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What's the Deal With Seitan?

Fri, 12/14/2007 - 11:00am by FitSugar
4,802 Views - 10 comments

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.


10 Comments Add a Comment

  • superfoxml's picture
    superfoxml
    1

    I'm in the process of veganizing myself and appreciate your info. Thanks fit!

    50 weeks 3 days ago Report Comment
  • dunnonuttin's picture
    dunnonuttin
    2

    I like seitan every once in a while but I prefer tofu. BBQ Seitan is tasty... but seitan is kinda grainy, texture wise.

    50 weeks 3 days ago Report Comment
  • DeviousMuse's picture
    DeviousMuse
    3

    Fit - what about the calorie/fat content for some of the leaner ground beef - like the 93% fat-free combinations?

    50 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • Spectra's picture
    Spectra
    4

    You 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.

    50 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • marygrace's picture
    marygrace
    6

    home-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.

    50 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • cranbarry828's picture
    cranbarry828
    7

    Do 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!

    50 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • Erin214's picture
    Erin214
    8

    Seitan is literally poison for someone with celiacs disease.

    49 weeks 6 days ago Report Comment
  • Linz81's picture
    Linz81
    9

    As 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)

    49 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • oatmeal_bliss's picture
    oatmeal_bliss
    10

    My 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!

    42 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment

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