Sunday was such a beautiful day that I had to get outside, away from the kitchen and the computer, and just enjoy the sunshine and flowers. I spent all of last week closeted in my office trying to copy files and programs to a new computer and set up a new home network. By Sunday I had had enough. I wanted to spend as much of the day outside as I could.
For a few weeks I’ve been planning on cooking this barbecued seitan, but the timing and weather were never quite right. Though it’s started in the kitchen, it’s finished up on the grill, giving it the smoky taste that only grilling can impart. I’ve found that cooking outside is much less stressful if most of the foods are pre-cooked at least a little in the kitchen; long grilling times, different foods finishing at different times, and potential burning all can be avoided with a little strategic pre-cooking in the microwave or oven.
Update: Thanks to Julie Hasson for featuring this recipe on Everyday Dish. Be sure to check out her video!
Barbecued Seitan Ribz
(click for printer-friendly version)
Like Veggeroni, this seitan is baked dry rather than boiled. The results are a little spongier than Veggeroni, less dense, but I think the texture is perfect for absorbing the flavor of the barbecue sauce. You’ll be amazed at how easy this recipe comes together using your favorite bottled sauce.
1 cup vital wheat gluten
2 teaspoons smoked Spanish paprika
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons tahini or other nut butter
1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke
1 tablespoon soy sauce
about 1 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce (see some suggestions below)
Preheat the oven to 350 and lightly spray an 8×8 baking dish with canola oil. Mix the first 5 ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix the water with the nut butter, Liquid Smoke, and soy sauce and add it to the dry ingredients. Stir to mix well and then knead lightly in the bowl for a couple of minutes.
Put the dough into the baking dish and flatten it so that it evenly fills the pan. Take a sharp knife and cut it into 8 strips; then turn the pan and cut those strips in half to form 16 pieces:
Put it in the oven and bake for 25 minutes. While it’s cooking prepare your grill.
Remove it from the oven and carefully re-cut each strip, going over each cut to make sure that the ribz will pull apart easily later. Generously brush the top with barbecue sauce. Take it to the grill and invert the whole baking dish onto the grill (or use a large spatula to lift the seitan out, placing it sauce-side down on the grill). Brush the top of the seitan with more sauce:
Watch it closely to make sure that it doesn’t burn. When it’s sufficiently brown on one side, turn over and cook the other side, adding more sauce, if necessary. When done, remove to a platter and cut or pull apart the individual ribs to serve.
Serves 4
Nutrition Facts
1/4 of a recipe without barbecue sauce
Percent daily values are based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet.
Though MyPoints are calculated using a formula similar to Weight Watchers Points TM, this site has no affiliation with Weight Watchers and does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.
Note: Nutritional info is calculated without barbecue sauce so that you can add the figures for the brand of barbecue sauce you use.
Suggested Homemade Barbecue Sauces:
- South Carolina Golden Mustard Barbecue Sauce
- Chipotle Barbecue Sauce
- Korean Barbecue Sauce
- Wild Plum Sauce
We ate this outside with steamed broccoli and grilled/baked potatoes. The potatoes were pre-cooked in the microwave until almost done and then cooked on the back of the grill while the seitan was cooking. The whole meal was a complete success. The potatoes had that delicious grilled taste without the long cooking time baked potatoes usually require. And the seitan was succulent and tasty. In fact, the three of us probably could have eaten another entire pan of this stuff, so in the future I will double the recipe and hope for leftovers. E. says to tell you that this is “way, way kid-friendly.”
Note: The cooking method is based on this recipe, which uses the oven rather than the grill. If you don’t have a grill, you might try following the directions in that recipe.
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{ 54 comments… read them below or add one }
I've made these ribz 3 times already! It's SOOOO easy! Thank you
These ribs look awsome!
I've been cooking with seitan recently, and found your blog while searching for new ideas. I'm sure I'll try this next spring, when barbecue season starts.
But I wonder how you got the dough to spread out so thinly. When I make seitan, it tends to lump together; it seems that the natural form of seitan is that of a roll
Do you have any hints on getting the dough thin?
Rolf, the thickness of the dough is determined by how much liquid you add and how much you knead it. The formula used in this recipe produces a seitan that spreads out fairly easily. You should give it a try–you can make it in an oven as well as on a grill.
I found this wonderful recipe and added a little twist of my own, and I have to say, they came out fabulous!!
Let me just start by saying that you are a GENIUS! I have been a life long vegetarian so I cannot compare this to the real thing but I am sure these 'RIBZ' taste better. I ate it alone and then had an idea- *wraps*! I used a flax seed wrap and put these 'RIBZ' with vegan mayo, avocado, onions and tomato. Your website invaluable to us veg heads. I am so glad you won the 2009 VEG award!!
I tweaked this recipe and added a bit more spice. Turning them into Jerk BBQ Ribs. Check it out. http://www.imvegannowwhat.blogspot.com
HAIL SEITAN!!!
Seriously, these were amazing. I even effed up the recipe, and they were still deadly.
Just to stress: it is very important to mix all the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients separately, then mix them all together. I put them all together and ended up with "pockets" of different ingredients that just didn't want to fully mix. Plus, I forgot the paprika. Despite all that, this recipe turned out phenomenally and I can't wait to see how good it is when done properly.
My carniverous pregnant wife that I've been trying to get off the meat for the sake of our child and who has been fighting me vociferously, loved these ribs and we had a real moment tonight when she realized that we can really make this work.
These are AMAZING! My grill isn't working right now so I just baked them with the barbecue sauce for another 15 minutes. I'm looking forward to trying more of your recipes
As everyone has mentioned, this seitan is great. After I got the seitan made, instead of BBQ sauce I used the Jerk Marinade in Vegan with a Vengence. I poured it over the ribz in the 8X8 pan and let it set for an hour, then browned them in a non-stick skillet. Even DH was impressed…he’s the Anti-Vegan.
Thanks for all the work you do for the rest of us.
Sorry for being rude, but I consider this almost disgusting!
First I should say that I haven´t been doing the vegan thingy for long, hardly 3 months by now. And although I only “tried” it for my girlfriends sake (to give it up immediately after lent…) I´m gonna stick to it as I found out yesterday that my blood pressure dropped by 20+(!)%.
This recipe consists of 10 ingredients, NONE of which is anything fresh. I mean, you can´t seriously tell me you are only using powders? Would it really be too much effort to put some (tasty) fresh onion in it, or a clove of garlic? Considering the “Liquid Smoke”-stuff I´m just gonna advise you to read the article on wikipedia…
Don´t get me wrong, I really appreciate your efforts (I do!) and I´m (we´re) still gonna be looking for ideas here, but this… sorry.
Another suggestion: have you ever tried to replace/complement your paprika-powder by fresh peppers? When we make antipasti, hummus, … I take one, cut them in about 4 pieces a pepper, and put them (closely) under the grill until their skin is almost completely black. Put them into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, thus making the skin peel off almost by itself (the hot steam underneath loosens it) while cooling off. Sure, not really “smoked”, but delicious nevertheless…
Best
Sebastian
this is a shockingly artificial and unhealthy recipe. seriously. most of us eat vegan in order to stay healthy, but there is no way this is good for you. liquid smoke? um, cancer in a bottle. vegan food should not try to taste like non-vegan food. let’s celebrate the joys of eating vegan without trying to emulate meat products.
First of all, I do find it rude that two of you came here just to criticize a recipe that you haven’t even tried. If you don’t want to eat seitan or dishes that “emulate meat,” that is your prerogative, but don’t try to dictate to other vegans what they can eat.
About the use of powders in the recipe, if you’ve ever made seitan, you know that it’s a balancing act how much non-gluten ingredients you can add before it doesn’t hold together well. When I made this recipe, I erred on the side of caution, trying to add plenty of flavor without messing up the texture of the seitan. I now know that I could have used real garlic, but adding roasted red pepper would not result in a good consistency.
Sebastian and David, I could be wrong about this, but I think most of the people who eat a vegan diet do so mainly for ethical reasons and not necessarily for just health reasons, but it really doesn’t matter too much why someone decides to go vegan, we should be happy that they do it anyway. Susan’s blog is fantastic and filled with *mostly
* healthy recipes, and even the slightly less healthy recipes are much healthier than other alternatives.
As for this recipe being artificial, the only thing ‘artificial’ maybe is the barbecue sauce. All the powder ingredients are dried veg and herbs found in nature.
Liquid smoke, whilst, not being the most healthy flavour enhancer, is certainly not ‘cancer in a bottle’; if you are wary about using it, don’t use it. I’ve made seitain with and without liquid smoke, both were good, same with fresh and powdered garlic.
What would have been the better approach, I think, Sebastian, would have been to make a similar recipe substituting the ingredients for ones you prefer, then sharing your results.
And whilst, I don’t eat seitan and other vegan meats often, it’s always a yummy treat when I do, so hail seitan!
Seriously. I’ve made this recipe and the extremely nommy vegan “wursts” from Vegan Dad a zillion times. It’s hardly disgusting – it’s gluten and seasonings. If you’ve worked with seitan you know what a balancing act it is to get the stuff to behave properly. I don’t care for liquid smoke, so I leave it out, btw – that’s the nice thing about making the stuff yourself. Just be careful not to upset the liquid/dry ratios or you will get a mess. If the seitan makes you unhappy, try grilling extra firm tofu. This sauce is great on it (oh, and I’m of the extra-firm-tofu-frozen -and-thawed-and-rung-totally-dry school of tofu eating – don’t like it soft).
I guess Sebastian and David don’t do vegan cupcakes, either. Well, more power to you guys, but for me the periodic baked good is very satisfying. Good lord, guys, we vegans take enough flack from the rest of the world; at the very least we should be polite to one another. Happy, happy, joy, joy!
Sebastian, I really don’t know what your problem is, or why you need to be so rude about it? Why not simply comment along the lines of “hey, great recipe, but why not substitute actual onion/garlic instead of using powder? And while you’re at it, I think it would be pretty easy to throw a few other fresh ingredients in as well.” Would that really have been so hard? Instead of making an unnecessarily negative and generally unwarranted criticism, you turn it into a much more positive comment.
What you also seem to be forgetting is that while meat-eaters always make meat the major focus of their meals (one of the main reasons making them so unhealthy), vegans do not generally have the same focus on meat-substitutes. So while something like this may not be great if it formed a similar portion of an otherwise meat-based meal, in a vegan meal this would just be a small portion with a good serving of other vegies accompanying it.
So really, what’s the big deal?
Hi Susan,
I’d like to make a large batch of this to go with veggie burgers at an upcoming barbeque. It would make the most sense to bake the seitan the day before though (I need to make A LOT) and then grill the next day. Have you tried baking one day and grilling the next? Will it hold well?
Thank you for so many great recipes! Everyone I’ve recommended your blog to has really enjoyed it.
Mary G.
Hi Mary, I haven’t tried that, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. The recipe is pretty forgiving, and I think if you cover the seitan with barbecue sauce and store it overnight, it might even make it more flavorful.
Thanks for the kind words and for recommending the blog to your friends!
it totally works to bake them one day and grill the next. I baked mine and kept them plain in the cooler until i was ready to grill ‘em. see my comment below
This looks great! I’m having a BBQ on Saturday and want to get as much done ahead of time.
Thanks!
I’m sold. These look amazing and so friendly. Thank you!
You can’t un-eat real ribs. That is one of the things I miss the most, even though the thought of actually eating them now makes me ill. I used to be able to find either a vegetarian or vegan rib frozen product which seems to be discontinued. Thanks for this recipe, I am going to have to try it on one of the days I am feeling like cooking a lot.
Thanks for all your recipes and information,but I like using fresh herbs and spices.Natural stuff and not a lot of preservatives.Can you please come up with recipes without preservatives and sauces.Thanks.
None of my recipes have any preservatives.
Can you help,I made some kebabs with soya mince but I noticed there is an after taste after I soaked the mince in boiled water and squeezed the water out and spiced it with herbs and spices.I used gram flour as a binding agent and it didn’t bind so well.Can you please suggest how I can add flavor and what do I use as a binding agent.Thanks.
I’m sorry, but other than wheat gluten, I have no idea. Soy mince is not something I use.
The link for the video is broken. That looks like a great recipe. I bookmarked it so that I can try it out. Thanks for posting this. I am a new vegan so this will be exciting to try as I have yet to try making anything with seitan. Thanks again!
I’ve just fixed the link to the video. Check it out and give it a try. It’s much easier than you’d think!
This looks like such a fun recipe! My husband is thrilled to bits with the idea of “mock” ribs! He has missed them during BBQ parties. This memorial day weekend I plan on making them. Do you have any suggestions on a good, healthy vegan barbecue sauce recipe? I would love to make my own (because I try to not use preservatives either) but can’t find a good recipe that is healthy. Any suggestions? Thanks again for all your recipes!
Barbecue sauces are often a compromise because the nature of barbecue is that it’s sweet, salty, and spicy, and the sweet and salty can be hard to do without adding ingredients that are considered unhealthy. I have a recipe for Chipotle Barbecue Sauce that I think is a pretty good compromise–probably not the healthiest that you could find, but really good and easy to make.
Made these tonight for the first time. AMAZING! Great job with this recipe!! They are now on my favorite list!
DH and I adore this recipe for summer BBQ. It’s chewy, tasty and so satisfying! I made it a few times last year, and it was the first thing I looked forward to once we cleaned out the grill for the holiday weekend. We enjoyed it this weekend. Thanks so much for this GREAT recipe, and all you’ve done to share so many other wonderful recipes on this site!
Hi Susan,
I’m hoping you can help me out. Yesterday, I went out to buy ready-made seitan from my local vegan store. I think it’s just the “standard stuff”, so no extra flavouring or spices were added to the seitan. I really want to try this recipe, but I don’t want to make more seitan, since I had already bought it in bulk! Do you think the “ribs” would turn out properly if I used the ready-made seitan dough, and just added the spices/flavourings into it by kneading? Any pointers are greatly appreciated!
Kathy, I’m not sure what you mean by ready-made seitan. Is it a wet dough that hasn’t been cooked yet? If so, then I think that what you propose would work. If it’s a powder that you add liquid to, then I definitely think you could add the flavorings to it. But if it’s like the only ready-made seitan I’ve ever bought, it’s already cooked, so there could be no kneading. In that case, I would probably just coat it in barbecue sauce and cook it briefly.
Thanks for this great recipe! I occasionally want to use seitan, but I hate the method of boiling it in water to make it – I tried making these and they were so easy! I’m making some today to dice up and use in a summer squash sloppy joe recipe. I hope it works out!
Tried these tonight with homemade bb-q sauce and I thought they were great!! My family of 6 ate it all….I should have made more. Thanks so much for sharing!!
This recipe makes an appearance on our dinner table a few times every summer. The first time I made it was a couple of years ago for a picnic. It’s so easy, which makes it even more awesome. I made it again tonight and the kids devoured it. I don’t have a grill, so I just bake mine, then slice it up in rib sized sticks, and then heat in a pan with the bbq sauce until it starts to carmelize a little on the bottom. I usually serve it with corn on the cob, collards, salad, and fruit.
It’s not the healthiest thing out there, but it’s a great treat to have *once in a while* when you’re craving bbq, not to mention the fact that it’s not full of all the things that meat ribs are. Thank you for the tasty and creative recipe Susan!
Dear Susan,
I’m 14, a vegetarian (I eat mostly vegan) who loves to cook! And because of that, my mom pretty much gave up the position of “house chef” to me. My dad recently bought a little George Foreman grill and I’m going to try this recipe on it SOON! Neither of my parents are veg, so I am hoping I can satisfy their “needs” with it. (And by reading all the comments, it will!)
I don’t understand why everyone is all “it’s not healthy” because of the powders… I mean, they’re just dehydrated. And for the wheat gluten, it’s an excellent, natural source of protein that is low in fat.
Thanks for all the wonderful foods and flavors you’ve been providing to us veg freaks! (; you’re making it that much easier!
I rarely comment but felt the need to due to all this nasty negativity! I am an ETHICAL vegan. The health benefits are an added plus but I do not eat meat or animal products for purely ethical reasons. That being said, I grew up eating meat and milk and sometimes do crave that “comfort food” during certain times of the year. These ribz are amazing – I’m making them for our July 4th party and I can’t wait to show them off to everyone. My vegan fiance practically drools when I tell him these are the weeks dinner list and they make excellent leftovers on sandwhiches the next day! Thank you, Susan for this wonderful recipe and all your recipes. I check your blog at least a few times a week for iedeas and everything I’ve made has been (healthy) and delicious
I’ve got this saved to make soon, but my last attempt at making baked seitan was a total flop – the cutlets just poofed into crispy balloons that were hollow inside and didn’t have a whole lot of flavour. Does this recipe puff up a lot in the oven too? I ask because unlike the Veggeroni there’s nothing to constrict it’s expansion. Thanks in advance, I’m a total nOOb when it comes to seitan stuff.
Sarah, when I make this, it doesn’t puff up like that. It really only “grows” a tiny bit in the oven. It doesn’t come out as dense as the Veggeroni–there are small air holes throughout–but it shouldn’t be hollow.
I LOVE this recipe! I’ve made it about 5 or 6 times and it is so easy. I’m really bad about measuring and I have never had a failure with this recipe. Thank you so much Susan. XOXO
this recipe is excellent! i’ve been making it for about a year now, for veg and non-veg friends & family alike, and everyone loves it. It travels well, too- i baked a batch @ my brother in law’s house before going camping at a Phish show. We grilled it late that night when we arrived, and it was just as delicious.
Thanks so much for sharing!!
I made these for the 4th, along with the chipotle bbq sauce…..they were AMAZING!!! I will most definately be making these again! Thanks so much for such a fun recipe!
Hello! I am attempting to make my first batch of seitan today, however, as I am in the UK I can’t get hold of vital wheat gluten
So have made it from scratch using bread flour, and lots of kneading and rinsing!
…like this…http://forkable.blogspot.com/2008/07/courtesy-of-toliveandeatinla.html
I would love to make this recipe but would it be possible using the method I have to follow? I can’t add anything to the flour as it would just get rinsed out! Do you think I could just press the raw gluten into the baking dish and proceed from there?! Thank you in advance if you have any idea if this would work!
…and also thank you so much for the vegan eggnog cheesecake recipe, I made it the other week, and ate the whole thing in about a day
(Its been the only vegan cheesecake I’ve ever made that actually tasted like cheesecake!)
I just made the seitan and its AMAZING…….thanks so much.
OMG…these were so good! I’ve put off trying to make seitan for years because I thought it would be too complicated. This recipe was SO easy and was really delicious. I wasn’t in the mood to pull out the grill, so after the initial cooking period, I brushed with bbq sauce on both sides and baked for an additional 20 minutes in the oven. I will definitely be making this again!
I always peruse your recipes especially since you are on my blog roll, but I finally made one of your recipes tonight and it was SO delicious! I have been vegan for 9 months and had yet tried my hand at seitan because I was afraid of the taste and texture but I am so mad I had not tried it before. My non-vegan husband love it by the way! Thanks! I am postingyour recipe on my blog with credit to you!
These ribz are terrific! I’m new to vegan eating. I was cooking my omnivore husband some ribs the other day, the temptation was agonizing. With some internet surfing I discovered your recipe. Thank you so much, these ribz saved the day!!
I’m almost afraid to leave a comment since I was not a fan of these. I hope the fact that I’m doing it in a nice way will make a difference. I am new to the whole vegetarian/vegan lifestyle, and have been hesitant to try any “fake meats”. I love barbecue of any sort, so I gave these a try. The flavor was fine, I just couldn’t get over the texture! I know there is a description in the blog that says these are “spongier than veggeroni”, but I guess I missed that being that I have no idea what veggeroni is. I mean no disrespect by posting a negative review, I just thought I would voice my opinions for others who may want more info before trying this recipe. Please keep posting recipes, I do appreciate another animal-product free resource, even if I may not like all of the recipes!
Are these ribz similar in texture to the Harvest Direct veggie ribz, which I love? I made seitan in the crockpot recently and I couldn’t get past the spongy wet texture, similar to tofu if the water isn’t squeezed out. I would like to be able to incorporate homemade seitan into my meals but I prefer a dryer texture. Maybe baking it is the key. Any thoughts?
I haven’t had the Harvest Direct ribs, so I can’t comment on that, but the texture of these is definitely not wet, and they’re denser and spongier than tofu ever gets. Baking definitely results in a drier texture, but the barbecue sauce lends moistness and flavor. Give them a try!
I am sorry to read the negative comments about this recipe. I am a vegan for moral and health reasons. But my reasons are not important here. Any recipe is a starting point. You read it, you decide what ingredients you will omit or substitute, without sacrificing the final end. I look forward to making this recipe today, and I will add my own Mexican flavorings to it. Thanks for such a great website. Please do not allow such negative comments to discourage what you are doing.
These were AWESOME!! I have never had a good at home, from scratch, seitan experience and have tried many, many times, with no luck. This however changed things forever. These were delicious. I broiled them in the over for about 6-7 minutes on each side and they were great. Even my carnivore husband enjoyed them, and he has NEVER eaten any of my home made seitan dishes before (only in restaurants and premade seitan). I cannot wait to make these again, but mostly because I cannot stop eating them.
Tried these last night and they tasted good but my ribs were quite spongy….How do I remedy that???? Thanks.
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