Stuffed Seitan Roast in Puff Pastry

Vegan Seitan Recipe for christmas roast

Well then, are you enjoying a tranquil, stress-free Christmas season? Me neither.
Work, present preparations and many other duties collide with the Christmas anticipation. There’s only Christmas in my kitchen currently and that’s only because I have a blog to fill and feel like I have to.


A vegan Christmas Roast? Yes please!

I haven’t given you a proper vegan Christmas recipe yet.  There’s a simple reason to that:
I’m driving home for Christmas and being fed by my parents. So I was never accorded the honour of hosting a perfect Christmas dinner. Let alone a vegan one. My family is a gathering of meat lovers. And so am I from time to time.

On Christmas Eve we’re eating salmon and smoked eel on toast and a cheese platter in the end. On Christmas day we usually have a bunny roast and the last day of gluttony is celebrated in a restaurant – usually Greek.

But as I am a Blogger and as I love the variety of the vegan cuisine I asked myself “What if I were to host a fantastic Christmas dinner?” For the vegans I would certainly not want to serve potatoes and gravy only.

Detail of vegan seitan roast

Vegan holiday roast recipe for absolute Beginners

A vegan Christmas roast has been on my to-cook-list for a while and now I can finally tick it off. I’ve had a pack of wheat gluten in my supply cabinet for a couple of weeks now, without really having an idea what to cook nor feeling curageous enough to even try.

I’m not kidding you, I’ve never prepared seitan before. This recipe succeeded at first try! So it’s definitely suitable for absolute beginners.
As for the taste you cannot compare this vegan roast with proper meat but rather a stuffed meat loaf. The stuffing made from mushrooms makes it nice and juicy, the puff pastry crust makes it perfectly crisp on the outside.

Stuffed seitan in puff pastry served on a plate with cabbage and dumplings

The basic recipe for seitan roast from the oven

Honour to whom honour is due

My basic recipe is from the  Vegetarierforum, I’m sorry it’s in German only.
The original recipe intends to stuff the roast with bread. For my taste that’s a bit to bread-heavy. However, the basic recipe is simply awesome. In my version I merely left out the lemon and added mustard instead.

2 slices of vegan seitan roast on a plate served with dumplings and red cabbage

Vegan roast with mushroom stuffing and puff pastry crust

I stuffed my seitan roast with mushrooms, onion and garlic. I love to add mushrooms to meatless dishes as they add a lovely umami and aromatic taste. Also we want to add lots of garlic. In the end it’s just our relatives who have to endure the smell 😀
Ultimately I wrapped the roast in puff pastry. I don’t have to say much more, do it? A beautifully crunchy, flaky layer of warm deliciousness that keeps the roast juicy on the inside. Pure awesomeness.

Quick, easy, inexpensive

Another great thing about this seitan roast is that it’s ridiculously easy to make. So even if you’re a cooking / vegan / seitan beginner, you will manage. The dough is ready in approx. 10 minutes. We’re going to use store bought puff pastry. And even when it comes to the sides dishes you can decide wether to fully prepare it yourself or to buy it ready to serve. I can fully understand if someone might not feel prepared enough to coordinate a roast, potato dumpling, red cabbage and gravy at the same time. So do it as you please and enjoy your Christmas dinner to the fullest 🙂

Apart from that I almost forgot to mention how cheap this Christmas recipe really is. For all the ingredients (sides included) I paid less than 20€. The perfect meal if you’re on a budget.

Vegan Seitan recipe - Roast from above, served on two different plates with red cabbage and potato dumplings

Even more vegan holiday recipes

to complete the vegan Christmas menu

Vegan starters

Hummus broccoli soup

Coconut pumpkin soup

Carrot orange soup

Miso Soup

Avocado salad with tahini dressing

Vegan sides and mains

Stuffed pumpkin with kale

Mashed sweet potatoes with garlic

Oven roasted carrots with sesame dressing

Vegan Christmas desserts

No-bake chocolate cake

No-bake date brownies

Peanutbutter & jelly cups

Peanut mousse au chocolat with aquafaba

Chocolate mousse with silken tofu

Berry Cake 

Brownie-Cheesecake

Raspberry coconut mousse (3 ingredients)

Bananabread with nuts and dates

preferably served with a Cameron’s Kick, a Wild Berry Punch or some German mulled wine

Vegan Christmas Roast cut

4.3 from 3 reviews
Stuffed seitan roast in puff pastry
 
PREP
COOK
TOTAL
 
A vegan seitan roast in puff pastry stuffed with mushroom. For an uncomplicated yet delicious vegan christmas. You might like this side as well: Mashed garlicky sweet potatoes
Author:
Typ: Main, Holidays
Cuisine: Vegetarian, Vegan
Portionen / Serves: approx. 4 servings
Zutaten / Ingredients
FOR THE ROAST
  • 175g wheat gluten*
  • 30g yeast flakes*
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1 tsp tomato paste
  • 70ml Soy sauce
  • 125ml vegetable broth
  • 2 tsp mustard
FOR THE STUFFING
  • 1 pack of fresh puff pastryWHAT
  • 300-400g Champignons (Option for mushroom haters - how about zucchini?)
  • 1 small onion
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • a pinch of salt
  • some oil and plant milk
Zubereitung / Instructions
SEITAN MIX
  1. Mix the wheat gluten with the yeast flakes. Peel and mince (or press) the garlic and add it as well.
  2. Stir together tomato paste, soy sauce, vegetable broth and mustard. Add it to the seitan mixture and with a spoon stir it until you get a solid dough. Continue kneading it with your hands for a while, form a ball and put it aside.
STUFFING
  1. Clean the mushrooms and mince them. Peel the onion and garlic and dice them finely as well.
  2. Heat oil in a pan and sauté the onions before adding in the mushrooms and garlic and frying it for another 5-10 minutes. Salt lightly.
  3. Preheat the ofen to 190° lower/upper heat (170° air circulation).
  4. Roll out the puff pastry and place the seitan dough on top.
  5. With a rolling pin toll out the dough thinly on the puff pastry. You should leave some space in the front and the back (just like you do with Sushi). It doesn't have to be perfect.
  6. Spread the fried onions on the seitan dough evenly.
  7. Now we're rolling.
  8. Fold the dough up on the sights to prevent the stuffing from falling out.
  9. Now we're rolling the dough up, still taking care of the sides being closed.
  10. Lastly we're brushing the dough with some oil and plant milk to prevent it from drying and bake it in the oven for 50-55 minutes.

This recipe is my baby and I’m quite proud of it, meaning I’d be delighted to hear your feedback. Did everything work out as it should? Which problems did occur? Is the baking time appropriate? And did you like it? As always you can also leave your feedback and photos on Facebook 🙂


Info & Transparency | Links marked with an *asterisk are so called affiliate-links! If you buy a product via this link you support me and my work on this blog with a small commission. Obviously this won’t cost you a cent more, but I see it as an appreciation for my work. I will only recommend products and services, which I use myself and with which I am fully satisfied.

30 Responses

  1. Is Seitan mixture allowed to stay over night for more flavour? Or there is enough flavour without leaving it over night? Greets!

    1. Hi Mantas! As the mixture consists of broth and soy sauce I don’t think there is any need to leave it over night. Having said that I actually prepared the seitan mix in advance about 8 hours before. So I can say that there’s no trouble preparing it in advance to relieve some stress 🙂
      Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones!

    1. It turned out great! I added some fresh sage to the mushroom stuffing. Everybody liked it! Nice recipe!

  2. Think rice paper can be used instead of puff pastry? I can eat wheat gluten but not wheat flour products, especially white wheat flour!

    1. Hello Jessica.
      You mean the rice paper that is used for summer rolls? I honestly don’t think it’s suitable. The puff pastry has a much fluffier and softer texture and is much thicker which prevents the roast from becoming dry.
      I also have never considered baking rice paper in the oven. I’m not quite familiar with gluten free baked goods, I apologize.

      You might want to try it with white cabbage or savoy cabbage leaves just like you would make a cabbage roll 🙂

      I hope that helps
      cheers, Sabrina

    1. This looks so good! Thanks for sharing this recipe. I definitely going to give it a try! Just a few questions. Have you tried eating it cold, I am thinking about bringing it to a potluck. And have you tried to make it and reheat/ finish it off in the oven it the next day? 🙂

      1. Hi Sjouk,
        Yes I have reheated the roast, but I definitely would recommend to bake and eat it fresh. The preheated version is a little rubber-like and more typical seitan-y.
        What you can do though is prepare the Seitan dough beforehand even the day before.
        I hope that helps 🙂

  3. Gave it a try. Never got seitan so tender. Did need a bit more veg stock for the seitandough cause it was a bit to dry. But maybe it was my fault. Was the first time I didnt cook seitan and tried it in the oven. Thank you, it was a succes.

    Greatings (from belgium)

    1. Dear Kwinten
      Thank you so much for you comment and honest feedback.
      I do not think it was your fault. Varying different ingredients (maybe you have other seitan mixes in Belgium) can lead to slight variations. I’m glad it was still a success
      Have a great Christmas time 🙂

  4. Hi there! This looks absolutely great!

    I am wondering if it is possible to make ahead of time and freeze uncooked? To either be defrosted or cooked from frozen? I am hoping to make it to bring to a Christmas dinner as a vegan option.

    Thanks so much!

    1. Hi Karlyn, I haven’t tried freezing it but I honestly think it’s worth a try.
      Reheating is definitely not the best option but leaving all the components uncooked could work 🙂

    2. Hi Karlyn,
      Did you try it? And did it work? I’ve got time now, but none on the run up to Xmas so having something ready to go would be great…
      Thank you.

  5. I made this for Christmas and it was so salty it was almost inedible! I’m wondering if anyone else found it too salty or if I made a mistake with the soy sauce? Everything else was perfect, it was just sooooooooooooo salty!

    1. I’m sorry to hear that you had such a negative experience with my recipe. From my experiences with seitan so far I find it really needs a lot of spices and salt to actually have a flavour at all. Hope you could compensate the saltiness with loads of mashed potatoes or the likes. And that it’ll turn out better the next time.

    2. Same here! The 70 ml soy sauce plus broth are just too much. Maybe if you use a very salt reduced soy sauce and a thin broth it could work, but as it is this recipe is just waaaay too salty for me.

      1. I’m sorry to hear that!
        I never had any issues with that – it’s rather that I deliberately “overspice” my Seitan as it tends to suck up all the flavour.

        Using a broth instead is a very good idea and alternative.
        I hope that works a better for you

  6. I made this last night and it was absolutely delicious! I already have so
    Many ideas how to modify and make it I to other dishes!
    Thank you for the inspirational idea and a great recipe!

    1. Just made this for Christmas and was surprised at how easy it was! We used a homemade vegan puff pastry because my sister doesn’t do dairy, and it worked great. Here’s our experience:
      We had six very big servings!
      Not sure what type of pan you do yours in. Ours started splitting early on and we ended up putting it in a tin foil pan that we folded to hold it in shape.
      We were worried for a bit about how much liquid the mushroom filling was putting out, but it cooked off nicely over time.
      But it was a big hit with the whole family! Thank you!

      1. Thank you for sharing your experience!
        I never had to deal with a splitting roast and baked it on an ordinary big baking tray. I usually use storebought vegan puff pastry and never had any issues with it. I’m glad it worked out for you in the end 🙂

  7. Do you think it would be possible to form smaller packages from the puff pastry – fingerfood-style?

    1. I’m sure it would! Reduce the time in the oven though and maybe check after 20-30 minutes if they’re good 🙂

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