Serves 4
Total time: 30 minutes || Active time: 20 minutes
This is the easy weeknight seitan and broccoli stir-fry I make when I want big BBQ flavor that isn’t too sweet. All pantry stuff, almost no shopping. Cook the onions, sear the seitan and broccoli, and while that’s going, mix the 5-minute pantry BBQ sauce. Coat it all up and you’re done in less than 30 minutes.
I used to call this 2×2 BBQ Sauce because it took two minutes and everything was two tablespoons (except the liquid smoke), so it was easy to memorize. The recipe got a little refined over the years but I still never measure, I just eyeball it.
The peanut butter is my secret ingredient. It doesn’t make the sauce peanutty exactly, it gives it texture and a flavor that keeps people guessing. And eating.
This seitan and broccoli recipe has been on the site since 2011 and the comments are full of people making it weekly, swapping seitan for tempeh, and drinking the leftover sauce straight from the fridge.
“I made extra sauce, but I kinda want to take it out of my fridge and drink it right now.” — reader
“The BBQ sauce is the best I’ve ever had.” — Jenny
“I had it with spaghetti and it was so good!” — reader (ED NOTE: I HAVE NOT DONE THIS MYSELF BUT WHY NOT)
Why This Recipe Rocks
- All pantry ingredients. No special trip to the store.
- 30 minutes, start to finish, tops. Faster than ordering in.
- Customizable. Sweeter, spicier, smokier, tangier, adjust to taste.
- Cult following. Hundreds of comments since 2011. The recipe works.
What’s all in this Seitan And Broccoli Stir-fry?
- Seitan. Store-bought is fine but can be pricey. If you have homemade chicken-style or pull-apart seitan in the fridge, even better.
- Broccoli. Cut into small florets so they cook quickly and grab onto the sauce. You can also buy precut broccoli and cut the florets a little smaller still.
- Peanut butter. Smooth, natural. The texture builder for the sauce.
- Sriracha, mustard, maple syrup, tomato paste, soy sauce. The pantry foundation, you already have these and maybe even more than one bottle of each because that’s what always happens. Customize ratios to taste.
- Liquid smoke. Just a few drops. This is what gives the sauce its smoky depth.
Sauce Customization To Your Heart’s Content
This sauce is meant to be played with. A few directions:
- More heat: Extra sriracha or some chili crisp.
- Sweeter: More maple syrup, or sub brown sugar.
- Smokier: A little more liquid smoke or a teaspoon of smoked paprika.
- Tangier: More mustard or a splash of apple cider vinegar.
- Peanut-free: Skip the peanut butter and add a tablespoon of almond butter, or use extra tomato paste instead.
Switch it Up
Swap the protein. Soy curls (rehydrated and squeezed dry) or thinly sliced extra-firm tofu both work and are gluten-free. Pan-fry either until golden before adding the broccoli and sauce.
Swap the vegetable. Asparagus, zucchini, or green beans all work here. Same timing as broccoli.
How To Serve This BBQ Seitan And Broccoli Stir-fry
We aren’t trying to complicate your night. Simple serving suggestions include jasmine rice (my favorite) or a baked sweet potato, just split it open and pile everything in.
One commenter said she tried it with spaghetti. I would recommend rice noodles or udon or something like that, personally, but use your noodle.
Or, pile it on a bun. BBQ seitan sandwiches with coleslaw piled right on top.
If you’d like to get more elaborate, though:
Serve over the Gingery Mashed Root Veggies. Carrots and parsnips mashed with ginger. The BBQ sauce sinks right in.
Serve over The Best Vegan Mashed Potatoes Ever. Classic.
Serve with Creamy Vegan Macaroni Salad (Brooklyn Deli Style) on the side.
Pair with Dragon Noodle Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing. BBQ and peanut is my favorite combo, and it makes for a nice hot-and-cold plate.
It’s great with fried rice. I would try it with this Brussel Sprout Fried Rice, minus the brussels since you already have a veg. Just use the rest of the recipe as a base.
More Flavorful Weeknight Dinners You Might Also Like
Seitan and Broccoli With Pantry BBQ Sauce FAQ
How long does the BBQ sauce keep? About a week in the fridge in a sealed container. Several readers have made double or triple batches and used it all week on other things.
Can I make the sauce ahead? For sure. Whisk it together up to a week in advance. Stir before using if it separates.
My sauce is too thick / too thin. What do I do? Too thick: thin with a tablespoon of water. Too thin: simmer it for a couple minutes to reduce.
How do I make this gluten-free? Skip the seitan and sub firm tofu or soy curls. Use tamari instead of soy sauce.
How did I end up here? You searched for an easy seitan dinner and the algorithm sent you to a well loved recipe with a cult following. You’re in good hands.
Seitan And Broccoli With Pantry BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
For the Stirfry:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion thinly sliced
- Big pinch of salt
- 1 lb seitan thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 4 cups broccoli florets
For the BBQ Sauce:
- ½ cup vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon prepared mustard I use Dijon
- ½ teaspoon liquid smoke
- ½ teaspoon Sriracha hot sauce
Instructions
- Preheat a large pan over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion in the olive oil with a big pinch of salt for about 5 minutes, until lightly browned. Add the seitan and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, until browned. Add the garlic and black pepper and sauté for about a minute, until fragrant. Add a tiny bit more oil if needed.
- Mix in the broccoli and cover the pan to cook, lifting intermittently to stir, until softened, about 5 minutes.
- While that’s cooking, mix all of the BBQ sauce ingredients together in a bowl.
- Add the sauce, toss to coat, and cook for about 5 more minutes. The sauce should become thick and bubbly. Taste for salt and seasoning and serve.
I’m gonna make this tonight to take to my dad as a gift! thanks 🙂
ohmyfaceyum. That looks delicious and dead easy, a bad combination for my late night cooked food cravings. At least there’s always breakfast tomorrow, right?! Thanks for the recipe.
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Isa Chandra, John Zablocki. John Zablocki said: RT @IsaChandra: New recipe! A bbq sauce made from pantry ingredients and magic. Seitan & Broccoli With Pantry BBQ Sauce http://t.co/fj1pomY […]
Wow, I really do have all those things in my pantry. Except for liquid smoke. Maybe smoked paprika would give the requisite smokiness? Looks awesome.
Yep, smoked paprika or chipotle powder would be great! Just be careful with the heat.
Droooool! I’m absolutely making this tonight. BBQ seitan sammiches with broccoli on the side…also smothered in this. Might have to add some chipotles. As a Texan, I’m so down with this recipe. Thank you, Isa, and happy early birthday! xo
[…] Seitan & Broccoli With Pantry BBQ Sauce | Post Punk Kitchen | Vegan Baking & Vegan Cooking. categorized as: dinner, vegan tagged in: bbq, broccoli, garlic, maple syrup, molasses, mustard, […]
This would also be good with tempeh! Now I am dead set on making some BBQ sauce. Thanks!
i just made the sauce to use as BBq tempeh, and it is really good. next time, I’ll decrease the PB. to 1 T. thanks for the recipe!
Oh totally, I always make it with tempeh. I’m surprised I didn’t say so in the recipe.
sounds so yummy, pizza tonight – BBQ tomorrow – thanks!
This looks amazing – can’t wait to try it this weekend with some superbowl apps!
I’ve just recently decided to go vegan and found your website – and may i say, you are truly a master! 🙂 This recipe was SO Yummy!!!! (I have to admit that I was apprehensive about eating Seitan…but I’ve been convinced that it is good! Thank you for this recipe!
Wow, a daring recipe to start out your vegan adventure. Thank you!
Oh heck yeah! Every Saturday the hubs & I hang out with our friend. I’m the only veg among us and I make them eat vegan food every Saturday. Realized the other day that I always end up making pasta/pizza… so I’m totally making this. There’s nothing like getting two hardcore carnivores to go back for thirds of tofu or tempeh 😀
Thanks for the recipe!
This was soooo yummy! And, simple to boot! I have a 3 year old so I just left off the sauce since it was a little spicy and she was super stoked with ketchup instead.
the sauce was yummy on some fried scallions and seitan then baked right in the cast iron skillet. i do think i eye-balled more than 2 tablespoons of pb though.
This was great. I made it super spicy and it was excellent. Thanks, Isa!
This was AMAZING. THANK YOU! I wish I’d doubled it.
Your sauce sounds so good! I love the addition of peanut butter….. !
Oh my goodness. This was sooooooooo good! Definitely going on the list of things to make when meat-loving friends come over for dinner.
Thank you for yet another lovely recipe Isa!
Thank you for this recipe, I loved it. I also added some tofu. My non vegan Husband ate a big bowl with me. Will be making this often.
Thanks, this rocked! Omnivore boyfriend asked if I can make a bigger batch next time, he loved…
This looks delicious! Im going to try it with tempeh. I absolutely love bbq sauce, but have never made my own. I’ll try your recipe, and use almond butter instead of peanut butter (I’m allergic). It’s cool that you use the nut butter for texture, I’m interested to discover the texture it gives the sauce.
This looks great. How long do you think the BBQ sauce would keep in the fridge? Thinking about making a double batch…
This was soooo good. Bummed there were no leftovers.
Tried this with tempeh. Thought the peanut butter was too pronounced with 2 Tbsp. but I understand it is custom-izable.
[…] the other day and made some pretty amazing dinners with it. The first thing I made was Isa’s Seitan and Broccoli with Pantry BBQ Sauce. I have a pretty well stocked pantry but most of the time when a recipe calls for pantry […]
I loved this! I had it with spagetti and it was so good! I will make it again and again, the BBQ sauce is the best I’ve ever had.
What can I sub for peanut butter? Tahini maybe?
Tahini may be a tad too bitter. I’ve had good results with cashew or almond butter.
I made this tonight and it f-ing ruled. I made extra sauce to use here and there for the rest of the week, but I kinda want to take it out of my fridge and drink it right now. I will never buy crappy, store-bought, HFCS BBQ garbage ever again.
THIS sauce looks AMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZING!!!!!
Smokey, and with attitude. Is there anything better?!?!?! 🙂
Thanks!
xo
Thanks, Isa! This was extremely delicious and so easy!
I’m gonna make this tonight to take to my dad as a gift! thanks
This is among the greatest things I have ever cooked/consumed. How often do you think I can serve this before my wife gets utterly sick of it??
Ima make this later 🙂 well the sauce, the UK seems to be afraid of gluten flour…………
and you make me LOL a lot 😀
[…] was inspired by this BBQ seitan recipe from the Post Punk Kitchen blog. Of course, you already need a pound of seitan to make this, so I used the Simple Seitan recipe […]
I paired the BBQ seitan with a Cold sesame noodles recipe from Martha Stewart. It was yummy, but next time I’ll double the BBQ sauce so I have leftovers.
Another hit!
Mine came out soupier than yours, but paired with some baked sweet potato, it made a perfect dinner… and with stuff I actually did really have on hand! I normally hate “pantry” recipes, because I never have the stuff. Thanks for making me feel like a winner!
[…] and I made some seitan, and decided to coat some of it with Isa’s pantry barbeque sauce. Obviously, we can’t really buy barbeque sauce here–at least I haven’t seen […]
Love it! Served this up with a baked sweet potato on the side. I went the easy route and used my favorite BBQ sauce (about a cup, plus 2-3 T. water) but either way, easy, filling, tasty. Thanks!!
And I should also mention that I used some of the seitan from your recipe I had leftover and frozen about a month or so ago. It was PPK all the way.
[…] to vegan some day. We won’t say “the eyes have it”, but Post Punk Kitchen’s Seitan & Broccoli With Pantry BBQ Sauce sure did deliver the goods. It was pretty quick and easy and we’d love to try the same sauce […]
This is our new favorite BBQ sauce. My tiny plastic co-writers and I made it for the first time the other night and served it over mashed sweet potatoes. It turned out great!
That is too awesome!
I made this for my (carnivorous) boyfriend and myself. Two words: crazy delicious. Thank you!
I made this recipe and loved it, the best BBQ sauce ever.
This bbq sauce is awesomesauce. Instead of the broccoli dish, I used the sauce for bbq seitan sandwiches! Thinly sliced seitan, pan-fried for a few minutes in the sauce, served on buns. I’m never buying BBQ sauce again.
I’ve only been attempting veganism for about a month so this is all just so new and amazing to me. I was just floored by the Seitan when I made it this morning, and I couldn’t wait to come home and try this recipe. Wow, just WOW!
This bbq sauce was beyond amazing. I had made seitan and was wondering what type of a dish to make with it. This is exactly what I was looking for. I didn’t have liquid smoke so I added some sauce from a can of chipotles and an extra hit of sriracha. Extra spicey and soooooooooooo good. This is a keeper.
[…] approach from the Fat Free Vegan Kitchen, then just chopping up the gluten rounds and using them in Seitan and Broccoli with Pantry BBQ Sauce. Seitan and Broccoli in (Spicy) Pantry BBQ […]
What a great recipe. I’m making it again tonight. Thanks, Isa.
Yum! Made seitan for the first time yesterday, and had this for lunch today (with some mushrooms too!). It was awesome. I shall be making that bbq sauce again, except tripling it!
[…] BBQ Seitan and Crispy Coleslaw Sandwich from Veganomicon. I whisked together the Pantry BBQ Sauce from the PPK website, thawed some pre-made seitan, and we were in business. It got rave reviews from the other member of […]