Making seitan in the Instant Pot is more of an art than a science. We’ve been experimenting adding different kinds of liquids, different amounts of liquids, and different kinds of seasonings. The seitan does absorb whatever flavoring you add in, so you can be pretty creative with the seasoning combinations you use to get whatever flavor you’re looking for. 

If you can’t find vital wheat gluten at your local grocery store, there are tons of brands for sale on Amazon at reasonable prices. Using a cup of gluten at a time makes quite a large amount of seitan for 1 or 2 people; you’ll find one bag will last you awhile!

This recipe is inspired by an Instant Pot recipe from veganfitness.com.

Ingredients

Servings: no idea how to quantify this. just look at the pictures!

Note: You can add or remove a lot of the seasonings as you please. I do recommend keeping the nutritional yeast, but the rest is flexible.

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten
• ¾ cup water
• 1 tbs. nutritional yeast
• 1 tbs. liquid smoke, or smoked paprika
• 1 tsp. garlic granules
• 2 tsp.-ish of whatever seasoning that complements the dish you’re adding the seitan to (e.g. cumin + chili powder for a Mexican dish)
• Options for liquids to cook the seitan in: (be warned, if you add too much of certain liquids it can make your seitan hella spicy or salty! temper it with water!)
  • Vegetable broth (this and other dark liquids will make the seitan turn a brown color)
  • Water (keeps the seitan a chicken-like color)
  • Soy sauce
  • Liquid smoke
  • Salsa
  • Mixed combination of these to create whatever flavor you’re going for

Directions

In a Kitchen Aid mixer, using the dough hook, mix the vital wheat gluten, ¾ water, and spices. Let it go until it makes a dough ball. If you don’t have a Kitchen Aid mixer, you can do this by hand in a bowl – but actually use your hands. It’s way easier than trying to do it with a spoon or spatula. However, it takes awhile to mix it properly with your hands, so I do recommend using a Kitchen Aid mixer if you have one.

After it’s turned into a dough ball, knead the dough by hand for a few minutes, then tear or cut it into smaller pieces. Keep in mind the dough will rise and expand in the pressure cooker, so cut it smaller than you think you need to. 

Place the seitan chunks/cuts in the bottom of the Instant Pot and pour in enough water (or whatever liquid you’re using) to cover the bottom of the pot. You don’t want to have liquid halfway up the seitan – that’s way too much!

We were having stir-fry so I used a combination of soy sauce and water. I actually think there was too much soy sauce because the seitan came out too salty, so I’m going to cut it back next time!

Cook the seitan on Manual setting for 16 minutes. Allow it to naturally release for at least 10 minutes.

Add the seitan to your dish and season further or eat as-is.