Vegan French Mustard Seitan is a terrific dinner dish for special occasions like date night, birthdays, and holidays. In this recipe, tangy mustard sauce perfectly coats cooked seitan. It’s easy enough to make for weeknight dinners, too.
Mustard Hater Turned Mustard Lover
Growing up, mustard was my enemy. I had friends who would add it their bologna sandwiches or hotdogs, but I didn’t want it anywhere near my food. My dad liked it, so we always had bottle in the fridge. And to be honest, I’m not sure if I ever tried it! It’s possible that, much like mushrooms, I didn’t like it just because my mom didn’t like it.
Fast forward a few years – okay, a lot of years – and I now adore mustard. I’m not really sure how or when I was converted. I think it might have had something to do with New York City street cart soft pretzels, but I can’t say for sure. I now put mustard on my sandwiches, veggie burgers, French fries, and just about anything else I can think of. As I type this, I have five different varieties of it in the fridge.
French Mustard Chicken
I get some of my recipe inspiration from omnivore recipes. A few months ago, I came across a recipe for Slow cooker French mustard chicken on The Kitchn. I was intrigued – I didn’t know that this was even a thing! A quick google search told me that it was indeed a thing, and it seemed to be pretty popular. Sometimes it’s called “French Mustard Chicken,” while other times it goes by “Dijon mustard chicken” or just “mustard chicken.”
This was something I needed to veganize ASAP. I wondered what type of protein I should use. I already have a Lemon-Dijon Tempeh recipe here on the blog, and I didn’t want to create another dish that would be too similar. For some reason, tofu just didn’t seem like the right choice to pair with a mustard sauce. Hearty seitan seemed to be the right option.
French Mustard Seitan
Knowing that I had a package of seitan in the fridge, I headed to the kitchen to give French mustard seitan a try. To my horror, I discovered that I had let the seitan expire. Trust me when I say that you don’t want to know what expired seitan smells like. Make sure you adhere to those sell-by dates!
I did have a package of soy curls, though, so I made French mustard soy curls. And it was delicious. If you have celiac disease or a gluten intolerance, you can substitute half a package for soy curls for the seitan in this recipe. Of course, make sure you rehydrate them first.
After a trip to the store, I picked up more seitan. (Upton’s is my favorite.) Now it was time to try the recipe again, with seitan this time. I loved it, and it’s found its way into my regular meal rotation.
Easy-To-Make Dinner
French Mustard Seitan is very easy to make. You just slice and sauté shallots and seitan and then deglaze the pan with a little white wine. (Use stock if you don’t imbibe.) Then whisk together the sauce ingredients and pour it in the pan. Let it cook a few more minutes to heat up and thicken, and then serve!
I like to serve French Mustard Seitan with mashed potatoes and steamed kale, but it’s just as delicious with brown rice and broccoli. Since this dish only takes about half an hour to make, it’s a great weeknight dinner option. It’s fancy enough to serve for holidays, dinner parties, and date night, though. It’s terrific for Valentine’s Day, too!
French Mustard Seitan
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon neutral flavored oil
- 2 shallots thinly sliced
- 16 ounces seitan sliced
- ½ cup white wine
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- 2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons non-dairy milk
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon capers drained
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Add the oil to a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and cook until until they begin to brown, 5-10 minutes.
- Add the seitan to the pan and continue to cook, stirring often, for about 10 more minutes, until it begins to brown.
- Pour the wine into the pan and deglaze any bits of shallot or seitan that might be stuck to the bottom. Allow the seitan to absorb the wine.
- Whisk together the stock, mustards, non-dairy milk, cornstarch, capers, salt, and pepper. Add it to the mixture to the pan, and stir. Allow the sauce to heat throughout and thicken slightly. Remove from the heat.
- Serve hot with potatoes or whole grains and greens.
I’m a huge mustard fan too. I always have multiple kinds in the refrigerator for various purposes – one for dipping potstickers, one for sandwiches, one for salad dressings… So I know I would adore this dish! I’m so glad you use prepared seitan too. That’s one less step!
Thank you, Cadry! I hope you get a chance to try it!
Ooh, I love how simple this is! I love mustard-based sauces, and I love seitan, so this is right up my alley. It would be perfect for Valentine’s Day, too!
Thank you, Becky!
I made this today–Dianne. It was very good. Since I had no whole grain mustard, I used stoneground. And I added about 5 ounces of sliced mushrooms to the shallots.
So glad you enjoyed it, Susan! I would have added mushrooms, too, but Dennis needs to avoid them.
What did you do differently with the soy curls?
Hi, Lisa. Just rehydrate a package of soy curls and cook the recipe the same way.