People ask me all the time, since I stopped eating meat over 5 years ago, if I ever miss it. My answer? Absolutely not! There are so many vegan meats that taste just like (and often better than) their non-vegan counterparts. One of my all-time favorites is seitan, a cruelty-free meat made of wheat protein that is super versatile and is sure to fool any omnivore with its taste and texture. Upton’s Naturals makes some of the best seitan in my opinion, and I have been in love with their products ever since my first bite.
One of the tastiest of their seitan flavors is the Italian, which goes fantastically on top of a pizza, mixed with spaghetti, or even in a vegan meatball sub. Keep reading on to learn more about all the different varieties and some ideas on how you can prepare them.
Upton’s Traditional Seitan is always a great place to start even if you’re not familiar with seitan in the first place. It’s adds a “meatiness” to any dish and it’s really takes on the flavors of foods and seasonings that you cook it with. I’ve used the traditional variety in a lot of ways: in a burrito bowl, veggie stir fry with rice, in tacos, and in this “beef” with broccoli dish with a little added garlic and soy sauce. It’s phenomenal, really.
The Chorizo Seitan is incredibly flavorful on its own. It has a bit of a kick or spice to it, so it’s perfect with nachos, “beefy” mac n daiya cheese, on pizza and even in tacos with avocado, tomato and your other favorite toppings. It isn’t overly spicy but it works great in Mexican-style recipes, and it comes crumbled so you can easily add it to any dish.
The Ground Seitan can be used the same way you might use any “ground” type of meat.As a bonus, 1/4 of a package contains only 100 calories, 15g of protein, and only 1.5g of fat. Meat doesn’t even come close to this seitan nutrition-wise. I tried the ground type in a burger with veggies and a soy-peanut sauce I created and it was truly fantastic! I’ve also had it with stir fries, and in a spaghetti bolognese type of dish. All were really tasty and super quick to prepare.
The Bacon Seitan looked a little different than I expected, but I found that cooking it really gave it a “bacon-like” flavor and chewy texture. I came up with everything from a bacon mac n cheese, to this BLAT sandwich (BLT with avocado), in a salad, and even as a date wrapped in bacon (which was such a decadent treat, but still much healthier than using a non-vegan bacon).
Thank you to everyone who entered this giveaway, I’m so happy that so many of you participated! The lucky winner, who I randomly selected, is Melissa A. Check your email to claim your prize. As for the rest of you, stay tuned for more reviews and giveaways to come!
These products look crazy good! I have seen them at WF but haven’t tried them.
I would love to try the bacon variety! I haven’t had bacon since I was very little. I would use it in a stuffed baked potato, with cashew cheese, chives, and pieces of Upton’s bacon! Nom nom nom.
I would love to try and use the traditional Seitan to replace the beef in my Great-grandmother’s Beef Stew recipe. It was a recipe that i would help her make as a kid and learn all about her growing up and cooking with her mother. This would be a great recipe to share with my daughter who was born and raised vegetarian and has never been able to try this family gem.
I love Upton’s! Also I definitely would have to Instagram my newborn with one of those mustaches. Adorable!
I’ve been vegan for over six years now, yet I’ve never actually made seitan for myself but I know it tastes delicious! I really want to try the Italian seitan on top of pizza.
Oh man I love seitan. I’ve never heard of this brand but would love to give it a try. I’d fry the bacon seitan and put it on a pizza with vegan ranch on the side. Yum!
I would like to try the bacon flavor. I still have not been able to find a good vegan bacon and want to make a great BLT with avocado.. this use to be one of my favorites.
I’d love to try the chorizo seitan and make a burrito bowl or taco salad with it. Hope I win so I can!
I really want to try the ground seitan, it looks fantabulous!!
Forgot to say I would love to try the ground seitan in a taco or maybe some nachos!
I’m not usually one for the fake bacon products, but I’ve tried a couple of other Upton’s Naturals products and have loved them, so I’d really like to try the bacon next. I would love to try it cooked up with some sauteed kale, onions, and garlic.
I would love to try them all but I would start with the traditional. I’ve been wanting to make a vegan version of buffalo chicken pizza. I would crisp the seitan in a pan til browned and then toss it in a sauce made of melted earth balance and a good hot sauce. Then top on a pizza dough maybe add some daiya if I’m feeling crazy!
I haven’t tried the chorizo seitan yet and I think it’d be delicious rolled into corn tortillas with some veggies and baked into enchiladas. Smothered in a tomatillo salsa and generously dolloped with my favorite orange bell pepper cashew-hemp cream! Thanks for running the giveaway. I need to use seitan more often!
I’m thinking the italian sausage seitan sounds pretty amazing, well, they all do!
I would love to try the chorizo one and make a burger out of it. A chorizo burger just sounds amazing!
I would love to try the ground style! I have so many potlucks and events I am going to all the time and would love to experiment adding these to chili, sandwiches, even to my “lentil joe” sandwiches for an extra bang!
Oh my god! I haven’t seen those before, but they look terrific! I imagine the chorizo seitan would be awesome with some scrambled tofu, so that is would I would do with it 😀
Hmm I’d either love to try the bacon or ground beef version! For the bacon id defiantly do a “Blt” with some veganese! And with the ground beef is make pasta sauce or “hamburger helper” using it! Yum yum!
Yum!! Upton’s Naturals seitan is the BEST!! 😀 All of the varieties I’ve tried have been amazing, which sadly is not all of those that are listed above. I would love to try the Chorizo Seitan! I love just the traditional recipe, I cut it into strips and sauté with red & green peppers, onion, and some Daiya mozz for a super awesome Philly Cheesesteak. AMAZING. 😉
The bacon in a BLT. I know that’s hardly creative but it’s firm favorite.
They all sound great! I would love to try the ground seitan in my slow cooker chili recipe!
I love the bacon. Great with chickpea scramble and avocado.
I’m interested in trying the bacon. It would be awesome on top of a baked potato!
I’d love to try the ground seitan! I’ve heard this brand is great. It looks really versatile.
I’m ALL over that chorizo seitan…I want to stuff some mushrooms , make some tacos, taterizo waffles…and maybe fry some avocado slices (batter them up first) and just generally have a chorizo-fest.
Then take a few hundred pictures to Instagram them!
I would want a BLAT stat.
I would want to make tacos with the chorizo style seitan.
I would love to try the bacon seitan in a vegan BLT! 🙂 I have avocados in my house, too!
I would like to try the seitan chorizo! I’m thinkin in nachos with spicy chia cheez, tortilla chips, avocado, pinto beans, some shredded lettuce, a little tofutti sour cream and some hatch salsa.
I use the Italian and chorizo a lot. I need to try the ground seitan in lettuce wraps. (Like P.F. Chang’s)
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