Recipe · Kebab & gyros
Homemade Vegan Doner Kebab with Garlic Sauce
A spiced seitan doner 'loaf', shaved thin and fried crisp, stuffed into pittas with garlic and chilli sauce.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 1 hr
- Serves
- 4
- Effort
- Medium
Vegan
Late-night kebab energy, made at home. The doner here is a spiced seitan loaf: steam it, chill it, then shave it as thinly as you can and fry the slices until the edges crisp — that's the rotisserie effect. It takes a bit of planning, but the loaf keeps in the fridge for days, so you're only ever ten minutes from a kebab.
Ingredients
servings
For 4 servings.
- 150g vital wheat gluten (for the doner loaf)
- 1 small onion (roughly chopped, for the doner loaf)
- 2 cloves garlic (for the doner loaf)
- 1 tbsp tomato purée (for the doner loaf)
- 2 tbsp soy sauce (for the doner loaf)
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil (for the doner loaf, plus extra for frying)
- 120ml water (for the doner loaf)
- 1 tsp ground cumin (for the doner loaf)
- 1 tsp ground coriander (for the doner loaf)
- 1 tsp smoked paprika (for the doner loaf)
- 1 tsp dried oregano (for the doner loaf)
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon (for the doner loaf)
- ½ tsp black pepper (for the doner loaf)
- 150g plain unsweetened plant yoghurt (for the garlic sauce)
- 2 tbsp vegan mayonnaise (for the garlic sauce)
- 1–2 cloves garlic (finely grated, for the garlic sauce)
- 1 tsp lemon juice (for the garlic sauce)
- ½ tsp dried mint (for the garlic sauce)
- 4 large pitta breads (check they're vegan)
- to serve shredded lettuce or cabbage, sliced red onion, tomato, cucumber, pickled chillies and chilli sauce
Scaled amounts are rounded. Cooking times usually stay the same, but a bigger batch may need a bigger pan or an extra few minutes.
Method
- Blend the onion, garlic, tomato purée, soy sauce, oil, water and all the spices until smooth.
- Put the vital wheat gluten in a bowl, pour in the blended mixture and stir, then knead for 2–3 minutes until it forms a firm, springy dough.
- Shape into a tight log about 18cm long. Wrap tightly in baking paper, then in foil, twisting the ends like a sweet wrapper.
- Steam over simmering water for 50–60 minutes, topping up the water as needed. Leave to cool, then chill for at least 2 hours, ideally overnight — this firms it up so it slices thinly.
- Mix all the garlic sauce ingredients with a pinch of salt and chill until needed.
- Unwrap the loaf and shave it into the thinnest slices you can with a sharp knife. Heat a little oil in a large frying pan over a high heat and fry the slices in batches for 2–3 minutes until browned and crisp at the edges and piping hot.
- Warm the pittas, split them open and stuff with salad, a big handful of doner, garlic sauce and chilli sauce.
Good to know
- Vital wheat gluten is almost pure wheat protein, so this recipe isn't suitable for anyone avoiding gluten.
- The cooked loaf keeps, well wrapped, in the fridge for up to 3 days. Slice straight from the fridge for the thinnest slices.
Check every label: stocks, sauces, breads and pastries sometimes contain milk, egg or fish. Cook until piping hot all the way through.
