The next time you feel that undeniable craving for fast food, even though you know it’s pretty much garbage wrapped up in foil, take matters into your own hands and make something just as tasty in your own kitchen. This has been philosophy for years, and became my saving grace when I went vegan.
Today, I am sharing with you my recipe for a Chick-Fil-A Sandwich, thanks to almost a year of begging by James and his friends. There are many recipes on my site and my channel for most of your fast food favorites done vegan style. But this one has probably been requested the most—and actually a dish I myself, have never tried the real version of. So this recipe was created blind with a room full of junk food-loving, male, Omni taste testers. There are 1,950 different places in America that you could be tempted to eat a Chick-fil-A sandwich, and while it would no doubt be delicious—I am confident you will find the vegan alternative just as satisfying, if not, far better in many ways.
This recipe matches the unique flavors of a Chick-fil-A Spicy Chicken Deluxe sandwich, which using my seitan chicken recipe as the base. You’ve seen me use that in my McChicken Sandwich, McNuggets and Popeyes chicken recipes—so if you’ve made those, then you’ll be a pro at this. To get that pickle-y flavor unique to Chick-fil-A, we are going to marinate our seitan for about an hour in a pickle juice bath. Now DO NOT do this for more than an hour, or else all you will taste is pickles.
Like all my copycat recipes, I do try to keep them as authentic as possible, so to get that signature crunchy breading we are using powdered sugar- Yup! You read that correctly- sugar. The powdered sugar, in conjunction with the baking powder, will give your breading that unique Chick-fil-A crispy, crunchy texture. For this recipe I also researched what type of oil they use for their frying, and found out it was peanut—so sorry for all you nut allergy peeps, you’ll have to use another type of oil and have a less authentic version. Just kidding- I love you. I am just trolling. I always use my deep fryer for these copycat recipes to make as authentic as possible, but if you don’t own one, or refuse to use one; you can always pan fry it in enough oil to make sure it is completely submerged.
James told me that he always loved his spicy chicken sandwich with cheese, so I topped everything with a slice of vegan provolone. And Voila! You have now created the epic world-famous Chick-fil-A sandwich, vegan style. You’re welcome!
4.8 from 28 reviews
Chick-fil-A Spicy Chicken Sandwich | Vegan Recipe
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
This is an easy vegan recipe for a Chick-Fil-A Chicken Sandwich that you can quickly and easily make at home. This vegan spicy chicken sandwich is made with battered seitan, tangy pickles, and vegan cheese.
Author: The Edgy Veg
Recipe type: Dinner
Cuisine: American
Serves: 4 Burgers
Ingredients
For the "Chicken Meat"
- 1 cup vital wheat gluten
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp Himalayan salt
- ½ tsp poultry seasoning
- ¾ cup vegetable broth, I made mine with bouillon (enough to cover), for cooking
- 2 tbsp tahini
Marinade
- pickle juice, enough to cover seitan chicken
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
Binder
- ¾ cup plain, unsweetened soy milk or 5 eggs worth of egg replacer, prepared
- ¼ cup pickle juice
Breading
- 2 cups organic white unbleached flour
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar(yup)
- 3 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp cracked black pepper
- 1 Tbsp cayenne pepper (I love my food really spicy, you can add less if you don’t) + more for seasoning finished product
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp Himalayan salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- Peanut oil for frying
Toppings
- Burger buns, use whatever you want! I used white buns to be authentic
- Pickles, cut into medallions
- Your favourite Vegan cheese (I used provolone)
Instructions
Chicken "Meat"
- In a mixing bowl, mix together wheat gluten, salt, nutritional yeast, onion powder and poultry seasoning.
- In a larger bowl, combine ¾ broth and tahini and whisk until smooth.
- Mix the dry ingredients with the wet and stir until well combined.
- Knead the dough until it is elastic but not dry. Sprinkle some additional gluten flour if you find you have made your dough too sticky.
- Divide the dough into small little burgers. Keep in mind they will grow to about twice their size, so make then smaller then you would normally. Place in a casserole dish, covering them completely with vegetable broth.
- Cook burgers in broth for 1 hour at 350 degrees, flipping at 45 minutes. Allow to cool.
- Mix together the marinade in a plastic bag or shallow bowl and allow the seitan to soak for an hour.
Binder
- Mix together pickle juice and almond milk or egg replacer and set aside.
Breading
- Combine the flour, powdered sugar, paprika, black pepper, cayenne pepper, chilli powder, salt, baking powder, and garlic powder in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Set aside.
- Warm the peanut oil in a deep fryer, frying pan or pot over medium heat until you reach 325F.
- Toss the seitan “chicken” cutlet into the dry mixture and coat completely, then toss it into the wet, again coating evenly on all sides. Toss into the flour mixture again and coat generously. Repeat with the remaining cutlets and set aside.
- Place cutlets into the hot oil using a pair of tongs. Flip occasionally to ensure even cooking. Allow to cook for about 5 to 8 minutes, or until the outside is crisp and golden brown. Allow to drain on a paper towel. Repeat with the remaining cutlets and sprinkle with cayenne pepper to achieve ultimate spicy perfection.
Building your burger
- Place your buns in a frying pan over low heat until slightly toasted.
- Place vegan cheese on the bottom half of each bun, then top with the fried seitan chicken and top with 4-5 pickle medallions. Serve immediately.
Notes
You can also cook your plain seitan in broth on a stovetop, I find that this leaves you with softer seitan. I switch between the two methods depending on my mood.
Nutrition Information
Serving size:1 burger Calories:784 Fat:27.7g Carbohydrates:91g Sugar:14.2g Protein:36.5g
