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–+ servings
A bowl of crumbled ground beef made from seitan.

Vegan Ground Beef

mylifeinbalancegroup.com/seitan-ground-beef/
This ground beef substitute has a meaty texture, a savory flavor, and a hearty helping of protein. Use it in any recipe that calls for raw or cooked ground beef!
Prep 15 minutes
Cook 30 minutes
Rest 10 minutes
Total 55 minutes
Recipe Makes (Approximate): 6 servings

Equipment

  • 2-cup measuring cup or larger
  • whisk
  • stand mixer bowl or large mixing bowl
  • Silicone spatula
  • stand mixer with dough hook, see Notes for alternative
  • Cutting board
  • chef's knife
  • 4 aluminum foil sheets
  • Saucepan with lid, large enough for steamer basket
  • Steamer basket
  • Tongs
  • Food processor

Ingredients

To Make the Seitan Ground Beef

  • 1 ½ cups vegetable broth (1 teaspoon broth removed)
  • 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
  • 4 tablespoons grated fresh garlic
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil (or avocado oil)
  • ¼ cup chickpea flour
  • 1 ½ cups vital wheat gluten
  • ¼ cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon onion powder
  • ½ teaspoon dried herb blend of choice (any combination of dried basil, oregano, and thyme)
  • 1 teaspoon salt (more or less to taste)

To Steam the Seitan Ground Beef

  • water
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce (or coconut aminos, optional)
  • 1 teaspoon smashed garlic (optional)

Instructions

To Make the Seitan Ground Beef

  • Add 1 ½ cups vegetable broth, 1 teaspoon liquid smoke, 4 tablespoons grated fresh garlic, and 2 tablespoons olive oil to measuring cup. Whisk vigorously until ingredients are fully incorporated. Set measuring cup aside.
  • Add ¼ cup chickpea flour, 1 ½ cups vital wheat gluten, ¼ cup nutritional yeast, 1 teaspoon paprika, ½ teaspoon onion powder, ½ teaspoon dried herb blend of choice, and 1 teaspoon salt to stand mixer bowl. Mix ingredients together with hands or silicone spatula until well incorporated.
  • Push dry ingredients to sides of bowl, creating well in center of dry ingredient mixture. Carefully pour wet ingredients into well.
  • Stir all ingredients together with silicone spatula until fully combined. When combined, dough will begin to pull away from sides of bowl.
  • Secure bowl under stand mixer with dough hook attachment. Knead prepared dough on medium speed 1 to 3 minutes or until mixture becomes sticky and develops long, stringy texture resembling elastic.
  • Once stringy texture develops, turn off stand mixer and let dough rest 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, knead dough on medium speed 30 seconds more.
  • Transfer dough to cutting board. Cut dough into 4 equally-sized pieces, then place each piece of dough in center of one sheet of aluminum foil.
  • Loosely wrap each piece of seitan dough in aluminum foil, leaving enough space for seitan dough to expand slightly during steaming. Set wrapped seitan aside to rest 5 minutes.

To Steam and Crumble the Seitan Ground Beef

  • Add 1 inch of water to saucepan. If desired, stir in 1 teaspoon soy sauce and 1 teaspoon smashed garlic. Fit saucepan with steamer basket, making sure top of water does not touch bottom of steamer basket.
  • Heat saucepan over high heat until water begins to boil. Once boiling, place foil-wrapped seitan in steamer basket and cover saucepan with lid.
  • Steam seitan 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, use tongs to carefully remove steamed seitan from steamer basket and set aside. Let seitan cool to room temperature.
  • Once seitan has cooled, unwrap and discard foil. Tear seitan into smaller pieces and add pieces to food processor.
  • Pulse seitan in food processor just until all seitan is ground into small pieces. Be careful not to over-grind seitan.
  • Use seitan crumbles immediately as you would cooked or raw ground beef. Alternately, transfer crumbled seitan to airtight container and refrigerate or freeze until ready to use.

Recipe Notes

  • Stand Mixer: If you don't have (or don't want to drag out and/or clean) a stand mixer, you can knead the dough by hand instead. Transfer the dough to a flat surface lightly dusted with vital wheat gluten and knead the dough like bread until the long, stringy texture develops. Let it rest 10 minutes, then knead it again for 1-2 minutes.
  • Vegetable Broth: Remove 1 teaspoon of vegetable broth from the 1 ½ cups before adding the other wet ingredients. That teaspoon will be replaced with 1 teaspoon liquid smoke. If you don't use the liquid smoke, use the full 1 ½ cups of broth.
  • Coconut Aminos: To keep this recipe soy-free, use coconut aminos to steam the seitan instead of soy sauce.
  • Storage: Refrigerate ground seitan in an airtight container up to 7 days. Freeze ground seitan in an airtight container (or food-safe sealable freezer bag) up to 6 months.

Nutrition Information (Approximate)

Serving Size: 1servingCalories: 191calProtein: 25gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 639mgPotassium: 142mgTotal Carbs: 11gFiber: 2gSugar: 1gNet Carbs: 9gVitamin A: 296IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 59mgIron: 2mg
Recipe By: Cheryl Malik
https://mylifeinbalancegroup.com/seitan-ground-beef/