This vegan chicken piccata is unbelievably close to the real deal! Lightly breaded seitan serves as a protein-packed plant based meat alternative. The seitan is served over pasta and dressed in a light and creamy, lemon caper sauce.
When I was young, before I went vegan, and as I began attempting to cook more complex meals, one of the first recipes I tried, with the help of my mom of course, was chicken piccata. In middle school, I was captivated by the cooking shows on Food Network, and as soon as I saw Giada make this Italian dish on screen, I wanted to try it at home. It soon became one of my favorite comfort foods. As my diet changed, I realized this Valentine's day that I had not tried to recreate a vegan version of one of my once favorite Italian dishes. Because this holiday encourages indulgence, I wanted to make this vegan version as authentic and close to the original as possible- no veggies pretending to be "steaks" here!
We start off by making the perfect seitan "chicken" for this recipe. It is incredibly flavorful, moist, and tender on the inside, and coated with a crispy, light breading. Its texture is one that even non-veg friends and family will fall in love with! Seitan is packed with almost as much lean protein as the same serving of lean meat, almost completely fat-free, and of course completely cholesterol free! The pasta and seitan are complemented by a creamy yet light, lemony, garlicky caper sauce. The dish is topped with fresh chopped parsley.
Ingredient Rundown:
- Homemade seitan: Made of vital wheat gluten, seitan is a plant-based alternative to meat. It's texture is surprisingly realistic, and inexpensive to make yourself at home. We will use my chicken-style seitan recipe, which is savory and flavorful. Check it out here.
- Seasoned flour + breadcrumbs: We will coat the seitan "chicken" pieces in this breading to allow it to get a nice, brown, crispy coating when cooked.
- Pasta: I like to use spaghetti or linguine, but any pasta will do! You can even skip the pasta and instead serve this seitan piccata with veggies.
- Garlic and shallot: Seasons the base of our sauce and infuses it with aromatic, savory flavors.
- Capers: One of the stars of this dish, adds a tanginess and tartness to the sauce that complements the lemon.
- Olive oil: For sautéing the seitan, garlic, and shallots.
- Lemon: Serves as the base of the lemony caper piccata sauce.
- Coconut Cream: Adds creaminess to the vegan piccata sauce and is used instead of the traditional heavy cream. This is the top layer of a can of chilled, full fat coconut milk. You can buy just the coconut cream, canned, here.
- Parsley: The perfect herb to complement the creamy lemon sauce and garnish your finished dish.
Why you'll love this vegan chicken piccata:
- Easy: We simply cook the pasta, bread and sauté the seitan, and cook the piccata sauce, consisting of only a few ingredients.
- Comforting: This is the ultimate vegan comfort food for when you are craving a classic pasta dish!
- So delicious: I made sure to infuse this light and creamy sauce with extra flavor which takes this recipe to the next level.
- Perfect for guests: This is a fancy dish that will definitely impress anyone, especially when you tell them it's 100% vegan!
I hope you love this recipe as much as I do! Be sure to comment below if you try it and tag your recreations on Instagram @zenandzaatar!
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Recipe
Vegan Chicken Piccata (Seitan)
Ingredients
- ½ batch chicken style seitan
- 3 tablespoon flour
- 2 tablespoon breadcrumbs
- salt and pepper to taste
Pasta
- ½ lb. linguine
- 2 tablespoon vegan butter or olive oil
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4-5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 shallot finely diced
- ¼ cup capers
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- ½ cup coconut cream
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ cup parsley leaves chopped
Instructions
- Prepare ½ of a batch of chicken style seitan, creating 2-3 chicken "cutlets."
- Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside when done.
- Mix flour and breadcrumbs in a shallow dish or plate. Dredge each cooked seitan piece in flour mixture on both sides and set aside.
- Heat vegan butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Sauté each breaded seitan piece for 3-5 mins on each side, until browned, and set aside.
- Add olive oil, garlic, shallot, and capers to the skillet, and sauté for about 3 mins, until fragrant. Add vegetable broth, lemon juice, and lemon zest, and cook for 5 mins, until reduced slightly. Add coconut cream if desired, and capers. Season with salt and pepper and taste to see if it needs more.
- Pour sauce mixture over pasta and seitan. Serve with extra parsley and lemon juice. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Andrea T. says
Sounds very flavorful. Thanks for including the seitan recipe also - tahini is an ingredient I have never seen in seitan recipes.
My question: In the photos above - does that recipe have the optional coconut cream or not?
Many thanks !
Zena | Zena 'n Zaatar says
Of course! This is my go to "chicken" style seitan recipe and it's so good! I did not include the optional coconut cream in the pictured photos, but I have made this recipes other times including the coconut cream and it adds a lovely creaminess. Both ways are delicious, it is up to your preference. I hope you love this one, let me know how it goes! <3
Kerstin Decker says
So today I made your chicken piccata. So good, decadent. Never used tahini before, but it is just the cats meow. You are right, it is so close to the original. I left the coconut cream out, because none in the pantry, no reason to run to the store. Zeta,, it was so good , thank you
Kerstin Decker says
So today I made your chicken piccata. So good, decadent. Never used tahini before, but it is just the cats meow. You are right, it is so close to the original. I left the coconut cream out, because none in the pantry, no reason to run to the store. Zeta,, it was so good , thank you
Zena | Zen and Zaatar says
I'm so glad you loved it! I love using tahini in a variety of recipes, it's so versatile 🙂
Laura Damon says
Does the coconut cream make it sweet? Is there a better alternative milk?
Zena | Zen and Zaatar says
It doesn’t make it noticeably sweet at all to me, but if you’d like you can substitute it for cashew cream or soy cream!
Kayla Whittaker says
this is the BEST pasta i’ve ever had i’ve made it about 5 times already thank you love! ✨
Zena | Zen and Zaatar says
So glad you loved it!! 🙂