This seitan corned beef has an authentic meaty texture and is bursting with flavor! Your friends and family won’t believe that it’s vegan and made from vital wheat gluten making it completely plant-based.

A vegan seitan corned beef sliced on a cutting board with vegetables around it.

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❤️ Why make this recipe

Whether you want to make a vegan corned beef roast with potatoes and cabbage or you want a meaty, authentic-tasting, vegan ruben sandwich, this seitan corned beef is what you want to use.

I love my tofu corned beef recipe and still make that a lot, but this version made with seitan is the most authentic-tasting, meaty, vegan corned beef I have ever tried. I’ve tested and retested this recipe over many years and first published it 2 years ago in my cookbook, The Ultimate Guide to Homemade Seitan. It’s always a hit and my family asks for it every St. Patrick’s Day.

🧾 Ingredients and substitutions

  • Water – for the base of your broth.
  • Salt – to make a salty brine.
  • Pickling Spice – for flavor.  This can be purchased in the spice section of most grocery stores.  (I put it into a metal tea ball to keep the strong spices from getting stuck on the “corned beef.”)
  • Mustard Seeds – for flavor. There is some in the pickling spice, but I like to add more for flavor.
  • Coriander Seeds – for flavor.  There are also some in the pickling spice, but I like to add extra.
  • Red Food Coloring – (optional) For a pink color – you can also use pureed beet, beet juice, or beet powder, but I find that the color fades a lot while cooking and the end result is a brown roast.
  • Extra Firm Tofu – (drained and pressed) You can also use firm tofu.
  • Ketchup – this gives it a little more red color and adds vinegar which is important to neutralize the gluten flavor.
  • Salt – for flavor. Traditional corned beef is very salty.
  • Vital Wheat Gluten – This is the key ingredient to making seitan and can not be swapped out for any other ingredient.
  • Vegetables – to make this a full meal, I boil vegetables in the brine after cooking the seitan roast. I love to add a head of cabbage, some small potatoes, and carrots.

🔪 Helpful tools

  • Food Processor – for blending the tofu, spices, and broth. You could also use a blender or an immersion blender.

🥄 How to make corned beef seitan

A full printable version of this recipe with ingredient measurements is available at the bottom of this post.

Step 1 – Make the corned beef broth by adding all the broth ingredients to a large pot. (Use a tea ball or spice pouch for the pickling spices.) Simmer the broth ingredients for 15 minutes then turn off the heat and set it aside. (You will use 1 cup in the dough and the other 7 cups to simmer the corned beef.)

Step 2 – Press a block (14 oz.) of tofu and crumble it into a food processor, then add 1 cup of the flavored broth, 1 tablespoon of ketchup, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 6 drops of food coloring and blend until it turns into a creamy thick liquid.

A spiced brine to cook seitan corned beef.
Make the spiced broth.
Tofu, ketchup, and broth in a food processor to make seitan corned beef.
Add tofu, ketchup, and 1 cup of the spiced broth.
Pureed tofu, ketchup, and broth in a food processor.
Blend until smooth.

Step 3 – Pour the mixture into a glass bowl, then add 1 cup of vital wheat gluten and mix well until a thick dough forms.

Step 4 – Add another 1/2 cup of vital wheat gluten and knead it into the dough until all the wheat gluten has been absorbed and no longer feels wet. (You may have to add an additional 1-3 tablespoons of wheat gluten until the dough is firm enough to hold its shape firmly.)

Tofu and broth mixture before vital wheat gluten is added to seitan corned beef.
Tofu, ketchup, and spiced broth blended and added to a mixing bowl.
Adding vital wheat gluten to the tofu and broth mixture to make seitan corned beef.
Stir in vital wheat gluten.
Seitan corned beef dough formed into a roast shape.
Kneed in all the wheat gluten in form into a roast shape.

Step 5 – Form the dough into a cylinder loaf shape like corned beef.

Step 6 – Place the seitan in a large pot and pour the remaining 7 cups of broth over your seitan loaf, add 2 tablespoons of oil and cover with a lid. Bring the broth to a boil over medium heat, then turn down the heat to low and simmer for 1 hour and 15 minutes, turning the roast over in the broth after 45 minutes.

Step 7 – If you want to eat it immediately, remove it from the broth and place it in a colander to allow the excess broth to drip out, then slice and serve. (You can use the remaining broth to boil cabbage and or potatoes too.)

Vegan seitan corned beef boiling is a pot of spiced broth.
Boil the vegan corned beef loaf.
Cabbage, potatoes, and carrots added to the corned beef broth.
Add vegetables to the spiced broth.
Cooked vegetables in the vegan corned beef broth.
Boil the vegetables until soft.

Step 8 – Add 6-8 cups of your choice of vegetables (I like cabbage, potatoes, and carrots) to the remaining spiced broth. Add water until the vegetables are covered, then boil for 20-25 minutes until the potatoes are soft and cooked through. Serve with the seitan corned beef.

👩🏻‍🍳 Pro Tips

  • Press out as much liquid as possible from the tofu.  You may need a little extra wheat gluten if your tofu contains more moisture.
  • For the firmest most meat-like texture, store the loaf in the broth in the fridge overnight then simmer again for 15 minutes to heat it up.
  • If you don’t want mustard or coriander seeds sticking to your seitan, you can put those in a tea ball. 
  • If you don’t have a tea ball, you can wrap the spices in a piece of cheesecloth and then tie it up with a cotton string.

❓ How to serve vegan corned beef

Use this seitan corned beef to make a vegan ruben sandwich by slicing it thin and then grilling it on rye bread with some vegan mozzarella, vegan Thousand Island dressing, and sour crout. You can also chop it up and add it to vegan corned beef hash or even put it in some vegetarian 15-bean soup.

You can also serve the vegan corned beef with some cabbage steaks or vegan haluski.

A seitan corned beef roast sliced on a cutting board with potatoes, carrots, and cabbage around it.

🥡 Storage and reheating

Refrigerate: This vegan corned beef roast will keep well in the fridge for 3 – 5 days in an airtight container. (Store it covered in the spiced broth for extra moisture and flavor.)

Freeze: Seitan freezes well and can be stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.

Reheating: Reheat a serving of the seitan corned beef in the microwave for about 1-2 minutes or boil the roast in the broth for 15 minutes to warm it through.

A blue plate with slices of corned beef flavored seitan served with potatoes, carrots, and cabbage.

🌟 More seitan recipes

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📋 Seitan corned beef recipe

A seitan corned beef roast sliced on a cutting board with potatoes, carrots, and cabbage around it.
Diet
High Protein Icon
Nut Free Icon
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5 from 2 rating

Seitan Corned Beef

Yield: 8
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 1 hour 30 minutes
Total: 1 hour 45 minutes
Author: Monica Davis
An authentic-tasting vegan corned beef made from vital wheat gluten.
Print Leave a Review Pin Recipe

Ingredients

Broth

  • 8 cups of water
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon pickling spice, in a tea ball or spice pouch
  • 2 teaspoons coriander
  • 2 teaspoons mustard seeds
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 6 drops of red food coloring, optional
  • 2 tablespoons oil, to be added to the broth when simmering the corned beef

Seitan

  • 1 14 oz. package of extra firm tofu (drained and pressed)
  • 1 cup of the broth, above
  • 1 tablespoon ketchup
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 6 drops of red food coloring, optional
  • 1 1/2 cup vital wheat gluten, plus 1-3 tablespoons if necessary

Vegetables

  • 8 cups vegetables of choice, (1 small head of cabbage, 8 small potatoes, 3 carrots)

Equipment

Instructions
 

  • Make the corned beef broth by adding all the broth ingredients to a large pot. (Use a tea ball or spice pouch for the pickling spices.) Simmer the broth ingredients for 15 minutes then turn off the heat and set it aside. (You will use 1 cup in the dough and the other 7 cups to simmer the corned beef.)
  • Press a block (14 oz.) of tofu and crumble it into a food processor, then add 1 cup of the flavored broth, 1 tablespoon of ketchup, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 6 drops of food coloring and blend until it turns into a creamy thick liquid.
  • Pour the mixture into a glass bowl, then add 1 cup of vital wheat gluten and mix well until a thick dough forms.
  • Add another 1/2 cup of vital wheat gluten and knead it into the dough until all the wheat gluten has been absorbed and no longer feels wet. (You may have to add an additional 1-3 tablespoons of wheat gluten until the dough is firm enough to hold its shape firmly.)
  • Form the dough into a cylinder loaf shape like corned beef.
  • Place the seitan in a large pot and pour the remaining 7 cups of broth over your seitan loaf, add 2 tablespoons of oil and cover with a lid. Bring the broth to a boil over medium heat, then turn down the heat to low and simmer for 1 hour and 15 minutes, turning the roast over in the broth after 45 minutes.
  • If you want to eat it immediately, remove it from the broth and place it in a colander to allow the excess broth to drip out, then slice and serve. (You can use the remaining broth to boil cabbage and or potatoes too.)

To cook vegetables

  • Add 8 cups of your choice of vegetables (I like cabbage, potatoes, and carrots) to the remaining spiced broth. Add water until the vegetables are covered, then boil for 20-25 minutes until the potatoes are soft and cooked through. Serve with the seitan corned beef.

Notes

  • For the firmest most meat-like texture, store the loaf in the broth in the fridge overnight then simmer again for 15 minutes to heat it up.
  • For the firmest most meat-like texture, store the loaf in the broth in the fridge overnight then simmer again for 15 minutes to heat it up.
  • If you don’t want mustard or coriander seeds sticking to your seitan, you can put those in a tea ball. 
  • If you don’t have a tea ball, you can wrap the spices in a piece of cheesecloth and then tie it up with a cotton string.
Serving: 4slices, Calories: 151kcal, Carbohydrates: 6g, Protein: 21g, Fat: 5g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Trans Fat: 0.01g, Sodium: 504mg, Potassium: 126mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 15IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 66mg, Iron: 2mg
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