Yesterday I shared my basic homemade vegetable broth recipe and promised to reveal the very first thing I made with the stock – vegan sausage (seitan)! But first, a little background on the base recipe.
Recently I shared my very first seitan recipe. As one of a zillion food bloggers in the universe I realize that far more people will read my recipes than make them. Occasionally I get some feedback (tweets like “I tried your chili, loved it!”) and it brings me joy. I’m not writing this blog for me – I write it for people who are on a vegan or plant-based journey. So when I posted my Cinnamon-Ginger Seitan & Veggies in Coconut Gravy recipe it was with excitement and trepidation. I loved the dish; I mean I was cuckoo for it. But I’m never all that sure my culinary experiments translate into success in your kitchen. Imagine my delight and surprise to read this feedback:
This kind of encouragement keeps me going! Thank you!
Confident that I have found the perfect seitan formula for my taste — a just right wet-to-dry ratio, plus a cooking method (use a stand-mixer to knead the dough for five minutes and use a pressure cooker to cook it) that results in a texture that pleases both the vegan and the omnivore in this house — it was time to branch out.
Vegan Pepperoni Sausage
Serves 8 – 10
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups vital wheat gluten
- 1/4 cup garbanzo bean flour
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon all-spice (or a mix of nutmeg, cinnamon and clove to equal 1/2 teaspoon)
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon anise seed, crumbled
- 1/2 teaspoon fennel seed, crumbled
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1 cup vegetable broth (add more if too dry)
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1/2 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce)
- Cooking broth: 3 cups water, 3 cups vegetable broth, and 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
Instructions
- Bring cooking broth ingredients to a boil in an uncovered pressure cooker.
- Mix dry ingredients together n a stand mixer bowl
- mix wet ingredients in a small bowl
- Add wet ingredients to dry, mix well, then knead with the dough hook of the mixer for 5 minutes.
- Break dough into half. Roll 4 small sausages and wrap individually in cheesecloth, tying ends with string. Take the remaining half and roll into a larger sausage and wrap in cheesecloth, typing ends with string.
- Place in boiling cooking broth, cover the pressure cooker and bring to pressure.
- Cook at pressure for 30 minutes.
- Allow for a natural release.
- Remove sausages from the broth to cool before handling or serving.
- For pepperoni slices, freeze the sausage overnight and then use a food processor (use the slicing disc) for nice, thin spicy pieces of sausage.
- Store whole sausage, in the cooking broth, in an airtight container in the refrigerator or in a sturdy bag for the freezer.
Sometimes it's hard to make seitan pretty,
You can slice, dice and crumble this sausage for all kinds of recipes.
Tomorrow I’ll share three (yes, three!) recipes…
…made with just half of this batch of seitan-sausage.
33 thoughts on “Vegan Pepperoni Sausage (Seitan)”
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does it really taste like pepperoni? cause if it does, I’m makin’ it!
Make it! It tastes like pepperoni!
pinning it!
I just pinned this so fast it would make your head spin! 😉
Last week I bought the stuff to make seitan for the first time… haven’t used it yet. Now I’m totally inspired – this is going to be the first creation!!!
Woo hoo! Let me know how it turns out!
Just wow, this looks amazing! I’ve only tried seitan once and liked it, so I need to make this and try it on my hubby. Thanks!
My husband LOVES it! He said “oh my god, this is pepperoni!” Let me know what your hubby thinks1
HI! This looks great but I still haven’t purchased a pressure cooker. Can you add directions for regular cooking? Thanks!
Hi Jul! Since I didn’t make it any other way, I can only vouch for the consistency, texture and flavor for the pressure cooker method with this recipe.
However, here are some alternatives to consider:
1) Roll the seitan dough up in foil (like a tootsie pop) and bake it on 325F for 90 minutes (probably less time if you make several small sausages, perhaps check on it in 45 or 60 minutes). I’ve tried this method, with a completely different recipe, and like it but it’s drier than this recipe.
2). Simmer stovetop for 30 – 60 minutes. I’ve never tried this so I can’t comment on the method.
Let me know if you try it!
Hi Jul – I make seitan a couple of different ways – just depends on what kind of texture you are looking for:
1) You can steam it by rolling them up into sausages in tin foil and then placing in a steamer basket for about 1 hour. Creates a denser finished product than the simmer method.
2) You can do the simmer method that JL has above – I recommend at least 60 minutes for a larger roll and about 30-40 minutes for smaller ones. Also be sure to turn them over occasionally to make sure they cook evenly.
3) You can bake them as well – I usually do 350 degrees for about 45-60 minutes. I find that this method has a chewier texture than the other two.
Hope this helps!
YAY! Thank you jumping in, Ashley!
Thanks to JL and Ashley both! I’ll let you know how it turns out once I decide on a method!
Love the idea of freezing it and then slicing it with a food processor. I make a lot of seitan but I hadn’t thought to use it that way – always inspiring me to branch out – thank you!
Thanks, but all credit for that trick goes to the bloggosphere! There are many, many food bloggers who suggest it.
Yum! I love homemade seitan. In fact, I can’t even remember the last time I bought pre-made seitan. It’s so easy to make at home. And it freezes beautifully!
Yes, to everything!
This looks amazing! I might finally finally try my pressure cooker after having it for 5+ years and only using it as a pot…
Oh, that’s exciting!
I am going back to the drawing board after trying another random seitan recipe found online: back to where I should have started…with YOUR recipe! I can’t wait!
Keep trying, Kari! Once you make a seitan you love, there’s no turning back!
I love it – pinning it now!! This looks awesome, I’ve always wanted to try making a sausage and I have most of these ingredients already in my kitchen. Very creative, thanks for sharing!!
Thanks for the pin!
My daughter will love this recipe, very nice
Homemade vegan pepperoni! Thank you so much, JL! 🙂 This is one thing I haven’t found a good substitute for. Though I didn’t eat a lot of pepperoni when I was omni, there are a few things I liked it on. Gotta try this!
I hope you like it!
I buy 50 pounds of vital wheat gluten and it costs me only $99, which includes shipping; I store it in large cans in my garage, and it keeps for a year or more; This way it only costs $2 a pound.
Yum. I don’t have a mixer, but I do have a hand mixer. Do you think that will do in making the seitan? Daughter is coming home for July 4th weekend, and thought I’d make up some seitan to have for us. Yeah! Thanks JL! Gaileee
@gailpickensbargereryt:disqus, you could easily just knead by hand – the stand mixer just does the work for you. If you hand mixer has a dough hook (or if you’ve used it for successfully), then go for it!