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 couldn’t seem to cook the interior thoroughly without burning the exterior, despite how thin they were or how low the heat was, I pan fried first to crisp up the panko then baked at 350 for 30 min flipping halfway through. They turned out great this way! I doubled the batch and made some circular patties for burgers, and some long skinny ones to make “burger king” style chicken sandwiches!