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Not your mama's meatloaf! Vegan garlic croutons and vital wheat gluten bind the savory Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP), veggies, and herbs in this classic dish reimagined. Top it with spiced up ketchup-based glaze or your favorite barbecue sauce.

Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 F. Toss bread cubes with 1t olive oil and 1/2t each of garlic powder, salt, and dried parsley.
Bake for about 6-7 minutes, then stir them up and bake for another 6-7 minutes or until they are crispy and beginning to brown. Set aside to cool for a few minutes and lower your oven temp to 325 F.
Once cool, pulse the croutons in a food processor until they are a fine texture. Add them to a large bowl.
Preheat your oven to 325 F. Add 5oz of bread crumbs to a large bowl. If they are unseasoned, add 1/2t of each salt, garlic powder, and dried parsley. Stir to combine.
Put the 1c of TVP in a small bowl. Heat the 3/4c beafy broth, 1T vegan worcestershire, and 1T soy sauce to steaming hot and add it to the TVP. Set aside to let it rehydrate for about 20 minutes. I usually stir it once or twice.
Next add the carrot, onion, and garlic cloves to the food processor and pulse until they are finely chopped, but not puréed.
Heat 1T of oil in a pan over medium heat, and add the veggies from the food processor and all of the spices through the pepper. Stir for a few minutes to incorporate all of the flavors, but don't overcook. Set aside.
In a separate bowl or back into the food processor if you don't feel like dirtying another dish, whisk or blend the rest of the wet ingredients.
Add the TVP, sautéed veggies, and wet mix into the large bowl with the breadcrumbs. Add the 1 1/2c of vital wheat gluten, and mix everything together. I used my hands and kneaded it for a few minutes, until I was able to form hand-sized balls that would hold together.
Line a bread/loaf pan with parchment paper and gently press the mix into the pan. Cover it with foil and cook it for 50 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix together the ingredients for the glaze. After cooking the loaf for 50 minutes, remove the foil and brush the top with about 1/3-1/2 of the glaze. Cook for another 10 minutes.
Like most seitan, this will firm up a bit and the flavors will meld together a little more by day 2, but you can eat this pretty much right out of the oven. Serve with the rest of the glaze on the side. Enjoy!
Servings 8
More Beaf & Creatureless Comfort Recipes
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 F. Toss bread cubes with 1t olive oil and 1/2t each of garlic powder, salt, and dried parsley.
Bake for about 6-7 minutes, then stir them up and bake for another 6-7 minutes or until they are crispy and beginning to brown. Set aside to cool for a few minutes and lower your oven temp to 325 F.
Once cool, pulse the croutons in a food processor until they are a fine texture. Add them to a large bowl.
Preheat your oven to 325 F. Add 5oz of bread crumbs to a large bowl. If they are unseasoned, add 1/2t of each salt, garlic powder, and dried parsley. Stir to combine.
Put the 1c of TVP in a small bowl. Heat the 3/4c beafy broth, 1T vegan worcestershire, and 1T soy sauce to steaming hot and add it to the TVP. Set aside to let it rehydrate for about 20 minutes. I usually stir it once or twice.
Next add the carrot, onion, and garlic cloves to the food processor and pulse until they are finely chopped, but not puréed.
Heat 1T of oil in a pan over medium heat, and add the veggies from the food processor and all of the spices through the pepper. Stir for a few minutes to incorporate all of the flavors, but don't overcook. Set aside.
In a separate bowl or back into the food processor if you don't feel like dirtying another dish, whisk or blend the rest of the wet ingredients.
Add the TVP, sautéed veggies, and wet mix into the large bowl with the breadcrumbs. Add the 1 1/2c of vital wheat gluten, and mix everything together. I used my hands and kneaded it for a few minutes, until I was able to form hand-sized balls that would hold together.
Line a bread/loaf pan with parchment paper and gently press the mix into the pan. Cover it with foil and cook it for 50 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix together the ingredients for the glaze. After cooking the loaf for 50 minutes, remove the foil and brush the top with about 1/3-1/2 of the glaze. Cook for another 10 minutes.
Like most seitan, this will firm up a bit and the flavors will meld together a little more by day 2, but you can eat this pretty much right out of the oven. Serve with the rest of the glaze on the side. Enjoy!
I made this the other night and tonight we are finishing it off. The flavour is complex and very tasty and the texture is neither too mushy nor too dry. I didn’t chop the carrots in the food processor and also used up a stick of celery I had languishing in my fridge, so the veg bits are possibly bigger than the recipe intended. But it all stayed together. I’m definitely going to using this recipe again. Thanks for sharing it.
Made this and after the suggested cook time of an hour, my loaf was still raw… i wound up cooking it for over another hour… what did I do wrong?
I’m not sure what you may have done – the only thing I can think is that you were possibly heavy-handed with your ingredients, especially with the more liquid ones. I might say the vegetables could have been large but I’m usually heavy-handed with those and haven’t had a problem. Could even be your oven temperature, or perhaps my own as I think my oven tends to run a bit hot. I am in the process of rewriting recipes with weight measurements, so hopefully that will help make the recipes more fail-proof in the future. I’m sorry that did not happen in time for you to make this but I hope after cooking it longer you were able to enjoy the results.
Hi, I would like to know that can make seitan carne asada meat?? Thanks
I would start with a “steak” recipe, and once you have your dough formed with seasonings, pull it into a long rope and either cut it in three pieces to braid or tie it in several knots, tightly twisting as you go. Then I’d probably fry a little on each side, wrap and steam. Once cooled to room temp you should be able to rip apart the pieces, following the grain of the twist, into shreds and/or chunks that you can marinate in whatever you like and grill on skewers or in a grill basket. Find several steak recipes here: http://seitansociety.com/recipe-category/steak/ and good luck with it!
Is there an alternative to the vital wheat gluten?
Thanks
EDIT: I’m sorry, for some reason this question is listed under a different recipe in the backend! The tofu softens the texture. It’s also important not to over wash or you could wind up with a rubbery result. The cheesecloth definitely does make the result more dense. It also helps the shape round out after knotting. It’s not necessary if you prefer something less dense, though. When I’m shredding, I don’t use it, but for slices or roasts, I prefer it for those reasons.