Hot open faced sandwich with seitan & gravy

The dish was especially popular around Thanksgiving and Christmas, when there were leftovers of all of the components waiting to be used in the refrigerator.

The recipe basically involved compiling, which makes for some very quick & easy weeknight dining.

Obviously I don't eat turkeys anymore. But it's so easy to make a vegan version using seitan chicken, homemade mashed potatoes, and vegan turkey gravy on sliced bread.

Open faced sandwiches use just one slice of bread. Then they're covered in toppings with no second piece of bread to block its "face."

This hearty sandwich can't be picked up & eaten like most sandwiches. It requires a knife and fork.

The smush of the mashed potatoes and bread combine with savory gravy, and underneath, toothsome seitan. I especially love how the yeasty flavor of the bread stands out from underneath.

The coziness is at an 11 at least.

In this post:

At the holidays, we are often flush with leftovers.

By taking odds and ends we can repurpose them into something even better than the sum of its parts.

Pull out any seitan, gravy, and mashed potatoes from the refrigerator & reheat.

By the way, seitan, gravy, mashed potatoes, and bread are also freezer-friendly.

So it's easy to make a bunch, and throw the separate components into the freezer for future meals to thaw, heat, and enjoy.

Here are the ingredients you will need to make this recipe.

Oil: Avocado oil is my go-to. Use whatever cooking oil you prefer.

Seitan chicken: I like to use my own homemade seitan chicken. However, feel free to use whatever seitan you enjoy – including turkey-style, chicken-style, or vegan holiday roast.

Bread: Any kind of bread works for a hot open faced sandwich. I use the whole grain slices that I typically have on hand for sandwiches.

However, you could easily go with white bread for the nostalgia factor. Sourdough would also be nice here.

Mashed potatoes: Mashed potatoes add a creamy, comforting layer to this sandwich. Vegan mashed potatoes are easy to make with non-dairy butter and milk.

Gravy: Vegan turkey gravy is super simple to prepare, and it’s ready in just 10 minutes.

Green onion: Also known as a scallion, this garnish adds bright color to a beige dish.

This section shows how to make this recipe at a glance with process photos of the steps. For complete ingredient amounts & instructions, keep scrolling to the recipe card below.

Cut seitan chicken into thin slices. Warm the seitan in a skillet with a little oil.

Once the slices have browned, add them to a slice of bread.

Tip: The bread texture is best when it is still soft. So if yours is a little stale, I recommend either warming the bread in the microwave for 30 seconds or so, toasting it in a dry skillet, or popping it into the toaster oven until just warmed.

Top with a dollop of mashed potatoes. And finish with a generous ladling of vegan turkey gravy. If you're so inclined, garnish with sliced green onions.

It’s easy to modify an open faced sandwich by swapping out ingredients or using store-bought instead of homemade.

• Instead of using homemade seitan, use sliced holiday roast, vegan turkey deli slices (like Tofurky), fully cooked vegan turk'y cutlets, roasted chickpeas, or air fried chick'n strips.
• Instead of pouring gravy over the seitan, add chunks of seitan to the gravy. Then pour that over the mashed potatoes & bread.
• Replace the mashed potatoes with vegan stuffing or do half potatoes/half stuffing.
• Replace vegan turkey gravy with seitan bacon gravy, creamy cashew gravy with chestnuts, or store-bought vegan gravy.
• Vary the bread by using whole grain, whole wheat, white, or sourdough.
• Skip the bread and mashed potatoes, and put the gravy & seitan over an air fryer baked potato.

This is a substantive, filling sandwich that could easily be a full meal on its own. But it also goes great with a lighter side.

Here are some side dish recipes that pair well with it:

• Sautéed kale
• Roasted cabbage
• Broccolini with garlic
• Easy collard greens
• Air fryer green beans
• Meatless turnip greens
• Salad with persimmons & delicata squash
• Fall salad with apples & candied pecans
• Dairy-free creamed kale
• Orange cranberry sauce or cranberry salsa

📖 Recipe

Hot open faced sandwich with seitan & gravy

Author: Cadry Nelson

5 from 3 votes

Leftovers don't get better than this! Repurpose seitan, gravy, and mashed potatoes into a very nostalgic dinner.

Don't forget the knife and fork! This open faced sandwich can't be eaten with hands alone.

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 people

Course: Sandwich

Cuisine: American, Vegan

Keyword: comfort food, diner food

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 teaspoon avocado oil or your preferred oil
• ▢ 8 ounces seitan chicken sliced thin
• ▢ 4 slices bread
• ▢ 2 cups vegan mashed potatoes
• ▢ 1 cup vegan turkey gravy plus more if needed
• ▢ 1 green onion sliced (optional garnish)

Instructions

• ▢
  Bring a non-stick skillet to a medium heat with oil. Put the thinly sliced seitan chicken in the skillet and cook until browned on one side. Then flip with a spatula, and let the other side cook a couple minutes more, until browned.

  Remove from heat and set aside.
• ▢
  To serve, put one slice of bread on each individual plate. Top each piece of bread with a few slices of browned seitan, about ½ cup of vegan mashed potatoes, and about ¼ cup of vegan turkey gravy (or more if desired). Finish with a sprinkling of green onions as an optional garnish. Serve right away.

Notes

The bread texture is best when it is still soft. So if yours is a little stale, I recommend either warming the bread in the microwave for 30 seconds or so, toasting it in a dry skillet, or popping it into the toaster oven until just warmed.

Homemade seitan chicken is my preferred protein for this recipe. However, if you don’t have any on hand, you can use vegan deli slices (like Tofurky), vegan holiday roast, or your favorite store-bought chicken-style seitan.

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Nutrition

Calories: 251kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 676mg | Potassium: 501mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 33IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 53mg | Iron: 3mg