Meatless Philly Cheesesteaks (w/Seitan)

Seitan....have you ever heard of it?

Seitan....pronounced "say-tan", as I have found out, is flavored wheat gluten that is used to replace meat.  (So evil sounding!)  I am not, nor ever have been a vegan, but I like to experiment with meatless meals for my family now and then, and when I saw this recipe using seitan on none other than good old Dr. Oz, I was intrigued.  First off...could I find this seitan product at my local grocery (and would it be reasonably priced) and second, could I foul my picky, picky husband into eating a meatless meal....hmmmmmm?

Philly Cheesesteak is one of those notoriously high fat and calorie sandwiches I have all but taken entirely out of my diet.  A chance to bring this "fun" food back into my life without feeling guilty about it certainly had it's charm.  

I was surprised to find the seitan strips very easily in my local grocery.  They were located by the tofu and other vegan products.  They were a tad pricey, but not more than I would have spent on meat for the purpose of making this dish...so I decided to take the plunge.

Turning the box over this is what I saw:

And the nutritional stats were pretty good too!

The biggest lure to this product was the fact that it was void of saturated fat and had some fiber.  The downside would be if you are sensitive to wheat and wheat gluten.

But could it be a reasonable replacement to beef and chicken as the box claimed?

I opened the package and their was no odd smell.  ( I was prepared...ever made shiritaki noodles?  ew!  lol) It was packed in liquid which I drained off and then placed  the seitan on a paper towel until I was ready to add it to the recipe.  

Although I had bought the "strips", I still found them to be kind of big, so I ran a knife through them to cut them up more before I added them to the pan.

The rest of the recipe is no surprise...the normal sort of stuff you would find in a Philly cheese steak...onion, peppers, mushrooms, garlic and seasonings....all sauteed up until soft...

Add in the seitan to heat it up...

And then cover it with cheese! ( I used reduced fat mozzarella, NOT the vegan cheese the original recipe called for)  So my meal wasn't vegan, but it was still meatless. 

Finally, spooning the mixture into a bun of your choice...

The Verdict:

Pretty darn good!  Good enough to foul the picky husband into NOT knowing it was meatless! The texture is really similar to meat and the taste isn't bad at all.  It's not flavorless like tofu...but it's not a bad taste either. I served these on Pepperidge Farms 100% whole wheat soft hoagie rolls.  (the rolls were 4p+ each) All boys gave this meal a thumbs up.  I served it with the BEST Oven Baked Fries for some extra fun.  I would make this again.

I think this same recipe would also be great using chicken, if you didn't want to go the meatless route.  But sometimes...it's good to try something new...because you just never know!

Meatless Philly Cheesesteaks ( w/Seitan ) 

adapted from The Dr. Oz Show

Printable Recipe

Servings - 4   Serving Size - 1/4th of mixture   Points Plus per serving - 4 points+

( Nutritional information for filling only, bun NOT included)  Calories - 187.3,   Total Fat - 6.5g,   Carb. - 9.5g,   Protein - 21.8g,   Fiber - 2.6g

1 med onion, sliced

1 med red pepper, sliced

1 med green pepper, sliced

8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1- 12oz. package of seitan, drained and chopped

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper, to taste

1 cup reduced fat mozzarella

1.  Spray a large nonstick skillet generously with cooking spray.  Add in onion, peppers, garlic and mushrooms.  Saute on med/high heat until veggies are tender.  Add in the seitan, Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper. Heat through.  

2.  Take off heat.  Top with 1 cup of cheese and mix in a bit.  Let the cheese melt.  

3. Spoon into buns of your choice.  Enjoy! 

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Like I have mentioned, we really enjoyed this meatless meal.  If you want a true vegan sandwich, you will need to use vegan Worcestershire sauce and vegan cheese.  I did not.  For the 8p+ I spent on this sandwich, it was totally worth it!  

Have you ever had Seitan?  How have you used it if you have?  

This recipe is being shared with:
Full Plate Thursdays @ Miz Helen's Country Cottage