How To Cook With Seitan: Tips From The Purple Carrot Kitchen

People who say plant-based diets don’t include enough protein likely haven’t heard of seitan. Pronounced “say-tan,” this plant-based protein made from vital wheat gluten flour has more protein (and fewer calories) per ounce than chicken.

This chewy “wheat meat” is also a breeze to work with in the kitchen! Keep reading to learn how to cook seitan, from basic flavor considerations to simple recipes and other tips.

Cooking with seitan 101: What you need to know before starting

As you get familiar with seitan, you’ll quickly come to love its meaty texture (though you can slightly crisp seitan) and ready-to-go, long-lasting nature. Seasoning and marinating seitan make for even tastier meals.

Seitan is the most realistic vegan meat substitute: Chewy, dense, and somewhat spongy, seitan resembles the texture of meat more than any other plant-based protein.
You can eat it raw: Though not a particularly exciting way to enjoy seitan, it’s completely safe to eat directly from the package.
Seasoning and marinating is key: Seitan on its own has little flavor, though you may sense faint umami or mushroom notes. Marinating seitan before cooking with it, and seasoning it plenty too, transforms it into a flavor bomb.
It can get a bit crispy, but not very: Chewiness is usually seitan’s only texture, but after a few minutes in a frying pan, it sometimes develops a slightly crispy exterior.
There’s no huge rush to use it: In its original packaging, seitan lasts for a few weeks in the fridge.

The best cooking methods for seitan

With store-bought seitan, a simple stir-fry, pan-fry, or air-fry is always a great option, as is baking or grilling (or even adding it to a sandwich as-is).

Stir-frying: For a restaurant-quality meal, saute your seitan in a lightly oiled pan over medium heat with crisp-tender or sauteed greens and a sticky, tangy homemade sauce.
Simple pan frying or air frying: If you’re using seitan as vegan chicken in a burrito or taco, just pan-fry it with some oil over medium heat or air-fry it. This warms your seitan but doesn’t add much flavor, so let the sauce and other fillings do most of the work.
Baking or grilling: For an oil-free option, warm your seitan in the oven or, especially as part of summertime skewers, on a grill. If baking your seitan and not avoiding oil, coat it in a sauce first to amplify its flavor.
Piling it into a sandwich: Though not actually cooking, simply adding a slab of seitan to a sandwich with lots of fillings gives you an easy classic lunch.

Tools you’ll need to cook with seitan

If you’re working with store-bought, ready-to-use seitan, you just need the usual kitchenware for whichever cooking method you prefer. The following items are a great starting point.

A saute pan
An air fryer
A toaster oven (or just use your standard oven)
A grill pan or standalone grill
Skewers or sandwich toothpicks
A knife for cutting your seitan into cubes or slices
A cutting board
Measuring cups and spoons for sauces and marinades
A jar with a lid (or a small mixing bowl) for combining your marinade’s ingredients
A whisk for mixing marinade ingredients
An airtight container for marinating your seitan

If you’re making your own seitan from scratch (this is easy but quite time-consuming, as we’ll discuss soon), you’ll need the following kitchenware instead.

Measuring cups and spoons
Optionally, a scale for measuring dry ingredients
A large mixing bowl for dry ingredients
A small mixing bowl for wet ingredients
A wooden spoon
A steamer basket
A pot large enough to hold your steamer basket
A cover large enough for your pot and steamer basket
An airtight container for storing your seitan
A wire rack for cooling your cooked seitan

How to prep your seitan for cooking

If you’re cooking seitan as part of a one-pan dish you set and (briefly) forget, only then can you skip marinating it. In this case, your recipe likely involves a sauce coming together in the pan alongside your seitan, so delicious flavor is basically guaranteed. Otherwise, though, seasoning and marinating your seitan before cooking is the difference between a bland meal and a dish so tasty it could convert all your loved ones to plant-based eating.

Seitan pre-marination and seasoning steps

Marinating a package of store-bought seitan without cubing or slicing it first is ineffective. The temptation to skip that step, though, is understandable — maybe you’re among the many folks who find chopping to be the worst part of food prep.

There’s an easy solution: Simply tear your seitan into chunks with your hands — it’s more than strong enough to withstand manual tearing. Dividing your seitan this way can lead to rougher, more unpredictable textures that more strongly resemble meat (which seitan will resemble no matter what).

How to marinate your seitan

To marinate seitan, mix your marinade’s ingredients in a bowl with a whisk, or add the ingredients to a jar that you seal and then shake. After that, pour your marinade into the airtight container with your cubed, sliced, or torn seitan. Seal the container, shake it thoroughly, and keep it in your fridge at least overnight. From there, it’s ready to cook — well, almost.

How to season your seitan

Although a marinade packs plenty of flavor including seasonings, tasting a bit of your seitan post-marination will tell you whether it needs more seasoning. Chances are that it will.

Your seasoning might be solely salt and pepper, even if just a little bit. Or, that might be some cajun seasoning or taco spice. Either way, you should ensure your seitan is flavored to your liking before cooking with it (or piling it into a sandwich post-marination).

How to store and freeze seitan

Seitan that’s in its original packaging and not yet opened can stay in the fridge through the expiration date on the packaging. To make your unopened seitan last even longer, stash it in your freezer, where it’ll last closer to six months. Thaw frozen seitan overnight in your fridge before using it.

How long seitan that you’ve seasoned, marinated, or cooked with lasts in the fridge varies by recipe. You may want to eat this seitan within three to five days, though if it’s slightly older than this and you don’t see or smell any signs that it’s gone bad, you should be okay. Another great option is to use the freezer again — it should keep seasoned, marinated, or cooked seitan good for a few months.

Thaw it overnight in your fridge before enjoying.

5 common seitan cooking mistakes (and how to fix them)

Typical seitan cooking mistakes include not marinating, not seasoning, choosing your microwave for thawing, focusing too much on even cuts or slices, and cooking at too high of temperatures.

Not marinating your seitan: If you’ve forgotten this step, marinate your seitan now and make your recipe tomorrow.
Not seasoning your seitan: If your seitan dish tastes bland, you might’ve forgotten to add salt, pepper, and other spices from your cabinet. This is an easy fix — just add seasonings during cooking or after plating.
Thawing frozen seitan in the microwave: Using your microwave’s thaw setting instead of letting your seitan thaw overnight in the fridge can lead to soggy seitan. The solution is simply remembering to thaw your seitan overnight or, if you’ve already forgotten, cooking a non-seitan recipe for your current meal.
Trying too hard to evenly cut your seitan: Unless you’re eating at a fancy steakhouse, meat dishes are rarely presented in perfectly-even pieces. Instead of being precious about this with seitan, break it down into smaller pieces with modest, but not intense, regard to even cuts. Tearing your seitan into chunks solves this problem (and it’s more fun too!).
Turning the heat too high: Though not as much of a concern with air frying or baking, an overly hot pan can scald or burn seitan, as can a scorching-hot grill. Cook your seitan over medium heat or a low setting or flame to avoid this outcome.

Can you make your own seitan from scratch?

Yes, you can make your own seitan from scratch. A basic seitan recipe calls for mixing dry ingredients (vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder) with wet ingredients (soy sauce, vegetable broth, oil, molasses or syrup). You’ll then steam your seitan dough for an hour or more, then let it cool before breaking it into bite-sized pieces.

Making seitan from scratch involves hours of attention to your stove so that your steaming water doesn’t boil off, thereby scalding and potentially ruining your pot or pan. At Purple Carrot, our seitan is ready to go out of the packaging, with all the meaty texture for which this plant-based powerhouse is known.

6 seitan recipes to try

Start with our Mongolian seitan recipe for an easy on-ramp toward regularly incorporating seitan into your diet. To make it, you’ll let some rice cook in the background as you mix BBQ sauce and other ingredients into a smooth, umami-rich sauce. After that, you’ll thinly slice some seitan and pan-fry it with onions, broccoli, garlic, and ginger, then coat everything in your sauce. Serve it on top of your cooked rice, sprinkle it with scallions, and enjoy!

Other fan-favorite seitan recipes include:

Spiced Pepper Seitan: Zesty seitan meets lemony rice and a sweet, briny tomato-caper relish.
Seitan Asada Tacos: It’s always Taco Tuesday with smoky, peppery, limey “carne” asada layered with cilantro, radish, and sour cream.
Maple Seitan Lettuce Cups: For a lower-carb option, crisp up your seitan in a sticky-sweet sauce, then serve it in lettuce cups with cucumbers and ranch.
BBQ Seitan Bowl: For classic BBQ flavors without the meat, choose this roasted seitan recipe served with Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes.
Sticky Apricot Seitan: Saute green beans and carrots with seitan cooked in sugary apricot preserves, then plate everything over fluffy rice and quinoa.

Frequently asked questions about how to cook seitan

How do you cook store-bought seitan?

To cook store-bought seitan, cut or slice it into smaller pieces, then marinate it overnight. Season it to your liking before or while pan-frying, air-frying, baking, or grilling it. You can also add seitan to a sandwich without cooking it.

Is seitan actually healthy?

Yes, seitan is healthy — in fact, it’s among the healthiest foods around. With more protein and fewer calories per ounce than chicken, not to mention low carbohydrate and fat content, it’s a powerhouse for getting your daily macronutrients in healthy proportions.

Is seitan gluten-free?

No, seitan isn’t gluten-free. As a food made from vital wheat gluten (which is derived from wheat flour), it’s impossible for seitan to be gluten-free.

Is seitan healthier than tofu?

Both seitan and tofu are healthy plant-based options! Explore the latter plant-based protein via our guide to the types of tofu.

How is seitan so high in protein?

Seitan largely comprises vital wheat gluten, which itself almost entirely comprises gluten, the protein found in wheat and some other grains. As such, seitan is inherently sky-high in protein.

What does seitan taste like?

On its own, seitan doesn’t taste like much. That’s why marinating and seasoning it, and cooking it in flavorful sauces, is so important to making seitan a fun addition to your diet.

Can you eat seitan every day?

You can eat seitan every day as long as you don’t have celiac disease, a gluten intolerance, a gluten allergy, or any other condition that requires you not to eat gluten. Lots of plant-based eaters lean on seitan as a staple in their diets!

Incorporate seitan into your diet with Purple Carrot

With Purple Carrot, you get beginner-friendly seitan recipes and all their ingredients in one fell swoop. Our delicious, fully plant-based recipes are the work of expert chefs and dietitians who, respectively, ensure ample flavor and maximum nutritional content. Shop Purple Carrot now for $100 off your first month of meal kit deliveries!

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