This vegan fried chicken is the very best! The meaty and flavor packed vegan ‘chicken’ is made from seitan, battered in an irresistibly crispy batter and fried to crispy perfection.
What Makes This Recipe SO Good….
- This vegan fried ‘chicken’ is a meatless version of classic fried chicken that you will absolutely love. It’s super crispy with that perfect crunchy golden coating that you know and love.
- It’s triple dipped, first in a flour coating, then a vegan buttermilk batter and then again in the flour coating so that you get a delicious crispy coating that does NOT flake off.
- It’s moist on the inside and crispy and crunchy on the outside, with that gorgeous ‘craggy’ look.
- The vegan ‘chicken’ is perfectly seasoned with a fabulous ‘meaty’ texture. It’s made from seitan, which is our favorite method for vegan ‘meat’ recipes, and inspired by our vegan chicken recipe, and vegan turkey roast.
- It’s a little time consuming because we’re making the ‘chicken’ from scratch! But it’s 100% worth the effort. And you’ll love it dipped in vegan ranch dressing.
Ingredients For The Seitan Chicken Pieces:
Seitan Chicken Ingredient Notes:
- Vegan chicken stock – or broth. Better than Bouillon has a ‘no-chicken’ broth that is perfect, or use any chicken stock or broth that is vegan by ingredient. You can also use vegetable stock.
- Chickpeas – we used one 15-ounce can of chickpeas. If you want to use cooked chickpeas (not canned) then you can use 1 and ½ cups.
- Vital wheat gluten – is the ‘seitan’ of the recipe and creates the ‘meaty’ chewy texture. It cannot be substituted. If you need a gluten free recipe then scroll down to our recipe FAQ for how to make this recipe with tofu instead of seitan.
- Nutritional yeast – is for flavor!
- Vegan chicken spice – or vegan poultry seasoning.
- Coconut oil – should ideally be refined so that you don’t get any coconut flavor in your seitan.
Ingredients For The Coating and Batter:
Coating and Batter Ingredient Notes:
- Vegan buttermilk – we make our vegan buttermilk with soy milk as it has the richest creamiest consistency. I really recommend soy milk for this otherwise the batter may be too thin.
- Nutritional yeast – is amazing for flavor. Don’t skip it!
- Cornstarch – this really helps to bring up the crispy factor!
- Oil – for frying (not pictured). We used canola oil, which works great as it’s a high smoke point oil. You can use a different oil if you like but make sure it has a high smoke point, so that it’s suitable for high heat frying.
How To Make Vegan Fried Chicken
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
Vegan Chicken:
- Add chickpeas, vegan chicken stock, melted refined coconut oil, salt, nutritional yeast, vegan chicken spice, dried sage, thyme, rosemary, onion powder and garlic powder to the food processor and process until smooth.
- Transfer to a mixing bowl and add vital wheat gluten. Mix together until it forms into a dough.
- Get in there with your hands and knead the dough for a minute to a minute and a half, until the dough feels soft but firm.
- Shape it into a loaf shape with your hands.
- Wrap the dough up in foil.
- Place it into a steamer basket over a pot of boiling water and steam it for 1 hour.
- After steaming for 1 hour, let it cool at room temperature for 20 minutes before you unwrap it from the foil.
- Then unwrap it from the foil and leave it to cool for another 10 minutes.
- Slice the loaf into ½ inch slices. We got 8 slices.
- Then cut each slice in half, so that you have 16 strips.
- Place the strips onto a wire rack.
Batter and Fry:
- Add all purpose flour, cornstarch, vegan chicken spice, salt, ground black pepper, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder and cayenne pepper to a mixing bowl and mix together.
- Prepare your vegan buttermilk by adding 1 tablespoon lemon juice to a measuring jug and then adding soy milk up to the 1 cup (240ml) line. It will curdle into buttermilk.
- In a second mixing bowl, add the vegan buttermilk, all purpose flour, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika and cayenne pepper and whisk together.
- Place a strip of vegan chicken into the dry flour mix to coat it on all sides, then return to the wire rack. Repeat for all the strips.
- Then place a strip of vegan chicken into the wet batter to coat it on all sides.
- Then place the strip back into the dry flour mix to coat it on all sides.
- Gently place the strip back onto the wire rack.
- Repeat until all your strips are coated.
- Pour oil into a high sided pan until the oil is ½ inch deep.
- Heat the oil until it reaches 350°F (180°C). Use a deep frying thermometer to check the temperature so that you know when it has reached the right temp to start frying.
- Using tongs place a few coated vegan chicken strips into the hot oil. They should sizzle when they hit the oil.
- Fry for 3-5 minutes until golden brown.
- Using your tongs again, remove the vegan fried chicken from the pan and place them onto a baking tray lined with paper towels to absorb the excess oil.
- Add more strips to the hot oil and repeat until all your strips are fried and crispy.
Top Tip: Use a deep frying thermometer. If you oil is too hot when your vegan chicken pieces go in, the coating will burn. If it’s too cold, then too much oil will be absorbed and they will be soggy. A thermometer is the best way to check the temperature of your oil and get it just right.
Serving Suggestions
This vegan fried chicken is divine served with vegan ranch dressing for dipping and some fries on the side!
If you want to make more of an occasion of it, then it also goes great alongside vegan mac and cheese or butternut squash mac and cheese, vegan baked beans, vegan cornbread, vegan biscuits, vegan coleslaw or vegan mashed potatoes.
Recipe FAQ
What can be used instead of seitan? If you’re not feeling inspired to make the ‘chicken’ from scratch then use extra firm tofu instead. You will need at least 24 ounces (680g) of extra firm tofu. Press the tofu for 30 minutes before you start and then cut the tofu into 16 pieces and then follow the rest of the recipe as written.
Can this recipe be made gluten-free? For a gluten free vegan fried chicken I recommend using tofu (as above) and then replacing the all purpose flour with a gluten free all purpose flour blend.
Storing and Reheating
Leftovers keep very well in the fridge for 4-5 days. They lose a little of their crispiness but not that much! We enjoyed leftovers cold over a few days and also sliced them up for sandwiches.
They can be reheated in the microwave or in the oven at 350°F for 10-15 minutes until heated through. If you have an air fryer then reheat them in the air fryer at 350°F for 5-10 minutes as that will also help to crisp them up again.
More Seitan Recipes
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Fried Chicken
This vegan fried chicken is the very best! The meaty and flavor packed vegan 'chicken' is made from seitan, battered in an irresistibly crispy batter and fried to crispy perfection.
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Servings: 16
Calories: 184kcal
Ingredients
Vegan Chicken:
- 15 ounce Can Chickpeas Drained and Rinsed
- 1 cup Vegan Chicken Stock (240ml) or Vegetable Stock
- 2 Tablespoons Refined Coconut Oil Melted
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 2 Tablespoons Nutritional Yeast Flakes
- 2 teaspoons Vegan Chicken Spice or Poultry Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon Dried Sage
- 1 teaspoon Dried Thyme
- 1 teaspoon Dried Rosemary
- 1 teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 ½ cups Vital Wheat Gluten (225g)
Flour Coating:
- 1 cup All Purpose Flour (125g)
- ½ cup Cornstarch (64g)
- 1 Tablespoon Vegan Chicken Spice or Poultry Seasoning
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- 1 teaspoon Paprika
- 1 teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ½ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
Buttermilk Batter:
- 1 cup Vegan Buttermilk (240ml) 1 tablespoon lemon juice + soy milk up to the 1 cup line
- ¼ cup All Purpose Flour (31g)
- ¼ cup Nutritional Yeast Flakes
- ¼ teaspoon Onion Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Paprika
- ⅛ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
Frying:
- Canola Oil or other high heat oil
Instructions
Vegan Chicken:
- Add chickpeas, vegan chicken stock, melted refined coconut oil, salt, nutritional yeast, vegan chicken spice, dried sage, thyme, rosemary, onion powder and garlic powder to the food processor and process until smooth.
- Transfer to a mixing bowl and add vital wheat gluten. Mix together until it forms into a dough.
- Get in there with your hands and knead the dough for a minute to a minute and a half, until the dough feels soft but firm. Shape it into a loaf shape with your hands.
- Wrap the dough up in foil. Place it into a steamer basket over a pot of boiling water and steam it for 1 hour.
- After steaming for 1 hour, let it cool at room temperature for 20 minutes before you unwrap it from the foil. Then unwrap it from the foil and leave it to cool for another 10 minutes.
- Slice the loaf into ½ inch slices. We got 8 slices.
- Then cut each slice in half, so that you have 16 strips. Place the strips onto a wire rack.
Batter and Fry:
- Add all purpose flour, cornstarch, vegan chicken spice, salt, ground black pepper, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder and cayenne pepper to a mixing bowl and mix together.
- Prepare your vegan buttermilk by adding 1 tablespoon lemon juice to a measuring jug and then adding soy milk up to the 1 cup (240ml) line. It will curdle into buttermilk.
- In a second mixing bowl, add the vegan buttermilk, all purpose flour, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika and cayenne pepper and whisk together.
- Place a strip of vegan chicken into the dry flour mix to coat it on all sides, then return to the wire rack. Repeat for all the strips.
- Then place a strip of vegan chicken into the wet batter to coat it on all sides. Then place the strip back into the dry flour mix to coat it on all sides. Gently place the strip back onto the wire rack. Repeat until all your strips are coated.
- Pour oil into a high sided pan until the oil is ½ inch deep. Heat the oil until it reaches 350°F (180°C). Use a deep frying thermometer to check the temperature so that you know when it has reached the right temp to start frying.
- Using tongs place a few coated vegan chicken strips into the hot oil. They should sizzle when they hit the oil. Fry for 3-5 minutes until golden brown.
- Using your tongs again, remove the vegan fried chicken from the pan and place them onto a baking tray lined with paper towels to absorb the excess oil.
- Add more strips to the hot oil and repeat until all your strips are fried and crispy.
Notes
- Chickpeas – we used one 15-ounce can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed. If you want to use cooked chickpeas (not canned) then you can use 1 and ½ cups.
- Vegan chicken stock – or broth. Better than Bouillon has a ‘no-chicken’ broth that is perfect, or use any chicken stock or broth that is vegan by ingredient. You can also use vegetable stock.
- Vital wheat gluten – is the ‘seitan’ of the recipe and creates the ‘meaty’ chewy texture. It cannot be substituted in this recipe. See below for a seitan alternative.
- Canola oil – works great as it’s a high smoke point oil. You can use a different oil if you like but make sure it has a high smoke point, so that it’s suitable for high heat frying.
- Seitan alternative: If you’re not feeling inspired to make the ‘chicken’ from scratch then simply use extra firm tofu instead. You will need at least 24 ounces (680g) of extra firm tofu. Press the tofu for 30 minutes before you start and then cut the tofu into 16 pieces. Follow the rest of the recipe as written.
- Gluten-free: For a gluten free vegan fried chicken I recommend using tofu (as above) and then replacing the all purpose flour with a gluten free all purpose flour blend.
- Storing: Leftovers keep very well in the fridge for 4-5 days. They lose a little of their crispiness but not that much! We enjoyed leftovers cold over a few days and also sliced them up for sandwiches.
- Reheating: They can be reheated in the microwave or in the oven at 350°F for 10-15 minutes until heated through. If you have an air fryer then reheat them in the air fryer at 350°F for 5-10 minutes as that will also help to crisp them up again.
Nutrition
Serving: 1Piece | Calories: 184kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 325mg | Potassium: 144mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 123IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 56mg | Iron: 2mg
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? Rate it & leave your feedback in the comments section below, or tag @lovingitvegan on Instagram and hashtag #lovingitvegan
Question for Alison, I’m planning on making this for a small international food festival. What else could I use besides chick peas? Hello to another fellow South African.
Hi Jackie, you could possibly use a different kind of bean, but I haven’t tested other options. All the best! 🙂
Must try! It was delicious and not difficult at all! Thanks for sharing! yum
That’s so great to hear Val! Thanks so much for the awesome review.
Hi Alison! Is the coconut oil to firm it up? What can I sub for that?
You could use a different oil or omit it.
I made this vegan fried chicken. It turned out really well and was so yummy. Will definitely be making it again.
Thanks Sonia!
Alison this looks really good! Do you think it would work in an air fryer? Thanks
Hi Molly, I think you ‘could’ do it in an air fryer but it would be totally different. What makes this special is the frying part of it, which of course is not what everyone is looking for, but I just don’t think it would work nearly so well in the air fryer.