Homemade Vegan Seitan Dumplings
If you’re looking for something a little more “meaty” than vegetable dumplings, try these homemade vegan seitan dumplings! The filling is rich and flavorful, and you don’t need tons of ingredients to get you there. Homemade (or store-bought) seitan is the primary filling ingredient. After some time spent folding, frying, and steaming, you’ll be ready to enjoy the tastiest little seitan dumplings around.
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Why I love Seitan (AKA Wheat-meat)
Those of you new to the vegan lifestyle might not have had seitan before, but those of you more familiar I’m sure have had plenty of exposure to the fantastic meat alternative. Like most (probably all?) foods that end up being labelled as “vegan” foods, seitan has roots elsewhere. Seitan comes to us from China, over 1,500 years ago. It does have connections to early vegetarianism- seitan was said to have been discovered by Buddhist monks, who used the tasty, high-protein food to help encourage others to forgo meat and not participate in killing animals. In the 1960’s, health food, vegetarianism, and macrobiotics became popular in Europe and the Americas, and seitan made it’s way west.
At it’s most basic, seitan is the protein in wheat (called gluten). It can be made from flour by washing away the starch, or it can be made with vital wheat gluten which already has the starch removed. I prefer using vital wheat gluten, as it’s easier and allows for more flavors and ingredients to be added. Some people do not like the flavor that vital wheat gluten has, and prefer to use high protein bread flour and wash it instead. Depending on how it’s made and cooked, it can be firmer or softer, have a chicken-like texture, or be chewy or smoother. It can also be made with added flavors, like miso, tofu, chickpeas, tomato paste, and much more to add flavor and texture to the wheat-meat.
I love seitan for how versatile it is. You can make such different flavors and textures while it’s made, and then use it in so many different ways once it is made. From dumplings like these, to fajitas, curries, roasts, and more, seitan can be used pretty much everywhere meat is used.
Looking for Vegan Seitan Recipes? Try one of these!
- Simple Simmered Seitan Recipe for Stir Frying (this is the seitan we used in our dumplings)
- Tandoori Seitan Kabobs with Cucumber Yogurt Salad
- Stuffed Seitan Vegan Holiday Roast
- The Best Vegan Sausage Recipe: Seitan Sausage
- Vegan Meatballs (Beetballs) Seitan and Beet Meatballs
- Simple Vegan Fajitas with Seitan
- Vegan Fish Fillets: A Versatile Vegetarian Fish Alternative
How to Make Vegan Seitan Dumplings
To make these yummy little bites, you’re going to need to make sure you have dumpling wrappers. You can make your own with just flour and water, but I generally opt for premade ones. Make sure you check the ingredients, as some will contain milk or egg products. You will also need to have half a pound of seitan. I used a simple, homemade version (recipe here), but you could use store-bought seitan as well if you have one you like.
The first step is to use a food processor to “mince” the seitan, by using the pulse function to make sure it’s nicely chopped. Also add the coconut oil (solid, not liquid), and pulse it into the seitan so it’s well distributed in the seitan. We’ll also add shredded carrots, chopped scallions, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and pepper. If you have other vegetables you want to add, chop them finely. If they have a good amount of moisture to them, you may want to sauté or steam them to release some of that moisture before adding them to the mix. Stir it all together, and then get ready to fold your dumplings.
There are lots of ways to fold dumplings- I attempted a pleated variety, but I’m not the most expert dumpling folder. I’m still working on it. Rather than trying to give you all advise here, I’m going to refer you to this video to give you some ideas. I will give you my non-professional tips though. Stay calm, feel free to try an easier folding method, and don’t worry about perfection. Your dumplings are homemade, and it’s all the more charming when they look homemade.
Once you have all your dumplings folded, it’s time to cook! Heat some oil in a skillet, making sure you’re using a skillet that you own a lid for. You don’t actually want to cook dumplings all that hot- I find starting at medium-low and decreasing the heat to low when steaming worked best for me. Place the dumplings so the pleated side stands up, and cook for a few minutes until the bottom is golden and crispy. Add a couple tablespoons of water, and quickly put the lid on your skillet as the water turns to steam. That steam will cook the inside and top of your dumplings. To avoid burning, you might want to lower the heat a little. Work in batches to cook your dumplings. Once cooked, you can make up a simple dipping sauce (I like to do soy sauce, garlic chili paste, sesame oil, and rice vinegar), top with chili oil, or eat in any way you prefer.
Homemade Vegan Seitan Dumplings
Ingredients
- ½ lb. simple seitan
- 2 tbsp. coconut oil, solid (place in the freezer if it is liquid at room temperature).
- 1/3 cup grated carrots
- 2 scallions, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp. soy sauce
- 1 tsp. sesame oil
- Salt, to taste
- Ground black pepper
- 45 round dumpling wrappers, defrosted if frozen
Instructions
- Cut the seitan into large pieces, and transfer to the food processor. Pulse, until the seitan is all finely ground. Add the coconut oil, and pulse several more times so that it is in fairly small pieces and integrated throughout the seitan.
- Add the seitan to a bowl. Chop the carrots, scallions, and garlic, and add it to the same mixing bowl. Add the sesame, soy sauce, salt and pepper, and mix well to combine.
- There are many ways to fold dumplings- if you have a way you like and know, use that. If not, here is how I did mine. Place one teaspoon of filling in the center of a round dumpling wrapper. Wet the edges of the wrapper with a little water around the filling. Hold in one hand, and bring the edges up and press together in the center. Create pleats on one side of the dumpling, by making small folds and pressing it to the other edge. Repeat on the other side. For a visual aid, please check out this guide. Set the folded dumpling aside, and continue until the remaining filling is used up.
- 4. To cook the dumplings, heat some oil in a skillet on medium-low heat. Add the dumplings with the folded side up, working in batches. Cook for several minutes, until the bottoms are golden and crispy. Add around 2 tbsp. of water to the hot pan, and quickly cover with a lid. Let cook for several more minutes, while the dumplings steam. Remove the lid, and cook until all the dumplings are cooked.
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