Vegan Chicken Sandwich

easyhealthyrecipes.com/vegan-chicken-sandwich/

Tender seitan enveloped in a wonderfully seasoned batter then fried until golden and crispy. Pair it with your favorite sandwich toppings, or opt for mayo and pickles for a vegan take on a Popeye's chicken sandwich.

Prep: 15

Cook: 1

Total: 1 15

Recipe makes approximately 4 sandwiches

Equipment Needed

2 large mixing bowls
Silicone spatula
large cutting board (or similar large, flat work surface)
Knife
Large pot
Rolling Pin
2 wire cooling racks
large skillet with high sides
deep-fry or candy thermometer (optional, see Notes)
whisk
Tongs
Paper towels

Ingredients Needed

For the "Chicken" (Seitan)

2 cups vital wheat gluten
¼ cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon salt (more or less to taste)
¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
7 cups vegetable broth (divided)

For the Fry Batter

1 ¼ cups unsweetened non-dairy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon cajun seasoning

To Fry "Chicken"

neutral oil (as needed)

Serving Suggestions (All Optional)

4 vegan burger buns
butter lettuce leaves
pickle chips
vegan mayonnaise (or your preferred condiments)

Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

Add vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper to large mixing bowl. Mix well until ingredients are blended.
While stirring constantly, slowly add olive oil and 2 cups vegetable broth to mixing bowl with dry ingredients. Stir until ingredients are fully combined to form dough.
Transfer dough to cutting board or other flat work surface. Using hands, knead dough to form ball. Once dough is kneaded, use knife to divide dough into 4 equal pieces. Set dough pieces aside.
Heat large pot over medium-high heat. When pot is warm, add remaining 5 cups vegetable broth. Bring liquid to rapid boil.
While broth heats up, use rolling pin to flatten each piece of dough, forming each piece to resemble chicken fillets.
When broth begins to boil rapidly, add "fillets" to pot. Allow "fillets" to boil, uncovered, 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, carefully drain liquid from broth and transfer "fillets" to wire cooling rack. Set aside to cool completely.
Place second wire cooling rack over multiple layers of paper towels and set aside to use later.
While seitan fillets cool, heat large skillet over medium-high heat. When pan is warm, fill pan roughly enough neutral oil that top of oil rests approximately one-third up sides of skillet. Continue heating skillet over medium-high heat until oil is hot, reading 350° Fahrenheit on deep-fry or candy thermometer.
While oil comes to temperature, add non-dairy milk, apple cider vinegar, flour, cornstarch, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and cajun seasoning to clean mixing bowl. Whisk all ingredients together until mixture is fully combined, forming thick batter.
When seitan fillets are completely cool and oil reaches desired temperature, dip each seitan fillet into batter, coating fillet completely. Immediately placed battered fillet into hot oil. Quickly repeat process with remaining 3 fillets.
Fry seitan fillets until golden brown, then flip fillets over and fry until golden brown on other side. Once fillets are fried and golden on both sides, transfer fillets to wire cooling rack over paper towels and let excess oil drain completely.
After draining excess oil from fillets, assemble vegan chicken sandwiches with preferred toppings and serve.

Recipe Notes

No deep-fry thermometer? No worries. Slice a piece of bread into a 1-inch cube. When the oil is hot, drop the bread into the oil. If the bread cube turns golden brown and toasty after 45-60 seconds in the oil, your oil is around 350°F. If the bread toasts faster than 45 seconds, your oil is too hot. Reduce the heat, let the oil cool slightly, and try again. If the bread takes longer than 60 seconds to toast, or if it doesn't toast at all, your oil isn't hot enough.

Nutrition Info (Approximate)