Wheat gluten was discovered as a meat substitute in China in the 6th Century during the noodle making process and has the most surprising meat-like in texture. Already prepared wheat gluten can be found canned and my mom would always have a can of ‘fake meat’ on hand for the rare power outage or vegetarian option. I never gave it much of a thought until viewers started sending me TikTok videos about it asking for confirmation on the truth of the recipe, and so here we are. Let’s wash some flour and make wheat gluten!
This recipe was inspired by @futurelettuce on TikTok.
Wheat Gluten Chicken Substitute
Here's how to make a meat analog out of flour.
Ingredients
- 3 C. all-purpose flour
- 1¼ C. water room temperature
- 3/4 tsp. Kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper
- 1/2 tsp. paprika
- to taste cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. onion powder
- 1/2 tsp. soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
- 1/2 C. vegetable stock
- 1-1½ C. water Added as needed while cooking.
- 1-2 tbsp. oil for frying
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the flour and water to form a soft dough. Add more water if necessary.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 1 hour.
- Pour room temperature water on the dough and begin kneading to remove the starch. Drain off the starch water, then add more and continue kneading. Rinse and repeat 6-7 times or until it forms a stretchy stringy mass and the water is nearly clear.
- Place the dough into a colander to drain. Add salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and cayenne and squeeze to incorporate. Continue draining in the colander and rest the dough for 1 hour.
- Stretch and twist the dough into a rope and tie into a knot. Press the dough to flatten slightly.
- Add 1-2 tablespoons of oil to a skillet and fry the gluten until golden and crisp on both sides.
- Add vegetable stock reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 45 minutes. Add additional water a 1/4 cup at a time as needed to maintain a shallow simmer.
- Shred and serve as you would chicken.
Nutrition
Calories: 683kcalCarbohydrates: 137gProtein: 19gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 3gSodium: 365mgPotassium: 206mgFiber: 5gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 84IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 32mgIron: 8mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
I think there’s a small mistake, the ingredients list soy sauce but the instructions never mention it.
I just skipped the soy sauce and added some nutritional yeast and it turned out amazing, although my gluten dough was much wetter than yours. Didn’t seem to make much of a difference though, definitely going to make this again! 🙂
I’m so glad you liked it! I added the soy sauce to the recipe because I felt it needed a touch more salty complexity, but it sounds like nutritional yeast did the job.
Hello! Looks amazing! Is the nutritional value per serving??
LOVED THIS!! My first time ever making this and I only had seitan maybe 2 to 3 times before in the past handful of years. I subbed the soy for dark soy because I just ran out and forgot to head to my local Asian market. Mine came out way smaller than yours. Also way harder to work with as well. Possibly because of the colder temps in my kitchen the gluten needed more time to rest in the first hour? The texture was so meaty! I am not vegan but do love eating meals without the majority meat like usual. I used the garlic and beef, better than bullion instead of veg broth and mine came out really salty.( For anyone reading you can look for the Vegetarian Food Bases of the better than bullion by looking for the “Certified Vegan” logo or seal. Mine was NOT the vegetarian version) I believe it because those product have a lot of salt in it. I know if I used my own stock I usually make that is unsalted, I bet it will be perfect!! Do you or/ will you be making a recipe by using ingredientes like vital gluten and nutritional yeast? I loved this method but its a lot of flower that needed to be used to get a small amount. Can not wait to eat this again. Thank you Emmy and, thank you for making a video as well. It really helps a lot to have a visual for recipes as well!
Yes, per serving. 🙂
Awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe and that you made it your own.
Can you use whole wheat flour?
I’ve never tried it myself, but I believe you can.
I’m excited to try this. I think there are some words jumbled on step 6 though: “In a skillet fry add oil the seasoned dough knot until golden and crisp on both sides.”
Sorry for being the grammar police.
Thank you!
The ingredients were so simple that I had to give it a try and It was totally worth it. Outcome was pretty tasty and the process of making it was so cool. Never imagined that you could make something like this with just flour!
Isn’t it wonderful to see it transform before your eyes? Glad you tried the recipe and enjoyed it. 🙂
Wondering how this recipe would freeze. Any thoughts? Thanks!
I’ve never tried it, but I imagine freezing might change the texture a bit. Please report back if you try it.:)
I use high-gluten flour (King Arthur Baking Company, 12.7%). The one issue with seitan is the lack of lysine, thus it’s not a “complete protein” source. You can balance things out by eating with beans as a side, like a 3-bean salad. Alternatively, substitute 1/2C of flour with 1/4C corn flour (cornmeal in the UK), plus 1/4C soy flour.
I’ve been wanting to try seitan but it seems like so much work, I think I’ll give it a shot!!! It looks delicious!!
Let me know what you think.
Hii I tried making this recipe twice but every time I go to rinse it, the dough just dissolves into the water? Any chance you know what’s happening?
I’ve tried this recipe twice now and both time when I rinse my dough, it literally disintegrates. And yes, I’m using all-puporse flour just as the recipe calls for. Anyone know why this is happening?
Best Recipe protocol ever. It actually turned out. I’m so excited thanknyou Emmy ..this feels like my umpteenth time making. I was ready to give up. this was my last try an it WORKED .. THANK YOU . 😊 🙏