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 these barbecued seitan ribs, but the timing and weather were never quite right. Though they’re started in the kitchen, they’re finished up on the grill, giving them 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.
We ate these vegan ribs 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: This recipe is loosely based on this recipe, which uses the oven rather than the grill.
For a different version, try my Jacked-Up Vegan Ribs with jackfruit for texture. Yum!
Suggested Homemade Barbecue Sauces:
Try these ribs with one of these homemade barbecue sauces or any bottled sauce.
Barbecued Seitan Ribz (Vegan Ribs)
Ingredients
- 1 cup vital wheat gluten
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 teaspoons smoked Spanish paprika
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons tahini or other nut butter
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke
- about 1 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce see some suggestions below
Instructions
- 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 15-60 seconds (the less you knead it, the more tender it is; the longer, the chewier).
- 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.
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
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Serving suggestion:
Rachel
November 8, 2020 at 5:45 pmThis is EXTREMELY delicious, simple, and the first time I was successful with vital wheat gluten. Thank you and I’m bring this back on thanksgiving!
Tim
December 6, 2020 at 3:03 pmI love this recipe. I make it weekly. It’s delicious and doesn’t use a ton of ingredients!! Thank you!
Mystique
January 1, 2021 at 2:32 pmThese were really good and very easy to make in comparison to a vegan steak recipe that I’ve found online. I made these yesterday for my NYE dinner. I used powdered almond butter and I grilled them on my George Foreman grill. They came out perfect. Thank you for this recipe, which I will be using constantly! 👍
KC
January 13, 2021 at 9:08 pmI have been vegan for many years, and this is one of my favorite recipes. It is delicious, easy to make, and I always have the ingredients on hand. It is the only recipe I make almost weekly.
Anna
February 11, 2021 at 7:17 pmI saw someone making vegan ribs on Instagram so I googled it and this recipe came up THANK GOODNESS. These are the best! I usually make easy things and don’t branch out much but these are so easy and makes me feel like I really know how to cook lol. I added some ground mustard, pepper, & a little balsamic glaze. Bomb recipe!
Steven
February 25, 2021 at 4:19 amI tried this recipe yesterday for the first time. It came out great. Just want more flavor. Any suggestions?
Charlie
April 23, 2021 at 9:44 amSteven I you like the flavour and just want more it’s as easy as doubling the flavor ingredients. Maybe not the liquid smoke though. That can be a bit overpowering. You could also try adding some of your bbq sauce into the mix as well as marinading in it.
Candy Pack
March 17, 2021 at 6:06 pmCan you freeze them?
Susan Voisin
March 17, 2021 at 9:13 pmYes, they freeze great!
Hannah
March 24, 2021 at 11:44 pmI tried cooking dry in the oven without steaming, and it came out very rubbery. I barely kneaded but regardless… the bbq sauce really carries it, it’s not very tasty on its own, sorry!
Barbara
June 2, 2022 at 2:24 pmHannah, animal flesh is not very appealing on its own either. The bbq sauce really carries it. I think that is the whole point!!
Kelly
May 27, 2021 at 6:09 amI found your site by googling “vegan bbq” since I just got a grill and I wanted something besides veggies to put on it. To be honest I was very skeptical at first – other vegan ribs recipes called for twice as many ingredients as yours, and a kneading time of ten minutes. I decided on yours simply because I was too tired for a complicated recipe. But it turned out amazing!!! My husband is an omnivore and he went back for seconds and thirds. The recipe was so simple and clear to follow along with, and the end result was so tender, slightly crispy from the char marks on the grill, and had an amazing smoky flavor. We used minimal bbq sauce and they were fabulous. Thank you so much! This is going in my regular rotation for sure!
Erika D
May 31, 2021 at 8:51 pmThis recipe is solid. Easy, quick and my 2y old kept coming back for more. I used my house adapted Vegan with a Vengeance Pomegranate BBQ (sub cumin and chipotle for 5 spice and hot sauce. ) We will definitely have this again and a again!
MH
July 4, 2021 at 10:00 amThese were delicious. Can I use vegetable broth instead of water to give it more flavor?
Susan Voisin
July 4, 2021 at 11:22 amDefinitely!
Glenn A Ellison
August 3, 2021 at 8:12 pmI liked this recipe the first time I tried it but wanted it to be more tender. I made a double batch the second time and kneaded the dough less(about 20 seconds). Instead of pressing the dough out and cutting it in a 9×9 pan, I spread it out on a wood cutting board which helped maintain the square shape and was better to cut the ribz on. Next I steamed the ribz for 20 minutes instead of baking. I then grilled some of them and was really happy with the results. I individually wrapped the rest to thaw out and grill latter.
Lisa
March 27, 2022 at 6:15 amThese look delicious! Can’t wait to try them. What bbq sauce did you use on the ribs displayed in the picture?
Susan Voisin
March 27, 2022 at 12:30 pmIt’s been so long that I can’t remember what I was using then. Any package bbq sauce works, or you can make your own, healthier version.
Laura
April 25, 2022 at 5:40 pmMy husband LOVES these ribs! He is a vegan endurance athlete and needs low-fat high-protein meal options – he truly can’t get enough of these. We don’t have a grill, so I follow the alternative instructions (bake them for 25 mins, coat in sauce, and bake for another 20 mins). They turn out perfectly chewy and savory. I do find it a little labor intensive to flatten out the seitan dough – it is so elastic I have to work it with a rolling pin for about 5-10 mins to get it into the right shape – other than that the recipe is a breeze! I do recommend using a serrated bread knife for cutting the dough into strips (at least that’s what works best for me). Thank you for this recipe, it has become a staple in our home!
Nicole
May 7, 2022 at 9:40 amI was thinking about this old favorite recently and had to come back for the recipe again. I noticed in the blog post you mentioned using the microwave instead of the oven before grilling. How long did you microwave them? Or what texture should I look for when microwaving? I’d love to have these more frequently without heating up the oven.
Susan Voisin
May 7, 2022 at 3:52 pmI think I was unclear. I probably meant I pre-cooked potatoes in the microwave. I don’t recall ever microwaving the ribs. Sorry!
Nicole
May 13, 2022 at 5:25 amThanks so much for replying! That does make more sense to microwave the potatoes. I was really struggling to work out how that would affect the texture of the ribz. I may test it one day just to humor myself. 😀
Catherine
July 21, 2022 at 10:06 amCan you make them ahead of time and grill a couple of days later?
Susan Voisin
July 21, 2022 at 3:03 pmI don’t see any reason that wouldn’t work.
Liam
November 13, 2022 at 5:58 pmHas anyone tried doing these in the air fryer rather than oven? If so what time/temp has worked? I’d love to speed up the baking process a bit but I’m nervous to experiment.
Nadia
November 23, 2022 at 8:23 pmHelp!! I love this recipe and have been using it for any gathering I attend. I’m about to prepare the day before Thanksgiving and bring along the dish to finish/reheat where we are eating. Has anyone tried this with this recipe? Would it hold fine to refrigerate the ribs once built and then bake the next day? Or should I fully cook then re-heat when its time to serve.
Thank you!
Susan Voisin
November 23, 2022 at 10:17 pmPersonally, I would fully make it and then reheat it the next day. That’s because I know it reheats well but don’t know how well it cooks after it’s been sitting overnight. Good luck and happy Thanksgiving!
Susan Voisin
November 23, 2022 at 10:17 pmPersonally, I would fully make it and then reheat it the next day. That’s because I know it reheats well but don’t know how well it cooks after it’s been sitting overnight. Good luck and happy Thanksgiving!