These Vegan Chili Cheese Dogs will satisfy any meat eater, vegetarian, or vegan. Seitan hotdogs are healthier than your typical mystery meat hotdog, are high in protein, low in fat, and loaded with flavor!
I’m so excited to share my first Seitan recipe with you!!!
Let’s begin.
The scoop on Seitan.
Seitan is a high protein, low fat vegan meat alternative made from Vital Wheat Gluten. (Sorry, gluten-free friends!!!) Although sometimes referred to as “wheat meat,” Seitan doesn’t really have anything in common with bread. Once cooked, it has a firm, meaty texture that is convincingly similar to meat. It doesn’t have much flavor on its own, which means means it is really, really important to load up on the spices!
This Vegan Chili Cheese Dog recipe is more time consuming than buying vegan hotdogs from the store, but making your own Seitan is great if want to save some money! Once you see how cheap Vital Wheat Gluten is, I doubt you’ll want to spend 5 euros for a little chunk of Seitan at the store again.
How to Make Seitan
To make Seitan, all you really need is Vital Wheat Gluten + water. I do not recommend this, unless you love the taste of bland, boring, broken dreams. I made sure to pack this recipe full of flavor.
Seitan can be a bit tricky to get right, but here are the 5 main steps.
- Maximize the flavors. Cook the veggies and blend until smooth. We will use this smoothie instead of boring water when making the dough. This will make the Seitan very flavorful + add a nice color.
- Prep the dough. Whisk together the dry spices and Vital Wheat gluten. Pour in the veggie smoothie and mix until the dough is a nice solid chunk.
- Knead, knead, knead! Yes, you heard me! Kneading matters. You activate the gluten proteins as you knead, which creates a firm texture in the Seitan. Different recipes call for different kneading times, so this is not a one size fits all type of instruction.
- Shape the dough. Depending on how you cook the Seitan, you will usually want to shape the dough. We are making hotdogs, so wrapping the hotdogs with foil is necessary for them to hold their shape while cooking!
- Cook the dough. You can cook Seitan by boiling, steaming, or baking. Different cooking techniques yield different results. For this recipe, steaming is best to get a firm (but no too firm) texture.
TVP Chili Sauce
We will be using TVP for the Chili Sauce. TVP is a dehydrated soy product that is often used in recipes to replace ground beef. Virtually flavorless, it acts as a magical sponge that absorbs any flavor you desire. It is super cheap, versatile, and high-protein! If you aren’t keen on TVP, you could make a nice Chili Sauce using cooked Lentils instead.
A Few Notes
- This recipe makes about 8 hotdogs. Unless you have a family, are going to a cook out, or are just a ravenous human, you might have leftovers. These can keep in an airtight container for up to 10 days in the fridge.
- The TVP Chili Sauce makes about 1 1/2 cups and can keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. This would freeze very well, too.
If you make this recipe, leave it a rating and a comment! You can also tag me @Daughter_of_Seitan on Instagram so I can see your lovely food creations. XOXO
Print
Vegan Chili Cheese Dogs
- Prep Time: 35 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 8 hotdogs 1x
- Category: Mains
- Method: Steaming
- Cuisine: Vegan
Description
These Vegan Chili Cheese Dogs will satisfy any meat eater, vegetarian, or vegan. Seitan hotdogs are high protein, low fat, and loaded with flavor!
Ingredients
Hot Dogs
- 2 + ⅛ cups Vital Wheat Gluten
- ½ cup Medium Firm Tofu
- 1 medium Red Bell Pepper, diced
- 1 small White Onion, diced
- 5 Garlic Cloves, diced or minced
- ¼ cup Nutritional Yeast
- 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 2 tbsp Tomato Paste
- 2 tsp Cumin
- 2 tsp Coriander Powder
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Nutmeg
- ½ tsp Celery Salt (sub regular Salt)
Chili Sauce
- 1 cup TVP
- 1 cup Veggie Broth
- ½ small White Onion, diced
- ½ cup Tomato Sauce
- 3 Garlic Cloves, minced
- 2 tsp Chili Powder
- 1 tsp Cumin
- 1 tsp Paprika
- ½ tsp Salt
For Serving
- Hotdog buns
- Vegan shredded Cheddar Cheese
- Additional toppings: Ketchup, Mustard, Relish
Instructions
Hot Dogs
- Dice the Red Bell Pepper, Onion, and Garlic Cloves. In a pan with a little oil or water, cook 3-5 minutes over medium heat until soft.
- Add the cooked Veggies to a blender along with the Tofu, Soy Sauce, and Tomato Paste. Blend until smooth.
- In a large mixing bowl, add Vital Wheat Gluten, Nutritional Yeast, Cumin, Coriander Powder, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Celery Salt. Whisk together until evenly incorporated.
- Slowly pour half of the veggie smoothie into the bowl, stir, add the second half of the smoothie, then stir again until evenly incorporated.
- Once the dough forms a solid ball, start kneading with your hands. If your dough is really wet, add more Vital Wheat Gluten 1 tbsp at a time until it is firm. Knead for 3 minutes, let the dough rest for 2 minutes, then knead another 7-8 minutes. It should be very elastic.
- Separate the dough into 8 chunks, and roll each chunk into a hotdog shape.
- Snuggly wrap each hotdog in foil to keep its shape.*
- In a large pot, bring water to a simmer. Place hotdogs in a steaming basket, put on a lid, and steam for 30 mins.**
- Remove hotdogs from foil wrapping. Place them in a bun, top it with Chili Sauce, shredded Vegan Cheese, and whatever other toppings you like!
Chili Sauce
- Boil 1 cup of Vegetable Broth in a sauce pan.
- Put the TVP in a large bowl, pour in the boiling Vegetable Broth, and give it a stir. Cover the bowl with a lid or towel and let the TVP rehydrate for 5 minutes until soft.
- In the meantime, add some water or oil to the sauce pan. Over medium heat, cook the diced Onion and the minced Garlic until soft, about 3-5 minutes.
- Bring heat down to medium low. Stir in rehydrated TVP, Tomato Sauce, Chili Powder, Cumin, Paprika, and Salt. Cook about 5 minutes until the mixture is thick, stirring well.
- Scoop onto hotdogs, or use however you please.
Notes
* If you are concerned about foil touching your food while cooking, line your hotdogs with parchment paper before wrapping in foil.
** My steaming basket is a bit small, so I did two batches steaming 4 hotdogs at a time.
Keywords: Vegan Hotdog, Chili Cheese Dog, Chili Sauce, TVP, Seitan
Save this recipe for later 📌
