Description
Bold, flavorful, smoky, and a little spicy, this Vegan Pepperoni is obscenely close to the real thing without any cruelty or cholesterol.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 small beet, chopped (see note 1)
- 6 ounce can tomato paste
- 1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce (see note 2)
- 1/4 cup low sodium vegetable broth
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast (see note 3)
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 1/2 teaspoons chili flakes (more or less to taste)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1 2/3 cups vital wheat gluten
Instructions
- Equipment note: You’ll need a food processor for this recipe, what a perfect excuse to invest in one if you haven’t already! If you don’t have one, I recommend a Cuisinart food processor or if you cook a LOT, my baby is the Breville Sous Chef 12 Cup and it is AMAZING. I’ve also heard good things about Ninja, though my prior experience was not amazing. You can use a blender if you need to. If that is the case, do everything except add the vital wheat gluten, and transfer the mixture to a large bowl, then add the vital wheat gluten with a strong spoon (it may get stained from the beets if it’s porous, ask me how I know). Mix by hand once it gets too hard to stir until the vital wheat gluten is fully incorporated.
- Another equipment note: You’ll also need a steamer pot or a pot fitted with a steamer basket. Make sure your pot has a lid, or you can purchase a universal lid.
- Blend or mix: Add everything except the vital wheat gluten to your food processor and blend until smooth, scraping down the sides if necessary. Then add the vital wheat gluten and mix until just combined.
- Prep your steamer: Add 1-2 inches of water to the base of your steamer pot and start it to boil.
- Divide mixture in half: If you’d like to be exact, weigh the mixture on a food scale and divide exactly in half. It’ll be fine if you don’t, though, just eyeball it.
- Form the pepperoni: On a large piece of aluminum foil (I recommend the extra wide heavy duty aluminum foil), take your first ball of seitan pepperoni and compact it together really tightly with your hands on all sides. Then begin to roll it between your hands or with your hands on top of it on the foil until you get a large log, approximately 2 inches thick. Roll until it looks even, it should be about 8 inches long.
- Wrap it up: Now wrap it by rolling it up in the foil, smoothing the sides as you go. Roll fairly tightly, but don’t be overly concerned about it. Now take the edges and twist them, kind of like a piece of hard candy. Fold the ends in so they stay and repeat this step with the remaining seitan.
- Steam the seitan: Once the water in your steamer pot is boiling, add the wrapped pepperoni to the steamer insert and put on a lid. Steam on high heat for 35 minutes.
- Chill out: When the timer is up, remove the lid and the pot from heat. Let stand for 10-20 minutes, then refrigerate the pepperoni (still wrapped) until cool, at least 4 hours. It is fully edible before it’s chilled, but it will be softer. Cooling the vegan pepperoni fully will allow it to firm up. The rolled parcels will become a little inflated and very firm--this is normal. Just unwrap carefully, discard the foil, and slice the pepperoni preferably with a serrated knife. Enjoy!
- Prefer it crispy? The plant based pepperoni is fine and delicious to eat like this but if you’d prefer it crispy, I recommend cooking it in a skillet with a tiny amount of a neutral oil. I don’t typically cook with oil and I don’t think the pepperoni needs this to taste good, but it’s an option if you don’t mind cooking with oil.
- Store: You may freeze the wrapped seitan pepperoni in the foil and in a plastic bag for up to 3 months. If already opened/cut, wrap in plastic or foil and place in a freezer safe bag or container and freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
- Note 1: You only need a small beet, slightly larger than a golf ball for this recipe. I promise, you won’t taste it! Plus, beets are a great source of dietary fiber, iron, folate, manganese, vitamin C, and potassium. How’s that for a plant based pepperoni? Oh, and no peeling necessary. Just wash it thoroughly, cut off the root area, and cut into small-ish chunks so your food processor can chop it up quickly.
- Note 2: I used reduced sodium soy sauce here so it wasn’t overwhelmingly salty, but regular will work if that’s what you have. You can always dilute it a bit with water. If you can’t have soy, try No Soy instead.
- Note 3: The nutritional yeast is not super recognizable though, so don’t worry if you’re not a big fan of it. If you don’t want to buy a whole container, check the bulk bins at your local health food store.
- Note 4: Try these out on my air fryer pizza!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Snack, Meat Alternatives
- Method: Stove top
- Cuisine: American, Italian
Keywords: Vegan, Oil-Free, Nut-Free, Sugar-Free, Can Be Soy-Free, Vegan Pepperoni, Plant-based Pepperoni, Meatless Pepperoni