Flour and water chicken is a delicious way of making homemade seitan with just flour and water as the main ingredients. I know that this may sound crazy, but this washed flour method is a magical way to turn regular flour into mock meat by isolating the wheat protein and washing out the starch. You can then, season the high protein dough and cook to replicate chicken, beef, or pork. This wheat meat is fun to make and absolutely delicious!
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📚 History of washed flour seitan
This washed flour (aka WTF -wash the flour) method of making meat substitutes has been published in vegetarian cookbooks for over 60 years, but the origins date back to 6th century China. I first discovered the recipe in The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook (published in 1975) and I've been experimenting with these recipes for over 20 years.
Making homemade seitan using the washed flour method is a labor of love. It will give you a workout and it's a bit time-consuming, but the results are incredibly delicious!
If you want an easier method for making homemade seitan, you can use vital wheat gluten where the starch has already been extracted. I use this method to make easy vegan meats like turkey, ham, chicken, and pepperoni.
However, if you want the fun of getting your hands messy and seeing the magic of making your own wheat meat from just flour and water, let's get started.
🧾 Ingredients and substitutions
- Flour - just regular all-purpose flour works best. You don't want cake flour because that has less gluten.
- Water - just enough to turn your flour into a firm dough.
Seasonings
- Poultry Seasoning - for flavor. You can also use sage, oregano, or any other savory seasonings you wish.
- Onion Powder - for flavor.
- Garlic Powder - for flavor.
- Turmeric - for a little color and flavor.
- Cooking Oil - any neutral-flavored oil will work.
- Vegan Chicken Broth - to season your wheat meat. You can also use beef-flavored broth if you want a beefy taste.
🔪 Helpful tools
- A large bowl for mixing the flour and kneading it underwater.
- A skillet with a lid that is large enough to hold your mock chicken and 2 cups of broth.
- A large colander that can fit inside your bowl. This is helpful, but not necessary.
🥄 Instructions
- Measure 8 cups of flour into a large bowl, add 3 cups of water, and knead into a large firm dough ball.
- Cover with cold water and let it sit for 1 hour.
- After the dough has rested for at least 1 hour, place the bowl in the sink and knead the dough ball under the water until the water turns a milky white color. (You can dump this water into the sink or save it to make starch water bacon later.)
- Fill the bowl with cold water again and repeat the kneading process again until the water is white. Dump out this second batch of starchy water and repeat the process until your water is just a little cloudy after kneading for a minute or two. (You can line your bowl with a strainer to help lift the dough out of the water and easily dump the excess milky water.)
- Repeat this washing process about 5-8 times until your water is just a little cloudy and not milky after a minute of kneading.
- Lift the strainer out of the bowl. Squeeze out all of the excess water and allow it to rest for at least 15 minutes.
- Sprinkle your dough with salt and spices and work the spices in with your hands.
- Pull off handfuls of the dough into 4 equal pieces. Pull a piece into a long tube and twist it a few times. Then tie the twisted string into a loose pretzel-style knot.
- Sauté the knots in 1 tablespoon of oil for about 3-4 minutes on each side.
- Add 2 cups of broth, cover, and simmer for 1 hour flipping after 30 minutes.
- Use as you would boneless chicken. Pull apart with a fork for shredded vegan chicken.
👩🏻🍳 Pro tips
- Be sure to allow the dough to rest before kneading it the first time.
- It will not stay together like regular dough, so when I say knead it, I mean squish it around with your fingers and wash it like you might hand wash a shirt.
- You can also let the dough rest during the washing process if you need a break too.
- You want to wash out most of the starch from the flour, but not all of it.
- Be sure to cook your seitan completely. It needs to cook for at least 45 - 60 minutes depending on the size of the piece that you are making. Undercooked seitan will be doughy.
📖 Flavor variations
After you wash your flour, you will have a flavorless dough as your base. At this point, you can add any seasonings that you wish to the dough and cook it in different flavored broths to achieve any type of meat that you are trying to replicate. You can get creative with spices and achieve just about any type of mock meat that you want.
🥡 Storage and reheating
Refrigerator: The washed flour chicken will keep well in the fridge for 3 - 5 days in a sealed container.
Reheating: Reheat your "chicken" in the microwave for about 2 minutes, or pan-fry on low to warm it up.
Freezing: Seitan freezes well and can be stored in an airtight bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can allow it to thaw in the fridge overnight, or you can toss smaller strips into stir-fries or soup while still frozen.
❔ Why make WTF seitan?
This washed flour chicken is a fun project for a lazy weekend. This is not an easy 30-minute meal that you should attempt on a busy day.
Washed flour seitan is a really fun family activity. Kids love getting their hands messy in the dough and it's a good fine motor and sensory activity. It's great for learning about the properties of starch and protein in the flour and how they can be separated.
There are a lot of people who get very into it and make complex recipes using this method. You can find a whole community of people sharing their creations in the seitan appreciation society Facebook group. It's a great resource for anything you would want to know about this process and other seasoning and cooking methods.
🌟 Easy seitan recipes
All of the following recipes use vital wheat gluten and don't require the washing process.
- Vegan Chicken
- Breaded Vegan Chicken Patties
- Vegan Turkey
- Homemade Vegan Chicken Nuggets
- Vegan Ham
- Vegan Pepperoni
📌 Be sure to follow me on Pinterest for new vegan recipes!
Seitan made with the washed flour method and seasoned to taste like chicken.
- 8 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 cups water (You may need slighlty more or less to achieve a firm dough ball)
- 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 tablespoon light olive oil or any other neutral-flavored oil
- 2 cups not chick'n broth or any chicken-flavored vegan broth.
-
Measure 8 cups of flour into a large bowl, add 3 cups of water, and knead into a large firm dough ball. (Add a tiny bit more water if you still have dry spots or add a sprinkle of flour if your dough ball is sticky.)
-
Cover with cold water and let it sit for 1 hour.
-
After the dough has rested for at least 1 hour, place the bowl in the sink and knead the dough ball under the water until the water turns a milky white color. (You can dump this water into the sink or save it to make other things later.)
-
Fill the bowl with cold water again and repeat the kneading process again until the water is white. Dump out this second batch of starchy water and repeat the process until your water is just a little cloudy after kneading for a minute or two. (You can line your bowl with a strainer to help lift the dough out of the water and easily dump the excess milky water.)
-
Repeat this washing process about 5-8 times until your water is just a little cloudy and not milky after a minute of kneading.
-
Lift the strainer out of the bowl squeeze out all of the excess water and allow it to rest for at least 15 minutes.
-
Sprinkle your dough with salt and spices and work the spices in with your hands.
-
Pull off handfuls of the dough into 4 equal pieces. Pull a piece into a long tube and twist it a few times. Then tie the twisted string into a loose pretzel-style knot.
-
Sauté the knots in 1 tablespoon of oil for about 3-4 minutes on each side. Add 2 cups of broth, cover, and simmer for 1 hour flipping after 30 minutes. (Watch it towards the end to make sure all of your broth doesn't evaporate. Add a few tablespoons of water if needed.)
-
Use as you would boneless chicken. Pull apart with a fork for shredded vegan chicken.
Recipe Video
- Be sure to allow the dough to rest before kneading it the first time.
- It will not stay together like regular dough, so when I say knead it, I mean squish it around with your fingers and wash it like you might hand wash a shirt.
- You can also let the dough rest during the washing process if you need a break too.
- You want to wash out most of the starch from the flour, but not all of it.
- Be sure to cook your seitan completely. It needs to cook for at least 45 - 60 minutes depending on the size of the piece that you are making. Undercooked seitan will be doughy.
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