Makes 8 cutlets
This recipe is a Veganomicon favorite! Vegan food that will put your lonely steak knives to work? I’m in! As the years pass I make modifications to all my recipes, as you probably do, too. This one is pretty faithful to the original, only I’ve increased the quantity because might as well. Why not have extra cutlets for tucking into sandwiches or chopping up over a Caesar salad?
I’ve paired down the ingredient list a little bit — it doesn’t exactly need the garlic and lemon peel, although I’ve listed them as optional. Sometimes I’m just not in the mood to break out the microplane grater (I can get pretty damn lazy.) I’ve also taken a few pictures so that you can see exactly how they should look throughout the prep. And last but not least, because people always ask, I’ve added food processor instructions. Hopefully this makes the recipe even easier and more foolproof then it was, and I think it was already pretty easy.
A couple of other things: Wheat gluten can vary from brand to brand. These come out great with either Arrowhead Mills Brand or Bob’s Red Mill, although I think Bob’s brand makes them a bit firmer. Also, you should only use storebought breadrumbs unless you plan on tweaking the recipe. I’ve tried homemade breadcrumbs and they come out way to mushy.
The texture we’re looking for is firm and a bit crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. I find that for the best texture you should let the cutlets rest after cooking for 10 minutes or so before digging in.
1 16 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup vital wheat gluten
1 cup plain breadcrumbs
1/2 cup vegetable broth or water
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
Olive oil for pan frying
Optional ingredients:
4 cloves garlic, pressed or grated with a Microplane grater
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
In a mixing bowl, mash the chickpeas together with the oil until no whole chickpeas are left. Use an avocado masher or a strong fork. Alternately, you can pulse the chickpeas in a food processor. We’re not making hummus here, so be careful not to puree them, just get them mashed up. You can also sneak the garlic cloves in here instead of grating them, just pulse them up before adding the chickpeas. If using a food processor, transfer to a mixing bowl when done.
Add the remaining ingredients and knead together for about 3 minutes, until strings of gluten have formed. The strings should look like this (click photo for an even closer up view):
Preheat a large heavy-bottomed skillet over low-medium heat. Cast iron works best. If you have two pans and want to cook all the cutlets at once then go for it, otherwise you’ll be making them in two batches.
Divide the cutlet dough into 2 equal pieces. Then divide each of those pieces into 4 separate pieces (so you’ll have 8 all together). To form cutlets, knead each piece in your hand for a few moments and then flatten and stretch each one into a roughly 6 by 4 inch rectangular cutlet shape. The easiest way to do this is to form a rectangle shape in your hands and then place the cutlets on a clean surface to flatten and stretch them. (OK, maybe my surface wasn’t that clean.)
Add a moderately thin layer of olive oil to the bottom of the pan. Place the cutlets in the pan and cook on each side for 6 to 7 minutes. Add more oil, if needed, when you flip the cutlets. They’re ready when lightly browned and firm to the touch. I’ve found that they cook more thoroughly if I cover the pan in between flips. I also use my spatula to press down on them while they’re cooking, that way they cook more evenly.
Now let them rest for a bit and you’re done!
Okay, so this was my first official “vegan” recipe (as in, off a vegan site, calling itself a vegan recipe), and I LOVED it! I know it didn’t turn out quite right… I didn’t mash the chickpeas enough, and I don’t think I kneaded it correctly either (the vital wheat gluten didn’t seem to mix very evenly). Oh well, I will have to try it again. My husband wasn’t a huge fan, but I think that’s because, as I said, I didn’t make it quite right. BTW, I love your recipes, I’ve been checking them out to see what I’ll make next. Thanks so much for sharing them!
I use this recipe as the base for a chorizo loaf. After forming the loaf I kneed for 3-5 minutes and leave to settle for 20 min before putting in a tin, topping off with 1/2 cup of pale ale and covered with foil. Bake at 180 C for 30 min covered and uncovered for the final 10 min. Removed from the oven, recover and leave to go cold, before refrigerating over night. Wonderful sliced thinly in wraps or added to salads x
These are my absolute favourite things ever! I’ve made them probably a hundred times now and they come out perfect each time. It’s even better with Lemon zest. Thank you so much for this recipe, it makes being a vegan all the better.
I’m wondering if anyone has any “gluten free” suggestions? This recipe looks awfully yummy, but I’m allergic to gluten. We make black bean burgers a lot, but we need something new. 🙂
Oh my goodness, I made these last night and it might be my new favorite recipe! I can’t wait to eat the leftovers in the fridge!
Isa you simply rock.
Oh stop!
These are very good and much better and cheaper than paying $8 for store bought cutlets. I like to add more spices: fennel, ground ginger, pinch of chili and marjoram. I also add some sesame seeds and nutritional yeast.
Hi Isa, I absolutely love your recipes!! I was wondering is there a way of making this recipe gluten free?? I subbed the gluten with orgrans gluten free gluten. A little weird tasting, wonder if there is another ingredient I could use? Oh how I miss seitan as well 🙁 anyone know of a way to make gluten free seitan? Lol. Thanks for everything.
can they be baked?
*LOVE* I have been terrified to use vital wheat gluten and finally decided to take the plunge with this recipe. I literally threw everything (after mashing the chickpeas) into my kitchen aid mixer for three minutes. (Maybe a teeny bit less) The dough looked just like the picture provided. I formed the cutlets for tomorrow, but I cooked a ‘mini sample’ to try and I am amazed at how YUMMY! I am soooo excited at how great this tastes (and easy, no more excuses for lousy processed frozen fake foods!) Thank you!
This is my go to recipe for “chickn'”! I make them on Thanksgiving with mashed potatoes and gravy. I make this recipe but bread them in Panko (instead of adding bread crumbs) and bake them for 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees. These are even awesome at a picnic, no reheating necessary.
Wow, thank you so much for the recipe!!!! I made my own seitan/chick’n/whatever you want to call it for the FIRST time because of this recipe! And it turned out even better than I expected. You are the best!
Omg I have no idea why i had all the ingredients for this but I made them and they are amazing!!
I five-spiced these and made banh mi with the banh mi pickles from Veganomicon. WINNING
Is there any way to make this soy free? Unfortunately, I am allergic to soy, including soy sauce. Thanks!
These are seriously my favorite thing. My brother and I make a double batch of this at least once a week, freezing individual cutlets in wax paper and frying up two at a time. We use them for sammiches 99% of the time. Fry up the cutlets in olive oil til they’re nice and crispy, then serve em’ on some crusty bread with Vegenaise, mustard, and a heroic pile of kale omnomnomnom
Our first batch turned out pretty gummy in the middle, so for the second batch we cut the vital wheat gluten in half and subbed the rest with gluten-free flour (was all we happened to have on hand, lol) and pressed them suuuuuuper thin and they were perfect. We always switch up the spices, and once we were short on panko and just added some TVP to make up the difference. I’ve been getting gluten-free flour for em’ since they were so perfect the second time that I don’t wanna change the weirdly perfect balance between the flour and the vital wheat gluten…
FINALLY tried this tonight (been meaning to for ages), and how mad am I that I waited so long?! This is literally the most delicious vegan dish I have EVER made. I’m in lovelovelove.
I’ve made this recipe so many times I lost count!
I have no problems with homemade breadcrumbs, just make sure your bread is very dry.
I just made this recipe for dinner and it was outstanding!! For gravy, I made a basic white gravy and added crumbled vege sausage patties for flavor and extra protein.
Do you have a gluten free version or an idea what could be used instead of wheat gluten?
any way to make these gluten-free? they sound yummy, but don’t want to eat that much gluten
Wow! I’ll be making this again this evening (comfort food night while we watch the 9ers game).
I swear I’ve had this before in my pre-vegan days, as it was being passed off as chicken 😉
I’m looking forward to making this and I have some Garbonzo beans that have been soaked and cooked. Now, I am wondering what proportion of soaked/cooked beans can I use for this recipe? I know it’s different amount vs canned, but don’t know how much.
Thanks, Susie
I find physllium husk and water for gf “gluten” just perfect.
My cakes are done in the oven easily, they are wildly elastic!
This is so good. I baked it with marinara sauce and daiya cheese.
Ok, this might be a dumb question…but any thing I can substitute for vital wheat gluten? I live in Europe and I have looked for it and cant find it.
I accidentally left out the bread crumbs and they were still darn delicious,. Even my very carnivorous husband said I could make them again.
i cannot find vital wheat gluten——should i knead ww flour myself????
First time I made these my boyfriend (still opposed to all things vegan) tried one warmed up and enjoyed it. He should have been there when my Cuban visitor and I devoured 6 of them fresh out of the pan!!! So I thought I would give him the chance to taste them fresh and made them again 2 days ago and yes! He really enjoyed them. “This is the best vegan “thing” you have cooked so far. “
Yesterday I felt like a sandwich, so I caramelised some onion slices, fried up some cremini mushrooms with some worcester sauce and stuffed a bread roll with 2 (I was hungry!) cutlets, some ketchup, and the topping. And what can I say…
Can I really eat them 3 days in a row? 😉
Thanks for this amazing recipe!
I’ve been using this recipe for awhile now. I have subbed many things in for different ingredients for varying results. I always use the peas though. They freeze up very well 🙂
I also wanted to share that I tried a soy sauce replacement in the batch I made last night to reduce the sodium content. I used 2 tbls of worchestershire sauce and 1 tbls of water to make a 1/4 cup and it did change the taste but in a pleasant way. These are so versatile you can add to the base of the recipe with different spices and flavors. I don’t have the Veganomicon but I’ve looked through it when I worked for Wholefoods and this recipe is great!
1 16 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Could you please explain to me what is 1 16oz and how can I trasform it to gramms????
1 1/2 cups?
Thank you!!!!!!!