There are so many meat alternatives out there, which is wonderful for vegetarians. There are tofu turkey, tempeh bacon, and seitan chicken nuggets. Tofu and tempeh are both made from soybeans, but seitan is actually made out of wheat gluten. It's sometimes referred to as the vegetarian wheat meat.
When cooked, seitan has more of a chewy texture than tofu or tempeh, making it a popular meat substitute. Many vegetarian restaurants use it to make mock steak strips, mock chicken in stir-frys, and I've even had mock eel made out of seitan.
Since people eat meat alternatives as a source of protein, I was curious to see how seitan compared to tofu and ground beef? To find out read more
 3 oz. Nasoya Chinese Spice Seasoned Firm Tofu |
 3 oz. LightLife Teriyaki Seitan |
 3 oz. 85 percent Fat-Free Ground Beef |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 90 | 110 | 181 |
| Total Fat | 5g | 0g | 12.6g |
| Saturated Fat | 1g | 0g | 4.9g |
| Cholesterol | 0mg | 0mg | 57mg |
| Sodium | 220mg | 380mg | 55mg |
| Carbs | 3g | 6g | 0g |
| Fiber | 1g | 1g | 0g |
| Sugar | less than 1g | 4g | 0g |
| Protein | 8g | 19g | 15.6g |
Check out the difference in protein! I'm totally amazed that seitan has 19g and is only 110 calories. It even has more protein than ground beef. Very impressive. If you're looking for new ways to get your daily protein, give seitan a try. Since wheat gluten doesn't have a very strong flavor, you can flavor it any way you want. It'll give your dishes the chewy consistency you get from meat, but without all the cholesterol and saturated fat.
Tripp
Hafize Ozbudak
Gianvito Rossi
I'm in the process of veganizing myself and appreciate your info. Thanks fit!
1I like seitan every once in a while but I prefer tofu. BBQ Seitan is tasty... but seitan is kinda grainy, texture wise.
2Fit - what about the calorie/fat content for some of the leaner ground beef - like the 93% fat-free combinations?
3You can make your own seitan using regular bread. Just get the bread wet and start squeezing it. Keep squeezing it until the water running off of it is clear (it will shrink a lot; you're washing away all the carbohydrate and leaving just the gluten). I do it sometimes when I have a lot of bread to use up and need a good meat substitute for stuff like chili or tacos.
4I love seitan, it's so great to see it getting some press here.
You can make your own really cheap using powdered wheat gluten, water, and whatever flavoring you want. A basic recipe is at http://www.recipezaar.com/149322 .
5home-made seitan is better than store-bought, in my opinion. that said, since i've been vegan for so long, i have kind of come to be repulsed by the meaty texture of seitan. it reminds me of beef. i prefer tofu. still, if it gets curious omnivores to eat less meat, i'm all for seitan.
6Do you have any recipes for this? I am trying to become a complete vegeterian, right now I eat only chicken and fish. But I am a horrible cook so I am trying to broaden my horizons!
7Seitan is literally poison for someone with celiacs disease.
8As a meat eater, I find seitan to be the most edible of the meat alternatives (my roommate and many of her friends are vegan, so I try to be open to trying foods they might be eating)
9My husband and I love seitan! We make it from scratch by using vital wheat gluten. It is so simple to make and comes out perfect every time. We have a recipe that requires less than 30 seconds of kneading... whereas some of the recipes require 10 minutes or more. Yum!
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