My Fiancee is vegetarian so I am always experimenting with new ideas. I love BBQ and thought I would try to re-create some smoked barbecued ribs vegan / vegetarian style. These turned out way better than I expected. Awesome smoke flavor and the texture was spot on.
I am using a smoker to cook these, but if you do not have one, these smoked seitan barbecue ribs can also be baked, and then grilled (see my notes at the end of this post).
Start by adding all your liquid ingredients into a measuring cup. This just makes it easier. Measure the water, then add the rest.
Add all the dry ingredients in a bowl and stir.
Take your wet mixture and slowly pour into the dry mixture.
Stir to mix. Once your dough has been mixed, use your hands and form a ball. Let the dough rest for about 5 minutes.
Get out your rolling pin and roll the dough into a semi rectangle shape.
With a sharp knife cut the dough into 10 equal (or semi-equal) pieces. This doesn’t have to be exact, in fact in shouldn’t. Looks much better if each piece is a little different.
Place a popsicle stick on top of each piece of dough, fold the dough over and pinch the ends to seal. Then, using your hand, gently squeeze each piece to form the rib.
If you do not like spice, you can omit this. But let me tell you, this rub is the bomb!
Generously sprinkle Snake Bitten Rub over your seitan ribs.
Place your ribs in the smoker. Mmmm. smells good already! After 30 minutes, flip each piece and continue smoking. It’s coming together, these are starting to look like smoked seitan barbecue ribs.
If you do not have a smoker, you can bake these and finish them on the grill. See my notes at the end of this post.
Oh, and just in case you are wondering. I am using an Masterbuilt Electric smoker from Lowes.
During the last 10 minutes, base each side with your favorite BBQ sauce. After 5 minutes flip the smoked seitan barbecue ribs and baste other side.
Time to pull these smoked seitan barbecue ribs off the smoker!
Look at that! You don’t have to use meat to eat some seriously good ribs! All you need is smoked seitan barbecue ribs.
If you’re looking for a really good barbecue sauce, my favorite is Oklahoma Joe’s from Kansas City. You can purchase this from their website.
- 1 cup vital wheat gluten
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons almond butter or any other nut butter
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ¾ cup of water
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- Snake bitten rub. Recipe here->
- Preheat smoker to 270 degrees
- Combine the first 5 ingredients in a bowl.
- Add the water to a measuring cup and add the almond butter, soy sauce sauce & apple cider vinegar. Mix well.
- Poor the liquid mixture into the dry mixture and stir to combine.
- Need the dough mixture for 2 minutes and form into a ball, let rest for 5 minutes.
- Roll the dough out into a rectangular shape.
- With a sharp knife cut down the center and then across to create 10 equal pieces.
- Place the popsicle sticks on top of each piece and fold in, then pinch to seal.
- Add your favorite wood to the smoker.
- Smoke the seitan ribs for 30 minutes and then turn. Smoke another 30 minutes
- During the last 10 minutes, baste the seitan ribs with barbecue sauce. Flip after 6 minutes to baste the other side.
- Remove from smoker and serve with your favorite barbecue sauce.
For those without a smoker, add 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke to you wet mixture (step #3). Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 25 minutes. While baking, fire up your grill to the hottest temp. Remove from oven and baste each side with BBQ sauce. Grill for about 5 minutes per side. You are looking for a nice sear and a little caramelization.
Smoked Seitan Barbecue Ribs
– as simple as that 🙂