Anytime I stop at a diner, I have to try their country fried steak. It’s one of my favorites. This is an excellent vegan version, and pretty darn good! If your planning on making country fried steak, why not try something new and veganize it!
Ever wonder what space smells like? According to NASA space smells like fried steak! You wouldn’t actually be able to smell in outer space because of your space suit, but astronauts claim that after doing a space walk and taking off their suits, there is a distinct smell of country fried steak. [resource]
Don’t let the word ‘vegan’ scare you. A lot of people seem to think that if something is vegan it doesn’t taste good. This is so far from the truth. In fact, it is a whole new flavor palette.
Vegan country fried steak is made from seitan, which is extremely simple to make. All you need is vital wheat gluten, water & seasonings. For this vegan country fried steak recipe, we added pumpkin. This helps create a different texture and helps keep the seitan moist. The pumpkin has such a mild flavor that this will not change the outcome in taste.
While it is not mandatory, adding 1 part garbanzo bean flour to 4 parts wheat gluten flour will help prevent getting a ‘chewy’ or ‘rubbery’ texture.
There you have it! Vegan Country Fried Steak with gravy. This is absolutely delicious and I am sure you will love it!
- Seitan Cutlets
- 1 cup vital wheat gluten
- ½ cup pumpkin
- 3 tablespoons garbanzo bean flour (or all purpose if you do not have)
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- ½ cup vegetable stock
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- Country Fried Vegan Steaks
- 4 seitan cutlets
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon turmeric (optional - for color)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- vegetable oil for frying.
- Vegan Gravy
- 2-3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons leftover oil
- 1 tablespoon nut butter or almond butter
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- Seitan Cutlets
- Combine wheat gluten, flour, poultry seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder & salt in a large bowl. Add the vegetable stock and pumpkin, stir to combine.
- Place mixture onto a clean surface and knead the dough for 2 minutes to activate the gluten. Cover with kitchen towel and let rest for 5 minutes.
- Roll out the dough into a rectangular shape. Cut into 4 equal pieces.
- Roll each piece to form your cutlet. This will need to be thin as these will puff up when steaming.
- Wrap each piece in tinfoil and steam for 30 minutes.
- Let rest for 10 minutes or until cool enough to unwrap.
- Country Fried Vegan Steaks
- Grab 2 bowls and add the flour to one and milk to the other. Dip each cutlet in this order: flour, milk, flour, milk, flour.
- Put the cutlets in your fridge and let rest for 10 minutes. This will help the flour stick when frying.
- Heat ¾ inch of oil in a heavy duty pan to 350 degrees. Add cutlets and cook for 5 minutes, flip and cook another 5 minutes or until they start to brown.
- Repeat if necessary, make sure the oil temperature is back up to 350 degrees.
- Vegan Gravy
- Using the same pan over medium heat, discard all but 3 tablespoons of oil. Melt the butter and add the flour. Stir to create your roux.
- Add the milk, salt & pepper and whisk together until your gravy thickens. If it is not thick enough, add more flour.
Vegan Country Fried Steak