Serves 6 to 8
Active time: 1 hour || Total time: 2 hours
I know. I’m posting a roast recipe on the Tuesday evening before Thanksgiving. I’m sure everyone already has their menus planned and I’m late to the party. But this roast almost drove me to the brink of madness Call of Cthulu style, so I had to defeat it! And defeat it I did.
After about 20 years and twice as many tries I’ve got a fabulous centerpiece stuffed roast that I’m proud to show off to the neighbors. Succulent seitan stuffed with herbed meaty shiitakes and leeks. The seitan is mixed with pureed pinto beans to give it great, juicy texture and even a hint of pink color. It’s really similar to my sausage recipes which I used as a base recipe. The stuffing is coated with bread crumbs, which keep it perfectly packed into the roast when you slice it, instead of falling out all over the place. It all comes together when baked in a familiar tinfoil wrapping.
I don’t know what took me so long to get it right. Maybe someday I’ll be ready to talk about it. But right now, let’s get roasting!
There are a few recipe notes before you begin:
~For best results, use a salty homemade vegetable broth. Salt is integral to the flavor of the seitan, so if your broth isn’t seasoned then add a teaspoon or so of salt to it.
~You’ll also want to spoon broth over the roast before serving, to keep it from being dry. Of course you’re going to be coating it in gravy, too. But the broth is a nice touch. If you’re slicing and serving, ladle on spoonfuls of broth on each individual slice, too. You can’t have too much juice, here!
~This roast reheats perfectly. Refrigerate in its wrapper for up to 3 days before hand. When ready to serve, preheat an oven to 350 F and cook for 20 minutes. This will dry it out a bit, so use the broth hints above for sure!
~Use a steak knife for the easiest slicing.
~I used storebought breadcrumbs but if you use homemade, use 3/4 cup.
~This makes enough for 6 hungry people. If it’s not Thanksgiving or another holiday, and people are not totally stuffing their faces, it serves at least 8.
For the filling:
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 oz shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced (rough ends removed)
2 leeks, white and light green parts only, cut into thin half moons
1/2 teaspoon salt
Fresh black pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh chopped thyme
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup vegetable broth
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
For the roast
3 cloves garlic
3/4 cup cooked pinto beans, rinsed and drained (fresh or canned)
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups vital wheat gluten
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed or finely chopped
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed between your fingers
1 teaspoon dried sage, crushed between your fingers
Several dashes fresh black pepper
First prepare the filling:
Preheat a large pan, preferably cast iron, over medium heat. Saute the mushrooms and leeks in oil until soft, about 10 minutes. Add salt, pepper, garlic and thyme. Cook for about 2 more minutes, stirring often.
Sprinkle in the breadcrumbs and toss to coat. Cook the mixture, stirring very often, until the breadcrumbs are toasty and the mixture is relatively dry. This should take about 5 minutes, and the breadcrumbs should turn a few shades darker.
Drizzle in the broth and lemon juice and toss to coat until moist. If it still seems dry drizzle in a little extra olive oil. Set aside until ready to use.
Prepare the roast:
Preheat oven to 350 F. In a food processor, pulse the garlic until well chopped. Add the beans, broth, olive oil and soy sauce and puree until mostly smooth (a few pieces of bean are okay, but they should be no bigger than a pea.)
In a large mixing bowl, mix together the wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, herbs and spices. Make a well in the center and add the bean mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture starts coming together to form a ball of dough. Knead until everything is well incorporated.
Now we’re going to roll out the seitan and form the roast. Place two pieces of tin foil (about 18 inches long) horizontally in front of you. The sheet further from you should overlap the closer sheet by about 6 inches. This way you have enough foil to wrap around the whole roast.
On a separate surface, use your hands or a rolling pin to flatten the seitan into a roughly 12 x 10 rectangle. If any pieces rip, don’t worry about it, just use a pinch of dough from the ends to repair any holes.
Place the filling in the lower 1/3 of the seitan rectangle, leaving about 2 inches of space at both ends. Make sure the filling is compact, use your hands to form it into a nice, tight bundle.
Now roll! Roll the bottom part of the seitan up and over the filling. Keep rolling until in it’s in a log shape. Now pinch together the seam and pinch together the sides to seal. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it will snap into shape when baking.
Place the roll in the center of the tinfoil and roll up like a tootsie roll, making sure the ends are tightly wrapped. Transfer to a baking sheet and bake for an hour*. Rotate the roll every 20 minutes for even cooking.
* I may update the time in this recipe because I’ve gotten a few comments that said it took up to 90 minutes to cook completely! So for now I would say just do a test my poking the roll with tongs. It should feel very very firm. If it doesn’t, then bake further.
Remove from oven and let cool. Unwrap, slice and serve! (See recipe notes for keeping moist and reheating.)
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Wife & I loved it, as did 14 y/o daughter. 16 y/o daughter found it too herby and the stuffing too lemony; I’d already not included mushrooms as she dislikes them (and peas, olives, excess parsley, excess fresh coriander, dried fruit or ‘anything creamy’).
Next time we put mushrooms back in, and don’t serve eldest!
Much better that the two ‘roasts’ found in the freezer section in the UK.
Its like you read my mind! You appear to know so much about this,
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After ogling at this for months, I finally gave this and the gravy a try and they were awesome and I am not even vegan. I am always looking for good recipes to prepare for my vegan friends and family and this one is definitely a keeper.
Hi Isa, do you think you could freeze any leftovers?
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Looks amazing!
That certainly has Wow! factor! This would be lovely for any special occasion.
First I want to say I tried this recipe last year and it was really tasty! It was my first time attempting a seitan “bird” for thanksgiving and everyone- even the carnivores present- liked it : )
Our only problem was that the outside was *very* hard and overcooked, while the inside stayed soft perfectly cooked like it should have. We all just trimmed the edge off like a bread crust for a 5 year old and it was fine, but I’d like to avoid that this year if possible. Can you recommend what I might do to avoid that super-overcooking of the outer layer? I have thought of turning down the oven temp, but Im afraid the inside might not cook through. Thanks!!
Don’t have thanks giving in the uk but this is going to be the star of the show this christmas!
Anything else to use besides vital wheat gluten? I have a client who is gluten free as well as vegan.
Just made this today and followed recipe no add ins or outs, kept it in oven for 70mins and its AMAZING!! Didn’t make too long either, love it, cheers!!
REVIEW:
coming from a recent carnivore, i made this for easter in order to save myself from the unholy temptation of meat.
it was my first time making it, and i rushed it, and it still turned out pretty incredible. I didnt knead it enough so it came out slightly chewy: but is this roast delicious?
yes yes yes
this was also my first time making seitan. you will not be disaapointed!!!!
this looks amazing. If you wanted to make four at a time – do they freeze well? when should you freeze? before cooking?
heh. I made this with a can of red beans because i was somehow out of pintos, stuffed it with a couple of storebought vegan sausages, crumbled and scrambled with a giant onion and some panko, cuz that’s what was around. Even with all the sub-ins, best seitan i have ever made. DELISH A++ WILL NOM AGAIN!!
I scoured the web today for a seitan roast after making a disappointing recipe for the same, and came across yours. I should’ve known you’d do it best… your books were the first my husband and I used when we became vegan 8 years ago. Since then we experiment a lot and try other people’s recipes, and some are hit and miss, but yours, Isa, have never been a miss. Just made this scrumptious roast and I am blown away how easy it was and how amazing it tastes. Not the “vegan, I’ll get used to it, your tastebuds will change amazing”– but seriously delicious. I know what I’ll feature for thanksgiving and christmas this year! Thank you, thank you!
Isa, I adore you and your recipes. If I were to make the seitan ahead of time, could I store it in the fridge overnight and then roll out? Would it be okay to make the filling ahead of time, too? Thank you!
It looks amazing! Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe! I am very excited to try it 🙂 Happy early Thanksgiving!
Any idea if this would cook okay in a crock pot? I usually do my seitan roasts that way but they don’t contain beans. It’s just so much easier since I’m usually wrestling with two toddlers while trying to cook anything. I want to try adding the beans for a more tender roast, was just curious if you thought the slow cooker would work. Thanks!
Hi Isa,
This looks amazing! I was wondering if you bought your seitan ground up/ in granules or if you buy it in chunks and grind them up in the food processor?
Thanks!
Neither. You buy vital wheat gluten and make it using the powder. It takes a little muscle to knead but is so good.
Hi M,
The seitan is made by mixing the vital wheat gluten with spices and the wet mix of broth/beans/soy sauce/olive oil. They come together and form a roast that is very meaty once cooked.
I’m trying this out in the crock pot right now. I have to make two batches because everyone wants leftovers to take home.
I’m not Isa, btw, just a helpful internet stranger. 🙂
Happy Thanksgiving!
What gravy can be used for this? I would like something Spicy