These seitan nuggets can be enjoyed so many ways, and prep is about as easy as it gets! Cook the seitan nuggets in the Instant Pot or on the stovetop. Enjoy them plain, tossed with sauce, or breaded and air fried or baked! The possibilities are endless and so delicious.
The Easiest Way To Make Seitan
I love experimenting with seitan. You can find all of my creations here: Seitan Recipes
While most of my recipes are fairly easy, I decided I wanted to create something super duper simple, perfect for lazy days. And I think I did it! This is the quickest, most no-fuss seitan I've ever made.
Because lately don't we all just want delicious comfort food with less effort?
Last year there was a seitan recipe by @futurelettuce that went viral on TikTok, primarily because of its simplicity. Though I'm not on TikTok, I ended up learning about it through other social media channels.
I liked the concept and tried it once myself, but that recipe calls for pan frying. And I'm just not a fan of frying in oil. It's messy. It stinks up the house. And it usually leaves me with a tummy ache.
So this quick seitan is cooked in water, either in the Instant Pot or on the stove.
Tip! If you have an Instant Pot I'll come straight out and tell you that's part of what makes preparing these seitan nuggets SO easy.
I have several other Instant Pot seitan recipes, too, so be sure to check these out:
But if you don't have an Instant Pot, I've also included instructions for simmering/steaming the seitan nuggets.
You're going to LOVE this seitan because it's:
- tender, meaty, and juicy
- 100% versatile - enjoy it plain, breaded, or added to other dishes
- made with easy-to-find ingredients
- and ready in no time!
First and foremost, this is a recipe for really tasty, juicy, and simple chicken-style seitan. But I'm also including instructions for breading the nuggets as shown in the first photo.
And let me tell you, that sweet mustard dipping sauce and the seasoned panko breadcrumbs? It's a great combo!
If you have an air fryer you can crisp up those nuggets in minutes! I'm also including baking instructions. So no matter what sort of nugget mood you're in or equipment you have, or don't have, I've got you covered.
Ingredients
Here's a quick rundown of the key ingredients you'll need.
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- vital wheat gluten - this is essential to seitan. Currently I'm using Anthony's vital wheat gluten.
- seasonings - a combination of poultry seasoning, onion and garlic powder give the seitan a savory, chicken flavor. Smoked paprika is a nice addition, but can be omitted if you don't have any on hand.
- nutritional yeast - this helps to interrupt the formation of gluten and keeps the nuggets nice and tender.
- soy sauce - adds umami and saltiness.
- fat - a little bit of fat helps tenderize the seitan. I like to use a neutral, high-heat oil like avocado or grapeseed. If you strictly avoid extracted oils you can use a tablespoon of nut butter or tahini instead.
See recipe card below for quantities and full recipe.
How to Make Seitan Nuggets
If you can whisk, stir, and tear, you can make this recipe! Let me show you how easy it is...
- In a mixing bowl whisk together the vital wheat gluten and dry seasonings. In a small bowl combine the wet ingredients.
- Pour wet into dry and mix with your hands until there is no more dry gluten. Knead the seitan in the bowl for just 10 or 15 seconds or until you see gluten strands forming and it feels slightly firmer.
- Tear off about 1 tablespoon of dough per nugget. They will increase in size during cooking so you want to make the pieces fairly small. You should have 20 to 22 nuggets.
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Place inside the Instant Pot with 1 ½ cups of water. No need to use broth or any flavorings in the water because the seitan is well seasoned. Cook on manual/high pressure for 16 minutes, then quick release the pressure.
Stovetop Method:
- Place the nuggets inside a large, deep saute pan or soup pot, and add just enough water to almost cover them. Bring to a simmer, cover, reduce heat to low to maintain a low simmer, and cook for about 45 minutes. Check mid-way to see if you need to add more water.
The seitan will be very tender and soft but will firm up as it cools.
Hint: I actually LOVE sneaking a couple of test bites when the seitan has just finished cooking. The water soaks into the seitan and essentially becomes seasoned juiciness, and the nuggets are SO tender.
But you'll want to allow them to cool and firm up for about 30 minutes if you plan to bread and air fry/bake.
Optional Breading
- Stir together yellow mustard and maple syrup (see recipe below for full instructions). This helps the breadcrumbs stick AND adds flavor. If you don't like "honey" mustard use BBQ sauce instead.
- In a separate bowl stir together the dry breading ingredients and oil.
- Dip each piece of seitan, or however many nuggets you want to prepare, in the honey mustard, then coat with the breadcrumb mixture.
- Next, either:
- Air fry at 355 degrees F for about 8 minutes
- Or bake in a 385 degree oven for 20 to 25 or until golden and crisp
And that's it! You just made crispy, meaty, irresistible breaded seitan chicken!
Equipment Needed
A 6 quart or 8 quart Instant Pot comes in handy for quickly cooking seitan. Otherwise, you'll need a large lidded pot for simmering the nuggets on the stovetop.
And if you'd like to bread and air fry the nuggets you'll obviously need an air fryer, too. Pictured above is the Instant Pot Vortex air fryer.
Variations
- Spicy - add cayenne pepper to the dough or to the breading mixture. You can also add sriracha to the coating/dipping sauce.
- BBQ - replace the apple cider vinegar and 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce with BBQ sauce. And use BBQ sauce instead of honey mustard for the coating.
- Kid friendly - use finer breadcrumbs for the breading or pulse the panko in a blender a few times to break up the larger pieces. Panko can sometimes be extra crispy and hard for little mouths.
RELATED: Check out our other favorite seitan chicken recipe, vegan buffalo wings!
Serving Suggestions
Pair the plain seitan pieces with vegetables in a stir fry or noodle dish.
You can also add chunks of seitan to vegan pot pie, or enjoy them with creamy mashed potatoes and your favorite vegetable sides
If you're going the breaded route you'll definitely want some classic dipping sauces! Our favorites are:
- BBQ sauce
- vegan ranch
- creamy harissa dressing
- and the "honey" mustard included in the recipe below.
Serve with raw veggies, chips, french fries, or tots!
How to Store
The plain seitan nuggets can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Seitan can be frozen for longer storage.
If you decide to bread and air fry or bake some of the nuggets, those are best consumed fresh while the breading is crisp. Leftovers can be refrigerated and reheated in the oven or air fryer.
Top Tip!
If you plan to pair the seitan with a very salty sauce, something like teriyaki for example, I recommend reducing the soy sauce to 1 tablespoon.
You might also want to reduce the soy sauce (or omit the ¼ teaspoon salt) if you know you prefer your seitan on the less salty side.
Recipe
Easy Seitan Nuggets
Equipment
Ingredients
Seitan ingredients:
- 150 grams vital wheat gluten (1 ¼ cups) - see Notes for tips.
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning - see Notes for homemade
- 1 teaspoon granulated onion
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika, optional
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce - reduce to 1 tablespoon if you plan to pair the seitan with a salty sauce.
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon oil - or tahini or nut butter
OPTIONAL breading:
- ⅓ cup yellow mustard - Tip: if you don't like the taste of honey mustard, use BBQ sauce instead!
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 2½ tablespoons oil - I use avocado oil.
- ⅓ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley, optional
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
Make the seitan:
- In a mixing bowl whisk together the vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, poultry seasoning, granulated onion, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and salt.
- In a small bowl, combine the water, soy sauce, vinegar, and oil. Pour the wet ingredients into dry, and stir until a dough forms. Use your hands to mix well until there is no visible dry gluten flour. Knead the seitan in the bowl for just 10 or 15 seconds or until you see gluten strands forming and it feels slightly firmer.
- From the ball of dough tear off about 1 tablespoon of dough per nugget. They will increase in size during cooking so you want fairly small pieces. You should have 20 to 22 nuggets.
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Add 1 ½ cups of water to a large Instant Pot (preferably 8 quart, but 6 quart is also fine). Place the nugget pieces directly in the water. Lock on the Instant Pot lid, and set to sealing. Cook on manual/high pressure for 16 minutes. It will take about 5 minutes to come to pressure, then the timer will begin. When the 16 minutes are up, carefully quick release the pressure. Transfer the nuggets to a plate to cool.
Stovetop Instructions:
- Add enough water to a large saute pan or soup pot to cover the bottom. Place the nuggets in the water, and add more water, if needed, so the seitan is almost covered. Bring to a simmer, cover, reduce heat to low to maintain a low simmer, and cook for about 45 minutes. Check mid-way to see if you need to add more water to the pot. When the seitan is done in the center (cut into one to check), remove from heat. Transfer nuggets to a plate to cool.
- Note: the seitan will be very tender and soft when piping hot but will firm up as it cools. Can be enjoyed as-is or used in another dish. See ideas in post above.
To make breaded nuggets:
- In a bowl stir together the mustard and maple syrup. In a separate bowl stir together the remaining ingredients: panko, oil, nutritional yeast, parsley, paprika, and salt. Mix the breadcrumb mixture well so the oil soaks in.
- Dip each nugget in "honey" mustard, shaking off the excess, then carefully coat in the breadcrumb mixture. Place on a plate.
- To air fry the seitan nuggets, preheat an air fryer to 355 degrees F. Arrange nuggets in the basket, then cook for about 8 minutes or until crisp and golden.To bake the nuggets, preheat the oven to 385 degrees F. Arrange the nuggets on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, flipping the nuggets at the 15-minute mark.
- Serve immediately with additional honey mustard or other dipping sauce.
Notes
Estimated Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition is an estimate and will vary depending on the exact amounts and ingredients used.
Jennifer says
Super easy and the amounts for the breading was perfect. I replaced the maple syrup with golden syrup and cut it down to 1 tbsp.
Susan says
Thank you sooooo verrrry much! These are the perfect combo, yummy, so easy and nutritious too! I’ll be making these regularly.
If I kneaded the dough a little would the balls hold together a little more, be more rounded and regularly shaped? They fall apart a little bit.
Do you have other flavoring suggestions?
Thank you so much.
Lori Rasmussen says
Hi Susan, glad you like them! Yes, if you knead the dough it will further develop the gluten and make them "stickier." As far as the flavor goes, you can add pretty much any dry seasonings you like to the dough (and the breading), like curry powder, chile powder + cumin, Italian herbs, etc. And then choose a wet ingredient that complements the flavors to replace the mustard. Something that's a little viscous and sticky works best. If you like spicy foods, gochujang paste would taste amazing! You could dilute it a bit so it's thinner in consistency and not so spicy.
Dale charles says
I made this unbreaded and put as a topping on my vegan pizza. It turned out wonderful. My wife and I loved it. Thankyou for the receipe
Iris P says
This recipe tastes great without breading. Finally an easy higher protein meal that I can make at home.
Janell says
Made these tonight and so darn easy and satisfying! Love that you can pressure cook in the IP. Thank you for another fantastic recipe!
CeaCea says
While I can't yet say I've tried the seitan part of your recipe (I already had the nuggs made from another recipe that requires steaming them), I have 2 chime in 2 say I found this recipe in hopes 2 find a successful air fryer recipe using precooked seitan and DAAAAAAANG GIRL! This is it!
Usually, if I airfry pre cooked seitain, somehow the seitan reverts 2 a weird puffed up, tough bread! I used your breading recipe and had 2 adapt my air fryer as mine doesnt allow fine tuning 2 get 2 355, so I just went lower and longer... This was brilliant! Even without panko (had 2 use reg breadcrumbs) it came out so nice! I was worried bcz the mixture I made didn't really stick 2 the seitan 2 cover it like it would if u do a liquid dip so I added maybe more liquid content of mustard & BBQ sauce, but somehow it still came 2gether.
When I have the time 2 do a 45min seitan cook will DEF try your recipe and update!
Linda says
If I want to make these and store directly to the freezer, do I have to air fry first and then freeze or can they go directly from pot to freezer and air fry when needed?
Thanks
Linda
Lori Rasmussen says
Hi Linda - Freezing the cooked seitan and air frying later is exactly what you want to do. Hope you enjoy!
Tammy says
These are amazing and so easy! My husband and I are new to the vegan lifestyle and I am always looking for high protein dishes!! Seitan for the win
Alexandra says
These are good and easy. I have one with each meal to supplement my protein intake
Eric L says
FaNtAsTiC -- Two adults and five kids loved them!
I saved the recipe as "MQK Seitan Nuggets" because *any* of my recipes that have MQK in the name are winners 🙂
Here is the crazy part . . .when I doubled the recipe, I accidentally did NOT double the gluten. So instead of 2 1/2 cups, I used only 1 1/4 cups - aaaggghhh!
But they turned out great anyway, I'm just not sure HOW
I cooked half with broth in the Instant Pot, and half in a stove steamer basket for 30 minutes. Then I breaded and air-fried them. For the breading sauce, I did 1/3 BBQ, 1/3 ketchup, and 1/3 mustard.
Anyway, can't wait to make them again, this time with the right amount of gluten. Thank you!
Lori says
Eric, yay! So glad you all loved the nuggets! And thank you!
About the vital wheat gluten... did you happen to weigh it? If not, do you think there's a chance you scooped up too much? It's very easy to do unless you whisk the flour first, lightly scoop it up, and level off the top.
If it was packed densely in the measuring cup, that's the only way I can figure why it still turned out!
Eric L says
Okay, that theory works - I did tightly pack it in the measuring cup. Even an additional 15% might have done what was needed.
The kids are still talking about them and want them weekly! Bear in mind, I tried 3 other seitan nugget recipes from other cooks, and the best of them was only half this good! Thanks again.
Judy says
These are great!!! All three of my kids 8,6,3 loved them. Thanks for our go to recipe.
Anthony says
Perfect nuggs. I made the breaded version and cooked them in the air fryer. We couldn’t stop eating them! Will make again for sure. Perfect combination of easy and delicious.