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A spoon drizzles sauce over vegan chicken in a skillet.
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Plant-Based Chicken

Don't have access to store-bought vegan chicken? Make your own! This plant-based chicken recipe makes tender vegan chicken pieces you can use for stir-fries, vegan fried chicken and more!
Course Main Course
Cuisine Asian
Diet Vegan
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 46 minutes
Resting Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 46 minutes
Servings 8 fillets
Calories 148kcal
Author Marly McMillen

Equipment

Ingredients

Vegan Chicken Fillets

Lemon Garlic Sauce

  • 3 tablespoons vegan butter divided
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic (1 - 2 cloves)
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 teaspoon Better than Bouillon Vegetarian
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon fresh lemon zest
  • 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon dried chives
Cups - Metric

Instructions

For the Vegan Chicken Fillets

  • Preheat oven to 375°F.
  • Add chickpeas to a food processor with the water, oil, bouillon, onion powder, garlic powder, and poultry seasoning. Blend for about 30 seconds. Scrape the sides of the bowl and blend again until smooth.
  • Transfer the chickpea mixture to a bowl. Add vital wheat gluten. Use a spatula to stir the ingredients together.
    Vita wheat gluten powder is being poured in with a wet mixture.
  • To make sure it's all equally distributed, use your hands to gently "knead" the mixture in the bowl, only until just combined and none of the powdery vital wheat gluten is visible.
    A loaf made from vita wheat gluten sits on a cutting board.
  • Turn the dough out onto a cutting board. Shape it into an oval loaf. Cut it into four pieces. Wrap the pieces in foil and use tongs to place in the heated oven. Bake for 45–50 minutes.
    Slices of raw vegan chicken have been cut on a cutting board and more slices wrapped in foil sits behind it.
  • Once they're done, use tongs to remove them from the oven. Leave them in the foil and set them aside to cool.
  • Once cool enough to handle, remove the foil. Place on a cutting board and cut each down the middle, lengthwise, to create 8 fillets. You can refrigerate the fillets for up to 4 days or freeze them for up to 2 to 3 months.

For the Garlic Herb Sauce

  • To serve, add 1 tablespoon of vegan butter to a skillet over medium heat. Once the butter melts, add fillets and saute for about 5 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Use tongs to remove fillets from the skillet. Transfer to a plate.
    Looking down on a skillet with vegan fillets with gravy and lemon slices.
  • Add remaining vegan butter to the skillet. Add minced garlic and cook for about a minute, until the garlic is tender. Add water, bouillon, lemon juice, and lemon zest. You can also add optional thin lemon slices too. Stir to combine. Cook for 2–3 minutes. Sprinkle flour over the top and use a spatula to stir it into the sauce. Cook and stir over medium heat until the sauce thickens.
  • Add vegan fillets back to the skillet, spooning the sauce over the top. Cook for a few minutes until the fillets are heated through. Serve fillets warm. Sprinkle with chives.

Notes

Bouillion: You can substitute vegetarian Better than Bouillon Base or soy sauce.

Nutrition

Calories: 148kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 151mg | Potassium: 66mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 634IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 1mg