Seitan Parmesan

Vegan Seitan Parmesan by Pasta-based. An overhead shot of two bowls of vegan seitan parmesan smothered in marinara sauce and topped with vegan melted mozzarella cheese. On a grey countertop with a light grey napkin. A fork with a wooden handle resting in one of the bowls.

Vegan Chicken-style Seitan Parmesan. Before going vegan, we’d never heard of seitan before. Actually, it’s fairly often that people are like ?!?!?!? when they see either of us eating seitan or hear us talking about it.

They’ll say things like, “what is that? fake meat? ewww” (as if eating animal parts is sooo not gross at all…. riiiight). When I explain that it’s gluten, from wheat, kind of like bread dough, they get it a little bit… but they are still afraid to try it. Little do they know, seitan is fucking DELICIOUS – when prepared right, it has an amazing texture and it’s rich in flavor. If you’re afraid to try seitan, don’t be. Give it a shot. Following this recipe is a good start but there are SO MANY seitan recipes for different types of cuisine out there too.

Vegan Seitan Parmesan by Pasta-based. Bowls of spaghetti with seitan cutlets smothered in marinara sauce and topped with vegan mozzarella cheese. A fork with a piece of seitan leaning on the side of the bowl.

We have a recipe already for chicken-style seitan cutlets but we wanted to adapt that recipe and make a seitan cutlet for a ‘chicken’ parmesan recipe. I didn’t grow up vegan so chicken parmesan was once one of my favorite family meals. However, my motto these days is, “Anything you can do, I can do vegan” ? so re-creating this recipe was on my list for a while now.

Vegan Seitan Parmesan by Pasta-based. A red bowl with cannellini beans inside. A potato masher leaning inside the bowl with some of the beans already mashed up.

Vegan Seitan Parmesan by Pasta-based. Vegan seitan cutlets on a baking sheet before going into the oven.

This vegan seitan parmesan has the BEST texture of any seitan cutlet we’ve tried before. It’s so soft that you don’t even need a knife to cut into it and the flavor is spot-on. Also, the cutlet recipe comes together in minutes and bakes in the oven – hands-off, no frying anything in oil – just pop it in the oven and set your timer. ?

We topped the cutlets with our Easy Vegan Mozzarella Cheese and smothered them in our delicious homemade marinara sauce. But you can always use the tomato sauce or vegan mozzarella of your choice.

Vegan Seitan Parmesan by Pasta-based. Seitan cutlets smothered with marinara sauce and topped with melted vegan mozzarella cheese in a baking dish with a spatula lifting one piece out of the pan.

HOW TO MAKE SEITAN PARMESAN [1 MIN]:

We hope you like this recipe as much as we do. If you make this recipe, take a photo and tag us on Instagram @pastabased or leave a comment/rating below!

4.56 from 25 votes
Vegan Seitan Parmesan by Pasta-based. Bowls of spaghetti with seitan cutlets smothered in marinara sauce and topped with vegan mozzarella cheese. A fork with a piece of seitan leaning on the side of the bowl.
Vegan Seitan Parmesan
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
40 mins
Total Time
50 mins
 

Vegan Chicken-style Seitan Parmesan. This veganized take on chicken parm is made from white bean cutlets that are covered in breadcrumbs and baked in marinara sauce, making them so soft and tender. Topped with melty, stretchy, gooey homemade vegan mozzarella cheese!

Course: Dinner, Entree, Main Course
Cuisine: Italian, Vegan, Vegetarian
Servings: 8 cutlets
Calories per Serving: 229 kcal
Author: Pasta-based
Ingredients
Seitan
  • 1 1/2 cup cannellini beans* usually this is one 15 oz. can
  • 1/2 cup vegetable broth
  • 2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt-free seasoning blend like Mrs. Dash
  • 1 cup vital wheat gluten
  • 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs can be regular or panko
  • 3 cups marinara sauce**
  • 2 cups vegan mozzarella cheese (recipe below)
To make homemade vegan mozzarella
  • 1 1/4 cup water
  • 1/2 cup soaked cashews (try the quick soak method!)
  • 1/4 cup tapioca starch/flour
  • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar)
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
To make the seitan cutlets
  1. Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C)

  2. Drain and rinse a can of cannellini beans and pour into a medium-sized bowl (or food processor). Using a potato masher (or your food processor) mash the beans until smooth and creamy.

  3. Add vegetable broth, tamari, pepper, and all-purpose seasoning blend to bowl and mix to combine.

  4. Add vital wheat gluten and mix. When a dough starts to form, use your hands to knead the dough for about a minute. The mixture should be squishy and moist.

  5. Break the seitan dough apart into 8 equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time, flatten the dough between the palms of your hands. It should look somewhat like a chicken cutlet in size and shape.

  6. Pour breadcrumbs onto a plate or shallow bowl. Press the seitan cutlets into the breadcrumbs, coating them. Flip to coat the other side. 

  7. Place breaded cutlets on a baking sheet. Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 25 minutes, flipping halfway through.

To make the seitan parmesan
  1. Spread half of the marinara sauce on the bottom of a 13x9" oven-safe casserole dish. Evenly place each pre-cooked seitan cutlet into the pan on top of the sauce. It's okay if they overlap a little bit. Pour the remaining sauce on top and cover with vegan mozzarella cheese.

  2. Bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the sauce starts to bubble. Serve warm over pasta, rice, or vegetables.

To make the vegan mozzarella cheese (full recipe with pictures and notes here)
  1. Add all ingredients to a food processor or high-speed blender. Blend on high until smooth and creamy (2-3 minutes).

  2. Add ingredients to small pot on medium-high heat. Stir constantly until thick. Serve immediately or store in refrigerator.

Recipe Notes
  • This recipe makes 8 seitan cutlets.
  • *If you're having trouble finding cannellini beans, you can substitute other white beans like navy or great northern instead.
  • **Use your favorite marinara sauce but if you're looking for a homemade recipe that makes plenty of leftovers, we have one on our site. You can find it here: http://www.pastabased.com/easy-vegan-tomato-sauce/
    • Nutrition Facts
      Vegan Seitan Parmesan
      Amount Per Serving (1 cutlet)
      Calories 229 Calories from Fat 36
      % Daily Value*
      Fat 4g6%
      Sodium 1289mg56%
      Potassium 461mg13%
      Carbohydrates 30g10%
      Fiber 4g17%
      Sugar 5g6%
      Protein 19g38%
      Vitamin A 470IU9%
      Vitamin C 7.3mg9%
      Calcium 94mg9%
      Iron 4.2mg23%
      * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

November 30, 2017

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22 Comments

  1. Reply

    Misrii - Homemade Food

    December 19, 2017

    5 stars
    Wow..Simply wow..these are looking irresistible..awesome recipe..
    http://www.misrii.com/

  2. Reply

    Kari

    December 29, 2017

    I made this tonight and he seitan came out chewy/undercooked tasting I wonder if it needed more time in the oven.

    • Reply

      pasta-based

      February 23, 2018

      Sorry to hear that, Kari! The seitan in this recipe is going to be a little softer than traditional because I wanted that buttery-soft texture. Next time try baking it a bit longer, that should help get the texture you prefer. Thank you for trying it! <3

  3. Reply

    Cindy

    February 24, 2018

    5 stars
    This is on my to do list! Looks amazing and fairly simple! I love your motto, too!

  4. Reply

    Holly

    February 25, 2018

    This ;looks delicious! I love eggplant parmesan but have actually never tried it with seitan. Good idea! 🙂

  5. Reply

    Sarah McMinn

    February 26, 2018

    5 stars
    I’m also so intimidated to try homemade seitan but you make it look so easy! I’m gonna have to give this a try!

  6. Reply

    Marly

    February 26, 2018

    5 stars
    You’ve gotta love a humble bean, turned into a patty, turned into parmesan chicken. Ah, the transformations that life brings out way. Delicious transformations at that! Looks delish!

  7. Reply

    Amy Katz from Veggies Save The Day

    February 26, 2018

    5 stars
    Mmmm…parmesan! Love the flavors in this dish!

  8. Reply

    Stephanie B

    March 14, 2018

    4 stars
    I made this tonight, my husband and I absolutely loved how it turned out! It was soft around the edges and had a bit of chew towards the middle. I don’t remember what chicken parmesan tasted like so I can’t say if it’s similar but this was so tasty. The mozzarella on the other hand was a waste of time, it had nearly no flavor and was way too many calories for my liking. I also cannot recall what mozzarella tasted like but my husband said it’s also tasteless and very similar to what I made.
    I’ll stick to a simple, quick cashew parmesan on top next time and definitely will be making this again. I plan on trying to freeze half the batch next time after baking!

    • Reply

      pasta-based

      March 14, 2018

      Hi! Glad you liked the seitan! Thank you for the review. The mozzarella must not be for everyone, that’s okay.

  9. Reply

    Serafina

    June 10, 2018

    3 stars
    I made this tonight and it felt very very soft, but did have a nice flavor to it. Do you think I could reduce the amount of beans by half and increase the wheat gluten to make a chewier batch?

    • Reply

      pasta-based

      June 11, 2018

      Hi Serafina – you’re totally right, this recipe does make a super soft seitan. I think reducing the beans and increasing the wheat gluten would definitely firm it up a bit. Also, instead of baking the seitan smothered with the sauce, keeping the sauce separate and only adding it on top will also help with the softness.

  10. Reply

    Sunita

    November 19, 2018

    Can these be stored after baking and used in cooking other things with it like piccata fo example?

    • Reply

      pasta-based

      December 14, 2018

      I haven’t tried that before. You may have good results with freezing them. Let me know if you try this!

  11. Reply

    Rose Martine

    February 11, 2020

    5 stars
    this was wonderful! Thank you for sharing all these tips and recipes..really helps those of us without the create gene;)

  12. Reply

    AK

    May 2, 2020

    5 stars
    This recipe is the best seitan recipe I’ve ever made. It’s become nearly a weekly staple. We use for chicken parm, buffalo chicken, BBQ chicken, plain old chicken tenders–the options are endless. The best part–it’s toddler approved, and toddlers are the toughest critics. Thanks for a wonderful (and simple) recipe!

    • Reply

      pasta-based

      June 16, 2020

      Toddler-approved!? OMG! That’s just amazing news, thank you for the comment and so glad you and your family love the recipe 🙂

  13. Reply

    Laura

    June 16, 2020

    Can I omit the beans and just use vital wheat gluten like in your other seitan cutlet recipe?

    • Reply

      pasta-based

      June 16, 2020

      Yes, but it will have a more chewy texture. The beans help to soften the seitan up.

  14. Reply

    Donna DelBrocco

    September 23, 2021

    3 stars
    I am not sure what I did wrong, but mine came out like rocks. You could hardly bite them they were so hard. I followed the recipe and use great northern beans.

    • Reply

      pasta-based

      October 18, 2021

      So sorry to hear that! Hmm… I’m not sure what went wrong here. I know that if you knead Seitan too long it will create a tough texture so maybe that’s why it didn’t turn out right. I found that Seitan can take a little bit of practice to get it right. Hope next time you make it, it comes out better!

  15. Reply

    Melva

    March 30, 2022

    5 stars
    Hello, I don’t normally write reviews but for you, I had to😊 I want to say before I prepared this recipe, I read the reviews and some of the reviews were challenging to say the least, but I persevered and made this recipe. Can I tell you, I became a vegan August 14, 2020 and this is by far the best recipe I have ever tasted. It didn’t have the seitan aftertaste, everything blend it so well, it was just so so good and if you didn’t know any better you wouldn’t know that is vegan, mines turned out perfectly. I followed your directions to the T and it turned out perfectly thank you for sharing.

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