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Vegan Chick'n Nuggets

Learn how to make these delicious seitan based chick'n nuggets at home. Perfect for lunches and freezing.
Course Appetizer, Main Course, Snack
Cuisine American
Keyword air fried, chicken, chicken nugget, chik'n, fried chicken, fried seitan, nugget
Prep Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 3 hours
Servings 30 pieces

Equipment

  • Deepfryer or Large Pot
  • Large Pot
  • Food processor

Ingredients

Seitan:

  • 150 grams or (1 cup) cooked beans (chickpea, navy, or butter beans.)
  • 1/2 cup vegan chicken broth
  • 1 tbsp white miso
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 tsp sage powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 128 grams or 3/4 cup and 2 tbsp) vital wheat gluten

Boiling Broth:

  • 6 cupa water or vegan broth (I used vegetable broth cubes.)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/2 onion (yellow, sweet, or white)
  • 2 garlic cloves

Wet Batter:

  • 1/2 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk ( I use soy or almond)
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp lemon juice

Dry Coating:

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup panko or bread crumbs
  • 1 tbsp paprika
  • 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper

Deep Frying:

  • 2-3 cups frying oil (Vegetable or Peanut Oil)

Instructions

Making the seitan dough:

  • In a food processor, add all the beans, broth, miso, nutritional yeast, sage, onion powder, garlic powder, and apple cider vinegar. Blend this mixture until it’s smooth and no large chunks of bean remain. 
  • Next, add your vital wheat gluten and process until it’s evenly mixed, and no large amount of vital wheat gluten remains. 
  • Allow the seitan dough to rest for 15 minutes. Doing this will allow for the gluten strings to develop. The gluten strings are what give the seitan a chicken-like texture. Once the 15 minutes have passed, process the mixture again for 5 minutes.
  • Next, roll the seitan out into a thin log. Cut the seitan log into 30-35 pieces. Using your hands, press each piece into your desired nugget shapes. *Note that the nuggets do expand as you boil, so you’ll want to cut and shape them smaller than you want them to be. You can always cut them after they cool as well*

Boiling the seitan:

  • When you have all the nugget pieces cut out, add your broth or water, salt, bay leaves, onion, and garlic cloves into a large pot and bring up to a boil.
  • Once the mixture has begun to boil, add the seitan pieces and boil them for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally to ensure the nuggets don't dry out when they float to the top of the pot. 
  • Remove the seitan nuggets from the broth and allow it to cool until you can safely handle it. *You can pour the broth and nuggets through a colander and either discard the broth or save for a soup, stew, or gravy.*

Frying the nuggets:

  • While the nuggets cool, mix the flour, non-dairy milk, and salt in a bowl to make your wet batter.
  • Once the nuggets are cooled and before coating, squeeze any excess moisture out of the seitan. It absorbs some while simmering which is why they turn out so tender, but if we don't squeeze out some, it will be too spongey and wet.
  • Next, make your dry coating by mixing the flour, panko or bread crumbs, paprika, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne powder, salt, and pepper in a separate bowl.
  • Start to bring your oil up to 350 degrees. If you don’t have a thermometer you can check if the oil is ready by flicking some water off your hands into the oil. If the oil start’s crackling, it’s ready for you to start frying. 
  • Now batter the seitan nuggets by dipping in the wet batter, shaking off any excess, tossing in the dry coating, and finally shaking off the excess dry coating. Place your coated and ready to fry nuggets on a plate. I like to batter as I fry for time efficiency, but you can batter all of them first then fry if you’d like. 
  • Gentle place 5-8 coated seitan nuggets into the oil and fry for around 3-5 minutes, or until the coating becomes golden brown and crispy. Stir occasionally to ensure all sides are evenly cooked. Repeat this step until you have cooked all your nuggets.
  • Place the fried nuggets on a paper towel-lined plate to soak up the excess oil. Serve with your favorite side dish, dipping sauce, and enjoy!