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As a vegan, I've eaten some pretty good gyros over the years, but, trust me, nothing comes even close to this one!
I promise, if you make it, you will become a gyro snob, just like I am now.
As soon as this site's author Jen posted her new Vegan Steak recipe, I tried it and loved it, and saw its Gyro potential, with just a few minor tweaks, to Greek it all up. The following is a love child of Jen's original steak recipe, and my add ons.
Seriously, eating this, you will feel that ocean breeze and will taste summer in Greece. No other way of explaining it. You will moan and shoulder dance, and Opa! with joy.
Plz make sure you make the traditional tzatziki sauce and greek salad too (included in this recipe), so your taste buds get a full first-class trip to Greece!
Ingredients
Directions
First, start by washing 2,5 lb of flour until almost no starch is left.
See the *Wash the Flour Method* tab on this website for pictorial and detailed info on how to do it, if you have never done it, that is.
For this, I washed 2,5 lb of King Arthur Bread Flour with 12.7% protein.
After washing, squeeze the water out of your gluten, and rest in a colander for 30 mins to an hour, to lose as much water as possible.
Occasionally flip it so it does not stick, and squeeze out more water.
*Optional- after the colander rest, let your gluten relax some more in the fridge, over the next day or two. It helps it lose even more water, and develop into a smooth stretchy gluten ball. This does not need to all be finished on the same day.
Do as much as you want, when you can. Seitan is patient that way.
Once rested, whether the same day or for a few days, add the seasoning to your gluten.
In a food processor, tear up your gluten ball, add the listed seasonings and a few drops of red food dye, and process with a blade attachment (not a dough one!) until fully combined.
Place your seasoned gluten in a container, with a lid, and give it some time to rearrange after the food processor tore it all up again. 1 to 2 hours would do, but you can also just call it a day at this point, and have it in the fridge for a day or two.
It will lose a lot more water, and that's expected. There is a lot of seasoning in there, and it will all come together beautifully, so no worries.
Once your gluten is well-rested, smooth, and stretchy, start on the final shape.
Stretch it as long as it allows you, and cut it into 3 strips, but leave the top connected still.
Oil up your hands, oil up the strands, and braid the gluten, pulling it even longer, as you go. Tuck the final ends in, and fold the braid on itself.
Also, see Jen's original Vegan Steak recipe for a pictorial on braiding.
On med heat, sauté with oil, flipping sides, until lightly browned. Remove the pan from heat.
When the oil isn't sizzling anymore, add the rest of the simmering ingredients, and bring it to a low simmer.
Do not boil!
Simmer on low, flipping sides often, for 30 mins, or until most of the liquid is cooked away.
After the fry and simmer, rest your seitan for 10-15 minutes, so you can more easily manage it for the next step.
Once somewhat cooled, roll your seitan in its dry seasonings, then wrap it tightly in oiled aluminum foil. Then, wrap in one more foil, to further help it stay in place, and not expand too much.
Get your steamer or Instapot ready, and steam on low for 1 hour and 20 mins, flipping halfway.
After the steam, allow it to cool off on the counter, then transfer it to your refrigerator overnight. It needs an overnight rest in the fridge, so it can firm up, and flavor form properly. It will not be ready to eat on the same day, so be prepared to resist!
When ready, discard the foils, and tear your gyro seitan meat into shreds, using your hands, not a knife, so you see the long “muscle” shreds, and can better determine the length and thickness you want.
If any of the seasonings is stuck to the foils, roll your shredded seitan in it, not wasting it, because that is where a lot of the flavor is.
In a lightly oiled pan, quickly pan fry the shreds, so they get browned all over, then allow them to cool off for 20-30 mins, or until you get the rest of your gyros necessities ready.
To assemble the gyro, you will need:
- Warmed up flat bread or pocketless pita (Pan fry with a little oil before wrapping it up. This will help it soften up, become more bendable for folding, as well as more flavorful)
- Vegan Gyro seitan meat (I get 4 very large gyros out of this recipe)
- Vegan Tzatziki sauce
- Greek salad with greek dressing
- French fries (Do NOT skimp on fries inside your gyros. It's the Greek way!)
This gyro is full and filling, and you will need something to hold it together.
I use aluminum foil because it's authentic to what they did in Greece, but if you are avoiding it, use parchment paper. Aluminum holds it best tho, bc it's firm and allows everything to stay in its designed place. Also, pealing it as you eat, is just so Greek street food!
▪ 1 cup unsweetened cashew yogurt (Forager brand is my favorite for this. Soy yogurt could do in a pinch, but avoid coconut and almond ones, bc they mess up the sauce taste)
▪ 2 tsp garlic powder
▪ ¾ tsp salt
▪ ¼ tsp black pepper
▪ 2 TBSP lemon juice
▪ 2 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
▪ 2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
▪ 2 mini seedless cucumbers (grated, then wrapped in a towel and pressed dry, to remove all excess water. Try to get as much water out, as possible, because if left in, it will dilute your tzatziki sauce.)
▪ 3 small seedless cucumbers, or 1 large, cubed
▪ handful of cherry tomatoes, diced
▪ 1/2 small red onion, diced
▪ handful of pitted kalamata olives, diced
▪ 1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
▪ 1 TBSP red wine vinegar
▪ 2 tsp dried oregano
▪ 1 tsp sea salt
Ingredients
Directions
First, start by washing 2,5 lb of flour until almost no starch is left.
See the *Wash the Flour Method* tab on this website for pictorial and detailed info on how to do it, if you have never done it, that is.
For this, I washed 2,5 lb of King Arthur Bread Flour with 12.7% protein.
After washing, squeeze the water out of your gluten, and rest in a colander for 30 mins to an hour, to lose as much water as possible.
Occasionally flip it so it does not stick, and squeeze out more water.
*Optional- after the colander rest, let your gluten relax some more in the fridge, over the next day or two. It helps it lose even more water, and develop into a smooth stretchy gluten ball. This does not need to all be finished on the same day.
Do as much as you want, when you can. Seitan is patient that way.
Once rested, whether the same day or for a few days, add the seasoning to your gluten.
In a food processor, tear up your gluten ball, add the listed seasonings and a few drops of red food dye, and process with a blade attachment (not a dough one!) until fully combined.
Place your seasoned gluten in a container, with a lid, and give it some time to rearrange after the food processor tore it all up again. 1 to 2 hours would do, but you can also just call it a day at this point, and have it in the fridge for a day or two.
It will lose a lot more water, and that's expected. There is a lot of seasoning in there, and it will all come together beautifully, so no worries.
Once your gluten is well-rested, smooth, and stretchy, start on the final shape.
Stretch it as long as it allows you, and cut it into 3 strips, but leave the top connected still.
Oil up your hands, oil up the strands, and braid the gluten, pulling it even longer, as you go. Tuck the final ends in, and fold the braid on itself.
Also, see Jen's original Vegan Steak recipe for a pictorial on braiding.
On med heat, sauté with oil, flipping sides, until lightly browned. Remove the pan from heat.
When the oil isn't sizzling anymore, add the rest of the simmering ingredients, and bring it to a low simmer.
Do not boil!
Simmer on low, flipping sides often, for 30 mins, or until most of the liquid is cooked away.
After the fry and simmer, rest your seitan for 10-15 minutes, so you can more easily manage it for the next step.
Once somewhat cooled, roll your seitan in its dry seasonings, then wrap it tightly in oiled aluminum foil. Then, wrap in one more foil, to further help it stay in place, and not expand too much.
Get your steamer or Instapot ready, and steam on low for 1 hour and 20 mins, flipping halfway.
After the steam, allow it to cool off on the counter, then transfer it to your refrigerator overnight. It needs an overnight rest in the fridge, so it can firm up, and flavor form properly. It will not be ready to eat on the same day, so be prepared to resist!
When ready, discard the foils, and tear your gyro seitan meat into shreds, using your hands, not a knife, so you see the long “muscle” shreds, and can better determine the length and thickness you want.
If any of the seasonings is stuck to the foils, roll your shredded seitan in it, not wasting it, because that is where a lot of the flavor is.
In a lightly oiled pan, quickly pan fry the shreds, so they get browned all over, then allow them to cool off for 20-30 mins, or until you get the rest of your gyros necessities ready.
To assemble the gyro, you will need:
- Warmed up flat bread or pocketless pita (Pan fry with a little oil before wrapping it up. This will help it soften up, become more bendable for folding, as well as more flavorful)
- Vegan Gyro seitan meat (I get 4 very large gyros out of this recipe)
- Vegan Tzatziki sauce
- Greek salad with greek dressing
- French fries (Do NOT skimp on fries inside your gyros. It's the Greek way!)
This gyro is full and filling, and you will need something to hold it together.
I use aluminum foil because it's authentic to what they did in Greece, but if you are avoiding it, use parchment paper. Aluminum holds it best tho, bc it's firm and allows everything to stay in its designed place. Also, pealing it as you eat, is just so Greek street food!
▪ 1 cup unsweetened cashew yogurt (Forager brand is my favorite for this. Soy yogurt could do in a pinch, but avoid coconut and almond ones, bc they mess up the sauce taste)
▪ 2 tsp garlic powder
▪ ¾ tsp salt
▪ ¼ tsp black pepper
▪ 2 TBSP lemon juice
▪ 2 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
▪ 2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
▪ 2 mini seedless cucumbers (grated, then wrapped in a towel and pressed dry, to remove all excess water. Try to get as much water out, as possible, because if left in, it will dilute your tzatziki sauce.)
▪ 3 small seedless cucumbers, or 1 large, cubed
▪ handful of cherry tomatoes, diced
▪ 1/2 small red onion, diced
▪ handful of pitted kalamata olives, diced
▪ 1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
▪ 1 TBSP red wine vinegar
▪ 2 tsp dried oregano
▪ 1 tsp sea salt
Really good! I made it over three days (1st day: washing, 2nd day: seasoning, 3rd day cooking), and the only hard part was waiting for the 4th day to taste it. Taste, texture and look are amazing. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!! 🙂
Saw it on SAS fb page! Looking great!
I hope you made the tzatziki, salad, and fries too. 🤞