This vegan spin on a Thanksgiving turkey will make you wonder why you ever ate the real thing!

There are many ways to go the extra mile when it comes to vegan “turkey” dinners. You can use tofu, tempeh, beans, or, in this case, seitan as your meat substitute, and fill it with the stuffing of your choosing. 

This recipe was inspired by Mary's Test Kitchen, whose recipe calls for traditional stuffing for the inside of this loaf. This recipe, however, calls for none other than cornbread, crumbled and rolled up inside the seitan roulade. While the ingredient list may seem long for this seitan loaf, assembling it is a cinch and will take just over an hour to complete! 

Seitan Ingredients

1 cup hot water
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. ginger, minced
1 cube/teaspoon vegetable bouillon powder 
2 T. miso paste
2 tsp. onion powder
1 T. poultry seasoning (herb mix containing sage, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, nutmeg, and black pepper)
1 T. vinegar (any kind)
1 T. sugar 
1 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten (gluten flour)
1/4 cup chickpea flour (may substitute soy or other bean flour)
2 cups of cornbread, crumbled (can be storebought or made separately ahead of time)

Glaze Ingredients

1 T. lemon juice
1 T. oil or melted vegan butter (Earth Balance is good)
1 T. brown sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4–1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Whisk together or use a blender to combine the water, garlic, ginger, bouillon powder, miso paste, onion powder, poultry herb seasoning, vinegar, and sugar. 

Pour the mixture into a large mixing bowl and add the vital wheat gluten and chickpea flour. Stir together with a strong spoon or with a dough hook until a dough forms. Don't over-knead the dough; you don't want the seitan to be rubbery.

Allow the dough to sit so the gluten strands relax. 

On a clean surface, roll out the seitan dough. Gently roll the dough out to about one foot in length and until it’s about a half-inch thick. Add 2 cups of crumbled cornbread into the center of the rolled-out loaf. Be careful to not overfill it so that the cornbread doesn’t break through the dough. Roll up the loaf and wrap it in a large piece of oiled aluminum foil. Twist the ends of the aluminum foil at the ends of the loaf to seal it.

Place loaf in an oven set to 375 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Every 15 minutes or so, rotate the loaf in the oven so that it bakes evenly. 

After taking the loaf out of the oven, remove the foil carefully and allow it to cool slightly before slicing and serving it. Garnish the seitan loaf with some rosemary and drizzle some of the glaze on top to make this dish the perfect centerpiece for your table on Thanksgiving day!

Think you’ll give this recipe a go? Let us know in the comments below!