packed recipe for vegan turkey that you can make right at home. You can check out the simple steps below, or click on the video for a fun tutorial.
Unlike its tofu-based counterparts, our vegetarian turkey is made fromseitan, which is a “wheat meat” made primarily of vital wheat gluten. It absorbs flavor better than tofu, and has a much chewier texture, making it a favorite meat-alternative among vegans and vegetarians. Seitan is also packed with protein, but the fact that it’s made of gluten might be a problem for you. If you have a gluten allergy or sensitivity, try this homemade Tofurky recipe instead.
RELATED: It may not be gluten that you’re allergic to. The real reason so many Americans are wheat intolerant.
This recipe was inspired by Sylvia Bass’s Turkey-ish Delight, so I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a shoutout to Sylvia! Check out her full recipe here.
DRY INGREDIENTS:2 1/2 cups of vital wheat gluten1 cup of chickpea flour1/4 cup of nutritional yeast
SEASONING: (feel free to customize this part to your taste)1 tsp poultry seasoning1 tsp onion powder1 tsp garlic powder1/4 tsp black pepper
WET INGREDIENTS:1 chopped onion1/4 cup of olive oil1 1/2 cups of water1 tbsp Better Than Bouillon No-Chicken Base1 tbsp soy sauce
OPTIONAL (for added crunch):textured vegetable protein or breadcrumbs
Heat up a pan on a medium-low flame and add the olive oil. Then toss in the onions and cook until they turn tender and translucent. Turn off the heat and add your seasonings.
Pour your water, soy sauce, no-chicken base and onions (with the oil) into a blender and liquify.
Fill a steamer with water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. If you don’t have a steamer, you can easily bootleg one by placing a heat-safe bowl upside down in a large pot filled with 4-5 cups of water. Then pop a metal colander or bamboo steaming plate on top of the bowl. Then pop the lid on. Just make sure that the bowl and colander are stable and that colander or bowl is not touching the water.
While your steamer is heating up, whisk together your dry ingredients (the wheat gluten, nutritional yeast and chickpea flour).
Then pour the mixture you just blended into your dry ingredients and mix together until everything is fully incorporated. A dough will form as you mix. Knead the dough for about 3 minutes and then shape into a dome.
Optional: For a more realistic-looking seiturkey, break off two smaller pieces of dough and form them into drumsticks.
If you want your seiturkey to have some crunch, coat it in some textured vegetable protein or breadcrumbs.
Next, take a large piece of tin foil and brush it with oil. Wrap your seiturkey tightly in the foil. If you made drumsticks, wrap those separately in their own pieces of foil.
When your steamer is ready (the water should be boiling), pop in your seiturkey and steam for an hour. Depending on how large your drumsticks are, you can steam them for a shorter time so that they don’t overcook. After about 45 minutes, begin preheating your oven at 350 degrees.
After an hour, carefully remove your seiturkey from the steamer and pop it into a baking sheet with the foil still wrapped around it. Bake for 30-45 minutes. Again, cook the drumsticks for 15 minutes or so less if you don’t want them to dry out.
Take your seiturkey out of the oven, wait until it cools a bit and then carefully unwrap it. If you made drumsticks, position them in place with toothpicks (be sure to let people know about those!).
Plate and serve with your favorite vegan gravy and all the fixin’s!
We hope you and your family enjoy this recipe! We’d love to see pics of how your seiturkey turned out, so please share them with us on our Facebook page here.
+ How to make homemade vegan turkey
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