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!
Wow, delicious! Thanks for the recipe, these are perfect!
The chickpeas + breadcrumbs would make a complete protein, correct?
I tried this and it was WONDERFUL! Makes a nice sandwich, too.
I LOVE this recipe! But, I’m thinking about adding some rosemary and maybe 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast to it. Has anybody else tried that?
I add both every time I make these. I also frequently add fresh ginger : 1-2 inches, which I toss in the processor with the garlic and pulse a few times prior to adding the chickpeas and olive oil.
RE: Gravy – A number of people have asked about a gravy recipe. The most wonderful one I have found is from Moscowitz’s “Appetite for Reduction” Silky Chickpea Gravy. It’s incredible and is the secret gravy I put on everything at the holidays for my carnivorous family. My husband despises chickpeas so we have an agreement that he will never know what is in this gravy. It’s a one-pan Thanksgiving.
I made these and they did not come out well. There was wayyyy too much thyme in the recipe, and the texture was weird. I made them thin and cooked them through, and the texture still was like chewing gum. What did you all do that I didn’t do right?
Excellent choice Isa, This is another option to learn how to prepare vegan food.
Made these tonight for dinner and they were amazing. Used extra garlic and the lemon zest gave it a great flavor.
I made these with substitutions, and holy sodium, Batman! They were delicious but very salty. Here’s what I did so you can avoid my mistakes.
1. Use seasoned panko. It worked well, but there’s a little salt in it. Since your soy sauce and veggie broth (especially if pre-packaged) have oodles of sodium, this is the place to not have salt.
2. Use braggs liquid aminos in place of the soy sauce. The liquid aminos is way saltier than soy sauce. I would use a splash or too and add more broth/water to make up the full amount of liquid. If using the seasoned panko, I would use low sodium soy sauce. The aminos added a great flavor though.
3. Veggie stock instead of broth. It added good flavor, but I’ve noticed that the pre-packaged stock has more sodium than the broth. With the aminos and the panko, it was salt overload. Tasty salt overload but still. If I’m going to eat vegan, it better not raise my blood pressure. That defeats the purpose.
So use one substitution for a flavor punch, but don’t use all three unless you are craving some serious salt.
Also, I make huge batches of beans/peas (at least 2 lbs at a time) in my slow cooker and freeze them for later use. So I didn’t use chickpeas, but measured out about two cups of my defrosted/drained freezer peas. Not sure if that’s the issue, but the chickpeas didn’t mash well. They just split in two and the skins came off. I used a potato masher and then used a fork, which worked slightly better. Next time I would take about 1/2 of them and puree with the hand blender to get a better texture — I don’t have a food processor.
I appreciate this quick take on seitan — no simmering, long kneading or long rest period necessary!
Can you use a gluten free flour?
I figured it out! To get them to have the perfect amount of saltiness for my family, this is how I did it — I used the liquid aminos instead of soy sauce, seasoned panko bread crumbs instead of plain, and water instead of broth. When I made it another time, I replaced half of the soy sauce/aminos with water and got good results.
My husband loves these. They taste even better if you make the dough a day ahead. The flavors work through it.
These are good. I am making them right now and it’s an easy recipe. The flavor kinda reminds me of chicken fried steak. I bet if I cooked them up and then breaded and refried them, it would be like eating chicken fried steak, but then that’s too many steps.
In the oven, I have Isa’s Super Moist Pumpkin Bread baking and I’ll see how that is, smells good baking.
I can’t wait to try this! I buy chickpeas in bulk, and it’s one of my main proteins. Looks delicious!
Okay, made them yesterday and they’re AMAZING. I’ve been looking for better vegan meat substitutes I could make. Thanks so much!
Tony
Can I substitute the wheat gluten for something else?
I call these “chicklets” 🙂 An option for buffalo chicklet style: instead of brushing with oil to bake, brush with a mixture of melted earth balance and Frank’s buffalo sauce. To avoid them coming out to salty, reduce the soy sauce and use water instead of broth.
Hi, I love this recipe and make it often. I have a vacuum sealer and wondered if I wanted to make a quadruple batch and freeze some, would I cook them prior to freezing?
I have made a similar recipe, however, instead of using chickpeas, I have used oatmeal and tofu, no oil and seasonings have been a little different, but the process pretty much the same — cook on grill …. but after I have cooked them on the grill, I add them to a casserole dish, pour in a broth I prepare, and bake them, covered in foil, for an hour. They are very tender. So I decided to try this one. I omitted the bread crumbs and the soy sauce, and instead of broth, I used a mushroom powder seasoning and water. DELICIOUS. I am now making my second batch.
I accidentally used chickpea flour rather than the vital wheat gluten. They aren’t chewy, but they aren’t too bad at all.
I have frozen these patties at every step, and I suggest QUADRUPLING the recipe because it is so easy, making half, and then you can freeze the dough! Then when you want these patties, just defrost by leaving in your fridge overnight, and proceed with the recipe as normal. Chickpeas forever! Viva el frijol de garbanzo!
I’ve made these before as is. I love them. What about subbing wheat gluten for soy protein and gluten free breadcrumbs to make it gluten free?
These just did not work for me. No matter how I cooked them, they were always dough-y in the middle. I cooked them as instructed in the recipe, but when that didn’t work, I cooked them with a lid on the pan, then I cooked them on low heat with a lid on the pan for about 45 minutes, then I baked them for about 45 minutes. No luck. Maybe they are supposed to be doughy, but no one minds it?
Nicole: Yes they should be doughy in the middle.
So no steaming or boiling? Baking might be easier than frying.
Few people probably read this far down in the comments, but I just wanted to add something :). My family loves these! I love what the addition of lemon does for them, but because I’m way too lazy to grate lemon peel (if I even have a lemon sitting around), I add 1/4 c. lemon juice in place of half of the veg broth.
These are incredible! My gf made them and I almost lost it on how good they are! Since going vegetarian I’ve missed the flavor, texture and experience that these cutlets provide. 10/10!
These cutlets are the bomb. When I first made them I was skeptical but, I had nothing to worry about; they came out really good. However, I do find that each time I make them they taste a little different. Many times I have made them and have eaten darn near the entire batch. I am vegan and my dog eats much of what I do and he loves these cutlets as well.
Over 8 years later and still going strong. This is a simple, incredibly satisfying recipe and an instant go-to in our household. Nice!
Thank you thank you thank you for this wonderful recipe! I’ve been using it for YEARS now and it never disappoints!
SO DELICIOUS! I’ll be making this all the damn time. I didn’t have chickpeas so I used kidney beans and it turned out great.