Vegan turkey roast is a delicious and filling main course for the holidays. Filled with fragrant fall spices and comforting, savory flavor, this tender roast fits right in with all your favorite Thanksgiving fixings.
This year I’m celebrating my 20th meat-free Thanksgiving! I still remember that first one so clearly.
I stood in my apartment kitchen, wondering what on earth to make for the main dish when Thanksgiving is so tightly tied to turkey. In the end, I settled on roasted vegetables in puff pastry.
Over the years, I’ve tried just about everything - from cozy homemade pot pie to store-bought holiday roasts.
They all have their selling points, but this vegan turkey roast recipe has become one of my favorites.
It has real show-stopper energy when you carve into it at the table, pour on a healthy ladling of vegan turkey gravy, and garnish with fried sage.
It’s so impressive, yet surprisingly easy to make. (No oven, blender, or food processor required!)
With fall flavors like thyme and rosemary, the house smells absolutely amazing while it cooks. And of course, cutting into it with a knife and fork and taking that first taste is its own reward.
This satisfying roast is everything you want in a Thanksgiving, Christmas, or winter holiday main course. It's hearty, comforting, and perfect for sharing with the people you love.
(Planning a full plant-based feast? Don't miss the rest of my vegan Thanksgiving recipes. There's plenty to pair with this roast.)
In this post:
Ingredients for vegan turkey
Here are the ingredients you will need to make this recipe.
Vital wheat gluten: This high protein flour is essential for seitan. Sold online and in natural grocery stores near other flours, Bob's Red Mill is my go-to.
Chickpea flour: Made from dried chickpeas, chickpea flour adds structure and a subtle nutty flavor. Look for it in natural grocery stores, Indian markets, or online.
Nutritional yeast: This inactive yeast adds delicious umami. It’s sold in natural grocery stores, Trader Joe’s, or online.
Seasonings: Onion powder, dried marjoram, rubbed sage, dried thyme, herbs de Provence, dried rosemary, salt, and pepper.
Bouillon: Better Than Bouillon no chicken base is my go-to for bouillon. It adds salt, richness, and great flavor.
Tamari: This Japanese soy sauce adds salt & umami.
Avocado oil: This adds fat and moisture. It can be replaced with olive oil.
Vegan butter: Used to baste and brown the finished vegan turkey, any vegan butter (like Miyoko’s) will work here.
Step by step instructions
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.
1. Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl:
- Vital wheat gluten
- Chickpea flour (also known as garbanzo bean flour)
- Nutritional yeast flakes
- Dried spices/seasonings: dried marjoram, rubbed sage, dried thyme, herbs de Provence, dried rosemary, onion powder, salt, and pepper
2. In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients:
- Water
- Better Than Bouillon, no chicken base
- Tamari
- Avocado oil
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, combine, and form it into a loaf.
4. Wrap the loaf in a moistened cheesecloth (or a moistened white cotton tea towel).
For a firm roast with a pronounced log shape, wrap it snug (as shown above in #4). For a moister loaf with somewhat softer texture, loosely wrap it with a slight oval shape, so it has more room to expand while it cooks.
5. Fill a large steamer pot with insert with a couple inches of water. Then put the wrapped turkey seitan loaf into the insert basket, and bring to a simmer. Cover with a lid and steam for 45 minutes or until firm and bouncy to the touch.
Be sure to keep an eye on the liquid in the pot, so that it doesn’t cook off. Lower the heat and/or add more water, if needed.
6. Carefully remove the wrapped seitan from the pot, and let it cool slightly.
The turkey seitan can be eaten at this stage. If you’re planning on using it for sliced deli sandwiches or pot pie, you can stop right here, if you like. Store in an airtight container in the fridge. It will continue to firm as it cools.
7. If you’re going to carve the vegan turkey roast for a holiday dinner, complete the look by melting non-dairy butter in a large skillet. Add tamari.
Add the roast to the skillet, and brown it on top and bottom, basting it with a spoon while it browns. (You will need to tip the pan a little to spoon out the butter mixture.)
8. After it’s browned on both sides, transfer it to a platter, slice, and serve with vegan gravy.
When cutting into the vegan turkey roast, use a serrated or bread knife for the easiest slicing.
Substitutions and tips
Don’t have one or two of the spices? You can omit them, or replace them with an equal amount of poultry seasoning.
Don’t have Better Than Bouillon? You can simply omit it. (It still tastes great without it!) Or replace the water in the wet ingredients with vegetable broth.
Don’t have tamari? Replace it with any soy sauce you like, coconut aminos, or Bragg’s liquid aminos.
Serving suggestions
Vegan turkey seitan is the perfect centerpiece for your holiday dinner.
Serve it with any of these complementary sauces and side dishes:
- Easy vegan turkey gravy
- Vegan green bean casserole
- Oven roasted Brussels sprouts with apples
- Cheesy vegan scalloped potatoes
- Vegan stuffing with chestnuts
- Cranberry sauce with orange
Outside of the holidays, vegan turkey is also great sliced thin on deli-style sandwiches or added to other dishes (in place of other types of seitan) like:
Storage instructions
Store leftover vegan turkey roast in an airtight container in the fridge. It will keep for about 4 to 5 days.
You can easily warm leftovers by lightly browning slices in a skillet with oil.
This seitan roast also freezes beautifully in a freezer-safe container or freezer bag for up to 3 to 6 months. When you're ready to use it, move it to the refrigerator to thaw.
FAQ
Seitan (pronounced say-tan) is also known as wheat meat, because it emulates the flavors and textures of meat.
Seitan is basically a dense, savory bread. Where bread is light and fluffy, seitan is toothsome. It has bite.
Seitan has been around in various forms since the 6th century in China, where it was popular with vegetarian Buddhist monks. The earliest written reference to it was in the year 535!
Yes, a clean, thin, plain white cotton kitchen or tea towel works well. Make sure it's not thick, terry cloth, colored, or printed. Just a simple, lightweight white towel so the seitan cooks evenly and doesn't pick up any unwanted colors or textures. (Don’t use a towel if you dried it with a dryer sheet.)
No. If you'd rather not wrap the loaf for steaming, you can leave it off.
However, I prefer to steam with a dampened cheesecloth (or other light cloth) wrapped around it for a few reasons.
* It keeps the loaf from sticking to the steamer basket.
* The final loaf is smoother and more uniform in appearance.
* It disperses the steam for better even cooking.
* It keeps the inside a little juicier.
No, this recipe isn’t gluten-free. The base is vital wheat gluten, a protein-rich flour that’s basically all gluten. For that reason, it also can’t be made gluten-free.
If you have celiac or can't tolerate wheat, baked tofu with lemon & rosemary is a good gluten-free main course option. (Just be sure to use gluten-free tamari in the recipe.)
If you try this recipe and love it, let me know! Leave a comment and ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the comment section below. It truly makes my day and is such a help!
📖 Recipe
Vegan turkey roast
Ingredients
For vegan turkey roast
- 2 cups vital wheat gluten
- ½ cup chickpea flour
- ½ cup nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 Tablespoon onion powder or granulated onion
- ½ teaspoon dried marjoram
- ¼ teaspoon rubbed sage
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon herbs de Provence
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Several dashes black pepper or several twists of the pepper grinder
- 2 cups water plus more for steaming
- ½ teaspoon Better Than Bouillon, no chicken base
- 1 Tablespoon avocado oil or olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon tamari
For basting vegan turkey roast
- ¼ cup vegan butter
- 1 teaspoon tamari
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients: vital wheat gluten, chickpea flour, nutritional yeast flakes, onion powder, dried marjoram, rubbed sage, dried thyme, herbs de Provence, dried rosemary, salt, and pepper.(When you add the dried rosemary, use your fingers to crush and break up the rosemary leaves into smaller pieces.)
- In a medium-sized bowl, combine the wet ingredients: water, Better Than Bouillon no chicken base, avocado oil, and 1 Tablespoon tamari. Stir with a whisk or fork until the bouillon has mostly dissolved.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry. First combine by stirring. Once it becomes a dough, use your hands to combine and knead it, making sure to get any dry flour from the sides of the bowl. (You don't need to knead the dough a lot. Just enough so that it's uniform with no flour-y spots.)
- Form the dough into a loaf.
- Run a cheesecloth (or thin white cotton tea towel) under water. Wring it out with your hands until it's just damp. Then wrap the dampened cheesecloth (or towel) around the loaf. For a firm, log-shaped vegan turkey loaf, wrap it tightly. For a moister, slightly oval-shaped roast, loosely wrap it with room to expand.
- Put a couple of inches of water into a steamer pot with insert. Bring to a simmer. Put the wrapped loaf into the basket. Cover with a lid. Steam for 45 minutes.Be sure to watch that the pot doesn't cook off all of the water. You want enough water that it will keep steaming for the full amount of time, but not so much that the water touches & boils the seitan. Once the water is at a simmer, you can lower the heat to medium, and it will keep steaming the whole time. (If you don't see steam pouring out the top, turn it up. If the water looks too low, add more.)
- When the seitan is done, it will be firm and bouncy to the touch. (If it's not quite ready at 45 minutes, cook another 5 minutes.) Carefully remove it from the steamer basket, unwrap it from the cheesecloth, and set it aside on a plate to cool slightly. (At this point, the turkey seitan roast is fully cooked. It can be enjoyed as-is for sandwiches or refrigerated in an airtight container where it will continue to firm as it cools.)
- For an eye-catching holiday roast, complete the look and improve the exterior texture by browning the outside. Bring a large skillet to a medium heat. Add vegan butter and melt it. Then add 1 teaspoon tamari and combine. Put the vegan turkey roast in the skillet and brown on the bottom. While it's browning, tip the skillet slightly to spoon out some of the butter mixture, and baste it over the top of the roast. Once it's brown on one side, turn it over and brown the other side, while continuing to baste.
- Remove the vegan turkey roast from the skillet, and put it on a serving platter or cutting board. Slice and serve.
Shell
Cad, I’m game for the vegan charcuterie any day of the year! It would be especially yummy as part of a Thanksgiving spread.
Cadry
Definitely! We need to make it happen sometime. 🙂