November 4, 2017

Vegan Chick-Fil-A Deluxe Sandwich

Jump to Recipe

Were you guys ever fans of Chick-Fil-A?

In my thirty years on this planet, I can say I’ve never had the well-known and widely popular Chicken Sandwich, or anything on their menu for that matter. Personally, I never understood the hype.

Regardless of personal opinion, there are many who will argue that Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwiches are the holy grail of fast food chicken sandwiches. Who am I to tell them they’re wrong?

Luckily, if you’re vegan and you (used to) love Chick-Fil-A, you don’t have to give it up!!!

The Edgy Veg Cookbook – Cover (CNW Group/The Edgy Veg)

A couple weeks ago, I received The Edgy Veg’s new cookbook filled with 138 “carnivore approved” recipes.

Among the hundreds of dishes in the book, there it was…a copy cat recipe for the Chick-Fil-A Chicken Sandwich.

As I mentioned earlier, I have never tried The Chicken Sandwich, but Candace’s husband James swears her vegan recipe is an amazing replica of its counterpart.

At first I had my doubts.

Aside from the fact that I never understood the fascination with Chick-Fil-A, I also wasn’t excited about making my own Seitan.

Let’s just say my previous attempts at homemade seitan failed. Miserably.

To my pleasant surprise, the recipe for Candace’s seitan was pretty easy. And the outcome? Pretty damn delicious. Even better after it’s breaded and fried.

I’m almost sad I never got to try the original Chicken Sandwich just so I could compare the two. ALMOST. 

Anyway, I’d love to take credit for this recipe, but it’s entirely Candace’s from The Edgy Veg. If you don’t follow her on YouTube, you probably should! She’s always cooking up delicious “carnivore approved” vegan food!

We’re also giving away a copy (GIVEAWAY CLOSED). of her new cookbook (US and Canada residents only), so make sure to follow us on Instagram at @Eat_Figs_Not_Pigs and check out the full details on the photo of this recipe!! If you try this recipe, make sure to take a photo and tag her at @edgyveg.

Til next time, guys!!!


4.6 from 5 reviews
Vegan Chick-Fil-A Deluxe Sandwiches
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: Vegan
Serves: 6 Vegan Chick-Fil-A Sandwiches
Ingredients
Chicken Seitan
  • 1 cup + 1 TBS vital wheat gluten, divided
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  • 2 TBS nutritional yeast
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • ½ tsp poultry seasoning
  • 4 cups + ¾ cup vegetable broth, divided
  • ¼ cup tahini
Chick-Fil-A Deluxe
  • 2-3/4 cups dill pickle juice, divided
  • 1 TBS + ½ tso cayenne pepper, divided
  • 6 chicken seitan patties, recipe above
  • ¾ cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
  • ⅓ cup organic confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
  • 1 TBS + ½ tsp paprika, divided
  • 2 tsp cracked black peppercorns
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • Peanut oil for frying
  • 6 white burger buns
  • 6 slices vegan cheese (we used Follow Your Heart provolone)
  • Dill pickle medallions
  • Hot sauce
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees Fahrenheit
Chicken Seitan
  1. In a large bowl, combine 1 cup wheat gluten, sea salt, nutritional yeast, onion powder and poultry seasoning; whisk to combine.
  2. In another large bowl, combine ¾ cup vegetable broth and tahini; whisk until smooth. Using a spatula, carefully fold wheat gluten mixture into vegetable broth mixture until combined. (You might need to use your hands for this.)
  3. Sprinkle work surface with 1 TBS vital wheat gluten. Knead the dough until it's elastic but not dry. Add additional wheat gluten if dough feels too sticky and knead some more.
  4. Divide dough into 6 small burgers. (Keep in mind they will grow to be about twice their size, so make smaller than you would normally.)
  5. Place burgers in a dutch oven and cover completely with remaining 4 cups vegetable broth. Cover and cook in preheated oven for 1 hour, flipping seitan after 45 minutes.
  6. Remove burgers from broth and let cool for about 45 minutes on a wire rack.
Chick-Fil-A Deluxe
  1. In a shallow bowl, combine 2½ cups pickle juice and ½ tsp cayenne pepper. Add burgers, making sure they are submerged in the marinade, and marinate for 1 hour.
  2. In a deep fryer or heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat peanut oil to 325 degrees fahrenheit. If you are frying on the stove, you will need about 4-6 inches of oil.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together remaining ¼ cup pickle juice and almond milk. Set aside.
  4. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, powdered sugar, remaining 1 TBS cayenne, paprika, peppercorns, chili powder, sea salt, baking powder and garlic powder. Set aside.
  5. Coat each burger in the flour mixture, then toss it into the milk mixture, Coating evenly on all sides. Coat generously in flour mixture again.
  6. In batches, place burgers in hot oil. Fry for about 5-8 minutes, flipping occasionally, or until the outside is crisp and golden brown. Using tongs, remove burgers from oil and place on a plate lined with paper towel.
  7. Heat a large, dry skillet over low heat. Toast buns, cut side down, for about 1-2 minutes.
  8. Remove buns from the pan. Place vegan cheese on bottom half of each bun and top with fried chicken and 4 pickle slices. Serve immediately with your favorite hot sauce, if desired.

 

 

19 Comments
Join The Conversation

Share Your Thoughts

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rate this recipe:  

  1. Can you cook these in just water or does it have to be broth? also…
    Can you bake these or do they have to be fried?
    thank you! THey look delicious and I’m dying to make them!

    1. Hi Lynn!! You can definitely cook these in water, although I don’t think they’ll have much flavor (cooking them in the broth helps them absorb lots of flavor!).

      As far as baking, I’m not sure if you’re able to bake them as I haven’t tried, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work? If you give it a try at baking, please let me know how it turns out!

  2. This recipe is worth 3 hours. It tastes pretty close to the chick fil A sandwich. It was seasoned just right. Found the chick fil A sauce recipe online. It was perfect!

      1. This recipe is originally from EdgyVeg. I just reviewed it for her cookbook. All her info is in the blog post 🙂

  3. Hi, this looks great but I’m a bit confused as to why you call it vegan when you have poultry seasoning listed as one the ingredients.

    1. Hi! Poultry seasoning is actually vegan. It just contains various seasonings such as garlic powder, oregano, onion powder, etc.

    1. Hi Dan.
      As of right now, I do not provide any nutritional information on my recipes, but there are a few great apps (free of charge) that are great for calorie and nutrition tracking 🙂

  4. I never leave reviews on recipes but I find myself coming back here just for the basic seitan recipe. So many others fall flat but this one is amazing and I just it for more than a fried chicken substitute. Thank you for this recipe!

  5. Your comment is awaiting moderation.

    Could this seitan recipe be formed into one large loaf then cooked in the pot/ broth as opposed to small patties? Thx

    1. Hey Jerry! Unfortunately, this isn’t my recipe. As I mentioned in the blog post, this recipe a review of a fellow bloggers recipe for her cookbook! I shared the direct link to Candace’s page (the recipe creator), so I’d recommend reaching out to her directly for freezing tips. Hope this helps!

  6. Yum, these are great ! Wonderful texture and flavor. Takes a while with the baking in broth, cooling, and marinating, but not a lot of work overall, just give yourself 3 or 3.5 hours before you want to eat them. I bake instead of fry…375 degrees for 20ish minutes. Thanks for sharing!