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Grill Ready Seitan Burger

I love a black bean burger, but I dislike that they immediately fall apart when you bite into them. Plus, they don't offer any real kind of chew texture. To remedy that I've combined a few vegan protein sources and a unique cooking method to make a vegan burger that you can grill and chew! If you want the full "Big Mac" recipe check out the rest of the blog post for the individual components, or you can just enjoy this burger recipe and eat it however you'd like. You're a grown-up and can make your own decisions.
Servings - 16 patties

Ingredients

  • 1 cup TVP (Bob's Red Mill is an easy to find product)
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 cups vital wheat gluten
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • 1 tablespoon smoked paprika (Or use regular paprika)
  • 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth (low/no sodium )
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons liquid smoke (Can omit, but it does add flavor)
  • 1 tablespoon vegan Worcester sauce
  • 2 tablespoons avocado oil (Or another neutral oil like canola)

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 F.
  • Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
  • Bring the water to a boil, turn off heat, stir in TVP. Cover and let sit while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
  • In a large bowl whisk together the wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, and smoked paprika. Set aside.
  • In a measuring cup mix together the vegetable broth, soy sauce, liquid smoke, Worcester sauce, and avocado oil.
  • Toss the soaked TVP with the dry ingredients until completely coated. It should look like gravel. Pour in the liquid mix and stir using a heavy spoon. Mix until no dry spots remain. The dough should stick together and it is normal for some TVP to not stay in the dough.
  • Roll dough out on counter until it forms a log. Divide into 16 equal pieces. Roll and then flatten each piece into a 4" diameter patty. Place the formed patties on the baking sheets. Cover the baking sheet with aluminum foil (that step is crucial) and bake for 15 minutes. Carefully remove foil, flip the patties, bake for 10 minutes longer.
  • The burgers are now grill ready! You could enjoy them as is or grill them for a couple minutes on each side, make sure to oil your grill grates, or you can lightly fry them in a pan to get a crisp exterior.

Notes

You could make the patties thicker by dividing them by less than 16; however, they cook better at this thickness. 
Don't skip the foil cover while baking. Baking without foil will dry the patties out considerably and make them very tough. The foil traps in moisture which makes them both fully cooked and able to be grilled. 
If freezing, allow the patties to completely cool prior to storing in a freezer bag or wrapping in the foil that you used to bake them. In order to use them post-freezing, allow them to thaw in the refrigerator rather than defrosting in the microwave. Microwaving will dry them out and make them tough.