This Vegan Big Mac Recipe has been a long time coming. Juicy seitan beef burger patties, pickles, shredded lettuce, vegan cheese slices and the infamous Big Mac burger sauce. This is the best veganised copycat Bic Mac recipe I know – you gotta taste it to believe it! You can already see it, the evidence that this infamous Mcdonalds burger is now in vegan form, now you can go that extra step further and actually eat it. I got inspiration after I made my vegan Filet O Fish.
The patties took a little time to perfect as seitan can be quite tricky to get right, but it’s all about trial and error. I’ve done some of that experimenting and this seitan burger recipe seems absolutely A-OK.
The last memory I have of eating Big Mac was actually when I was a teenager taking a lunch break during school. I was a bit of rebel because 1) I wasn’t allowed to leave school at this time and 2) my parents didn’t allow us to eat fast food so I kind of went against the grain here, with my thick strawberry milkshake, large fries and a cute guy! Actually, come to think of it now (as I’m writing this), another more recent memory has come up….
Two years ago I went on a night out with friends and we took the 24h tube (subway) back after the club. Before hopping on, everyone popped into Macky Dee and ordered like there was no tomorrow. I was the only one that refused to order anything. But then to my surprise, my friend ordered me a supersize meal and put it right under my nose as I was sitting at one of the booths with the others – I couldn’t resist, my drunken state got the better of me and I went home sipping coke and munching on my Big Mac! Reminder to self, always carry snacks in handbag!
Questions about Vegan Big Mac Recipe
How to make vegan Big Mac?
To make this vegan Big Mac recipe, you will need to start by making the seitan burgers. To cook seitan, you will need to add tomato puree, soybean/miso paste, vinegar, soy sauce, water, yeast flakes, garlic powder, onion powder, vital wheat gluten, smoked paprika, porcini mushroom powder and knead until smooth. In a bowl add wheat gluten (seitan) and pour in the puree. Mix briefly until a dough forms – do not over-knead. Make into 12 balls and flatten with a rolling pin. Lay into a deep baking dish, on top of each other.
For the stock, add hot water to onion powder, garlic powder and salt. Pour over the burger patties, cover the dish with a lid or tightly with foil if there is no lid. Bake in the oven for 1 hour. Remove and lightly fry on each side before serving. For Big Mac sauce, mix mayonnaise, ketchup, sweet mustard, onion powder, garlic powder and some finely cubed gherkins.
Assemble by halving some sesame seed-topped buns, first a layer of sauce, then the shredded lettuce, a cheese slice, the seitan burger patty, some sliced gherkins, another half of a bun, more sauce, lettuce, pickles, the final burger patty and last but not least, the sesame bun top.
What is seitan?
Seitan is the term given to vital wheat gluten or wheat meat, which usually comes in the form of a flour. This is then cooked into items such as steak, sausages, burgers etc ad bears the resemblance and texture of meat. Seitan is high in protein and is vegan.
What does seitan taste like?
Seitan tastes and feels like meat if seasoned and cooked appropriately. The appearance, texture and flavour can be very meat-like.
Is it better to steam or boil seitan?
Both steaming and boiling work well when preparing seitan recipes but it is completely dependent on what you are cooking.
How do you store seitan?
You should store seitan in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer for 2 months. When storing in the fridge, it’s best to keep the seitan patties in the stock to prevent them from drying out.
Where can I buy seitan?
You can buy seitan in many health food stores like Wholefoods. As it becomes more popular, it’s likely to start becoming available more readily in supermarkets. The vital wheat gluten should have at least a 75% protein content.
What is miso paste?
Miso paste is a traditional Japaense food made from fermented soybeans and a type of mould called koji. It is used to season many types of foods. In this recipe it gives a nice umami flavour.
Vegan Burger Recipe Substitutions
- Beetroot powder can be replaced with 2 cooked beetroots.
This vegan Big Mac is…
- Succulent
- Juicy
- Crisp
- Tangy
- Meaty
- Vegan
- Plant-based
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Vegan Big Mac
Ingredients
Seitan Burgers:
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 3 tbsp soybean or miso paste
- 2 tbsp vinegar
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 250 ml water
- 3 tbsp yeast flakes
- 2 tbsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp onion powder
- 2 tbsp beetroot powder
- 2 tbsp smoked paprika
- 2 tbsp dried porcini mushroom powder grind in blender
- 1 tbsp white pepper
- 300 g wheat gluten seitan
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- Oil to fry
Stock:
- 750 ml water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp onion powder
Vegan Big Mac Sauce:
- 150 g mayonnaise
- 3 ½ tbsp ketchup
- 2 tbsp sweet mustard
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- 3 gherkins finely cubed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180℃.
- For the seitan burgers, add yeast flakes, garlic powder, onion powder, white pepper, mushroom powder, smoked paprika and wheat gluten and mix to combine all ingredients evenly.
- Add the tomato puree, miso/soybean paste, vinegar, soy sauce and salt along with some water to a bowl.
- Add to the wheat gluten and mix with a wooden spoon or hand, but do not over mix as this will make it harder to shape the patties.
- Break the dough into 12 pieces and form into balls.
- Flatten out the balls on a clean surface and using a rolling pin, flatten to the desired thickness (or thinness). These will double in size when cooking. The dough will be stretchy when shaping but it will get there at some point!
- Stack patties on one another in a deep baking dish (one with a lid is better, but foil can work also).
- For the stock, boil all ingredients together until bubbling and pour over the patties, there should be just enough to cover all of them.
- Cover the top tightly in foil or place a lid over them.
- Cook in the oven for 1 hour.
- Remove carefully and heat a dash of oil in a frying pan.
- Fry the patties for 2-3 minutes on each side until browned.
- For the burger sauce, combine all ingredients together and mix well either in a blender or using a fork.
- Assemble into buns with garnishes: cut sesame topped in halves then add burger sauce, sliced gherkins, shredded iceberg lettuce then top with the pattie. Repeat once more then top with the sesame topped half. You will need 3 bun halves for each vegan big mac.
Notes
- Beetroot powder can be replaced with fresh beetroot
Nutrition
Made this Recipe?
If you had a go at this vegan burger recipe, please feel free to give me a shout on Instagram at @food_flaneur – would love to see your pics!
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