Homemade vegan "chicken" wings are saucy, tender, and "epically delicious" in the words of one taste-tester. This recipe is the perfect balance of simple and delicious - no batter, breading, or deep frying - just amazing seitan wings paired with a classic vegan buffalo sauce! Oil-free option included.
After creating Vegan Ribs this summer with seitan and jackfruit, it dawned on me that it's the perfect meaty combo for saucy and tender vegan wings. So I switched up the flavorings and set my mind to creating EASY vegan chicken wings.
I didn't want to mess with a batter or breading, and I definitely didn't want to mess with frying. I wanted minimal work without sacrificing flavor or texture.
And guess what... even without those extra steps these homemade seitan wings are awesome! Spicy (but not too spicy), rich, tangy, and oh-so-tender.
The basic seitan itself has a really nice, mild chicken flavor. In fact, I already have an idea now to take this seitan, bread it, and turn it into vegan chicken nuggets. So stay tuned for that recipe.
But back to wings... let me show you how it's done!
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What You'll Need
Here are a few notes on the key ingredients...
For the seitan wings:
- Vital Wheat Gluten - apologies to the gluten-free folks. Gluten is a necessary ingredient for this recipe (though I do have plans to create a gluten-free seitan replacement soon). I use Anthony's brand vital wheat gluten.
- Jackfruit - look for canned young jackfruit in brine NOT syrup. It's important for the overall texture of the seitan, so I can't recommend a substitution without additional recipe testing. If you happen to live near a Trader Joe's, I recommend their jackfruit.
- Firm Tofu - look for this in the refrigerated section of the grocery store near the produce; for this recipe we're using a basic firm or extra firm tofu packed in water, not super firm.
- Nutritional Yeast - this adds savory flavor and tenderizes the seitan wings; I recommend this non-fortified one by Sari Foods. If you need to avoid nutritional yeast, add a couple of tablespoons of all-purpose flour in its place.
- Seasonings - onion powder, garlic powder, and poultry seasoning also contribute to the overall savory chicken flavor. If you don't have poultry seasoning, a few dashes of sage and thyme will do the trick.
For the vegan buffalo sauce:
- Plant-Based Butter - the flavor of Miyoko's cultured butter is best, but any vegan butter you can get your hands on is fine. See below for a butter-free option, or simply omit it and use plain Frank's hot sauce to coat your wings.
- Frank's Red Hot Original - this is the classic hot sauce used for buffalo wings; Frank's is made from cayenne peppers and is available online and in most U.S. grocery stores as well as 19 other countries (wow).
- Cayenne Pepper - I like to add a few dashes for extra heat and flavor, but this is optional.
- Garlic Powder - same as above.
See recipe card below for quantities.
Instructions
There are a few steps involved in making this recipe, but none of them are difficult, I promise! Just review these step-by-step photos, and then when you're following the recipe below everything will be easy breezy.
- First, drain and rinse the jackfruit. Then place on a tea towel, and gather up the ends. Squeeze the jackfruit very well over the sink to remove as much brine as possible. Use your hands to remove the pieces that look like seeds (we'll discard those), and shred the rest of the jackfruit.
- In a blender or food processor blend the tofu and wet ingredients until smooth.
- In a mixing bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. Add the shredded jackfruit to the bowl, and toss to combine.
- Pour the wet mixture into the bowl and stir to combine. Use your hands if needed. The seitan dough will be fairly dry.
- Place the dough ball on a cutting board, and cut into 4 pieces.
- Re-shape each piece of dough into a rectangle, then cut each quarter into 5 pieces so that you end up with 20 similarly-sized wings. Use your hands to shape each piece of dough into varied shapes like wings or large nuggets.
- Add an inch of water to a steamer pot, cover and bring to a simmer. Lightly spray the steamer basket(s) with oil (optional). Arrange the wings in the basket. If they need to touch or overlap a bit that's okay, but ideally they should be in a single layer. Steam for 30 minutes, flipping at the halfway point.
- Preheat a cast iron pan or heavy skillet over medium heat. Cook the wings for 2 to 3 minutes per side or until golden. Transfer to a plate.
- Turn off the heat, and add the butter to the pan, if using. Now add the hot sauce, cayenne, and a few dashes of garlic powder, if desired. Stir or whisk to combine, then return the wings to the pan. Toss to coat with buffalo sauce.
Tip: Many seitan recipes call for resting the seitan overnight for the best texture, but this recipe is fine with or without rest. So if you want to make the wings in advance for a party that's great, but you can also prepare them all at once, browning and adding the sauce right after they've been steamed.
Serving Suggestions
Serve the seitan wings with vegan ranch or blue cheese dressing, fresh celery and carrot sticks... and plenty of napkins!
They're also great inside a wrap with lettuce and creamy dressing, or chopped and piled on top of a big salad.
Side note: check out that wing above. Toward the right on the "drumstick bone," can you believe how much that looks like chicken skin? Other than forming that wing into a drumstick shape I didn't do anything special to the outside to create a skin appearance. Is seitan ridiculous or what?
Substitutions
Oil-Free - since the seitan wings themselves contain no oil, it's actually pretty easy to make oil-free vegan wings. Here's how:
- As a precaution the recipe calls for spraying the steamer basket lightly with oil, but even without it the seitan won't stick. So feel free to omit.
- When searing the wings in a skillet, make sure it's fully preheated before adding the wings, and use a good quality, heavy bottomed pan, preferably cast iron.
- To avoid using butter in the buffalo sauce, try this Oil-Free Buffalo Sauce recipe by This Healthy Kitchen. When I'm feeling lazy I've also been known to just use plain Frank's hot sauce.
Variations
- Extra Spicy - add extra cayenne pepper to the sauce and/or several dashes of your favorite extra spicy hot sauce.
- BBQ - if you need a mild option, pair the wings with your favorite sweet and sticky barbecue sauce.
- Other Flavors - don't limit yourself to classic vegan buffalo sauce because really, the sky is the limit! Think:
- "honey" mustard
- lemon pepper
- sticky garlic
- teriyaki
- Korean gochuchang
- Thai peanut
- Nashville hot
- sticky orange
- smoky chipotle
Equipment
- Food processor or blender - to blend the tofu and other wet ingredients.
- Steamer - whether you use a large steamer pot or create your own makeshift steamer, you'll need a way to steam the seitan wings so that they stay nice and juicy. Check out this post for ideas on setting up a steamer without special equipment.
- Cast iron skillet or other heavy-bottomed pan - this is used to briefly sear the wings after they've been steamed and then to heat the buffalo sauce.
Storage
Store leftover wings in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. They can be reheated or even enjoyed cold in wraps and on green salads.
Seitan wings also freeze well. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat briefly in the microwave or in a covered pan on the stovetop.
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I hope you LOVE these vegan buffalo wings as much as we do. If you try the recipe be sure to comment below and give the recipe a star rating to let others know how they turned out! And check out the seitan category for more fun recipes.
Vegan Seitan Wings With Buffalo Sauce (Recipe)
Ingredients
- 1 (20 oz.) can young jackfruit in brine If you can only find a smaller size can (14 oz.) that's fine, too.
Wet ingredients:
- 7 ounces firm tofu, drained Do not press.
- 1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon liquid smoke, optional
- ½ cup water
Dry ingredients:
- 150 grams vital wheat gluten (1 ¼ cups)
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast If necessary, can replace with 2 Tbsp flour.
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning blend Or a few dashes each of ground sage and thyme.
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- scant 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
Finishing the wings:
- 1 Tablespoon cooking oil, optional
- 3 to 4 Tablespoons vegan butter, preferably Miyoko's See Notes for oil-free option.
- ½ cup Frank's Red Hot Original hot sauce
- a few dashes cayenne pepper, optional, to taste
- a few dashes garlic powder, optional, to taste
Instructions
Prepare the jackfruit:
- Drain the jackfruit and rinse under running water. Place on a clean, lint-free towel. Gather up the ends of the towel, hold it over the sink, and squeeze the jackfruit VERY well to remove as much brine as possible.
- Use your hands to separate the seeds and tough pieces from the stringy parts of the jackfruit (refer to process photos in the post above as needed). The seeds and tough parts can be discarded. Once you have a pile of the meaty, stringy parts of the jackfruit, make sure it is all well shredded and separated. Set aside.
Blend wet ingredients:
- In a blender or food processor combine the wet ingredients. Blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. Set aside.
Make the wings:
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. Add the shredded jackfruit to the bowl, and toss well. Pour the blended tofu mixture into the mixing bowl, and stir to form a dough. Next use your hands to make sure all the dry ingredients are incorporated. It will be a fairly dry dough. NOTE: there's no need to intentionally knead the seitan; any kneading naturally occurs during the shaping of the wings is plenty.
- Place the dough ball on a cutting board and pat into a square shape. Cut into 4 pieces, then cut each of those into 5 somewhat equal-size pieces (you'll end up with 20 wings). Use your hands to shape each piece of dough into varied shapes like wings or large nuggets.
- Add about an inch of water to a pot with a steamer basket. Lightly spray the basket with oil (optional). Arrange the wings in a single layer. I use a 2-tiered steamer, and it's the perfect capacity for 20 wings. If using a smaller steamer, it's okay if the wings overlap a bit, or steam them in batches.
- Steam the wings for 30 minutes, flipping at the halfway point, then remove from heat.
- Preheat a large cast iron pan or other heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat. If using oil, add the tablespoon of oil to the pan. Cook the wings 2 to 3 minutes per side or until golden. Transfer to a plate.
- Turn off the heat. Add the butter to the hot pan and allow to melt. Add Franks' hot sauce and the cayenne and garlic powder, if using. Stir to combine. Return the wings to the pan, and toss to coat with sauce. Serve with vegan ranch and fresh celery and carrot sticks.
Notes
- As a precaution the recipe calls for spraying the steamer basket lightly with oil, but even without it the seitan shouldn't stick. So feel free to omit.
- When searing the wings in a skillet, make sure it's fully preheated before adding the wings, and use a good quality, heavy bottomed pan, preferably cast iron.
- To make buffalo sauce without butter, try this Oil-Free Buffalo Sauce recipe by This Healthy Kitchen. If I'm feeling lazy I've also been known to just use plain Frank's hot sauce.
Estimated Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition information is an estimate and will vary depending on the exact amounts and specific products and ingredients used. We calculate this information using the online calculator cronometer.com. For the most accurate nutrition information we recommend calculating it yourself to reflect the specific ingredients used in your dish.
Jim Allen
Gave these a try last night.. Yummers!!! Looking forward to making different flavors.. Great base texture to play with.. Thanks much.