Homemade seitan (“wheat meat”) is wrapped around a savory stuffing in this elegant vegan main dish.
This is A Tale of Two Seitans.
For Thanksgiving this year, I decided to make something a little fancier than the baked tofu my husband, daughter, and I usually enjoy while our omnivorous extended family is eating turkey. The day before the big feast, I took one of my old favorite stuffings, wrapped wheat gluten around it, sealed it in foil, and baked it like “Veggeroni.”
Right out of the oven, the savory flavor of the stuffed seitan was divine. Though the texture was verging on dry, I had to chase away family members circling like ravenous wolves so that I could wrap it up for the trip to my parents’ house.
The next day, I reheated the foil-wrapped seitan in the oven alongside my green bean casserole and my mother’s cornbread dressing. And that’s where I made my mistake. I should have steamed it or microwaved it because it came out of the oven much drier than before. Doused with mushroom gravy, it was still good, but it could have been better.
Seitan Roulade First Attempt
I posted a photo of the first seitan roulade on my Facebook page and planned to share the recipe when I got back from my Thanksgiving trip. But because I wasn’t completely satisfied with how the stuffed seitan “performed” for the big meal, I decided to see if I could come up with a moister, more tender seitan that would hold up to reheating.
That’s how this second seitan roulade came to be.
In this version, I “oven-steamed” the seitan first in a little broth before uncovering and baking it. Success! The stuffed seitan was so tender that we didn’t need any gravy.
The only downside is that because it wasn’t confined by foil, the roast expanded as it cooked and lost its “rolled” design. It’s also less sturdy than the foil-baked version, so if we were planning to travel with it, we’d need to pack it much more carefully.
Overall, I prefer the final version, but if you want the roulade look, follow the variation in the recipe below. Whichever way you make it, just be careful how you reheat it. Or better yet, eat it while it’s still piping hot out of the oven.
“Savory.” That’s the best word to describe this meat-free roast, redolent with the flavors of thyme and sage and enlivened with the sweet-sour tang of dried cranberries. You won’t have any leftovers!
Seitan Stuffed with Walnuts, Dried Cranberries, and Mushrooms
Ingredients
Stuffing
- 1/2 large onion chopped
- 1 rib celery chopped
- 4 ounces mushrooms sliced or chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
- generous grinding of pepper
- 3 ounces whole wheat bread (about 2 slices), cut into small cubes
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries or cherries
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts or sunflower seeds, for nut-free
- 1 teaspoon whole chia seeds or ground flax seed
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1/2 cup water (more as needed)
Seitan
- 2 cups vital wheat gluten (10 ounces)
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon rubbed sage
- 1 teaspoon marjoram
- 1/3 cup quinoa flakes or quick oatmeal
- 1 teaspoon chia seed or ground flaxseeds
- 1 1/2 cup vegetable broth
- 1 cup great northern beans cooked
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 1 clove garlic peeled
- 1 tablespoon tahini (preferred) or nut butter
Baking Broth
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 1/2 teaspoon dark sesame oil (optional)
Assembly
- 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
Suggested Tools
Instructions
Make the stuffing:
- Sauté the onion and celery in a non-stick skillet until onion is becoming translucent. Add the mushrooms, thyme, sage, and a generous grating of black pepper and cover. Cook until mushrooms exude their juices, about 3 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients along with enough water to moisten the stuffing but not make it soaking wet. Remove from heat and keep covered.
Make the seitan:
- In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients (vital wheat gluten through chia seeds). Place the 1 1/2 cups of broth, white beans, soy sauce, and garlic in blender and process until liquefied. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, add the bean mixture, and stir until gluten is completely moistened. Drizzle the tahini over the top and knead it into the dough. Keep kneading until dough holds together in a ball. Set aside while you make the broth.
Make the broth:
- Heat all ingredients until hot but not boiling. A microwave works well for this.
Assemble:
- Preheat oven to 400. Lightly oil an oval or rectangular baking dish, 11-13 inches long and 6-8 inches wide. (Your seitan will expand to fit it, so try not to use a very wide dish.)
- Line your work surface with plastic wrap, parchment paper, or waxed paper. Place the dough in the center, cover it with plastic wrap, and roll out the seitan, making sure that it is the same thickness in all places, until it's about 9x13 (an inch or so either way doesn't matter, but make sure it's not longer than your pan). Spread the stuffing evenly, leaving a 1-inch margin on all sides.
- Lift up the plastic wrap on one of the long edges and roll the seitan up like a jelly roll. (Alternatively, arrange the stuffing in a horizontal line across the middle of the seitan and bring one long edge up and over it to the other side.) Pinch the ends sealed first and then pinch well to seal the long seam. Take care to make sure that the edges are completely sealed and no gaps or stuffing shows.
- Lift the seitan roll carefully and place seam-side down in the prepared casserole dish. Pour the baking broth over it, add rosemary, and cover tightly. If the dish doesn't have a cover, use aluminum foil to cover tightly. (Did I mention "tightly?" Tightly! I enclosed even the bottom of the dish in foil.)
- Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven, baste with broth, recover tightly, and bake for another 25 minutes. Baste again and return to oven uncovered for about 30 minutes. Baste 2 or 3 times as it's cooking. Seitan is done when top seems firm and brown and the broth has evaporated. You can test it by cutting a small slit in the middle; if it is doughy rather than firm, return to the oven.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes. Transfer carefully to a cutting board or serving platter and cut into 1/2-inch slices.
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
Please pin and share:
Ruby
I made this for Christmas Eve dinner and it was delicious!! I used dried cherries which complemented the walnuts perfectly and took out the onion, but there was still so much flavor. Thanks for the great recipe!
GetSkinnyGoVegan
Think I am getting gluten envy! What a beautiful roast!
Kali
This recipe looks delicious. The stuffing itself sounds amazing and I bet the aromas in your house while baking were amazing as well! I have honestly never heard of Seitan. What would you resemble the consistency to? It sounds like a delicious recipe, as I am a very open minded person when it comes to trying new things. Have you found a way to lessen the dryness of this recipe? A little stock added maybe? Thanks for sharing!
Cathy @ What Would Cathy Eat?
Wow, I know what I’m making next Thanksgiving (if not long before!). Congrats on the seitan success!
Adrianne
Wow, this looks super yummy. I’ll be trying it soon.
vegobsessionchick
This looks amazing!
Thank you for sharing!!!!
Shreyas
This came out great, i’m wondering what sides to serve with it, was thinking of Colcannon Puffs but also want some green leafy vegetable
Rochelle A
Made this today for our Christmas/ New Years celebration. Only a few of us are vegetarians but the entire thing got gobbled up!!! The omni’s LOVED it!!!! I used almonds instead of walnuts and peanut butter instead of tahini. It was super easy, moist and delicious. I have made Bryanna’s before and though good, it was more complicated and time consuming.
Great recipe and super easy. Also made the double layer pumpkin cheesecake. Thank you again for your terrific recipes!!!
Jill
looks so good…..
can rolled oats be substituted for the quick oats?
or could some chickpea flour also work? (does that just act as a binder?)
thanks!
-Jill
MandaB
Thanks for the idea! I wanted to make a lower-fat version so I didn’t use any nuts or hardly any oils.. and it came out perfectly. (I would’ve used some of our Seeduction bread but it was moldy.. ugh. So, no bread crumbs this time but I’ll try it next time.) Hubby also wants to try wild rice and/or brown rice in the stuffing, similar to Tofurky’s stuffing. It turns out that you can make this stuffed seitan with almost any ingredients you want. We love it and will continue to experiment. Thanks, again!
Here’s my first try: http://bicyclingvegan.blogspot.com/2012/02/stuffed-seitan.html
Shreyas
I’ve made this so many times and it always came out great.
Today I made a different stuffing and its amazing….
1 1/2 cups peeled and diced butternut squash (1/4-inch dice)
1 cup diced celery (1/4-inch dice)
1 cup diced Granny Smith apple (1/4-inch dice)
6 Tbs. olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 large shallot, finely diced
1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
1 1/4 cups toasted bread crumbs
1 tablespoon soy sauce
In a large bowl, stir together the butternut squash, celery, apple and 2 Tbs. of the olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
In a large braising pan over medium-high heat, warm 2 Tbs. of the olive oil. Add the shallot and cook, stirring, until softened, about 1 minute. Add the garlic and thyme and cook, stirring frequently, about 10 seconds. Add the squash mixture and cook until just softened, about 7 minutes. Add the soy sauce and season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and let cool. Stir in the bread crumbs.
jaime
im thinking about making this this year. 2 questions: im allergic to walnuts, so what do you suggest there? and for the quick oatmeal, you mean instant oats? regular rolled oats wont work? im not familiar with quinoa flakes…
thanks. love this site! i make your lasagna all the time!
Kele Volpino
Thank you for your Wonderful Recipe!!! I LOVE IT!!! Please post more. …..
michael
This recipe looks fabulous! Could any aspects of this dish be made in advance?
Any idea how long the whole dish would keep if made in advance and then brought to a dinner at another location?
Brenda
Susan
Going to make this …. are “quinoa flakes” the same as….quinoa?
Thanks…and happy Thanksgiving…..
Susan Voisin
Brenda, quinoa flakes are quinoa that has been steamed and flattened, like oatmeal.
Megan
I tried your suggestion, Carolyn, and it worked beautifully! You can see it here:
http://myfoodstoragecookbook.com/2013/01/17/savory-seitan-roulade-with-wild-rice-and-dried-cranberry-stuffing/
My website focuses on recipes that can be made from storable (emergency-type) foods so the fresh ingredients in the stuffing were substituted with storable types for that purpose, just FYI.
Susan, I love your work. Thank you so much for sharing such a wonderful recipe! It’s the second one I’ve featured of yours on my site.
Savannah
Hey! I am currently making this (its in my oven as we speak!) But I had a slight problem with it keeping together while I rolled it. Why did this happen? Did I do it wrong?
The only change I made from the seitan itself was excluding the nutritional yeast.
Alexandra
Very tasty; great meal; ate too much of this.
Carolyn
I haven’t read through all the comments, so don’t know if someone has already mentioned a trick like this. I have a perforated double french bread pan that I think would work for keeping more of the “roll” shape (each cavity is about 4″ across). I think if the roulade was wrapped and tied tightly in cheesecloth, placed in the perforated pan, and then the pan wrapped in foil, you might get a reasonable facsimile of a roll. You could still do the basting, if careful not to puncture the foil (I’d put a large jelly roll pan underneath just to be safe). That’s my theory anyway, and how I’m finally going to try this!
Susan Voisin
I’ll have to look for one of those pans. Thanks for the tip!
Michelle
Just did a test run of this for taking over to the boyfriend’s family for Christmas and it is perfect! Wonderfully tasty, I suspect I may have to make sure the omnis don’t devour all of it before I get a small piece. 🙂
Alexandra
Making this the 2nd time, and used 2 celery stalks because they were thin, and more bread than was good (though I did weigh it). Bottom line too much stuffing doesnt work (and I think the dough was a little wet, though it rolled out well). So less stuffing next time to avoid the breaks and holes in the seitan; to save this wonderful recipe, I wrapped the seitan in cheesecloth to help it hold together. This is a great meal, but next time I’ll remember to be a bit more careful.
Jimena
We made this for Thanksgiving this year it was so effin’ delicious that we made it again for Christmas. It’s a huge hit! The meat eaters didn’t miss their turkey with this gem! Thank you for the kick a** meal!
Jenna
Susan, thanks for this. Made it this past x-mas. I was skeptical (mainly because I’d never worked with seitan before), as was my family, but it turned out amazing. Even my dad (a meat-eating chef) liked it. Everything I’ve made on this site turns out; I love your blog.
Amy
Hi Susan!
The only seitan I’ve ever made is the one from your Ribz recipe (which is a HUGE hit in our house, thank you so much!). I’m wondering if I can add the tahini to the “wet” bean mixture like in the Ribz recipe, rather than drizzling it on top. Or is there something different that I need know before I try this?
Susan Voisin
Amy, I kneaded the tahini in separately thinking it improved the texture, but I don’t think it made a lot of difference, so feel free to blend it in with the wet ingredients.
Amy
Thanks! I’ll do that then!
Una
Have you tried using cheese cloth to wrap the seitan so it will hold its shape yet will still cook up moist?
Peg
This looks terrific, and I will be trying it for this Thanksgiving. Do you have advice on reheating, since I would like to make it the day before?
Susan Voisin
Just heat it gently and keep it covered (preferably wrapped in foil) to keep it from drying out.
Joyce
This looks really good and want to know if it can be cooked ahead and reheated two days later for Thanksgiving or would it get too mushy.
Thanks,
Joyce
Susan Voisin
It should reheat fine. I haven’t tried it, but I don’t think it will change the texture (and it may improve).
suzanne
I made this last year and it was so so good. I cooked it before we left to my inlaws and i brought it so that it was still hot. I also added spinach and yams to it for color…thanks for this recipe!
Sara
How do you recommend reheating it? I made it for dinner tonight and it was terrific, but I do have leftovers.
Susan Voisin
You can wrap or cover it tightly and heat it gently in the oven. You can also put it in a covered glass casserole dish and microwave it. The key it to keep it covered so it doesn’t dry out.
Nickie
I tried making this…. and it failed :(. So far I haven’t been successful at making seitan through steaming or baking, the end product always ends up doughy and chewy, kind of like bread that has been smashed, rather than springy. I make all my seitan through boiling sincei t’s the only way I’ve been successful. Any thoughts?
Lisa
I was thinking of starting this today and then putting it together on Christmas. Do you think that if I made the dough today and stored it in the fridge, it would still be fine to roll out on Christmas? What about the stuffing? Thanks.
Susan Voisin
Lisa, my big fear is that the seitan dough would stiffen up in the fridge, making it hard or impossible to roll out. I think it would work better if you completely assembled it today and wrapped it very tightly before refrigerating. Then you could bake it on Christmas.
Kristin
Hi Susan. I served this seitan with your mushroom gravy for Christmas this year and I just wanted to let you know it was delicious. I personally enjoyed it even more the day after when I wasn’t so full and could really enjoy the flavors. Thank you Susan. Year after year your recipes are fabulous. Thank you. Thank you.
Amanda
I think I made my seitan much too wet 🙁 My roulade had a blow-out on the way to the pan. Hopefully it still turns out nice – it smells good, anyway! 😛
Amanda
Turned out pretty good, looked nothing like yours… I’m sure I’ll try it again though 😛
http://tastebudimpaired.blogspot.com/2014/01/dinner-and-cleaning-as-i-go.html
Christina Mitala
I love your recipe “Seitan Stuffed with Walnuts, Dried Cranberries, and Mushrooms”! I’ve made it a few times, and it always got rave reviews! The first time I messed up the seitan and couldn’t get it to roll properly, so I just cut it into pieces, baked it, and added it to the stuffing…kind of like a casserole! Delicious! I have also made the stuffing by itself as a side dish. This is definitely a keeper!!
Melissa Neel
Thank you, thank you! I’m a new-ish vegan, many meals were vegan due to the fact that vegan in my area is cheaper, but I’ve become a total vegan due to health reasons. (Did you know there are people allergic to meat? I didn’t until I found out I am one.)
I love to cook, but I have to watch the pocket book. I love your recipes.
Bob
This sounds great, I would love to try it. Can I leave out the tahini? I don’t eat any oil.
Susan Voisin
Tahini is a nut butter, not an oil, but sure, you can leave it out. The seitan may be a little less tender.
Linda Ferris
I made this stuffed Seitan roast today, thinking I could munch the leftovers tomorrow while everyone else eats turkey. It was simply delicious, I made the vegan gravy to go with it. My husband loved it, he ate 3 pieces and said he’d be good eating it tomorrow too. Thanks for a wonderful and tasty alternative to greasy meat!!!
Ruta
Hi, thanks for the great recipe! Can you tell if it’s possible to make this with a home-made seitan (washed flour)? And what would be the recipe proportions then, if not using the bought powder-Vital seitan, but the doughy-home made seitan?
Thanks
Terry
I made this recipe for my family last night and it was a huge hit! I added shiitake and porcini mushrooms. YUM! I just wanted to thank you for the great new dish! 🙂
Steve Navarra
Pulled this off the web this morning, whipped it up, and had it for Thanksgiving dinner.
It.
Was.
SUPER!!!
I’ve been ordered to make it again! Thank you for the research you’d done to make this publishable. Wow!
Joy
I am so glad I found this recipe in time for Thanksgiving. It looked delicious and did not disappoint! It was actually quite easy to make. I baked it in an oven roasting bag. I think I baked it a little too long because it was tough on the outside, but I steamed the leftovers and it became tender. Everyone in the family gave it a big thumbs-up! Definitely a keeper recipe for any special dinner.