Plant Based Chicken Tenders

Sometimes you just need a little fast food moment in life and these vegan chicken tenders are the moment! Although made of seitan which lots of people think is too much effort they are surprisingly easy to make. These tenders consist of my easiest seitan method with a whip together in no time batter and a ranch sauce that is just a few ingredients mixed up.

Now we’re not choosing fried ‘chicken’ as a healthy option but at least with this version you can control what goes into them making sure nothing unnecessary goes in.

The batter is perfectly spiced and fried to crispy perfection, dipped into a tangy, creamy ranch dressing this is the treat I daydream about regularly.

So next time you’re craving fast food ditch the takeaway and the shop bought chicken and just make your own seitan tenders!

What you'll need to make seitan chicken-

• Vegan chicken broth – This is for boiling the seitan tenders and infusing the flavours. My favourite chicken stock powder here in Australia is Massels chicken stock powder. You can use any veg stock or mushroom stock you have.
• Soy milk- I use soy milk to make the wet batter for the chicken. You can use any plant milk for this.
• Vital wheat gluten flour- This is a flour with most of the starch removed making it high in protein and a good material to make fake meat out of. Its been used in Asian cooking for centuries and is still popular within vegetarian Buddhist communities today. You can buy it from health food stores or online.
• Seasoning- When making a vegan chicken I usually go for a herby type flavour as I associate chicken with herbs.
• All purpose flour- This is for the batter
• MSG- This provides the next level of savory flavor for the batter seasoning. KFC do use MSG on their chicken and that’s what makes takeaway food taste that bit better than what you make at home. You can buy this from the Chinese supermarket or online. If you don’t use MSG swap out for some more salt.
• White pepper- White pepper is the essential seasoning for the batter, its responsible for the peppery flavour in KFC. Don’t skip this as it wont taste the same.
• Mayo – I use shop bought vegan mayonnaise for the ranch.
• Apple cider vinegar- Apple cider vinegar adds a tang to the sauce, you can use white vinegar if you like.

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Air frying tenders

Air frying the tenders to reheat is the best way as it helps the coating to stay crispy. Heat your air fryer to 180C/350F and cook for 8- 10 minutes.

Vegan chicken tenders with ranch dip

Crispy fried vegan chicken tenders with a creamy, tangy ranch dip. Perfect for those fast food cravings- give them a go!

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Total Time 1 hour hr

Course Snack

Cuisine American

Servings 2

Ingredients

  

• 600 ml Vegan chicken broth
• 200 ml Soy milk

For the chicken-

• 1 cup Vital wheat gluten flour
• 1 cup Vegan chicken broth
• 1/3 cup Plain flour
• 1/3 cup Nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp Sage
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tbsp Vegan chicken stock powder
• 1 tsp Garlic granules

For the flour mix-

• 1.5 cups Plain flour
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp MSG
• 1 tsp Thyme
• 1 tsp Oregano
• 1 tsp Black pepper
• 1 tsp Garlic granules
• 2 tsp White pepper
• 2 tsp Paprika

For the ranch dip-

• 2/3 cup Mayo
• 1/3 cup Soy milk
• 1 tsp Dried chives
• 1 tsp Dill
• 1 tsp Garlic granules
• 1 tsp Onion granules
• 1 tsp Salt
• ½ tsp Black pepper
• 1 tbsp Apple cider vinegar

Instructions

 

• To make the chicken add all of the chicken ingredients to a bowl and mix to combine.
• Once the ball comes together knead on the counter for a few minutes and cut into 4 pieces.
• Get the vegan chicken stock boiling in a pan.
• Flatten the chicken pieces and add to the broth- simmer on low for 30 minutes.
• To make the ranch mix all of the ranch ingredients and leave in the fridge until needed.
• Remove the chicken from the stock, pat dry with a paper towel and leave to cool whilst you make the coating.
• Grab two bowls and add all of the flour mix to one of the bowls, mix well to combine.
• Divide the flour in half into the two bowls and mix the soy milk into one bowl.
• Cut the chicken pieces into tenders shape and dip in the dry flour, then the wet, then back into the dry and place on a clean dry plate.
• Repeat for all of the tenders.
• Heat up some oil in a large frying pan and fry each piece until golden brown.
• Serve up with the ranch and enjoy!

Notes

Frying- These will work best deep fried of course however I cant stand the mess of deep frying so I just shallow fry mine.

Check out some of The Plant Bowls snack recipes!

• Vegan Lebanese Style Hummus
• Vegan Buffalo Chicken Wings
• Air Fryer Churro Gnocchi

• 
  Greek Gyros Tofu Bowl
• 
  Vegan Burrito Bowl
• 
  Vegan French Onion Dip
• 
  Vegan Mince and Cheese Pie
• 
  Vegan Italian Sausage Kale Pasta
• 
  Red Curry Thai Udon