Seitan ground beef is a fantastic plant-based staple that takes the place of animal protein. It starts with homemade raw seitan that can be shaped and seasoned any way you like to make savory, chewy, juicy vegetarian meat.
Ground beef seitan for vegan tacos and mock beef strips for Vegan Chop Suey are just two of the delicious creations you can make with it.
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Top tip
Handle raw seitan lightly while cutting and shaping so as not to toughen or compress it. Preserving the web-like texture yields a vegan meat substitute that absorbs lots of flavor in the cooking broth.
Why it works
- All-natural, plant-based ingredients
- Beefy flavor and meaty texture
- High in vegan protein
- Shape as desired
- Use in all sorts of recipes from stir fry, stews, and grilled dishes, to tacos and pizza.
Ingredients
I like the spot-on finished texture of this recipe made from a combination of flours. It falls in the middle between soft and extra firm.
However, feel free to experiment with your combination if you want. The more white bread flour, the more tender your vegan ground beef will be, and the more whole-wheat flour, the chewier.
- Whole wheat flour - I use stone-ground organic.
- White bread flour - organic with a protein content of 11 percent or higher is recommended.
- Bragg's liquid aminos - Deep brown color and rich, umami flavor.
- Vegan Worcestershire - Essential for unique spices and tang.
- Not beef bouillon - Edward and Sons makes exceptional tasting vegan bouillon cubes with organic ingredients.
Why homemade?
So why not just buy a package of seitan at the store? Or perhaps you are tempted to mix vital wheat gluten flour with water to make a sort of instant seitan.
In a nutshell, this do-it-yourself washed flour recipe is hands-down better tasting than anything you can buy at the store.
Just as with homemade pasta, made-from-scratch vegan ground beef is more delicious than pre-packaged products or wheat meat made at home with gluten flour separated in a factory from the wheat starch.
Not only do you get to tailor the flavor and texture of your ground beef for your favorite recipes, but by choosing organic, all-natural ingredients, you ensure your vegan meat is free from artificial ingredients.
Origin
The name seitan was given to this versatile vegetarian protein when it became popular in Japanese Macrobiotic cuisine. However, Medieval cooks used it long before that time in China.
Before the 9th century, Chinese Buddhist Monks fashioned wheat meat, called Mian Jin, into intricate vegetarian dishes.
They created plates to satisfy the tastes of meat-eating guests they served at elaborate festival banquets. Thus, carnivores were accommodated without violating the monks’ vegetarian lifestyle.
I have eaten some mind-blowing beef-style seitan dishes at China Town in San Francisco. Indeed, they had everything else, from mock duck to meatless pork dumplings and glazed faux fish.
Can you see how raw seitan is your ticket not only to the best vegan ground beef but to whatever meat substitutes you dream up?
As long as you don't adhere to a gluten-free diet, the possibilities are only limited by your imagination. You might also like to try grillable Vegan Chicken Skewers With Huli Huli Sauce.
Make washed flour seitan
If you have never made mock beef from flour before, you might be scratching your head. Don't despair as I have some good news for you.
If you can mix flour to form a big ball of dough and plop it into a bowl of water to soak, you are already on your way.
Mix and soak dough
- Mix flour with water.
- Knead briefly.
- Shape into a round ball.
- Soak in water.
Wash seitan
The transformation from bread-like dough to a stretchy, chewy meat substitute comes with washing all the starch out of wheat flour. Then you have a raw, high-protein staple you can easily season, shape and cook.
- Soak dough.
- Squeeze to release starch.
- Rinse and repeat until the water is clear.
- Seitan is ready to shape and cook.
Shape and cook
Shaping raw, homemade seitan is one of the fun advantages you have over using store-bought vegan crumbles. Below I've illustrated how to cut beef strips and shape small meatballs for ground beef, but don't limit yourself!
Just think, cutlets, shredded, skewers, minced or cubes, you name it. Because seitan is spongy and neutral in flavor, it’s marvelously accepting of the rich and savory broth in this recipe.
It doubles in size when it is cooked in broth, so keep this in mind when cutting and shaping. You can also cut larger pieces after they are cooked, but the smaller shapes absorb more flavor from the broth.
- Gently stretch the dough on a cutting board.
- Cut in strips or shape into meatballs.
- Boil strips in vegan beef broth.
- Or boil small pieces for crumbles in vegan broth.
Expert tips
- Heat seasoning broth and keep at a simmer while washing seitan.
- Whisk flours well to make a uniform combination before adding water.
- Too much whole-wheat flour makes the finished product coarse.
- Too much white bread flour makes the recipe harder to shape.
- Use room temperature water to mix and soak the dough.
- Make sure the dough ball is fully submerged under water while soaking.
- Press seitan together while washing and hold it in one mass.
- Knead and squeeze under water until the water is very milky.
- Pour off milky water and add fresh water before repeating the process.
- Squeeze and drain off milky water as needed until the water is mostly clear.
- It's fine if the last wash is still slightly cloudy.
- Handle seitan near the end of washing without squeezing too hard. Aim to keep air between the strands while holding mass together.
- Cut and shape vegan meat half the size you want as it expands during cooking.
- Cook at a low boil.
FAQ
Basic homemade seitan starts with just two ingredients, wheat flour and water combined to make a dough. The dough is washed in water to remove all the starch, leaving just the stretchy strands of gluten. This high-protein, plant-based product can be shaped and seasoned in a number of ways to make vegan meat substitutes.
Fully cooked seitan freezes beautifully. Unlike tofu, which becomes dry and tough when it's frozen and thawed, seitan keeps the same moist and chewy texture and shape it has before freezing. If freezing homemade seitan, place it in a container with its cooking broth before freezing. This keeps the maximum flavor preserved while it's frozen. Once it's thawed, you can use it as is or chop it into crumbles, strips, or other pieces.
More vegan meat substitutes
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📖 Recipe
Homemade Seitan Ground Beef
Ingredients
Seitan meat
- 4 cups organic stone-ground whole wheat flour
- 3 cups organic high-protein white bread flour
- 3 ½ cups filtered or spring water
- More water for soaking and rinsing
Beefy broth
- 2 quarts water
- 2 TB Bragg's liquid aminos or soy sauce
- 4 cubes "Not Beef" bouillon
- 2 tsp. vegan Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
Form Dough
- Pour flour in a 5 quart or larger size bowl. Add water and mix with a large wooden spoon or hands until most the flour is incorporated.
- Turn flour out onto a counter and scrape the dry bits onto top of mound. Knead a couple minutes until no more dry flour shows. Let dough sit a few minutes to relax. Then knead a couple more strokes to make a smooth ball.
- Place dough ball back into large bowl. No need to wash out bowl first. Top with water to cover completely. Lift up bottom of dough ball to let water run underneath.
- Let dough soak at room temperature for 2 hours.
Prepare cooking broth
- Bring 2 quarts of water to simmer with 2 TB Bragg's Liquid Aminos or soy sauce, 4 "Not Beef" bouillon cubes and 2 tsp. vegan Worcestershire sauce. Keep on low heat while washing seitan.
Make washed flour seitan
- Begin squeezing seitan dough with both hands, working to keep mass intact. Knead and squeeze until water is very cloudy with starch. This first go around will take about 2-4 minutes.
- Pour the cloudy water off and fill with fresh water again. Squeeze and repeat process replacing with new water about every 2 minutes.
- After 5 or 6 washes the water should be nearly clear and the seitan will be a stretchy, bouncy mass. At this point, avoid squeezing or compressing the seitan too hard. You want to have a web-like mass that traps broth in pockets while it's cooking.
- At the end you should have about 24 ounces of raw seitan, or 2-3 cups by measure. Seitan will expand to at least double the volume when cooked.
- Cover the finished seitan with water and keep submerged until ready to transfer to simmering broth.
Shape seitan
- Keep the ball of seitan in a bowl of water while preparing simmering stock. Bring stock to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer.
- To make seitan ground meat:Method 1: Keep the ball of seitan in a bowl of water and tear off small pieces. Place the pieces on a large tray or cutting board without touching each other. When all the pieces are torn, transfer the seitan bits to the cooking broth. Stir to separate. Bring stock to a boil and reduce heat to a low bubble. Cook, stirring occasionally until seitan floats to the top of water and is done. Smaller pieces of seitan cook in about 20-25 minutes.Method 2: Make seitan beef strips or meatballs and chop seitan into ground beef texture after the strips or meatballs are cooked.To make beef strips:Place seitan on a counter or cutting board. Cut mass in half. Without compressing seitan too much, flatten it to about ½ an inch thick. You can do this by stretching and teasing seitan outwards. Use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut into strips ¼ inch wide. Bring stock to a boil and reduce heat to a low bubble. Transfer strips to cooking broth. Cook, stirring occasionally until seitan floats to the top of water and is done. Beef strips cook in about 25-30 minutes.To make cutlets:Place seitan on a counter or cutting board. Cut mass in half. Without compressing seitan too much, flatten it to about ⅛ an inch thick. You can do this by stretching and teasing seitan outwards. Use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut the flattened seitan into 4 inch squares. Drop the cutlets into simmering stock one by one. Bring stock to a boil and reduce heat to a low bubble. Cook, stirring occasionally until seitan floats to the top of water and is done. Cutlets cook in about 25-30 minutes.To make meatballs:Without compressing seitan too much, flatten it to about ½ an inch thick. You can do this by stretching and teasing seitan outwards. Use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut into ½ inch squares. Then shape the squares into balls. Seitan expands while cooking, so you will end up with balls about twice the size when finished. Transfer the meatballs to the cooking broth. Bring stock to a boil and reduce heat to a low bubble. Cook, stirring occasionally until seitan floats to the top of water and is done. Meatballs cook in about 20-25 minutes.To make skewers:Flatten raw seitan into two 3 x 6 inch rectangles. Cut crosswise with a pizza cutter or sharp knife into ½ inch strips. You should end with about 24 3 x ½ inch strips. Pinch the cut pieces every inch or so to shape attractively. Drop the skewers one by one into the cooking broth. Bring stock to a boil and reduce heat to a low bubble. Cook, stirring occasionally until seitan floats to the top of water and is done. Skewers cook in about 25-30 minutes.
Store
- Transfer to cooked seitan to a storage container with enough broth to cover the top surface of the seitan. Let cool to room temperature.
- Store cooked seitan in its broth for one week in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer.
Notes
- Heat seasoning broth and keep at a simmer while washing seitan.
- Whisk flour well to make a uniform combination before adding water.
- Use room temperature water to mix and soak the dough.
- Make sure the dough ball is fully submerged under water while soaking.
- Press seitan together while washing and hold it in one mass.
- Knead and squeeze under water until the water is very milky.
- Pour off milky water and add fresh water before repeating the process.
- Squeeze and drain off milky water as needed until the water is mostly clear.
- It's fine if the last wash is still slightly cloudy.
- Handle seitan near the end of washing without squeezing too hard. Aim to keep air between the strands while holding mass together.
- The cooking broth needs to be extra salty to flavor seitan.
- Cook seitan at a low boil.
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