Vegan Buttermilk Air Fryer Seitan Chicken

The key to making this delicious vegan buttermilk air fryer chicken is in the ingredients. Most of the ingredients are spices that you may already have in your pantry, but the one essential ingredient is vital wheat gluten, which is the base for the seitan. You may need to order it online.

We’ll be using my seitan chicken recipe as the base. You can find an in depth post and video here: Vegan Shredded Chicken. I chose to shape mine into a chick’n fillet or drumsticks, but feel free to shape them into wings, tenders, nuggets, or another shape!

Let’s take a closer look at the ingredients you’ll need.

• Vital wheat gluten
• Vegan poultry seasoning
• Garlic powder
• Smoked paprika
• Canned young green jackfruit
• Soft or firm tofu
• Soy sauce
• Neutral oil like canola
• Vegan buttermilk (unsweetened almond milk with apple cider vinegar)
• All-purpose flour
• Bread crumbs or crushed Ritz Crackers

Substitutions

• Jackfruit: If you’re unable to find canned young green jackfruit, you can use firm tofu instead.

• Vegan buttermilk: If you don’t have almond milk, you can use soy milk or oat milk instead.

• Breadcrumbs: the breadcrumbs can be subbed with crushed cornflakes or crushed crackers of choice!

Step-by-Step Instructions

Make the Vegan Seitan Chicken

STEP 1: Combine the dry ingredients for the vegan chicken together (the vital wheat gluten and spices) in a large bowl. Make sure they are well mixed!

📌 TIP: Using a digital scale to measure your ingredients will give you the best results.

STEP 2: In a food processor, pulse the jackfruit until it is shredded into very small pieces (but not into a paste). Remove and set aside in a small bowl. Pulse the drained and pressed tofu in the food processor until it becomes a smooth paste.

📌 TIP: Be sure to finely shred the jackfruit or the pieces will be too large in the seitan.

STEP 3: Mix the wet and dry together until combined or until no more vital wheat gluten can be incorporated with the spatula. Gently knead the seitan dough for about 1 minute until it forms a moist and elastic dough. 

STEP 4: Transfer the dough ball to a cutting board, divide into 5-6 pieces, and shape them into 5-6 fillets or drumsticks like in the process photos.

📌 TIP: Try not to over-knead or overwork the dough while shaping the vegan chicken (this results in seitan that is too chewy).

The ‘Buttermilk’ Breading & Air Frying

STEP 5:  In a large shallow bowl, mix together the almond milk and apple cider vinegar to make the vegan buttermilk. Set aside for 10 minutes. In a second large shallow bowl, mix together the flour, bread crumbs, salt, and spices.

STEP 6: Dip one piece of the seitan chicken into the vegan buttermilk. Then dip into the flour mixture, flipping it over so both sides are covered. Repeat with the same piece of chicken a total of 2 times. So the process should be wet > dry >wet > dry.

📌 TIP: Use one hand for the wet mixture and one hand for the dry mixture to prevent clumping and make the process smoother.

STEP 7: Set the battered chicken onto the air fryer basket. Repeat with the remaining seitan chicken. With a pastry brush, brush the oil onto the front and back of the battered chicken. You could also spray with cooking oil for extra crispiness.

STEP 8: Air fry for 16-20 minutes, flipping each piece halfway through. If needed, apply more oil or cooking spray when flipping the vegan chicken. The chicken should be golden and crispy when done cooking.

Storage

Store any leftover vegan air fryer chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in the air fryer at 375F for 5 minutes or until heated through.

 If you want to keep them longer, you can freeze them for up to 3 months. 

When you’re ready to eat them, thaw and reheat in the air fryer for a few minutes until crispy again.