These super crispy Vegan Cutlets are made with seitan, white beans, breadcrumbs, and Italian seasonings. Perfect for serving with gravy, mashed potatoes, pasta, and more! Easy to pan-fry or bake.
Love making vegan meat substitutes from scratch? Try my Vegan Fried Chicken, Vegan Steak, or Vegan Pepperoni recipes next!
You may be surprised at just how easy it is to make this Vegan Cutlets Recipe. It’s seitan-based, which means they come out of the pan meaty and chewy on the inside, and with lots of plant protein for good measure. And that Italian-seasoned breading on the outside? So delicious and crunchy!
And if you’re not into pan-frying, you can easily bake the cutlets instead. You’ll still get a crunchy cutlet to slice up and serve over creamy pasta and salad or to slather in marinara sauce and stuff into a sandwich.
Why you’ll love these crispy vegan “chicken” cutlets
- Irresistible crunch – These vegan cutlets have some serious crunch thanks to the delicious Italian-seasoned breading. Pan-frying will give you the crispiest results, but baking works, too.
- High in protein – These cutlets are seitan-based, just like my Vegan Wings. This means they’re not only super tender (like real chicken cutlets), but are also high in protein.
- Endless ways to eat ‘em – Enjoy your cutlets with gravy and mashed potatoes, pasta, on a salad, in sandwiches, with mac and cheese, or anywhere else you like!
How to make vegan cutlets
Find the complete printable recipe with measurements below in the recipe card.
Mash the beans in a large bowl until no whole beans are left. Stir in the vital wheat gluten, flour, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, dried sage, salt, broth, and oil until the “dough” starts to pull away from the bowl.
Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until you see some gluten strings forming.
Break the dough into 8 pieces, then press and stretch each one into thin cutlets. They will be rather delicate and moist, so handle them carefully.
Add the breadcrumbs, paprika, dried parsley, salt, and pepper to a medium bowl and stir to combine. Coat each cutlet in the seasoned breadcrumbs until they’re covered on all sides.
Warm a thin layer of oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the cutlets to the hot pan, flatten them with a spatula, cover with a lid, and cook until they’re crispy and golden brown on both sides.
Recipe Tip
Move the cutlets to a wire rack placed over a baking sheet immediately after frying. This will drain any excess oil and help them crisp up!
Serve the vegan chicken cutlets while they’re still warm and enjoy!
Frequently asked questions
You can serve these pretty much the exact same way as classic chicken cutlets. Slice them up and top them on a vegan Caesar salad or a creamy vegan pasta, like my Vegan Carbonara or this Vegan Alfredo (vegan chicken alfredo is always an amazing family dinner).
You could also keep the cutlets whole, cover them in marinara sauce, and stuff them into a saucy sandwich (kind of like my Vegan Meatball Subs without the meatballs). They’d work really well in vegan “chicken” parmesan, too. Just follow the steps in my Eggplant Parmesan Recipe, but replace the eggplant with the cutlets.
We also enjoy them at Thanksgiving, alongside all the usual Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes like Gravy and Sweet Potato Casserole.
Absolutely. Lay the breaded cutlets on an oiled or parchment-lined baking sheet, then bake at 350ºF for 30 minutes, flipping halfway through. They’ll be crispy and lightly golden when they’re done.
No, sorry! These are seitan cutlets, which means they rely on vital wheat gluten for their meaty and chewy texture. You could try breading and frying thick tofu slabs instead, but the texture would be pretty different.
You can knead and cut the seitan dough up to 3 days in advance. Wrap the pieces in plastic and keep them in the fridge until you’re ready to bread and fry.
If you don’t plan on serving the fried cutlets right away, you can lay them on a sheet pan loosely covered with foil in a preheated and turned-off 200ºF oven until you’re ready.
These cutlets are at their crispiest when they come out of the pan, so I recommend eating them fresh. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days, but they’ll soften over time.
Pan-Fried Crispy Vegan Cutlets
Ingredients
Cutlets
- 15 ounce can white beans drained and rinsed
- 1 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups vegan chick'n flavored broth or vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Coating and Frying
- 2 cups panko breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- few shakes ground black pepper
- vegetable oil for pan frying
Instructions
- Mash the beans in a large bowl until no whole beans are left. Add the vital wheat gluten, flour, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, dried sage, salt, broth and olive oil to the bowl. Stir well until the mixture starts to pull away from the bowl.
- Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead with your hands for 2-3 minutes until you see some gluten strings in the dough.
- Break the dough into 8 pieces. Press and stretch them into thin cutlet shapes.
- In a medium bowl, add the breadcrumbs, paprika, dried parsley, salt and pepper and stir to combine.
- Warm a thin layer of oil in a large cast iron pan or non-stick pan over medium heat.
- Coat the cutlets in the breadcrumb mixture, one at a time, handling them carefully. Place the cutlets on the pan, flatten with a spatula, cover and cook for 5-7 minutes per side, until crispy and golden brown. Serve immediately if possible, or store in a warm oven until ready to serve.
Notes
- You can use cooked lentils, pinto beans or chickpeas instead of white beans.
- For the broth, I use Better Than Bouillon No Chicken Base.
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Bake Instead – You may bake them instead on a lightly oiled pan or parchment paper. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, then flip and bake for 15 more minutes until crispy and golden brown.
- Leftover cutlets can be frozen for up to 3 months. When ready to serve, thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then bake, air-fry or pan fry again until warm.
I was a tad nervous making these because I have had bad experiences with vital wheat gluten seizing up and not being pliable enough to shape. This recipe was fantastic! The dough stayed moist and easy to form into cutlets. The taste was wonderful and my family, even my picky daughter, enjoyed them and want me to add this to the dinner rotation. I followed the recipe exactly, but this is a great recipe to try different spices and seasonings. Thank you for another phenomenal recipe!
Hi Kim, how awesome that the cutlets turned out wonderful for you, and that they were a hit with your family! It would be fun to experiment with different spices and flavorings in this recipe! Thank you for taking time to share your awesome review and recipe experience! Wishing you lots of happy cooking!
I just wanted to say I have been vegan for 10 years and have been using your recipes since I started! You are one of my favorite chefs so thank you
That is wonderful to hear Grace! Thank you for taking the time to comment and let me know. It truly means the world to me.
Made these without any modifications. My wife and I were so impressed. We ate them originally with your caeser salad and then put them on your buttermilk biscuits for the next couple mornings. So good!
Could you make the seitan dough ahead of time? Store in the fridge until ready to cook?
Yes, you could store it in the fridge until you’re ready to cook them, perhaps for a day or two.
WOW!! I made these last night for the first time after being intimidated for the longest time. You made this recipe so easy! No more wasting my money on store bought chick’n patties…. This will be a staple in my recipes from now on!
Hi Maddy. I’m so glad you worked up the courage to try the recipe, and that you loved it! Bravo! Thank you for sharing your terrific feedback! Wishing you lots of happy cooking!
One of the first things I ever learned to cook was breaded chicken cutlets and it’s honestly been the hardest thing to recreate since I went vegan 10 years ago. I’ve tried every recipe out there and it’s never really worked. I decided to try yours the other day because it was very similar to Isa Chandra’s cutlet recipe except you had the genius idea of sticking the panko to the raw seitan dough instead mixing it in!
I truly despise setting up dredging stations so I’m forever thankful you shared this. Only changes I made were I blended the beans until smooth and worked the dough in my stand mixer with the paddle attachment until the gluten became stronger. I pan fried until brown and then finished them off in the oven for a few minutes and they were excellent. Great texture, great taste, super easy to make.
Well I’m so glad you enjoyed these Cathy! Yes, I found that since the cutlet dough was so moist, I could just stick the panko crumbs right to them. I like to make them pretty thin too, not too thick. 🙂 Thank you!
For the life of me, i’ve never been able to get breadcrumbs to stick ever!!! These are currently in the oven baking I might finish off in the pan but so far not too many breadcrumbs have stayed on… they sure as heck don’t look covered at all compared to yours. No one in the comments are seeming to have this problem either :’) any tips? I used lentils since I didnt have white beans
Was your seitan dough a bit dry by chance? If it was on the drier side, I can see the breadcrumbs having a hard time sticking. The dough should be so moist that they stick very easily. Perhaps your brand of vital wheat gluten flour is a bit more dry. You can add a little extra broth and/or oil to the dough so it’s pretty darn moist.
These were so delicious and really easy to make! I could only fit two cutlets in my cast iron pan at a time, so to save some time, I baked them first for 15 minutes on each side and then finished them off in the pan to get them a little more crispy. The leftovers were delicious as a “chicken” burger! I might experiment with shaping the dough into nuggets or strips, and then freezing some for quick meals.
QUESTION: I have made seitan before and it required me to steam it. So this recipe doesnt require the steaming step?
That is correct. These do not require steaming. Enjoy!
An absolute delight. I baked mine. Kept it in for an extra 10ish minutes and made it crispier. Thank you so much for the recipe. My wife and I will definitely be returning to it often.
You are welcome, Jacob! I’m thrilled that you and your wife enjoyed the cutlets! Thank you for sharing your recipe experience and your terrific review! Wishing you happy cooking!
They were tasty, the outside was crispy as advertised; however, they were chewy and I thought a bit doughy. The only thing I could come up with was perhaps I didn’t knead the seitan enough. Thoughts?
Try flattening them a bit more before pan frying so they cook through better, and make sure you are covering the pan while they cook and cook them long enough. I don’t know that you need to knead the seitan more, but you could try it if you want. I mean, they should be a bit chewy and meaty, but you don’t want them doughy.
I made these vegan cutlets last night, and they turned out absolutely amazing! The flavour was rich and satisfying, and the texture was perfectly chewy, just what I was hoping for. I was planning to save some for later, but they didn’t last beyond lunch today. Definitely a new favourite in my recipe rotation!
Amazing cutlets! They were easy to make and my carnivore family loved them. I have made so many of your recipes. They never disappoint and are always delicious. Thank you for sharing.
You are welcome, Joanne. Thank you for loving and for using my recipes! I’m thrilled your family loved the cutlets! Wishing you lots of happy cooking!
Hello, could I make this without wheat gluten?
No, sorry! These are seitan cutlets, which means they rely on vital wheat gluten for their meaty and chewy texture. You could try breading and frying thick tofu slabs instead, but the texture would be pretty different. I hope this helps!
I made this over the weekend and it was a huge hit! It did remind me of the chi7cutlets my mom would make when I was little. Very tasty and moist yet with a satisfying crunchy crust. Even my non-vegans in the household enjoyed them. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. Your recipes are amazingly delicious.
You are welcome, Corinne! I’m thrilled that the cutlets were a hit with everyone! Thank you for your awesome review and feedback! I appreciate you using my recipes and wish you lots of happy cooking!
Followed recipe exactly and WOW! Delicious! Definitely will be making these often, and I’ll be making a batch just to keep in the freezer. Thanks for the great recipe!
You are so welcome, Tammy! Thank you for taking time to share your stellar review and feedback! This is a great item to have in the freezer! Happy cooking!
Could you use chickpeas to make this? Sounds so yummy and I don’t have white beans on hand and want to try
Yes, you can use chickpeas instead. I hope you enjoy them!
Thank you for your quick reply! I was also wondering where do you incorporate the 1/3 cup of All purpose flour? I mixed it into the dough. Sometimes I out ap flour into the breading mix too so I wasn’t sure! They turned out amazing. It yields so many. So happy with this recipe thanks again so much!
Sorry about that, I forgot to list it in the instructions! You add it to the dough with the vital wheat gluten. I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Thank You ! Nora, Your ideas are brilliant.
I am obsessed!!! These are so amazing. I froze the leftovers and they warm up great in the air fryer for a quick sandwich. You are truly a master chef.
Amazing!
These were so easy to make and they turned out amazing. Re-heated the leftovers and turned them into sandwiches. My non-vegan husband even asked if I could make another batch to freeze just for him!
Forgot the rating !
Brought back childhood memories. My mother used to make chicken cutlets and was always a family favourite. These seitan cutlets are absolutely delicious and tender 😋. I used Italian breadcrumbs to get the flavour of my memories. Wow thank you for coming up with such a delicious and cruelty free recipe!
Aww that’s so great to hear. I’m so glad you could recreate a childhood favorite. ❤️ Thank you!