Vegan Breakfast All Day Burger

We have a popular burger chain here that we like to frequent because they offer a vegan burger.

Just one vegan burger with your run of the mill vegan toppings. I mean I guess I am thankful they have an option at all.

BUT, this doesn’t mean I don’t gaze at the menu longingly, wishing that I could order one of their other delicious sounding burgers and it be vegan too.

Especially their “breakfast all day burger.” I mean they had me at maple syrup and hash browns on a burger.

So, I finally decide there wasn’t any reason I couldn’t just make this masterpiece at home. And so I did.

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For starters I was out of hash browns, but am never, NEVER, out of tater tots, and since tater tots are just little baby hash brown nuggets, they would work just fine.

Next I use JUST EGG. I you don’t have have this product where you live you could use tofu egg scramble but fry it, of just add it scrambled.

You can buy any store-bought cheese you like or try your hand at making you own. Trust me when I tell you homemade vegan cheese is actually pretty easy and cheaper than store-bought. But I also respect the convenience of just buying it already made. But if you are feeling extra and wanna try making your own, we have over 40 easy cheese recipes right here on the 86eats site!!

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If you are weirded out by adding maple syrup to the burger, DON’T BE!! Seriously it is one of the best parts of the whole thing. Like, the more the better! Mixed with the ketchup, it is really just magical.

So yall, that is my vegan version of the breakfast all day burger. Perfect for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner. If you are one the fence about this burger, just try it, I promise it is amazing!! Maple dipped burger amazing!

And hats off to the genius that decide to make a breakfast burger to begin with. Whoever you are, I think I think I might love you.

INGREDIENTS:

This recipe makes 4 burgers

• 4 vegan burger patties. Homemade or We used Beyond Burgers for this recipe.

• 4 slices vegan cheddar, Homemade or Store-bought

• 4 vegan hamburger buns

• 1/2 bottle of Just Egg, or you can use tofu scramble

• 1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced

• 4 hash browns or 20 tater tots

• 8 teaspoons maple syrup (or more If you extra like maple syrup)

• ketchup

• Kala Namak salt (this salt smells and taste like eggs)

• 2 teaspoons vegan butter

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INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Cook hash browns or tater tots in the oven or air fryer according to cooking instructions.

2. Begin by heating a large skillet over medium heat. Add the butter and allow it to melt. Add the sliced onion and cook until the onion is soft and translucent. Remove onions from the pan and set aside.

3. Spray the same pan generously with some cooking oil or add a little more vegan butter. Pour 4 puddles of the just egg in the pan, about 2-3 tablespoons each. Fry the Just Eggs a few minutes per side until cooke through. Sprinkle each fried egg LIGHTLY with a little Kala Namak salt. A little goes a long way. If you have not tried to fry Just Egg before, it helps to make sure the pan is nice and oiled, this helps the egg not stick and flip easier. I use a small, sharp edged spatula to help scrape the sides mine before flipping. Set eggs aside.

4. Grill or pan fry the vegan burgers. I like to brush extra maple syrup on the burgers while they grill. I also like to put my buns to the grill right before the burgers are done. I add the cheese to the meat before it is done grilling to help melt it.

5. Brush each bun with a few teaspoons for maple syrup. Add some ketchup, the hash browns or tater tots. ( if using tater tots just use a fork and gently press each one down into the bun to help flatten them out a bit, this is what I used) the burger patty, and top with the grilled onion to serve.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan French Fry Corn Dogs

Vegan Cheese Burger Egg Rolls

Vegan Chicken Cordon Bleu

Truth be told, I never really ate Chicken Cordon Blue before I was vegan.

I don’t know why? I mean it was certainly something my parents never made, so maybe that’s why.

My husband on the other hand adored it, and ordered it often if we ever went somewhere and it was an option. I don’t know why I didn’t jump on the band wagon back then, but I didn’t.

So recently I decided I would give it a go since I had just baked up a vegan deli glazed ham and we still have a little left over. This ham is so super easy and if you haven’t tried making it yet, I highly recommend it. It is one of my favorite seitan recipes on our site! You can also use something like Lifelight smart bacon. But if you make the ham then USE IT!! It is so good!

I also make a really easy and very convincing vegan chicken breast. I normally make a batch or 2 each week for meal prep, because it is so quick and easy, and it keeps for a week in the fridge or months in freezer. For this recipe you do need to make a fresh batch of the chicken because you actually have to stuff the chicken seitan when it is still in its dough form.

For the cheese I used our all purpose cheese sauce, and I literally use it for almost any recipes that requires a gooey cheese. I make a ton of sliceable, shreddable vegan cheeses BUT this sauce is still my go to because it is so good, so easy, and most people have the ingredients in their pantry already! For this recipe you have to let the sauce cook until its good and thick and gooey! This just makes it easier to get it into the vegan chicken breast without it all oozing out! I say to make a half batch for the recipe, but if you make a full batch you can use it to make all kinds of things later in the week. Pizza, quesadillas, grilled cheese, nachos, lasagna, all kinds of things!

It might seem like this vegan Chicken Cordon Bleu recipe has a lot of steps, or too many ingredients, and you are not wrong, but also you are. If you have recently bake a vegan ham, or use pre-made vegan ham or bacon it is really easy! I really think once you make the cheese sauce it will become a staple in you fridge once you discover all the different ways you can use it! Because I already had the ham, this recipe did not take me any longer to make than regular vegan fried chicken! For us the cheese and ham are already staples in our house, making this recipe relatively quick and unfussy. So I guess it just depends on what you keep on hand.

But I will also say that if you do not already have a vegan ham laying around or a batch of cheese sauce made up, it is worth the effort to make both just to make this reicpe!! You will have lots of leftover ham that you eat on sandwiches, or freeze for later, and again the cheese sauce is so versatile and can be used in a ton of recipes!

I know not all Chicken Cordon Bleu comes with a sauce on it, but I am a fan of sauce. So I decided to use some reserved cheese to make a creamy sauce with a zesty kick from the dijon mustard. Again, you can skip this step but y’all, its soooo good. I might be my favorite part of the whole reicpe! So again I say just try it!!

So there you go, my versions of Vegan Chicken Cordon Bleu from a former non fan. Easier than you might think and now I have to wonder why I never ate it more when we were not vegan, because it is delicious! I hate to tell my husband he was right, but…….

INGREDIENTS:

• I cup thinly sliced vegan deli ham. or 8 sliced Lightlife Smart Bacon

• 1/2 batch all purpose vegan cheese sauce (1/4 cup for chicken, 1/2 cup for sauce)

• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard

• 1/3 cup vegan sour cream or plain unsweetened yogurt

• 1/3 cup unsweetened plant milk

• 3/4 cups all purpose flour

• 3/4 cups vegan panko bread crumbs

• 1/4 cup corn or tapioca starch

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 1 teaspoon of any all purpose sesoinng you like

• Oil for frying

CHICKEN BREAST:

• 1 block super firm tofu (16 oz) the kind that is vacuum sealed in not much water

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten

• 2 -3 teaspoons No Chicken Better Than Bouillon, or any vegan chicken flavored bouillon powder or seasoning

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1-2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1/2 teaspoon sage

• 1/2 teaspoon rosemary

• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• 2 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 2 tablespoon neural flavored oil

• 1/2 to 3/4 cups water

• 1 teaspoons salt

CREAMY DIJON MUSTARD SAUCE:

• 1/2 cup of prepared all purpose cheese sauce

• 1 cup unsweetened plant milk

• 1-2 teaspoon dijon mustard

• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

• 1/4 teaspoon paprika

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Prepare cheese sauce according to instructions. You want the sauce pretty thick so allow it too cook until it is thick and kind of stretchy. Allow it to cool while you prepare the chicken.

2. You can use our 86eats deli ham recipe or you can use a premade vegan ham or bacon. If you want to use our ham recipe it will have to be made ahead of time and allowed to rest.

3. For The Chicken: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Break up the tofu and place it into a food processor with the regular metal blade. Run the processor for around a minute until the tofu is broken down.

4. Add all of the remaining ingredients and let the food processor run for a couple of minutes. You want the mixture to form a dough. Letting the processor run will help knead the dough. We want this seitan to be firm so we need it to knead for a bit. If you dough seems a bit too dry, you can add another few tablespoons of water, just don’t add too much more! I start at 1/2 cup and work from there.

5. Once you have a smooth but firm dough, remove it from the food processor and place on a clean counter. Knead the dough with your hands for about a minute, forming a kind of oval, flattened out shaped with the dough. Cut the dough into 8 triangles. Using your hands, form the triangles into a chicken breast shape.

6. Flatten out the chicken breast shapes to about a half inch thick. You are going to stuff and fold the pieces in half so make sure you have formed them big enough and flat enough to accomplish this.

7. Take about a tablespoon of the cooled cheese sauce and spread it in the middle of the chicken breast but leave and edge of seitan dough untouched by the cheese ( the dough won’t stick together if it gets wet with the cheese.) Lay a few thin pieces of vegan ham on the cheese and fold the breast in half. Pinch the edges to make sure the vegan chicken breast is perfectly sealed. You don’t want any cheese oozing out while baking.

8. Place the stuffed chicken breast on a parchment lined baking sheet. Spray the tops with some cooking oil and tightly cover the entire pan with foil. If you don’t want the foil touching your food, lay another piece of parchment paper on top of the breast before covering in foil.

9. Let the chicken breast bake covered for 30 minutes.

10. Remove from the oven and allow to cool at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Pop the chicken in the fridge and let it rest for at least 4 hours. This rest time is important for the texture to develop.

1. To Coat The Chicken: In a medim bowl mix 1/3 cup plant milk, 1/3 cup sour cream or yogurt, and 1 teaspoon dijon mustard. In another bowl mix the flour, starch, bread crumbs, salt, onion powder, and all purpose seasoning.

2. Dip the chicken breast first in the wet mixture then the dry. Make sure the pieces are coated well and entirely.

3. Place a wire cooling rack on top of paper towel lined cookie sheet and place it next to the stove.

4. Heat a deep skillet with several inches of any neutral oil you prefer for frying. I like peanut or grapeseed oil. Get the oil good and hot (350 degrees if you have a kitchen thermometer, if you don’t you can put a chop stick in the pan touching the bottom. If little bubbles form around the tip of the chop stick then the oil is ready.) Fry a few pieces at a time, just for a few minutes per side or until the chicken breast begin to brown and are crispy. Place on cooling rack for a few minutes after they are done to allow excess oil to drip off. You can alternatively use an air fryer. Just fry at 375, giving them a mist with oil. You will need to flip the mid fry and probably fry them for about 10 minutes depending on how many you have in there. Just check on them and when they are brown and crispy they are done.

5. Prepare the sauce by whisking 1/2 cup of cheese in a sauce pan with the 1 cup of plant milk, dijon and spices. Heat on medium heat whisking continuously until the cheese sauce thins back out and the sauce is smooth. It will be lumpy and kind of weird at first, but just keep whisking and it will come together. You can add less or more dijon mustard depending on preference.

6. Serve the vegan Chicken Cordon Bleu with the creamy dijon sauce on the side or drizzled on top.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Chicken and Waffles

Vegan Chicken Nuggets

Vegan Chicken Parm Sandwihc

Vegan French Fry Corn Dogs

Recently my friend Yanira was over and stumbled upon a French fry coated corn dog while scrolling through her phone.

I personally had not seen such a thing and when she showed me, but I knew we had to make them.

Then of course, because I am old and lame and know nothing, my kids informed me “its a thing, its on TikTok.” Well there you have it, the teens confirmed its a thing, and everyone is doing it?!?!?

Well I took to google to find out where it started and from what I can gather (can I even google being so old and lame?!?! barely) and found out that it seems to have stared in Korea, and is a popular street food called Kogo!!

I mean I would have really guessed this thing hailed from America. We love to combine all the bad foods together and deep fry them. I really was shocked it did not originate as American Fair food.

All that said I just wanted to get one of these French fry corn dogs in my face ASAP.

Y’all, its perfect really. You get your corn dog and a side of fries ALL IN ONE!! Its magic really!

So I did it. I made a vegan Kogo, or vegan French fry corn dogs, and it is everything I imagined and more.

For everyone who quickly wants to nay say this amazing and brilliant creation, I am sure there is a salad bar somewhere waiting for you, and being honest, I am right behind you in that salad line, right after I stuff a few of these beauties in my face, once or twice a year.

You can make your own vegan hot dogs, I mean I can hook you up with a pretty tasty recipe, or you can just buy a package of store bough. No judgments from me.

The batter mixes up quickly, frozen fries are your friend in this recipes, and really start to finish you can be munching away in about half and hour. It might actually be a little too easy to whip up a batch of these vegan french fry corn dogs, but I am not mad about it.

Thank you Korea!!! I will be forever grateful for this weird but amazing food!

INGREDIENTS:

You will need 8 popsicle sticks or thick wooden skewers

• 8 vegan hot dogs, homemade or store-bought

• 4 cups frozen French fries (I used Trader Joe’s Fries)

• 3/4- 1 cup dairy free milk

• 1 starch egg (1 tablespoons corn or tapioca starch and 3 tablespoons water)

• 2 tablespoons pickle juice (you can omit this but will need a splash more milk)

• 1 tablespoon dijon or regular mustard

• 3/4 -1 cup all purpose flour

• 1/2 cup corn meal

• 3 teaspoons sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Remove the French fries from the freezer and let them sit at room temp while you prepare the batter.

2. Mix the wet ingredients together in a small bowl starting with one cup of milk.

3. Whisk dry ingredients together in a larger bowl

1. Add wet ingredients into the dry and mix well. If the mixture seems too thick, then add a little more milk. You the batter to be on the thicker side so that it will hold the French fries.

2. Once the batter is all mixed up, pour some into a mason jar, tall glass, or pyrex measuring cup. This makes dipping the hot dogs easier than if you try dipping them in the bowl.

3. Poke a popsicle stick into each hot dog about halfway up.

4. Place the French fries in a blender or food processor and pulse until they are chopped up. You don’t want to turn them to crumbs but you want the pieces small enough to easily coat the hot dogs. You could also chop them with a knife if you like. It’s just faster and easier in the blender. Dump the chopped fries onto a plate.

5. Dip the hot dogs in batter making sure they are completely covered. Roll the battered hot dogs in the plate fries, making sure they are completely coated. Repeat with all of the hot dogs.

6. In a medium sauce pan, deep skillet, or deep frier, heat enough oil to fully cover the corn dogs. I suggest frying with grape seed oil or peanut oil.

7. Once the oil is nice and hot, reduce the temp to medium/low. You can test the oil by placing chop stick or one of the popsicle sticks into the bottom of the pan. If little bubbles form around the tip then the oil is ready.

8. Add 1 to 2 corn dogs to the oil at a time. If you do more than one at a time they may stick together depending on the size of your pot or pan.

9. Fry each corn dog for a few minutes, using tongs to turn them several times until they begin to get golden brown all over and the fries seem crispy (unless you are using a deep frier with a basket, in which case just fry until they are golden brown). Then place finished corn dogs on a cooling rack while you finish frying the rest.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Fried Dill Pickles

Fried Vegan Mac and Cheese Balls

Vegan Gorgonzola Fried Brussels Sprouts

Southern Vegan Biscuit Chicken Pot Pie

I grew up eating a lot of frozen, individual sized pot pies.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, I was big fan as a kid.

Even after I grew up and started cooking on my own, I often made homemade pot pies, but I always made individual sized pies and used traditional pie crust.

And then one day I saw a skillet pot pie in a magazine with a biscuit top and I knew I had been missing out on something my whole life.

I mean I have been making homemade biscuits since I was a kids. My grandmother taught all of the grandkids who wanted to learn how to make biscuits. My grandparents lived on a farm in Alabama and my grandmother made biscuits every single day.

These biscuits are buttery, fluffy and a southern staple. And since making biscuit pot pie, I rarely crave pot pie with a traditional pie crust anymore. I mean I will look for any reason to make biscuits!!

So taking a traditional pot pie filling and adding a biscuit top was a no brainer.

As far as the chicken part goes, I make a LOT of vegan seitan meats. I often cook up a batch of easy vegan chicken breast on a Monday so we have it to use in recipes throughout the week. The vegan chicken is SO easy to make yourself, far less expensive than store bough vegan chicken, and taste a lot better.

If you already regularly make the 86eats vegan deli turkey, you can easily use 1/3 of that recipe in this as well. Both the chicken or the turkey recipes will work great for this pot pie!

Instead of adding plant milk to this recipe, I use cashews to make a super delicious vegan heavy cashew cream. You can also use sunflower seeds if you prefer, they work just as well.

So if you love pot pie and have never had one with a biscuit top, what are you waiting for. This pot pie is the perfect vegan comfort food, packed with veggies, vegan chicken, savory herbs, in a creamy sauce and topped with buttery vegan biscuits. It is also a good and delicious way to use up that 86eats deli turkey or easy vegan chicken breast and a great take on traditional pot pie!

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 Easy Vegan Chicken Breast or 1/3 of the 86eats Vegan deli turkey, diced into cubes

• 1/2 medium yellow onion, finely diced

• 3-4 stalks of celery, diced

• 3 carrots, diced

• 6 button mushrooms, quartered

• 1 can of green beans, drained and rinsed

• 1/4 cup cashews or sunflower seeds

• 2 1/2 cups water

• 1 teaspoons each thyme, rosemary, and sage

• 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 1-2 teaspoons No Chicken Better than Bouillon

• 1 teaspoon corn or tapioca starch plus 3 tablespoons water, whisked together

• 1 batch vegan southern biscuits

• 4 teaspoons vegan butter, divided

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Prepare chicken or turkey according to instructions. Both seitan recipes require a rest time so make sure you account for that when planning this recipe.

2. Place a large dutch oven over medium heat on the stove top. Add two teaspoons of vegan butter and the onion. Cook until the onion becomes soft and translucent.

3. Add the carrots, celery, and mushrooms and let the veggies hang out and cook for about 5 minutes, giving them some time to soften up a bit.

4. Add 2 cups of the water, Better Than Bouillon, and spices to the pot. Reduce the heat to medium/low and allow the veggies to simmer until they have completely softened and you can easily pierce them with a fork.

5. While the veggies are simmering, place the cashews or sunflower seeds in a microwave safe container and cover in water. Microwave on high for 3 minutes. If you do not own a microwave, you can bring them to a boil on the stove top for 3-5 minutes as well. Drain the water.

6. Add the nuts and 1/2 cup of fresh water to a high speed blender or food processor and blend until the nuts are completely broken down and you have a creamy liquid. Make sure there are no little bits of nuts left. You want the mixture completely smooth.

7. Add the cashew cream to the pot with the veggies. Add in the diced vegan chicken or turkey.

8. Whisk the starch and 3 tablespoons water together and add to the pot. Stir well and the mixture should quickly thicken.

9. Prepare the biscuit dough according to recipes instructions. Press the dough into a large half inch thick circle and cut the dough into 1 1/2 to 2 inch squares.

10. Preheat oven to 425 degrees

11. Transfer the chicken and veggie mixture to a 9 or10 inch cast iron skillet or any other large oven safe high sided skillet.

12. Using your hands spape the biscuit dough squares into a crude circle shape and place the biscuits on top of the chicken and veggie mixture in an even layer. Melt the remaining butter and brush the biscuit tops with the butter and sprinkle with some additional garlic powder and dried parsley if you like.

13. Bake the pot pie for about half an hour or until the biscuits are cooked through and have began to brown on top.

14. Allow to cool just a bit before serving.

15. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Lentil Shepherd’s Pie

Vegan Jackfruit Divan

Vegan Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls

Vegan Boneless Buffalo Wings (seitan wings)

I have always been a fan of all things buffalo.

Pre-vegan and pre-vegetarian, boneless wings were my go to when we went out to eat.

I love, love, loved boneless buffalo wings with a big side of ranch dressing.

Over the years I have made different vegan variations of wings using an easy basic seitan recipe, and often crispy tofu.

None of the variations have been bad, but none have been and tasty as this version.

A while back I kind of perfected an easy vital wheat gluten/tofu chicken. By perfected, I just mean its perfect for me. You may disagree or have a recipe you like better, but this one is so super quick and easy, the texture is spot on, and the flavor is well, chicken like. So to me that is the perfect seitan chicken.

I has already used the recipe to make my kids fun shaped nuggets but hadn’t made wings with it yet.

I am often on autopilot so I had just kept making crispy tofu wings and never really thought to use the seitan chicken in its place, until recently.

Man am I a dummy sometime.

These vegan boneless wings are SOOOOOO FLIPPING GOOD!!!!!

I have given instructions for oil frying and air frying. Depending on the day and my mood, determines how I cook mine. Sometimes I pan fry them oil to free up my air fryer for French fries. Other times I don’t want to deal with the mess of the oil so forgo the fries and just make the wings in my air fryer.

If you choose to air fry them you will need to at least give them a spray of oil so they don’t stick to the fryer. If they stick the coating will rip off and nobody wants a naked wing..am I right?!?!

People often as if my oil fried recipes can be made in the air fryer so I just decided to try and give instructions for both methods.

No matter how you choose to fry these vegan buffalo wings, both methods will yield a super crispy, dippable, delicious wing! And really that was all I was ever looking in a vegan boneless wing.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten

• 1 block super firm tofu (16 oz) the kind that is vacuum sealed in not much water

• 2 -3 teaspoons No Chicken Better Than Bouillon, or any vegan chicken flavored bouillon powder or seasoning

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1-2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1 teaspoon all purpose greek seasoning or any all purpose seasoning you like

• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• 2 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 2 tablespoon neural flavored oil

• 1/2 to 3/4 cups water (you might not need much water at all. Add a little at a time just until the dough comes together and is smooth)

• 1 teaspoons salt

COATING:

• 1 cup all purpose flour

• 1 cup panko bread crumbs

• 1/2 cup tapioca or corn starch

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup vegan yogurt or sour cream

• 1 cup unsweetened plant milk

• 1 and 1/2 cups vegan buffalo sauce (we used Franks) plus 2 teaspoons vegan butter

• Oil if you are choosing the pan fry method

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

1. Break up the tofu and place it into a food processor with the regular metal blade. Run the processor for around a minute until the tofu is broken down.

2. Add all of the remaining ingredients and let the food processor run for a couple of minutes. You want the mixture to form a dough. Letting the processor run will help knead the dough. We want this seitan to be firm so we need it to knead for a bit. If you dough seems a bit too dry, you can add another few tablespoons of water, just don’t add too much more! I start at 1/2 cup and work from there.

3. Once dough has come together, transfer to a clean counter top or cutting board. Press the dough out to a large 1/4 inch thick circle. Divide the circle into 4 pieces. Divide each of the 4 pieces into 8 pieces. You will get 32 nice sized vegan wings from the dough.

4. Shape the seitan pieces into a nugget shape. Just any ol blob like nugget shape will do. Don’t think too much about it!

5. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spread the vegan wings out on the 2 pans and give them a spray or brush with some oil. Tightly cover each pan with foil. You need to make sure the pan is all sealed up so the seitan can steam inside will baking.

6. Bake the vegan wings for 25 minuets. Remove from oven and allow to cool some at room temperature before transferring to the fridge to rest for AT LEAST 3 HOURS. Seitan needs to rest for the texture to improve. Trust me, let those wings rest y’all!

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:

1. To coat wings, whisk the vegan sour cream or yogurt with 1 cup of plant milk in a medium sized bowl.

2. In another medium sized bowl, whisk the flour, starch, panko, and seasoning.

3. Begin by dipping the wings one at a time in the wet mixture then pressing them into the flour mixture making sure all sides are well coated.

4. Once all of the vegan wings are coated you can pan fry them in oil or air fry them.

5. Air frying instructions: To air fry, place the wings in the air fryer basket. Depending on the size of your fryer, you will need to work in batches. Place a single layer of wings on the tray and give them a spray with oil so the coating doesn’t stick. Fry at 375 for 5-10 minutes (this just depends on how big your fryer is, and how many wings you crammed in there). I always open up my fryer a few times and give it a shake to make sure nothing is sticking. They are done once the coating is crispy and begging to brown.

6. Pan frying instructions: Add a couple of inches of a neutral flavored oil that is good for frying to a medium sized high sided skillet. I use a cast iron. Heat the oil over medium heat until it is good and hot. You can tell if the oil is ready by poking a chop stick or wooden skewer into the oil and touching the bottom of the pan. If little bubbles form around the chop stick the oil is ready. Line a baking sheet with paper towels and place a wire cooling rack on top. Fry the wings in batches for several minutes on each side until crispy and browned. Place the nuggets on the wire cooling rack to allow the excess oil to drip off.

7. Fill a microwave safe bowl the wing sauce and butter. Microwave for 2 minutes or until the butter has melted and the sauce is warm.

8. Toss the wings in the sauce and serve with vegan ranch or blue cheese dressing and celery.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

Vegan Tofu Wings

Vegan Buffalo Mac and Cheese

vegan flank steak

Vegan Patty Melt

In college I waited tables. I mean I guess that is pretty typical.

I worked a few places actually, and one of those places was Steak n Shake.

I took mostly night classes in college and I worked third shift at Steak n Shake and had plenty of idle time to get homework done and papers written. It worked out really well, actually.

I also got to eat half price and that is always a perk when you are a broke college student.

One of my favorite things ever at Steak n Shake was the Frisco melt. I was basically a patty melt with 1,000 island dressing.

Is it good for you? Well no. Is it delicious? Heck yes. Is it vegan? Absolutely not. Can you make it vegan. Well yes, you can!

I used Beyond beef patties for this recipe. I am not here to debate Beyond vs Impossible meat. I am an equal fan of both. But Costco sells Beyond meat burgers, and now the meatballs as well, and the price is better than anywhere else I have found. I actually just buy the burgers at Costco and thaw them to use in place of the 1 lb ground because it is the most affordable option!

Also, I personally love Beyond meat! So its a win win.

You could use any vegan hamburger patty you like, store-bought or homemade. Grinding up failed seitan often makes a decent burger patty if that is something you are into.

Add any cheese you like. We are family divided, and with this sandwich are split between being fans of vegan American cheese, or Gouda! You any cheese you like, store bought or homemade. I have about 40 cheese recipes on the site, so check some of those out if you are feeling adventurous! They are all really really easy so don’t be afraid to give it a go!

The next step is caramelizing onions. This is not a hard task by any means, it just takes a little while. So be patient. They are worth it!!! If you are especially impatient and just want to sauté your onions and not caramelize them, I’ll forgive you, but trusts me when I say the sandwich won’t be as tasty.

Next slather that baby with a whole lot of 1,000 island dressing and you are on you way to sandwich heaven. Seriously my love for 1,000 island runs deep and wide. Its one of my favorite salad dressings and also dips for fires or tater tots. If you hate 1,000 island then I am not sure we can be friends, but you can use whatever less exciting condiment you like. Mayo, ketchup, whatever…I am out of suggestions because the only right answer is 1,000 island.

Ok, so go make yourself a vegan patty melt. A gooey, cheesy, greasy, 1,000 dripping vegan. patty melt, and be happy!!!

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INGREDIENTS:

• 4 vegan burger patties ( we used Beyond Meat Patties)

• 8 pieces of any vegan sandwich bread you prefer

• 4 slices of vegan American, Cheddar, Gouda, or Swiss cheese.

• Vegan butter

• 2 larger yellow onions

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon sugar

Vegan 1000 Island Dressing:

• 3/4 cups vegan mayo

• 3 tablespoons ketchup

• 2-3 tablespoons diced dill pickles

• 1-2 teaspoons pickle juice

• salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Thinly slice both onions. In a large iron skillet or other large skillet, add a few teaspoons of vegan butter over medium/low heat. Add the onion and sprinkle with the salt. Allow the onions to cook for about 10 minutes with out really moving them around. After 10 minutes give them a good stir and allow another 10 minutes not really messing with them too much. If they seem to be burning reduce the heat to low. Sprinkle with the sugar and stir again. Let the onions cook another 10-15 minutes or until they are browned and caramelized. Set aside.

2. In a small bowl mix the mayo, pickles, ketchup, salt and pepper to taste. I add a few teaspoons of pickle juice just to thin it out a bit and add a vinegar kick.

3. Fry the burger patties, trying to get them pretty flattened out while frying. You don’t want a big thick patty for a patty melt, but rather a nice thin patty. I like to get mine flattened out and a little crispy around the edges. Place finished burgers on a plate. I like to add the cheese slices to the burgers hot out of the pan. I then put a large skillet lid over the plate so the cheese can steam and melt some before I grill the sandwiches. Vegan cheese doesn’t always melt super well and this step helps.

4. Butter one side of each slice of bread. Lay them butter side down in a large skillet over medium heat (I normally make 2 at a time.) Smear some 1000 island on the the bread, add the burgers, cheese, and 1/4 of the caramelized onions to each sandwich. Heat the sandwiches on each side long enough to get the bread toasty and the cheese good and melted.

5. Serve as is or with a side of fries or chips.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Big Beef and Cheddar

Vegan Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

Vegan Fish Fillet Sandwich

Vegan Tofu Sushi Cups

I love sushi.

That said, with a family of 6 going out for sushi can be pricy.

Making sushi at home is something we have started doing more and more, but we are not experts around here by any means, and I am actually not very great at rolling it, so I don’t.

My 15 year old daughter is actually really good at rolling sushi, but can’t often be convinced since it is a bit time consuming to cut the ingredients and roll up enough sushi for 6 people.

So, the other day when I was craving sushi but didn’t want to bother the teenager, I decide to use one of my favorite food hacks and make little sushi cups using a muffin tin.

This way we could get all the good stuff from sushi, all together in a cute little cup, without having to roll anything. I also didn’t have to bribe one of my kids to help, or go broke ordering take out.

I mean sushi burritos are thing now, so I guess this is like a sushi burrito, meets regular sushi rolls love child?!?!? Maybe that’s a stretch but its somewhere in between the two.

I honestly have yet to try a sushi burrito because it just seem like too much. I like that sushi is small and bite sized and every bite is something exciting. So the appeal of a giant sushi burrito is lost on me. But if you love them, then by all means, eat those sushi burritos right up!

These cups are obviously bigger than a sushi roll, but way smaller than a burrito, so some happy medium that I am very satisfied with.

They are still single serving, can still be dipped in soy, or extra yum yum sauce, and will hold up the next day for your lunch box or leftover dinner.

You could also make smaller versions of these cups using a mini muffin tin and smaller pieces of nori, making some pretty cute party appetizer if you are also horrible at rolling sushi or do not have the tools required to roll it, like a sushi rolling mat!

These tofu vegan sushi cup are really easy to make, require little actual cooking, are light, but filling and delicious.

Feel free to swap out other veggies if you are not a fan of carrots or cucumbers. Those just happen to be our families agreed upon sushi faves.

The tofu requires no cooking but soaks up the marinade and has a little kick of spice that is extra delicious.

If you have a rice cooker than this recipe is so super easy. If not, just follow the stove stop directions on your package of sushi rice. Either way, waiting for the rice to cook is honestly the hardest part of this recipe!

And those are my favorite kind of recipes, easy and delicious!

*You will need a 12 cup muffin tin for this recipe

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 1/4 cups sushi rice

• 3 sheets nori

• 1/4 cup vegan panko crumbs

• 1/2 block super firm tofu ( the kind that is vacuum sealed in little water)

• 3 tablespoon soy sauce or coconut aminos

• 2 teaspoons sesame oil

• 3 teaspoons rice vinegar

• 1 teaspoons Sriracha (optional)

• 1 small English cucumber, finely diced

• 1/2 cup matchstick carrots

• 1/4 cup vegan cream cheese

• furikake seasoning for topping

Vegan Yum Yum Sauce:

• 1/2 cup vegan mayo

• 1 tablespoon ketchup

• 1-2 teaspoons rice vinegar

• 1 teaspoon minced garlic

• 2 teaspoons sugar or monk fruit sweetener

• 1 teaspoon paprika

• a few tablespoons of water as needed to thin out the sauce

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Prepare rice according to package instructions. I use a rice cooker and it is the equivalent to 3 scoops of rice (the scoop that came with my cooker) and filling the water line to the 3. Once rice is done, allow it to cool enough that you can handle it with bare hands.

2. Drain the tofu. If using super firm there is no need to press the tofu. If using firm or extra firm you will need to press the tofu for 15 minutes to remove as much liquid as you can.

3. Dice the tofu into little 1/4 inch cubes. Mix the soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar and Sriracha in a medium sized bowl along with the tofu. Let it marinate for at least 15-20 minutes (the longer the better if you have more time)

4. Cut nori sheets into quarters. You will now have 12 squares of nori.

5. Press a square of nori into each muffin cup. Using a large cookie scoop or 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop out rice and press into each muffin cup on top of the nori sheet. Wet your hands (this helps the rice not stick to your hands so you can press it more easily) and press the rice to form a cup around the nori. Pop the muffin tin in the fridge for about 20 minutes. Take them out and carefully remove the rice and nori cups from the muffin tin.

6. Add about 1 teaspoon of cream cheese to the bottom of each cup and spread it out using the back of a spoon.

7. Dived the cucumber, carrots, and tofu (marinade drained first) evenly among the cups. I like to do this in little rows.

8. Mix the ingredients for the yum yum sauce in a bowl. Make sure you have added enough water that it will drizzle over the cups. Drizzle the sauce over each cup.

9. Sprinkle with panko.

10. Top with a good shake of furikake or you can sprinkle with dulse flakes and sesame seeds to serve.

11. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Crispy Sesame Tofu with Broccoli

Tofu Summer Roll Salad

Vegan Egg Roll in a Bowl

vegan flank steak

Vegan Carne Asada Queso Fries

My love for carbs is strong, especially french fries.

I would chose salty over sweet every time and a potato over most other foods always.

Offer me loaded cheese fries and its game on.

I recently saw a recipe for carne asada queso fries and quickly decided that was a recipe I was 100% going to veganize it.

I have never made carne asada pre vegan so I am not sure how it compares but the flavors in this recipe are delicious and I am a big fan of the vegan flank steak marinated in the mix of citrus, garlic, and cilantro. This marinated flank steak would be delicious in lots of things, from tacos, quadrilles, nachos, or even topping a salad.

I make serval different queso recipes, meaty queso, spicy queso, nut free queso, so if you are making these fries you don’t use the white queso I used in this recipe, you can check out all of queso recipes on the site and pick your fave. For this recipe I wanted a classic white queso with a little kick, so thats the one I made!

Fro the carne asada I had to create a vegan flank steak recipe that would easy enough for even a new vegan to make, and I wanted it to be fairly quick and fuss free. You will have to make the steak ahead of time and let it rest. So if you want these fries in your future, you will have to get the flank steak started early in the morning if you want to eat these fries later that night.

The flank steak bakes up quickly but requires at least a 4 hour rest. Once it has rested then you need to allow it to sit in the marinade for a few hours.

You only need half a batch of vegan flank steak for this recipe, so you can bake up a batch and freeze the other half for later. The vegan flank steak works great on its own for fajitas, tacos, nachos, sandwiches, whatever!! It so quick and easy to make and a staple I keep around now for recipes like these fries!

We topped our vegan carne asada fries with and easy homemade guacamole, tomatoes, sour cream, and extra cilantro.

I also used frozen fries for this recipe. I used to always make homemade fries but recently I have just started buying Trader Joes frozen fries and been plenty happy with them.

I give deep frying, air frying, and baking instructions for the fries. I personally have not deep fried a french fry since I bough an air fryer a few years ago. It is maybe my favorite kitchen appliance next to my vitamix! Game changer y’all!

So if you are a fan of cheesy loaded fries, these vegan carne asada fries might be a new loaded fry for you to try and love. I know I am now a BIG fan of these!

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 russet potatoes (for making homemade fries. You can also use frozen fries)

• 1/2 batch vegan queso

• 2 avocados

• juice from 1 lime

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• vegan sour cream, diced onion, dicd tomatoes (all optional)

• oil for frying, OR you can air fry or oven bake the fries

Vegan Carne Asada (Flank Steaks):

• 2 vegan flank steaks (1/2 recipe)

• 1 cup orange juice

• juice from 2 limes

• 1 tablespoon oil

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon black pepper

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 1 jalapeno, diced (optional)

• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, plus extra for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. To prepare the carne asada, fill a large zip lock bag or shallow baking dish with the ingredients listed above. The flank steak (that has been previously baked and rested) juice, herbs, and spices. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours but the longer the better.

2. If you are making homemade fries, wash and cut the potatoes into fries, leaving the skin on the potatoes (or use frozen fries) If you wish to deep fry the fries, heat a large skillet with several inches of oil over medium heat. Once the oil is nice and hot add the fries in batches (do not over crowd the pan) until they get nice crispy. Remove the fries placing them on a cooling rack that is sitting on a paper towel lined baking sheet, and continue with remaining potatoes. I typically double fry mine (if using fresh potatoes.) This means that after I have fried all the potatoes once, I repeat with the already fried fries to get them extra crispy. You can also air fry the fries by misting them with oil and placing them in the air fryer at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes. You can also oven bake the fries at 400 on a cookie sheet being sure to turn them a few times as they bake. Bake until nice and crispy.

3. Make queso according to instructions. If it gets cold before you are ready to use it, you can reheat it in the pot and add a little more water to thin it back out. (it will thicken as it cools)

4. Heat a grill over medium/ high heat. Spray the grates with some oil to help avoid sticking. Remove the steaks from the marinade place on the hot grill for about 5 minutes per side, or until you get some nice grill marks and char on the steaks.

5. Once the steaks have cooled a bit, slice and cut into small bitesize cubes.

6. Scoop 2 avocados out of the peal and into a bowl. Mash with a fork. Sprinkle salt and add the juice from one lime. Mix it all up.

7. Top the fries with the vegan carne asada, queso, guac, vegan sour cream, diced tomatoes, onion, and extra cilantro to serve.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Philly Fries with Beer Cheese Sauce

Loaded Vegan Roasted Red Potatoes

Bbq Jackfruit Fries

vegan flank steak

Vegan Cheesy Tuna Noodle Casserole

vegan cheesy tuna noodle casserole

When I was a kid we pretty much lived off of Hamburger Helper. My dad grocery shopped and cooked, but mostly easy convenient foods, and stuff from a can.

In his defense it was the late 80s, early 90’s and boxed foods like hamburger helper were all the rage.

Affordable, easy, and deliciously comforting.

We never ate a lot of Tuna Helper but once my dad remarried, my stepmom added some new dishes to the mix, like her famous tuna casserole.

I think because I had been living off of Hamburger Helper for so long, any change was a welcome change. Especially when she made her tuna and rice casserole.

Like most southern casseroles it involved a few cans of “cream of” soup, cheese, a starch and a protein. Her casserole was rice, tuna, cream of mushroom, and cheese. And to top it all off, she microwaved it.

Say what you want, but I ate my weight in that casserole growing up, and even when I was grown, she often would make it when I came to visit until we went vegetarian and eventually vegan.

Now despite my affection for this nostalgic classic, my own kids were never fans. So when I decided I was craving some tuna casserole, I decided I would take a chapter out of the old Tuna Helper book, and but would veganize it, but also change it up. I would try to convince my kids that they LOVE vegan tuna NOODLE casserole…since they were not buying the tuna rice combo.

So how does one recreate a tuna, noodle, cheesy casserole when vegan, you may be asking?!?

Its easy, y'all! Jackfruit in a can (in brine) is great at mimicking lots of meats, and when you shred it, the texture is super tuna-y. Next all you need is a super, easy, all purpose vegan cheese sauce, and a box of macaroni! Sprinkle on a crunchy topping, and you are good to go.

This vegan tuna noodle casserole is so quick and easy, and surprisingly every single person in my family ate it up, even the four year old, who mostly only currently eats beige carbs. ( I mean if I thought I could get away with it I could live off the same diet as she is currently attempting)

This vegan tuna noodle casserole recipe actually makes a LOT, but will freeze well. You can very easily half this recipe if you do not need a giant 9x13 pan of casserole. Or you can make the full recipe and eat on it all week. We just happen to have a large family and extra kids over all of the time so it’s my habit to make extra, knowing it will get eaten eventually!

So if you used to eat a lot of box casserole mixes or even a homemade non vegan tuna noodle casserole and have been craving it, this recipe might be the answer. Quick and easy vegan comfort food is always my favorite!

vegan cheesy tuna noodle casserole

• INGREDIENTS:

This recipe makes a full 9x13 casserole dish, making it good for pot lucks or larger gatherings. You can easily half this recipe and bake it in a smaller dish. I often bake a large one and freeze half for later.

• 3 cups dried macaroni, or ribbon noodles

• 2 cans jackfruit in brine, drained and rinsed

• 1 large yellow onion

• 2 teaspoons vegan butter

• 2-3 teaspoons dulse flakes (optional)

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 2 teaspoon dijon mustard

• 1/2 cup vegan sour cream

• 2 cups vegan panko bread crumbs

• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

• 1 teaspoon salt

Cheese Sauce:

• 1 cup cashews (plus water for soaking)

• 2 cups water

• 1/4 cup sauerkraut (cabbage only, no liquid)

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast

• 3 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch

• 1 teaspoon turmeric

• 2 teaspoons smoky paprika

• 1 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Boil noodles according to package directions in a large pot or dutch oven. Drain and set aside.

2. Add cashews to a microwave safe container and cover in water. Heat on high for three minutes. Drain the water. Add the the softened cashews along with remaining cheese sauce ingredients to a high speed blender, and blend until the mixture is completely smooth and there are no more bits of cashew floating around. If you have something small like a bullet blender, you may have to blend in batches. Set aside.

3. Shred the pieces of jackfruit between your fingers or with a knife ( heads up, using your fingers is faster and easier.) Finely dice the onion.

4. Heat the pot you boiled the noodles in over medium heat. Add the butter, onion, jackfruit and garlic. Cook unit the onions are translucent.

5. Add the blended cheese sauce to pot with the onions and jackfruit and reduce the heat to medium/ low. Cook for a few minutes, stirring continuously until the vegan cheese sauce begins to thicken. Once it thickens, add the drained noodles back to the pot. Add the sour cream, and dijon mustard, and give it all a good stir.

6. Transfer the mixture to a 9x13 baking dish. Mix the panko bread crumbs, salt, and nutritional yeast together and sprinkle on the top of the casserole. Give it a spray with a little cooking oil and pop it in the oven on the middle rack.

7. Bake for 25-30 minutes or unit the breadcrumbs begin to get golden brown. You can garnish with fresh parsley or diced green onions to serve.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Chicken Divan

Vegan Cheeseburger Helper

Vegan Scalloped Potatoes

vegan cheesy tuna noodle casserole

Vegan Spaghetti Squash Boats with Meatballs

Vegan Spaghetti Squash and Meatball Boats

At some point in my adult life I decided in my mind that I hated spaghetti squash.

I have no actual memory of ever actually eating a spaghetti squash or how it was prepared, I just decided I did not like them, and I would never cook one. Period.

Then recently I saw a spaghetti squash recipe in a magazine that looked amazing. Weird, I know…I hate spaghetti squash. This made me question myself and my stern stance on this noodle imposter squash.

So I decided I would buy a few and try to veganize the recipe I saw. I mean I am grown lady now and should be open to trying something again..right?!?!!? But the more I thought about that recipe, the more I knew my kids would 100% reject it ,and if I were going to try to sell the family on a squash as spaghetti, it better at least involve a vegan meatballs some vegan gooey cheese. Those are two things my family normally agrees on!

So I did just that. I made a batch of easy vegan meatballs, I used beyond meat but you can use any meatball you make. Seitan meatballs, lentil meatballs, or frozen meatballs. Whatever is easy and your preference.

I still want to try and veagnize the original recipe I saw, but a vegetable stuffed with more vegetables is gonna be a slow roll in this house. Baby steps, y’all.

As far as the squash goes, I don’t know why I thought I didn’t like it.?!?! Because once its covered in meatball laden sauce, and gooey vegan mozzarella, it is delicious, super filling, and a nice change from pasta! Not that I have anything against pasta, I mean I LOVE CARBS….but I need to get behind this being a healthier option.

I think these vegan spaghetti squash boats would work well for entertaining. As long as you use a gluten free meat substitute, these boats should be pretty allergy friendly ( you can make the cheese sauce with sunflower seeds instead of cashews, too,) healthy and delicious!!

Plus y’all, any food baked as a boat always just seems more fun! And if you thought you didn’t like spaghetti squash too, maybe this recipe can change your mind. It did mine!

Vegan Spaghetti Squash and Meatball Boats

This recipe will make enough for 2 large spaghetti squash or you can use I squash and have leftover marinara and cheese sauce. The cheese sauce can be refrigerated for up to one week and used on lots of things. The leftover pasta sauce could be refrigerated or frozen. 1 Squash typically serves 4.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1-2 large spagetti squash

• 1 pound vegan ground “beef” ( we used Beyond Beef)

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano

• 1 teaspoons salt

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 1/4 cup vegan bread crumbs

• 1 tablespoon corn or tapioca starch, or one flax egg

• 1 batch Marinara sauce or use store-bought if you prefer

• 1/2 batch of easy vegan all purpose cheese sauce

Homemade Marinara Sauce:

• 1 yellow onion, diced

• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

• 1 (14.4 oz) can diced tomatoes

• 1/3 red wine (optional)

• 2 teaspoons crushed garlic

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

1. Prepare the meatballs by mixing the vegan ground “meat” in a bowl with the starch, bread crumbs, garlic and ssteaonings. Using a small 1 inch scoop or a a small spoon, scoop out mixture and roll into small meatballs. Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet and pop them in the oven to bake for about 20-25 minutes or until cooked through.

2. Carefully cut the spaghetti squash in half length wise (you will need a good knife as they can be kind of tough to cut.) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and turn the squash halves upside down on the pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes in the same oven as the meatballs.

3. If you are making homemade marinara sauce, add the onions and garlic to medium sized sauce pan with a teaspoons of oil over medium heat. Sauté the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent. Add the tomatoes, wine, and seasoning and let simmer on low heat, stirring occasionally.

4. Once the meatballs are done, add them to the pot with the sauce and let them simmer a bit.

5. Once the squash is tender remove it from the oven and let it cool a bit. Once cool, scrape the seeds and stringy part off the top. Once they are cleaned up, use a fork and scrape the “spaghetti” strands loose.

6. Prepare the cheese sauce according to directions.

7. To make the spaghetti squash boats, leave the squash on the the pan you baked them on. Scoop some sauce and meatballs right into the squash. Top with some of the cheese sauce and pop the pan back in the oven until the cheese sauce is bubbling and beginning to brown.

8. To serve, you can cut each boat in half after it has cooled a bit. We consider 1/2 of a boat a serving. But you could also cut each boat into thirds if you are serving children.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Meatloaf Stuffed Peppers

Vegan Minestrone Soup with Meatballs

Vegan Chorizo Empanadas

Vegan Spaghetti Squash and Meatball Boats

Vegan Beer Battered Crispy Fish Sandwich

When I was in college I ate a lot of McDonald’s fish filet sandwiches.

I am not proud of this but, I was young, and broke, and loved that dang sandwich.

Once I was older and had more money, fish and chips, or a fried fish fillet sandwich was one of my go to orders on any menu that had it.

Then we went vegan and I missed fried fish, plain and simple.

And then one day I learned the magic a can of BANANA BLOSSOMS can yield, it was a game changer.

I probably had not had a fish sandwich or fried fish in over 5 years when I discovered this vegan secret.

The first step was finding the banana blossoms. Easy enough if you have an Asian market near by, but can also be easily ordered online, as well. (that said they are WAY cheaper at the Asian market than they are online)

I paid less than $2.50 a can for these blossoms. So between the “fish” fillets, buns, and toppings, you can feed 4-6 people for maybe around $10. You really can’t beat that!

For this recipe I also made a quick batch of vegan no rise hamburger buns. They are cheap and easy to make and are done start to finish in less than an hour!!

I used a beer batter for my fried vegan fish fillets, but you can use seltzer water if beer isn’t your thing. If it is your thing, then you are gonna extra love this sandwich!

These banana blossoms fry up fast and get extra crispy, perfect for this vegan fish sandwich, vegan fish and chips, or even vegan fish tacos.

The blossoms flake and full apart like fish, and with the help of some seaweed flakes and Old Bay for flavor, they make for the most convincing mock vegan fish!

So if you have yet to jump on the banana blossom bandwagon and have been missing some crispy fried fish or a crispy fish sandwich, this is your answer!

---

INGREDIENTS:

The Fish Filets:

• 2 cans banana blossoms in brine

• 2 tablespoons dulse flakes

• 1 and 1/2 cup all purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon old bay seasoning (optional)

• 3 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 can (12 oz) cold beer, any beer is fine as long as it is not a dark thick beer

• oil for frying

Sandwich Makings:

• 4-5 buns, store bought or homemade No Rise Buns

• 4-6 slices vegan cheddar or vegan American cheese

• sliced dill pickles

• lettuce

Vegan Tartar Sauce:

• 1/2 cup vegan mayo

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

• 2 - 3 tablespoons diced dill pickles

• 1 teaspoon sugar

• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard

• salt and pepper to taste

• 2 teaspoons fresh dill

• optional: 1 - 2 teaspoons capers

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. If making homemade no rise hamburger buns for this recipes, do that first. They are pretty easy, and start to finish take less than an hour.

2. Drain cans of banana blossoms and carefully remove the blossoms, laying them out on a paper towel to remove some liquid. They can easily fall apart so be careful. I found that only a few blossoms in each can were fully in tact. I simply took all of the loose leaves from each can and stacked them back together to resemble full blossoms. I have only been able to find one brand of blossoms on Amazon. I am uncertain if this is an issue with all canned banana blossoms, but stacking the leaves back together worked just fine for me.

3. Transfer the blossoms to a shallow baking dish and sprinkle with the 2 teaspoons of dulce flakes and a dash of salt.

4. For the batter, whisk together the flour, baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, old bay, and the entire can of cold beer in a medium sized bowl. The batter will be thick.

5. To make the tartar sauce, whisk all of the ingredients together in a medium sized bowl and set aside.

6. Heat a deep skillet with a few inches of oil over medium/ high heat.

7. While the oil is heating, begin carefully dipping the blossoms into the batter. For any blossoms that you had to reassemble, place them into the batter, and using a spoon, cover the top in batter. This will help keep the blossom in tact vs attempting to dip them. Carefully transfer the blossoms to the hot oil. TIP: if you are not sure if the oil is hot enough, place a chopstick into the oil, if tiny bubbles form around the chopstick, the oil is ready!

8. Fry each blossom for a minute or two on each side, or until they are golden brown. If they seem to be browning too quickly, reduce your heat a bit. Transfer the finished blossoms to a wire cooling rack that has been placed on top of a paper towel lined cookie sheet.

9. Build the sandwiches by spreading the vegan tarter sauce on both sides of the buns. Add a vegan fish fillet to each bun, along with some sliced pickles, a slice of cheese and some lettuce to serve.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Fish Tacos

Vegan Jackfruit Tuna Salad

Vegan Beer Battered Fried Fish

Homemade Vegan Chicken Nuggets

I have mentioned before I have a lot of kids.

I mean not a lot, just 4, but to some people that seems like shocking number.

To us it’s the perfect number!

That said, kids like kid food, no matter how mature their palates are because they have been forced to eat a multitude of fancy vegan things. I mean, I am in my kitchen all day creating recipes and they eat whatever I make, with few complaints…..well everyone except the 4 year old that is.

That said, sometime the kids, even our teenagers, just want a plate of dinosaur or Mickey Mouse shaped chicken nuggets. Who can blame them. Thats is just plain fun!

So I occurred to me the other day (again sometimes I am extra slow with these ideas) that I should make our kids some vegan chicken nuggets. EVERY time we are at Costco and my kids see the “fun shaped nuggets” the lament wishing those were vegan…I mumble in agreement, and keep on moving.

But last week at Costco when I paused when passing the “fun nuggets” and a light bulb when off. We can just make our OWN homemade vegan chicken nuggets in any shape we want.

If you have made the 86eats easy baked vegan chicken breast, then you know it is an easy seitan recipe to bake up. These nuggets are the same base recipe, just a reduced cook time, and a shorter rest time…cause they are tiny!! So it doesn't not take as long for them to firm up. I also kept this dough a little bit softer so it would press out more easily for cutting the shapes. You don’t want too firm of a dough here because you want it to stretch to a pretty big rectangle.

If you have never made seitan a day in your life, I promise this recipe is as simple as mixing up and baking a super easy cookie recipe. Really!! Seitan is just a dough, and we just cutting and baking this dough into shapes. Then easily coating and baking them up. You don’t even have to fry these in hot oil!!

We have whole box of cute little cookie cutters we hardly ever use so this seemed like the the PERFECT use! Micky mouse, dinosaurs, hearts, stars, flowers. Everyone gets a nugget shape they are into.

My husband and myself include. We are in our 40s but a delicious fun vegan chicken nugget is not lost on us.

No worries if you don’t have fun shaped cookie cutters. You can just use a knife and cut them into little pieces of regular shaped nuggets. Or use a small round cutter and make them into a circle. Any shape will work.

If you want to freeze these vegan chicken nuggets, since the recipe yields about a pound and half of nuggets, you can do a light bake or air fry with them, and freeze them for later use.

These nuggets are pretty convincingly chicken nuggety, super crispy, and delicious.

So if you or your kids have been craving or wanting some vegan nuggets in all the fun shape those “other guys” get to eat, just know its really easy to make them at home. And not only are they cute, they are pretty tasty. I ate enough of this batch to confirm I will be making them weekly, and freezing them for easy weeknight dinner or lunches!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 block super firm tofu (16 oz) the kind that is vacuum sealed in not much water

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten

• 2 -3 teaspoons No Chicken Better Than Bouillon, or any vegan chicken flavored bouillon powder or seasoning

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1-2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1/2 teaspoon sage

• 1/2 teaspoon rosemary

• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• 2 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 2 tablespoon neural flavored oil

• 1/2 to 3/4 cups water

• 1 teaspoons salt

THE COATING:

• 3 cups vegan bread crumbs ( I use vegan panko, but put them blender to make a finer crumb)

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour

• 1/2 cup tapioca or corn starch

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup vegan yogurt or sour cream

• 1/2 cup unsweetened plant milk

*I used high protein tofu in a vacuum sealed package and this what I strongly advise using. It is much firmer than regular firm tofu and has less moisture and a more chewy texture. If you opt to use regular firm tofu you will need to press it first and remove as much liquid as possible. You may need to adjust the amount of water in the recipet as well. Add the water last, adding just enough to accomplish a nicely formed dough.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Break up the tofu and place it into a food processor with the regular metal blade. Run the processor for around a minute until the tofu is broken down.

2. Add all of the remaining ingredients and let the food processor run for a couple of minutes. You want the mixture to form a dough. Letting the processor run will help knead the dough. We want this seitan to be firm so we need it to knead for a bit. If you dough seems a bit too dry, you can add another few tablespoons of water, just don’t add too much more! I start at 1/2 cup and work from there. This dough needs to be soft enough to press out into about 12 inch by 8 inch rectangle..so a little softer than the turkey breast dough if you have made that before.

3. Once you have a smooth well formed dough, remove it from the food processor and place on a clean counter. Knead the dough with your hands for about a minute, forming a large rectangle, about 12 inches by 8 inches ( this is roughly the size of my cutting mat, so just press it out to roughly that size.

4. Using any cookie cutter shape you like, somewhere between one inch to two inches in size, begin cutting shapes from the dough. Repress out the scraps into another rectangle and continue until all of the dough has been used up.

5. Line a baking sheet in parchment paper or foil, spray with oil. Evenly space out the seitan chicken pieces making sure they are not touching. They will expand as they bake. Spray the tops with oil and give them a sprinkle with any seasoning you like. Tightly cover the entire pan in foil, tucking the edges tightly around the edges of the pan. We want the seitan to steam inside the pan. Place the pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

6. Remove the pans from the oven and remove the foil. Allow the vegan chicken nuggets to cool a bit then transfer the nuggets to a bowl or Tupperware container. Place the nuggets in the fridge for at least 3 hours to cool and rest. This rest time is important to get the vegan chicken nuggets to firm up and and have a texture similar to meat.

7. Once the nuggets have rested, prepare the coating but whisking the vegan yogurt or sour cream with the plant milk in a medium sized bowl or pie pan. In another bowl, add the 3 cups of bread crumbs, starch, flour, and seasoning. Store bought bread crumbs are mostly not vegan. They often have milk or eggs in them. I use vegan panko but pop them in my blender to get a fine crumb so it sticks better to the nuggets.

8. Start by dipping the vegan chicken nuggets first in the wet mixture ,then into the dry mixture, making sure to press the coating into both sides of the nuggets. You can either cook the nuggets in the oven or an air fryer.

9. AIR FRYING THE NUGGETS: Place nuggets in a single layer in the air fryer and give them a light mist with some spray oil. Cook at 375 degrees for about 10-12minutes. Checking them a few times, and cooking them just long enough to get them to your desired crispness. The cook time just depends on your air fryer and how crispy you like your nuggets.

10. OVEN BAKING INSTRUCTIONS: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place nuggets on a baking sheet that has either been sprayed with some cooking oil, or is lined in parchment paper ( they want to stick otherwise.) Give the tops another spray and bake for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes flip the nuggets using some tongs and bake another 5-10 minutes or until the nuggets are your desired crispness.

11. If you want to freeze these nuggets, I suggest a light bake. Just enough to lightly crispy the coating, then freeze them in an airtight container or zip lock freezer bag. Then when you are ready to reheat the nuggets, bake or air fry them as suggest above.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Popcorn Tofu

Vegan Southern Fried Chicken

Vegan Deli Sliced Turkey

Homemade Vegan Hotdogs

Hot diggity dog, y’all.

I love a good vegan hotdog. That said, I have not found many vegan hotdogs that I would consider “good.”

I won’t go name dropping any specific brands here, but if you have ever tried to grill a store-bought vegan hotdog, you may have noticed they can be a little rubbery, and just plain weird.

I am a big fan of Beyond brand sausage, and that is our normal BBQ go to, but they ain’t cheap when feeding a family of 6 and they also are not a hotdog…..they are sausage…..and sometimes you just want a chili slaw dog.

So I finally decided I had enough of subpar vegan hotdogs, and it was high time I just made my own.

Y’all, its not hard to make your own vegan hotdogs! It just takes a pack of super firm tofu, some vital wheat gluten, a few pantry staples, and a little patients.

If you have made any of my deli meats you know how easy they are. These vegan hot dogs are close to that easy. They just take a little more time to wrap up so they can steam and keep their shape.

I know a lot of people have feelings about foil. But because these hot dogs need to steam and keep their shape, foil is in order here. If you are anti foil, you can bake them in a covered dish, but they will NOT hold their shape and the texture isn’t as good as if they were wrapped and steamed. You have been been properly warned.

So, if you have yet to find a vegan hotdog you dig, then try your hand at making your own!! They are pretty easy to make, with fairly easy to get ingredients, and in my opinion (and even my picky kids opinions) they are really pretty tasty!

Hot diggity (vegan) dog!!

INGREDIENTS:

I have some notes for trouble shooting this recipe at the bottom of the page. Be sure to give them a read!

• 16 oz package of super firm tofu, the kind that is vacuum sealed in little water

• 1 and 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten

• 1/3 cup yellow onion

• 1/4 cup sauerkraut (just the cabbage, not the juice)

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 2 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch

• 3 tablespoons ketchup or tomato sauce

• 2 tablespoons neutral flavored oil

• 1 tablespoonNo Beef Better Than Bouillon, or vegan beef bouillon powder

• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• 1 teaspoons ground coriander

• 1 teaspoon dried mustard

• 1 teaspoon paprika

• 1-2 teaspoon garlic powder

• 2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• a few tablespoons water if needed

INSTRUCITONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Dice the onion. Break up the tofu and place it into a food processor with the regular metal blade along with the onion and sauerkraut. Run the processor for around a minute until the tofu and onion are broken down.

2. Add all of the remaining ingredients and let the food processor run for a couple of minutes. You want the mixture to form a dough. Letting the processor run will help knead the dough. We want this seitan to be firm so we need it to knead for a bit. If you dough seems a bit too dry, you can add a few tablespoons of water, just don’t add too much more!

3. Once you have a smooth but firm dough, remove it from the food processor and place on a clean counter. Knead the dough with your hands for about a minute, forming a kind of rectangular shaped loaf with the dough.

4. Evenly divide the dough into about 16 pieces. If you want larger hot dogs you can divide it into 12 or 14 pieces.

5. Using your hands shape the dough into a hot dog shape. Smooth the dough out by rolling it out on a clean cutting board or counter top. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough.

6. Wrap each hotdog in a piece of foil that has been sprayed with a light mist of oil. Lay the hotdog at one long end of the foil and roll it up, twisting the ends tightly. Make sure the foil is smooth. If there are a lot of wrinkles in the foil it will cause creases in the hotdogs.

7. Place the foil wrapped hotdogs seam side up in a 9x13 baking dish (you will need 2 baking dishes to fit all the hot dogs) fill the bottom of the dish with about half an inch of water ( this is why the seam side needs to be up on the foil, you don’t want water getting into the foil!)

8. Place the pans in the oven and bake wrapped for 30 minutes.

9. Carefully remove the hotdogs from the oven but leave them in the foil. Pop them in the fridge to rest and firm up still wrapped in the foil for at least 5 hours. So if you want these for dinner, bake them up in the morning or the day before.

10. You can heat the hot dogs on the grill, in a pan, in the oven or boil them to serve. If you cook then a pan on the stove or on the grill, make sure to give the pan or grill a good spray so they do not stick. These got dogs will freeze well for up to 6 months or refrigerate for up to 10 days in an airtight container.

NOTES:

*I experimented with cooking methods for these hotdogs. I tired cooking them wrapped in foil, and I also tired baking them on a pan just covered in foil. Cooking the hotdogs unwrapped did not yield a desirable shape or texture. Wrapping them in the foil may seem tedious, but it actually does not take very long.

*I use SUPER FIRM TOFU that is vacuum sealed and not sitting in a tray of water. If you can not find this tofu and use extra firm, then you will need to press as much liquid from the tofu that you can. It will still work but the texture is still much better when you use the super firm.

*If you hotdogs come out bread like, or have little holes in them, your oven likely cooks hotter than what it registers. You can get an oven thermometer or bump the temp down 10-15 degrees the next time you bake. Because these hotdogs stay wrapped the whole time in a water steam bath, they are less likely to have this happen. If it does happen you may also need to knead the dough more the next time.

*When I say let the hotdogs rest, I mean it. Seitan NEEDS TO REST or you are likely not going to be pleased with the texture. Don’t email me if you bite right into one right away and the texture is weird…..the hotdogs MUST REST. Good fake meats come to those who wait..or something like that :)

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Savory Beet and Tempeh Burger

Casey’s Corner Slaw Dogs

The Best Vegan Chili

Vegan SpaghettiOs with Meatballs

Like most kids raised in the 80s and 90s, I ate a LOT of lot of pre-made, prepackaged convenient food.

With two woking parents, we ate things that were quick and easy, that we could make ourselves as kids.

Soups in a can , microwavable dinners, ramen from the packet, Hamburger Helper, Lunchables, and my fave, SpagettiOs WITH meatballs. Always with the tiny little meatballs.

We grew up living with my dad and I was always his grocery shopping helper. He was the king of couponing, and even had a little black coupon accordion style pouch he took with him. This was well before the couponing craze, tv shows, and websites dedicated to the art of coupon clipping. He was just a single dad, trying to save money, raising 2 kids.

The advantage to being his grocery store helper was getting to choose my lunchables and which cans of SpagettiOs I got. I always chose meatballs, and rarely was allowed to get the “character brands” that cost more just because there was a picture of Garfield or Alvin and Chipmunks on the can.

My kids have never had a can of SpagettiOs. SpagettiOs are not vegan. Which again it is one of those products that really could be, but isn't . How sad for my sweet vegan/dairy allergy kids who can’t eat the food of my youth and know what its like to have your own personalized can of spaghetti and meatballs.

Oh wait, they can! Because making your own vegan SpaghettiOs is actually SUPER SIMPLE.

Look, if you don’t want to make your own homemade vegan meatballs, don’t. Use frozen. And if you can’t find little O noodles at your local store (I looked everywhere and couldn’t find them locally) you can order them online or you can use any noodle shape you like! Easy Peasy.

I think the saddest part for me was that 2 of my 4 kids are not fans. Weird, I know. I, as a grown up lady, still love them as much as I did when I was a kid. Like cramming them in my face at an embarrassing rate, filled with nostalgia and pure joy.

But then again, half of my kids also don’t like chocolate or pie, or vegan hamburger, so I don’t trust that half anyways.

So if you have missed a good ol can of SpagettiOs because you are vegan or have a diary allergy, the answer is easy homemade Vegan Spagettios with Meatballs. I promise, they won’t disappoint (well maybe they won’t disappoint 2 of your 4 kids….still scratching my head over this one)

INGREDIENTS:

Yields 6-8 servings but would also freeze well. This recipe would be great for meal prep for school lunches or quick weeknight dinner.

• 3/4 lbs pasta of your choice. We used round ring pasta that I found on amazon

• 2 (28 oz) cans stewed tomatoes, or whole peeled tomatoes ( they will be blended up so use any 28 oz can of tomatoes you have)

• 1 small yellow onion

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 2 cups water

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 1-2 teaspoons salt

• 1/2-1 teaspoon black pepper

• 1 batch homemade vegan meatballs, or one bag frozen

VEGAN MEATBALLS:

• 1 lb vegan vegan ground of your choice (we used Beyond Meat Brand)

• 1/4 cup vegan panko bread crumbs

• 2 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch

• 2 teaspoons garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Combine the vegan ground meat along with remaining meatball ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Mix well. Using a 1 inch cookie scoop or a regular spoon, scoop up the mixture and roll into small meat balls. Place the vegan meatballs on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until cooked through.

2. While the meatballs are baking, bring a large pot or dutch oven full of water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook until they are done. Drain the noodles and leave them in the colander.

3. Quarter the onion and add it along wit the canned tomatoes to a blender or food processor and blent until smooth.

4. Pour the blended tomatoes into the pot that you boiled the noodles in. Add the sugar, salt, pepper, and garlic to the pot. Bring to a simmer. Add in the water, noodles, and meatballs. Let everything hang out and simmer for about 25 minutes, stirring to keep the noodle from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

5. Serve as is or sprinkled with vegan parmesan cheese. You can store in the fridge for 5 days or freezer for 2 months.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

Vegan Cheeseburger Helper

Vegan Cheeseburger Egg Rolls

Vegan Chicken Philly Cheesesteak

I used to work at Chili’s. Yeah the baby back rib place with the song.

This was back in college and I was extra broke and one of the perks was being able to eat after my shift for half price.

At the time Chili’s had a sandwich which I ate almost every day before it was taken of the menu. It was a chicken tejas sandwich and it was basically a chicken philly. I honestly could not tell you today what was in it. It has been 20 years ago…but I remember how much I loved it.

I remember the heartbreak I felt when they announced it was coming off the menu and eating the very last one our location had because one of the cooks and I were friends and they saved it for me.

Clearly I have a real attachment to that sandwich, enough so to retell my pretty uninteresting story. But, I told it because that is why I decided to make this sandwich. I was thinking about the Tejas sandwich the other day and how a local food truck here has a vegan philly that I like but the “meat” is more of a mock beef. And at the end of the day, I really just wanted a vegan chicken philly. So I made one!!

Our easy vegan baked chicken is well, actually really easy to make, and since it makes 8 breasts, you can can really get a few meals out of it. The seitan freezes really well, so I normally cook up a batch on the weekend and pop it into the freezer or fridge to use throughout the week.

And lets talk about he cheese!!! The easy vegan cheese sauce that you will want to eat on EVERYTHING!! I say to use half a batch and that means you can easily just make half a batch OR make a whole batch, use half, and save the other half for alllllllll kinds of things. Pizza cheese, lasagna , dipping chips, making quesadillas or enchiladas, dip your fries in it, put it on a burger, on some nachos, in a casserole. So many ways to use it up!

So in conclusion, if you love a chicken philly too, and want a solid vegan chicken philly, this might just be the recipe for you! Pretty easy, super delicious, gooey, cheesy, chicken-y, sandwich magic!

And if you ever had the joy of eating a Chilis Tejas sandwich (that would require you being over 25 years old, sooooooooo yeah, now I feel extra old) let me know!! Because if you ever did get to eat one then you know exactly what Im talking about!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 batch Easy Vegan Baked Chicken

• 1/2 batch Vegan All Purpose Cheese Sauce

• 1-2 bell peppers (any color you like0

• 1 small yellow onion

• 8 oz button mushrooms, sliced

• 1-2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce or liquid aminos

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 1/2-1 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 4-6 hoagie sandwich rolls

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Prepare vegan chicken breast as instructed. You will need to allow the chicken to rest. So prepare it in the morning or the day before. You willl use half a batch and can freeze refrigerate the other half for another quick meal, later!

2. Once chicken has rested thinly cut 4 breast length wise.

3. Thinly slice the onion and pepper. I used 2 peppers but I like peppers. One would work fine as well.

4. Prepare the cheese sauce as instructed but wait to cook it until the sandwiches are made.

5. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add a few teaspoons of vegan butter or oil. Add the onions, garlic, and peppers and cook until the onions are translucent. Add the mushrooms, chicken strips, spices, and soy sauce. Cook until the mushrooms are nice and soft.

6. You can slice and heat the buns in the oven or slice and toast them up, open side down, in a buttered skillet. Or leave the bread not toasted, if you prefer.

7. Evenly divide the vegan chicken Philly mixture between the buns. I was able to make 6 sandwiches with my filling.

8. Add the cheese sauce to a pan and heat over medium heat, whisking continuously until the sauce has thickened to the consistency of queso. Drizzle cheese sauce over the sandwiches to serve. You can also add some diced green onions if you like.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Dry Rubbed Vegan Brisket

Vegan Chicken Parmesan Sandwich

Vegan Beer Battered Fish Fillets

Easy Vegan Baked Chicken Breast

If you are vegan or vegetarian and enjoy a good meat substitute every now and again (or every single day) you might know by now that the store bought options out there are not all created equal.

One of the things I have found the hardest to find is a basic grilled “chicken” substitute that isn’t full of weird ingredients or isn’t super over priced.

I found kind of groove creating really easy, really delicious, and inexpensive vegan deli meats, so decided all those same seitan principles would apply with an easy vegan baked chicken.

I have various vegan chicken recipes on the site. Battered, fried, crispy skin covered, tandoori style, but I had yet to type up a recipe for a basic, all purpose, vegan baked chicken.

You can use this vegan chicken in any recipe you would use chicken in. It mixes up in minutes and bakes in a little over half an hour. It also needs to rest like all seitan, but not for nearly as long a lets say a vegan turkey breast or vegan ham because these pieces are small and will firm up a little more quickly!

You can freeze this vegan chicken after it has baked and thaw what you need in a pinch. I like to bake up a batch on the weekend and have it to use throughout the week, making my meal prep that much easier.

The texture is super spot on “meaty” and the flavor is like, well, chicken! You can sprinkle any all purpose seasoning you like on the breasts before you bake them. I like a chili lime seasoning, hickory, or even an all purpose greek seasoning. Use whatever your little hear desires.

Please do read the note concerning my tofu choice. I use super firm tofu for optimal texture. If you choose to use extra firm, you will need less water in the recipe. It will work, but I still get a better result with the super firm kind. And as an added bonus, the super firm has nearly double the protein of regular or extra firm water packed tofu. That way when someone rando asks you the age old question “ but where do you get your protein” you can just laugh and laugh and laugh knowing you are about 15 grams per severing of the super firm tofu!!

Just know it is so super easy to make your own vegan chicken at home. You no longer have to search for, and waste money on store bought vegan chicken that probably isn’t anywhere near as good as this easy and afforable homemade vegan chicken breast!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 block super firm tofu (16 oz) the kind that is vacuum sealed in not much water

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten

• 2 -3 teaspoons No Chicken Better Than Bouillon, or any vegan chicken flavored bouillon powder or seasoning

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1-2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1/2 teaspoon sage

• 1/2 teaspoon rosemary

• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• 2 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 2 tablespoon neural flavored oil

• 1/2 to 3/4 cups water

• 1 teaspoons salt

TROUBLE SHOOTING THIS REICPE:

*I used high protein tofu in a vacuum sealed package and this what I strongly advise using. It is much firmer than regular firm tofu and has less moisture and a more chewy texture. If you opt to use regular firm tofu you will need to press it first and remove as much liquid as possible. You may need to adjust the amount of water in the recipet as well. Add the water last, adding just enough to accomplish a firm dough.

• *If you find your chicken has A LOT OF LITTLE HOLES, and a more BREAD LIKE TEXTURE this can be caused from under kneading the dough, BUT more likely cooking the seitan at too high of a temperature, or for too long. Check your ovens temperature with an oven thermometer. Your oven may just be cooking hotter than it registers. Also gas and electric ovens tend to cook differently. If you do not have an oven thermometer you can reduce the by 25 degrees and keep the seitan covered the whole bake.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Break up the tofu and place it into a food processor with the regular metal blade. Run the processor for around a minute until the tofu is broken down.

2. Add all of the remaining ingredients and let the food processor run for a couple of minutes. You want the mixture to form a dough. Letting the processor run will help knead the dough. We want this seitan to be firm so we need it to knead for a bit. If you dough seems a bit too dry, you can add another few tablespoons of water, just don’t add too much more! I start at 1/2 cup and work from there.

3. Once you have a smooth but firm dough, remove it from the food processor and place on a clean counter. Knead the dough with your hands for about a minute, forming a kind of oval, flattened out shaped with the dough. Cut the dough into 8 triangles. Using your hands, form the triangles into a chicken breast shape.

4. Line a baking sheet in parchment paper or foil, spray with oil. Evenly space out the seitan chicken pieces making sure they are not touching. They will expand as they bake. Spray the tops with oil and give them a sprinkle with any seasoning you like. Tightly cover the entire pan in foil, tucking the edges tightly around the edges of the pan. We want the seitan to steam inside the pan. Place the pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 25 minutes.

5. Open up the foil and allow the seitan chicken to bake for another 10 minutes uncovered. These chicken seitan pieces are thin, if you know your oven cooks hot or the temp is off, you may need to adjust your cook time by 5-10 minutes. If the seitan over cooks it tends to form tiny holes that look like bread. That is often an indication you oven temp is off and you may need a oven thermometer to check the actual temp.

6. Let the seitan cool at room temp them transfer to the fridge for about 6 hours to rest. I often bake the seitan the night before I wish to fry it. But you could also bake it in the morning and it would be fine to fry by dinner. Seitan requires a nice long rest to firm up and achieve a more meaty texture. The longer you can let it rest, the better!

7. You can reheat the chicken in the oven on 350 degrees covered in foil until warmed through. You can slice or cube the chicken to use in just about any recipe that requires a chicken substitute. Use in fajitas, tacos, casseroles, sandwiches, pastas, or as is.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Fried Chicken

Vegan Chicken Parmesan Sandwich

Vegan Turkey Style Roast with Crispy Skin

Vegan Buffalo Chicken Sandwich with Celery Slaw

Way back when I was not vegan, a buffalo chicken sandwich was my go-to take out order.

I like spicy food and my husband is not really a fan. So when it was just the two of us, I never cooked anything with buffalo sauce because he wasn’t going to eat it.

But eventually we had kids, and a few of those kids have grown up to love buffalo everything just like me! Glory glory hallelujah!! Now I can finally justify a buffalo sauce themed dinner!!

My all time favorite buffalo chicken sandwich was at a place in Jax called, Chomp Chomp. If you live in Jax or have visited and ever eaten there, then you know! They sadly closed last year and broke many a locals heart.

Their buffalo sandwich was a perfectly crispy chicken sandwich, extra hot, extra drippy, slathered in celery slaw and blue cheese. CELERY SLAW, Y’ALL. Blue cheese celery slaw!!!!

I mean its been a long time ago that I ate that sandwich, and went back to a vegetarian diet pretty soon after I did eat it (they did offer a vegetarian version.) I had a bit of a slippery relationship with being vegetarian for some years due to being pregnant and at the time and being made to feel like I needed to eat meat and was not getting enough protein.

Ahh the age old “but how are you getting enough protein?” question. Did you know that the super firm tofu I use to make this vegan chicken is actually high protein! 14 grams per serving, actually. Cleary I now see that was all a load of garbage. Live and learn. The more you know and all that jazz…..moving on.

Fast forward to being vegetarian then vegan, and my order eventually changed, but even their vegan eats were delicious. But, I never got over missing that perfect buffalo chicken sandwich.

So, in honor of the closing of one Jacksonville’s best down town eateries, I have decided to recreate the Chomp Chomp Buffalo sandwich and make it VEGAN, full of protein for all the haters, extra spicy, and dripping with a pile of homemade vegan blue cheese slaw, and extra vegan blue cheese.

Don’t be intimidated by making your own vegan fried chicken. It is actually really easy. I have linked the recipe to our southern fried chicken for this sandwich. I am always preaching how easy seitan making is, and really y’all, its so easy. It mixes up in minutes, bakes in a little over half an hour, and fries up extra fast.

The catch its seitan has to rest to get it to meaty texture we all want. If you try and eat it right away it can be spongy and not great. Just let it rest! LET THE BREAST REST!

Seitan also freezes really well so if you are making a sandwich for one, two, four, six, whatever, you get 8 vegan chicken pieces from this recipe. They will actually freeze beautifully for up to 6 months. You can make all kinds of things out of one batch of vegan chicken breast. You don’t have fry them. You can thaw leftovers and use them in stir fry, make vegan chicken salad from them, use them in any dish you would need a vegan chicken for!!

The point I am trying to make is that the effort and time involved in making a batch of this seitan is 100% worth it! And once you make it, you can make one of the most delicious vegan buffalo chickens sandwiches ever!

Thanks again for the inspiration Chomp Chomp, you are missed. Please, please, make a come back..and if you do, give me call, I’ll be happy to help with some vegan offerings ;)

*This recipe will yield up to 8 chicken sandwiches. If you do not need 8, you can freeze any leftover chicken breast for later use, for up to 6 months. You can store any leftovers in the fridge for up to 10 days in an airtight container.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 batch vegan southern fried chicken (you do not need to add the rice paper skin)

• 1 batch vegan blue cheese dressing

• Vegan hamburger buns (we used Dave’s new Killer Hamburger Buns)

• 6-7 stalks of celery

• 2/3 cups matchstick carrots

• salt and pepper to taste

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

• 1/2-1 cup Franks Buffalo Sauce (depending on how many sandwiches you are making)

• 1-2 teaspoons vegan buttter

• 1 teaspoon garlic salt

• extra hot sauce if you want the sandwich EXTRA spicy

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Prepare the chicken according to the recipe. The chicken is made from seitan and needs to rest in the fridge before frying. It will need to be made the day before or at least 6 hours before frying. For this recipe I did not add the rice paper skin. Just form the “chicken” breast and bake. Then LET THEM REST!!

2. Prepare the vegan blue cheese according to the directions. You could also use store bought.

3. To prepare the slaw, cut the celery stalks length wise and as thinly as you can get them. Like thin matchsticks. Then cut them into quarters the other way. Toss the celery and the carrot match sticks into a blender or food processor and pulse a few times to chop it all up. If you do not have a blender or food processor you can try to finely chop the slaw by hand. You just want a slaw consistency. If you are making only a few sandwiches, you can easily half this recipe.

4. Add the celery and carrots to a bowl and mix with the vinegar, 2-3 tablespoons of vegan blue cheese dressing, and salt and pepper to taste.

5. In a medium size microwave safe bowl, heat the Franks hot sauce and butter for 1 and half to 2 minutes. You just need the Franks heated through and the butter melted. Mix in the garlic salt and dip each vegan fried chicken breast into the sauce to coat fully.

6. Smear some vegan blue cheese dressing on the top and bottom bun, add a coated piece of vegan fried chicken, and top with a generous portion of celery slaw to serve. (also is suggest a pile of napkins!)

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Challah

Vegan Fried Chicken and Waffles

Vegan Parmesan Chicken Sandwich

Vegan Beef Bourguignon with Mashed Potatoes

Beef Bourguignon, sounds super fancy….and I guess it kind of is, but really it’s pretty much just a thick and flavorful beef stew, and in the case it’s VEGAN.

Beef bourguignon originated in France and is really just a hearty beef stew where the beef is braised in red wine.

Yes, it has wine in it. So if you do not partake, then this is not really the recipe for you. I mean it originated in a region known for the cattle and wine. So if you leave out the wine you just a have a thick vegan beef stew which is fine, I do have a tasty vegan beef stew recipe you can try. But the wine is really what makes this recipe soooo delicious.

So, how does a vegan make a vegan beef bourguignon you might ask? Well for starters we need to make a convincing vegan beef. Making seitan is really a lot easier than one may think. This recipe for vegan beef tips is REALLY EASY, but it needs to rest. If you know me and are familiar with this blog, you have probably heard me shouting to let the seitan REST!!! And I’m not kidding. Let it rest y’all. Please!!!

Now don’t freak out about how long it takes between making the seitan and eating it. Just know if you want to make this for dinner, you need to get those beef tips cooking bright and early, or even better, the day before you acutely need them. Good things come to those who let the dang seitan rest! And these vegan beef tips are pretty dang good and worth the rest time. I made mine in the morning and had the stew for dinner.

Once the seitan is good to go, you can begin the stew. I like to let mine slowly cook in the oven. You just get it going on the stove top, pop it in the oven, and go about your day. That way that vegan beef soaks up all the lovey flavors from the stew, the wine and liquid reduces, and it thickens up to a velvety perfection. Seriously, if you are home for the weekend cleaning, relaxing, or putzing around, that is the perfect time to make this recipe.

No, this recipe is NOT QUICK. Again I repeat, good things come to those who wait. This is a Sunday dinner kind of recipe, a holiday kind recipe, a “you need a nice meal for entertaining or convincing your inlaws not all vegan food is lettuce” kind of recipe. And in my opinion it is worth the time spent on it.

Three of my four kids ate it and went for seconds. We can’t count the 4th, she is only 4 and pretty much in that beige diet phase where getting her to eat a full meal or anything of color or interest is a daily struggle. I am thankful she still likes a ton of raw veggies and berries, but don’t you dare suggest she eat a cooked vegetable at this juncture..sigh….toddler parents probably know my struggle here. Don’t worry, I now have teenagers too, and they will grown up and eat lots and lots of things.

Serving this meal with a nice glass of red wine, a side salad, and some crusty bread to soak up all of the delicious wine laced, gravy like goodness is a must. It is one of those dinners you eat slowly, you savor, and enjoy every last bite. So you might need two glasses of wine. Or maybe thats just me.

Also, we serve our vegan beef bourguignon over the creamiest vegan mashed potatoes. I think this is one of my favorite parts of this meal. In my regular vegan beef stew I add potatoes to the stew. In this recipe we are ladling the stew over mashed potatoes, which I prefer. Carbs, wine, warm comfort food. I’m allllll in!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced

• 1 cup sliced carrots

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour

• 2 teaspoon tomato paste

• 2-3 cups sliced button mushrooms

• 2-3 teaspoons No Beef Better Than Bouillon, or a bouillon powder **

• 1 1/2 cups water **

(**you can also reserve 1 1/2 cups of boiling liquid from the beef tips and use that instead of the water and bouillon listed here)

• 1 1/2 cups dry red wine

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 2 tablespoons dark cocoa powder

VEGAN BEEF TIPS:

super firm tofu, vacuum sealed

• 1 (16 oz) block of super firm tofu, the kind that is vacuum sealed, not in a tray of water

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten

• 1 tablespoons No Beef Better Than Bouillon (or a vegan beef bouillon powder)

• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 2 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch

• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

• 2 teaspoons vegan Worcestershire sauce

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce or coconut amnios

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 1 tablespoon tomato paste

• 2 teaspoons dried thyme

• 2 tablespoons neutral flavored oil

• 2 tablespoons water (if needed)

**If you can not find the super firm, vacuum sealed tofu, you can use extra firm tofu, but you will need to press it for at least half an hour. You will likely not need to add any water to the recipe and the texture will still be nice, but I still prefer the super firm tofu (sometimes called high protein tofu.)

BOILING LIQUID:

• 6 cups water

• 2 teaspoons No Beef Better Bouillon

• 2 splashes soy sauce

MASHED POTATOES:

• 4-5 large russet potatoes, peeled and diced

• 2 tablespoons vegan butter

• 2 tablespoons vegan cream cheese or plain vegan yogurt

• salt and pepper to taste

• a few splashes of plant based milk

INSTURCTIONS:

1. For the beef tips: Break up the tofu and place it into a food processor with the regular metal blade. Run the processor for around a minute until the tofu is broken down.

   * If you do not have a food processor, you can try and break down the tofu in a blender. You want it the consistency of a thick ricotta, almost. You can try adding the liquid ingredients in with the tofu to help break it down. Once you break it down you can mix the rest by hand, making sure to knead the dough well, for about 5 minutes if doing it by hand.

2. Add all of the remaining ingredients and let the food processor run for a couple of minutes. You want the mixture to form a dough. Letting the processor run will help knead the dough. We want this seitan to be firm so we need it to knead for a bit. If you dough seems a bit too dry, you can add a few tablespoons of water, just don’t add too much more!

3. Once you have a smooth but firm dough, remove it from the food processor and place on a clean counter. Knead the dough with your hands for about a minute, forming a kind of oval shaped loaf with the dough. Cut the dough into 4 pieces and shape them into ovals. (see pictures above)

4. Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a large pot, or dutch oven. Add the bouillon, and soy to the pot. Add the seitan pieces and reduce the heat to medium low. Allow the seitan to simmer for 30 minutes then flip the pieces. Let simmer another 30 minutes. Remove from the liquid and place in a shallow dish or on a plate. Lightly cover and allow to rest in the fridge for 4-8 hours. This helps firm up the seitan yielding a more meaty and less spongy texture. I often prepare the seitan the day before I intend to use it!

5. Cut 3 of the 4 pieces of seitan into roughly 1 inch cubes. You can save the 4th piece for something else like sliced thin for sandwiches, or freeze it for later. It makes a nice stir fry beef as well.

6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, moving the oven racks so you have enough room to fit a the dutch oven or oven safe pot.

7. In a large dutch oven or oven safe pot, heat a few teaspoons of oil or vegan butter. Add the sliced onions, garlic, and carrots and liquid smoke to the pot. Cook until the onions are translucent. Add the flour and cook for about a minute.

8. Whisk the bouillon into the water or use the reserved beef tip boiling liquid. Slowly add the broth and wine to the pot whisking the flour into the liquid. Add the tomato paste, dried thyme, pepper, and vegan beef tips. Bring the liquid to a boil, then carefully transfer the pot to the oven with the lid on.

9. Allow the vegan beef bourguignon to cook in the oven for 2 hours. After 2 hours add the sliced mushrooms and cocoa powder to the pot and allow to simmer another 30 minutes.

10. Peel and dice potatoes. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the potatoes, and boil until they are tender and can easily be pierced with a fork. Drain the water and return the potatoes to the pot. Mash potatoes and remaining ingredients with a hand masher or electric hand mixer until creamy.

11. Sever vegan beef bourguignon over mashed potatoes. Garnish with fresh thyme or parsley if you like.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Beer Cheese and Potato Soup

Beyond Sausage with Cabbage and Cider

Vegan Lasagna Soup with Beyond Meat

Vegan Spanish Rice with Pigeon Peas

Rice and beans, or in this case, rice and peas.

I had never in my life had a pigeon pea until my friend Yanira introduced me to them. She cooked them up in a big batch of Spanish rice, and oh my gosh, I could live of this dish.

It is so easy to make and super inexpensive. And it can easily feed a family of 6 with a side salad, or as a side for taco night, and there are still leftovers.

This Spanish rice is so quick and easy to make. You can use any long grain rice, I normally just use basmati because it is what I have on hand.

You just need a can of tomato sauce, the peas, an onion, and few pantry spice staples. Thats it! So easy!

I can easily find canned pigeon peas in the international isle at my grocery store in the Hispanic section. I have no solid description of them other than delicious. If you have never had a pigeon pea, then trust me, you are missing out!

All I know is that if I am making rice and beans (peas) this is the recipe I am making. It cheap, filling, delicious, easy, and flavorful. So pretty much the perfect recipe!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 small yellow onion, finely diced

• 2 cups any long grain white rice

• 2 tablespoons oil

• 3 1/3 cups water

• 15 oz can tomato sauce

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 2 teaspoons No Chicken, or Vegetable Better Than Bouillon ( you can also skip this and replace the water with 3 1/2 cups veggie broth)

• 15.5 oz can pigeon peas

• 1 teaspoon cumin powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Heat a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat with the oil. Once the oil is nice and hot toss in the onion and garlic and cook until translucent.

2. Next add the rice to the pot and let it cook a few minutes until it begins to brown.

3. Whisk the Better than Bouillon with the 3 1/2 cups of water and add it to the pot along with tomato sauce, cumin, salt, and pepper. Give it a good stir.

4. Cover the pot and let the mixture simmer for about 20 minutes. Drain and rinse the can of peas and add them to the pot. Let simmer 10-15 more minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is cooked through.

5. Stir in fresh cilantro and serve.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Crispy Coconut Tofu with Tropical Rice

Sesame Tofu Tacos with Asian Slaw

Vegan Cashew Queso