As Memorial Day and barbecue season approach, I’ve been experimenting a bit more with making vegan alternatives to throw onto the grill! These Vegan Meaty BBQ Skewers came out so well that it definitely won’t be the last time that I’ve worked with seitan! They come together with my favorite childhood dip – garlic aioli and are heavenly chewy, perfectly marinated and super smokey! Plus, they’re loaded with plant protein and even convinced my omnivore boyfriends! 🙂
If you’re wondering what these beauties are made from, it’s a combination of wheat gluten (which achieves that chewy, meaty texture), chickpea flour and nutritional yeast and heaps of spices. Because in the end, the thing that makes meat taste good are spices and a proper marinade. Just that these Vegan Meaty BBQ Skewers have 0% cruelty or dead animals involved, yet 100% the taste!
And don’t even get me started on the dip! You definitely shouldn’t be eating this if you have a hot date the next day, as the garlic will stick with you for days, but the more the merrier in my opinion! 😉
If you decide to give these Vegan Meaty BBQ Skewers a try, let me know! Leave a comment and rate it – it’s so helpful to me and other readers. And don’t forget to take a picture and tag me (@thetastyk) and #thetastyk on Instagram! I love seeing what you come up with. Love and enjoy! ♥
- Meaty Skewers:
- 1.5 cups wheat gluten
- ⅛ cup nutritional yeast
- ⅛ cup chickpea flour
- 1 Tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 Tbsp barbecue spice (optional)
- 1 Tbsp onion powder
- 1 Tbsp garlic powder
- ⅛ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup water
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
Marinade:- ⅓ cup tomato sauce
- ¼ cup oil
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp molasses/date syrup
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar/lemon juice
- ½ tsp liquid smoke
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp barbecue spice
- 1 Tbsp garlic powder
- 1 Tbsp onion powder
- 1 Tbsp sweet paprika
- 1 Tbsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- ½ tsp black pepper
- salt, to taste
Vegan Aioli:- ½ cup sunflower oil
- ⅓ cup soy milk
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 Tbsp parsley, finely chopped
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- In a medium bowl, combined all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine all wet ingredients. Pour the wet into the dry ingredients and use your hands to knead the mixture into a firm dough for 3 minutes. The dough should be firm and not too soft (otherwise add some more wheat gluten.
- Divide the dough into 7-8 pieces and knead them into long, thin strips. Use your hands to shape them into long sausages. Take a skewer and wind the strips around the skewer, piercing the ends onto the skewers so they’ll hold.
- For the marinade, combine all ingredients into a rectangular box that is wide enough to fit the meaty strips, then whisk all ingredients together. Place the strips into the marinade and cover them evenly. Let them marinade for 2-4 hours or overnight to soak in all the flavors.
- In the meantime, prepare the aioli. Simply combine oil, milk, lemon juice and mustard in a narrow glass jar and blend with an immersion blender until creamy. Add more milk to make it smoother or more oil to make it more firm. Then whisk in the remaining ingredients and place in the fridge.
- Once your skewers are marinated either grill them until they’re super crispy (definitely the best option), bake them in the oven at 200°C/400°F or pan fry them in a bit of oil.
Hi, for the meaty skewers is it 1 and half a cup
yes!
I was looking forward to trying this, but it’s a no for us. I’ve made my own gluten/seitan for over 30 years. It’s really got to be simmered, even for a half hour. I followed this recipe and grilled the kebobs and the insides were too mushy. I’m IN LOVE with the marinade, though. I printed out the recipe for that and will use it again next time I make seitan to grill. Thanks so much for your site.
30 years? :-O That’s impressive! Totally appreciate the feedback! I’m fairly new to seitan cooking and I guess there’s so many different ways to make it you just gotta figure out what’s your favorite and stick to that. I’ve tried a few other recipes with simmering but wasn’t convinced with the results, but could have also been the marinade there. I’ll keep experimenting and trying and sharing recipes though! 😉 Super happy you loved the marinade!
Can these bbq sewers be frozen before or after cooking themsandy
To be honest I haven’t done that yet so I’m not quite sure how it would affect the texture. If I had to guess I’d freeze them before cooking but really not sure. I know that freezing tofu really changes its texture but not sure with seitan!
Where did you get the BBQ seasoning and what’s in it, looks delicious, can’t wait to try, thank you
Hi, thank you for the recipe.
Unfortunately, it’s not for me. I tried it today and it was incredibly rubbery. My family only ate one bite and the rest had to be discarded which was a shame. I’m used to steaming seitan for an hour and it doesn’t get that rubbery elastic texture. Do you have any suggestions on where I could have gone wrong? I notice that you omit a time estimate for oven baking. On a plus note, the marinade gets two thumbs up!
Kind regards.
Thanks for the recipe! After reading the comments I decided to simmer the skewers before marinating them and I think it worked very well! I just let them simmer in broth (umami taste) for 30min, then let them cool down and marinate for a few hours. I thought they were really tasty and not rubbery at all. It was my first time making seitan too 🙂
Great recipe!
Amazing! Thanks for the feedback 🙂 So happy to hear!