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These Vegan Philly Cheesesteaks are made with chewy, savory seitan beef, a creamy vegan provolone cheese sauce, and lots of sautéed peppers and onions. All the ingredients sit on a soft, ‘buttered’, garlic hoagie roll, making this vegan cheesesteak recipe absolutely irresistible!
Originally Published: March 25, 2021 | Updated: March 4, 2024
📝 Why You’ll Love these Vegan Cheesesteaks
Let me tell you all- I am so pumped to share this recipe today. This Vegan and Vegetarian Cheesesteak Recipe is SO good. Probably one of the best meals I’ve had in a while. It’s up there with my homemade vegan hot pocket recipe.
I’m convinced that this is the best vegan Philly cheesesteak out there. Here are a few reasons you’ll love this recipe:
Emily’s Recipe Notes:
- The Best Vegan Beef: The chewy seitan beef (homemade vegan meat) is seasoned with soy sauce and lots of spices for the perfect umami, savory, and salty flavor. The meaty texture of the seitan is what makes this sandwich so drool-worthy and SO similar to a traditional cheesesteak!
- Creamy Homemade Vegan Cheese Sauce: The vegan provolone cheese sauce is so gooey, creamy, and way better than a plain old slice of melted cheese on top.
- Flavor-packed Veggies with a Garlicky Hoagie Roll: And the sautéed onions and peppers add a flavorful, fresh bite inside the soft, yet crunchy garlic-coated hoagie roll.
🫑 Ingredients
To make this vegan seitan cheesesteak, you’ll first need to make your seitan beef! I have an easy and absolutely delicious recipe for how to make your own seitan beef. I love making this recipe in bulk and then freezing the ‘beef’ strips to use in quick weeknight dinners like this.
Here are all the ingredients you’ll need to make this sandwich:
Homemade Vegan Seitan Beef
This recipe uses my Homemade Vegan Seitan Beef recipe.
If you don’t have time to make your own seitan, you can use store-bought seitan strips like Upton’s Naturals or feel free to use soy curls. You can also use homemade vegan ground beef for a different take on the recipe. If you’re not a fan of vegan beef alternatives, you could also substitute thinly sliced portobello mushrooms or button mushrooms instead to make a vegan mushroom ‘cheesesteak.’
Dairy-Free Milk
I used unsweetened almond milk but this can be subbed for another dairy free milk like oat milk or soy milk.
Vegan Butter
I love Violife Plant Butter or Country Crock Plant Butter. This can be swapped for some extra virgin olive oil.
Vegan Provolone Cheese
I used one by Daiya. This can be subbed for another vegan cheese of choice like Swiss or mozzarella. Violife also makes delicious vegan cheese.
Green Bell Peppers
Feel free to top this vegan & vegetarian Philly cheesesteak with hot peppers (instead of green peppers) for a spicy kick!
Step By Step Instructions
The Seitan Beef
STEP 1: If using homemade seitan, make this recipe for the seitan beef.
The Peppers And Onions
A few traditional ingredients in a classic Philly Cheesesteak are green peppers and onions! So the second step in making this vegan version is of course prepping our veggies. I’m using thinly sliced green bell peppers and sweet yellow onions.
STEP 2: You’ll want to sauté the onions and peppers on medium heat for 5-8 minutes until tender and slightly charred. Sauté them on medium-low heat for a bit longer if you prefer caramelized onions!
The Vegan Provolone Cheese Sauce
To get that extra ooey gooey cheese, today we’re going the extra mile and making a cheese sauce to spread on top of the seitan and veggies.
STEP 3: While the veggies cook, go ahead and melt the 2 tbsp of vegan butter in a small pot to start the cheese sauce. Feel free to add in some extra seasonings like garlic powder, onion powder, or nutritional yeast!
STEP 4: To thicken up the sauce, sprinkle in the flour once the vegan butter has melted. Whisk for 1 minute so the flour cooks through and you get rid of that raw flour taste.
STEP 5: Then, continue whisking while you add in the almond milk. The mixture should be fairly thick at this point.
STEP 6: You can now add in the vegan provolone! Make sure to stir until the vegan cheese incorporates into the butter and flour mixture.
Serving the Seitan Cheesesteaks
Once you have all the components for the sandwich, you can assemble it! Spread the melted vegan butter and garlic on the hoagie rolls and toast them up. After they’re toasted, I like to spread a bit of the cheese sauce on both sides and fill them up with the seitan beef and veggies. For extra cheesiness, spoon a little more of the sauce on top!
These vegan cheesesteaks are best served warm with a buttered, garlic hoagie. For the best cheesesteak possible, use fresh good quality bread!
If you’re looking for a few sides, this recipe would be delicious served with homemade french fries or polenta fries on the side.
Storage
If you have leftovers, I recommend storing each component separately in an airtight container in the fridge. The leftovers will stay fresh in the fridge for 5-7 days. The hoagie rolls themselves are best fresh and can become stale in the fridge.
The vegan beef can be frozen for up to 3 months! I love making a large batch of the recipe linked in the recipe card below and freezing it. This way I have homemade seitan ready whenever I’m craving a sandwich like this one!
FAQ
While I recommend making homemade seitan from this recipe, you could try using store-bought seitan. You could use the same amount of Sweet Earth Seitan, however, it isn’t seasoned the same way as my homemade recipe so the final result won’t be the same.
I’m using vegan provolone slices by the brand Daiya to make the cheese sauce in this recipe. If you aren’t able to find dairy-free provolone, I recommend subbing in another mild-tasting vegan cheese. You could try vegan mozzarella. ItDoesn’tTasteLikeChicken also has a highly rated homemade vegan mozzarella cheese that you could try making!
These meatless cheesesteaks are best served warm with a big side of fries! You could also serve these veggie sandwiches with onion rings or even potato salad.
More Vegan Sandwiches
Vegan Philly Cheesesteaks (with Seitan!)
Rate this RecipeIngredients
- 1 recipe TYBM's vegan seitan beef, 550g thinly sliced- see notes for substitutions
- 1 small green bell pepper, (120g) sliced into strips
- 1 yellow onion, sliced (130g)
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 4 hoagie rolls, sliced ¾ of the way through
- 1-2 tbsp melted vegan butter, to spread on hoagies
Cheese Sauce:
- 4-5 slices vegan provolone, I used Daiya Cheese, 60g
- 2 tbsp vegan butter, 30g
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour, 15g
- ¼ cup unsweetened almond milk, or other dairy free milk of choice
Instructions
- Make the homemade vegan seitan beef according to this recipe. This can be done a day or two in advance if preferred. If using store-bought seitan, remove from the fridge.1 recipe TYBM's vegan seitan beef
- Sauté the onions and peppers on medium heat for 5-8 minutes until tender and slightly charred. Add 1-2 tbsp of water if the veggies are sticking to the pan (or use oil if you prefer).1 small green bell pepper, 1 yellow onion
- While the veggies cook, melt the 2 tbsp of vegan butter in a small pot to start the cheese sauce. Sprinkle in the flour once the vegan butter has melted. Whisk for 1 minute so the flour cooks through. Slowly whisk in the almond milk, then add in the vegan provolone. Stir until the vegan cheese melts and incorporates into the butter and flour mixture.2 tbsp vegan butter, 2 tbsp all-purpose flour, ¼ cup unsweetened almond milk, 4-5 slices vegan provolone, I used Daiya Cheese
- Optional- to make the cheese sauce smoother, transfer to a mini food processor or blender, and blend the sauce on high for 1 minute until completely smooth.
To Assemble the Cheesesteaks
- Mix the minced garlic with the remaining melted vegan butter. Spread the garlic mixture onto the sliced hoagies. Toast the hoagies in the toaster oven until golden brown.1 tbsp minced garlic, 1-2 tbsp melted vegan butter, 4 hoagie rolls
- Optional: Add the seitan beef strips to a skillet with 1-2 tsp of cooking oil and sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until heated through.
- Spread the vegan cheese sauce onto both sides of the toasted hoagie roll. Then, layer on the vegan beef and top with the sautéed peppers and onions. Add more cheese sauce on top to taste. Close up the sandwich and enjoy!
Recipe notes
Other Substitutions
Did You Make This?
Leave a star rating and a comment below to let others know how it turned out for you!
This looks delicious! Where did you find vegan sub rolls?
Hi Tanya, I found them at my local grocery store in the bakery section.
Hey, I’m trying this out right now!
And thanks!
I hope you enjoy!