*This post may contain affiliate links. Read more »
OK- there's a very specific kind of confidence it takes to put "roast beef" and "beet" in the same sentence and not sound pretentious and hipster-y about it. But once this dough comes together in the food processor, takes a steam bath, and then gets a lightly herbal crust, the skeptical smirk disappears fast from your closed-minded non-veg friend's face The absolute vegan roast beef insanity that comes out the other side slices thin and tender, holds a crust, and makes Arby's shut the hell up.
Recipe tips tailored to what matters most to you:
NOPE. Vital wheat gluten is the whole roast here, so there's no working around it. If gluten's not your friend, this one's a skip, not a substitution project.
Steaming in an Instant Pot instead of a stovetop steamer is hands off. High pressure for 30 minutes with a 10 minute natural release, no hovering to top off water.
White miso is called for, but doenjang or taucu work just as well if that's what you've already got open in the fridge, so no need to buy a new jar.
Seitan is super-high in protein. Just make sure to serve it with a ton of yummy veggies to make it a well balanced meal. Even on a sandwich, it’s not a crime to sneak some dark leafy greens into that bad boyo.
Vital wheat gluten, miso, and tahini all live in a regular grocery store these days. Nothing here here should require a specialty order.
Keep the food processor running until the gluten dough looks stringy and stretchy, not smooth and blobby. Your machine might buck and complain a little, so keep 1 hand on top and trust the process.
If you can, make the roast a day ahead and let it chill in the fridge overnight. It firms up like it went to boot camp, so you can shave it into thin, clean deli slices instead of sad, crumbly chunks.
If your pan isn’t big enough for the roast to cook whole, you can cut it in half so that the two pieces fit in your pan.
Oodles more tips, step-by-step recipe photos, info on weird ingredients, and FAQs are all still here. I just tucked 'em out of the way so you can start cooking sooner.
Cut it into big, thick slabs, and this thing is a full-on holiday roast, hogging the center of the table and bossing the mashed potatoes around. Or shave it super thin and pile it on rye with horseradish and a pickle the size of a baby's arm, like you're running a deli out of your kitchen (I mean, I actually hope you are).
Every non-veg person I've ever fed has, at some point, rolled their eyes at the words "vegan meat." Then I hand them a strip of my marbled seitan bacon, or some vegan Vietnamese fried chicken, or a pile of Korean BBQ seitan, and suddenly they're swinging by my house uninvited at din din time asking if there's more, pretending they were "just in the neighborhood." This roast beef is gonna do that to people. Sorry, not sorry.
Jump to:
Why you'll adore this vegan roast beef
🧪 Real Food Doing the Heavy Lifting: A shredded beet and some chickpeas get blended right into the dough, so you get a tender bite and that rosy roast beef color running all the way through. No red dye #whatever, no weird science (cue the theme song to that TV show though).
⏱️ Ready in Under 2 Hours: Food processor, steamer, quick sear, and kaboom, you've got a roast in under 2 hours. No waking up at 5 a.m. to babysit a hunk of seitan.
🛒 Nothing Exotic to Track Down: Vital wheat gluten, miso, tahini, beets. That's regular ol' grocery store stuff, not some Wild West discontinued space-museum powder you have to order from a guy named Sven on the dark web.
Tested and Approved Worldwide: Like all of the vegan recipes I share, this one survived my army of 1,000+ recipe testers around the globe before it ever saw the light of day. A bunch of them reported back that they ate half of it straight off the cutting board charcuterie-style.
I'm on my knees staring weirdly into your eyes, asking you in a soothing voice to be my taste-testing partner in crime. Sign up for the recipe testing crew and get early access to new recipes before they're published.
Roast Beef Seitan Ingredients
Beets
After you shred the beet, I really want you to pack it into the measuring cup, not measure it loose. A medium-size beet should probably do the trick.
Tahini
This sesame paste adds fat without oil and some nice backbone flavor that makes the roast beef extra yummy. Tahini is also a good source of calcium and healthy fats, so that's cool, right? Almond or sunflower butter can work as a substitute if sesame is an issue for ya.
Miso Paste
Why season with plain ol' salt or tamari when you can give the seitan way more complex, meaty flavor with some miso? It's the umami backbone of this roast boyo. My personal pick as an all-purpose miso (because who wants 3 different kinds living in their fridge door) is white miso, but any kind works, and doenjang or taucu can sub in too if that's what's already hanging out in your fridge.
Vital Wheat Gluten
Vital wheat gluten is the easiest way to make a meaty seitan without spending your whole afternoon washing the starch out of bread flour (I demonstrate this method in my seitan masterclass). It's what gives the roast its structure and that sliceable, fibrous bite, and there's really no swapping it out. Grab yourself a big ol' bag, and you'll be all set to make seitan carne asada or vegan corned beef next.
Nutritional Yeast
Nooch adds a savory, slightly cheesy background note that makes the roast taste way more "beefy." Despite what some companies want you to believe, there's really not a brand that's miles better than the rest, so just grab whatever's cheapest. Flakes and powder both work fine here.
Red Wine
Red wine is the base of the pan sauce, adding acidity and juicy depth as it cooks down with the balsamic and tamari. Use something dry enough to drink on its own, like a Cabernet or a Merlot.
Lots of wines are secretly produced with animal stuff such as egg whites, gelatin, casein, or isinglass (fish bladders, bleh), and it's never on the label. Look up your bottle on Barnivore.com before you buy to make sure it's vegan.
*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.
Variations
Vegan Pot Roast
If you want the whole dinner done in 1 pot, my vegan pot roast is your guy. The seitan gets sliced raw and braised right in red wine with leeks, carrots, baby potatoes, and pearl onions, so your main and your sides show up holding hands and riding a tandem bicycle.
Jewish Brisket
Hosting Shabbat or a holiday and need something that would make your boy Tevye from Fiddler proud? My vegan Jewish brisket is smoky, saucy, and braised low and slow in red wine with miso and veggies until your whole house smells like the High Holidays.
Grab my easy-yo-use app that builds your whole week with real, chef-tested vegan dinners in 30 seconds, customized to your budget, time, and taste, with a shopping list sorted by aisle.
How to make
Nail this on your first shot with the step-by-step photos and tips below. Or, if you're the type who reads the last page of a mystery novel first, go ahead and scroll to the recipe card at the bottom.
Step One
Beet Me Up, Scotty:
Place the beet, garlic, red onion, tofu, tahini, vegetable stock, Dijon mustard, and miso paste into a food processor, and blend for 2 minutes on high speed until completely smooth.
Step Two
Gluten for Punishment:
Add the vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, black pepper, smoked paprika, and ground coriander, and continue processing for 90 seconds until a well-developed gluten dough forms.
Step Three
Gangster Wrap:
Shape the dough into a compact roast on a sheet of lightly oiled parchment paper, then wrap it tightly in the parchment, and again in foil, sealing the package securely.
Step Four
Seitan's Little Helper:
Steam the wrapped roast over medium-low heat for 75 minutes, adding water if necessary along the way to make sure there's steady steam throughout, then remove from the steamer and carefully unwrap while the roast is still warm. Let the roast cool for 15 minutes.
Step Five
Dijon Bon Jovi:
Combine the Dijon mustard, tomato paste, water, sage, thyme, and black pepper in a small bowl, and brush the mixture evenly over the entire surface of the roast.
Step Six
Searbiscuit:
Heat the vegan butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat for 90 seconds until hot, then add the roast and cook for 6 minutes, turning as needed, until all sides are well browned and a dark crust starts to form.
Step Seven
Winey The Pooh:
Pour the red wine, balsamic vinegar, and tamari into the pan, cover, and cook for 3-4 minutes over medium heat until the roast has briefly steamed in the wine and pan juices.
Step Eight
The Beef Lebowski:
Transfer the roast to a cutting board and let it rest for 5 minutes before slicing thinly, and serve with the remaining juices spooned over the top.
Serving Ideas
This roast wants a table full of classics, or it will scream with its artificial beefy mouth!
Rock it with vegan butternut squash mac and cheese or some maple roasted carrots, and garlic mashed cauliflower.
And if leftovers happen, which they might not, thin slices of this roast tucked into a sandwich with some whole-grain mustard and some vegan kewpie mayo are a supremely underrated move for the next day.
Top tips
- Process It Till It's Stringy: Keep the food processor running until the gluten dough looks stringy and stretchy, not smooth and blobby. Your machine might buck and complain a little, so keep 1 hand on top and trust the process.
- Refrigerate Overnight for a Firmer Texture: If you can, make the roast a day ahead and let it chill in the fridge overnight. It firms up like it went to boot camp, so you can shave it into thin, clean deli slices instead of sad, crumbly chunks.
Recipe FAQs
Usually it means the dough needed more time in the food processor, or the roast needed more time to cool before you went at it with a knife. The easiest way to get super thin deli slices without owning a meat slicer? Pop the roast in the freezer for about 1 hour, until it's firm but not frozen solid, then run it over a mandolin (use the hand guard, please, I like you with all your fingers). Otherwise a sharp serrated knife works if the seitan is firm enough.
Heck yeah! Set the wrapped roast on the trivet with 2 cups of water in the pot, then cook on high pressure for 30 minutes, followed by a 10-minute natural release. Once you count the time it takes to come up to pressure, it only saves you about 10 minutes overall, but it's totally hands-off, so you're not hovering over a steamer topping off the water.
Vegetable stock or apple cider works awesome in place of it.
Refrigerate leftover roast in an airtight container for up to 4 days. To freeze, wrap the sliced or whole roast tightly and store for up to 3 months, then thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
🧊 In the Fridge
Store leftover roast in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
❄️ In the Freezer
Wrap the whole roast or slices tightly in parchment, then tuck them into a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
🔥 Stovetop Reheating
Warm slices gently in a covered skillet with a splash of the reserved pan juices or a little vegetable stock over medium-low heat until heated through.
You'll also love these vegan meat recipes:
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Cinnamon Snail.
Vegan Roast Beef Recipe
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 1 cup beet shredded
- 2 teaspoons garlic minced
- ½ cup red onion diced
- 7 oz. extra firm tofu drained
- ¼ cup tahini
- 1 cup unsalted vegetable stock
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 4 teaspoons miso paste
- 2 ½ cups vital wheat gluten
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
To Cook the Roast Beef:
- 4 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tablespoon ground sage
- 2 teaspoons thyme
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 tablespoons vegan butter
- ½ cup red wine
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon tamari or other soy sauce
Instructions
- Place the beet, garlic, red onion, tofu, tahini, vegetable stock, Dijon mustard, miso paste into the pitcher a food processor. Blend for 2 minutes until completely smooth.
- Add the vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, black pepper, smoked paprika, and ground coriander, and continue processing for 90 seconds until a well-developed gluten dough forms.
- Transfer the dough to a sheet of lightly oiled parchment paper and shape it into a compact roast. Wrap the dough tightly in the parchment, then wrap it again in foil, making sure the package is securely sealed.
- Steam the wrapped roast over medium-low heat for 75 minutes, maintaining steady steam throughout. Remove from the steamer and carefully unwrap and let the roast cool for 15 minutes.
- Combine the Dijon mustard, tomato paste, water, sage, thyme, and black pepper in a small bowl. Brush this mixture evenly over all sides of the roast's surface.
- Heat the vegan butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. After 90 seconds when the butter is hot, add the roast. Cook for 6 minutes, turning as needed, until all sides are well browned and a dark crust is starting to form. * If you don't have a big enough pan for the whole roast to cook in one piece, you can cut it in half so that the two pieces fit in your pan.
- Pour the red wine, balsamic vinegar, and tamari into the pan. Cover and cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, allowing the roast to steam briefly in the wine and pan juices.
- Transfer the roast to a cutting board and let it rest for 5 minutes. Slice thinly and serve with the remaining juices from the pan.
Notes
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Cinnamon Snail.
Peg Nemoff says
As soon as I had finished the first step of mixing the "spice" components for this roast I knew it would be fabulous. The shredded beet gave it color and mix of everything else gave it the roast beef smell. I was gob smacked. Adam got this down perfectly. My only suggestion to anyone preparing this dish is to be careful about the heat while steaming the roast. Adam mentions using a medium-low heat setting and not all stoves are the same. I overdid it with the steaming, so my roast came out with a rubbery texture. I will be making it again cautiously watching the heat setting. This recipe is remarkable.