Korean BBQ Seitan Lettuce Wraps with Stir-Fried Peppers and Onions
for when you're obsessed with protein
Since turning 30, I've prioritized my health more seriously in ways I hadn't before. These days, fitness has become central to my world. This isn't something I talk about much online, but it plays a major role in my life alongside content creation. Over the past year, my go-to exercises have been lifting weights, gymnastics, hot yoga, and long walks with Lady. This has naturally led me to focus on nutrition to fuel my body for these high-intensity workouts. I've also noticed how this focus has enhanced my recipe development for this newsletter. I'm always thinking about how to make my meals exciting to eat while hitting my macros, especially my protein intake. Let me know in the comments below if any of this resonates with you, too.
With this in mind, today's meal fits those requirements perfectly. We're making Korean BBQ seitan from a mix of vital wheat gluten, cannellini beans, and nutritional yeast. This combination works well not only for taste and texture, but also because it contains all the essential amino acids to make it a complete protein. The recipe below proves how easy it is to make seitan. We're then sautéing stir-fry bell peppers and onions until they're perfectly soft and caramelized. Patience is key when cooking bell peppers! Finally, we're serving this with rice wrapped in lettuce, a fun and sneaky way to eat more vegetables. Let's dive into the recipe!
Protein breakdown (approximately 37g per serving for 3 servings):
120g vital wheat gluten = 92 g protein
150g cannellini beans = 15g protein
2 tbsp nutritional yeast = 8 g protein
Tiff’s Tips
We're saving the hassle by using ready-to-use Korean BBQ sauce. For this recipe, I used Momofuku KBBQ sauce, but any brand available at your local market will work perfectly.
This dish pairs well with any type of lettuce for wrapping. My personal preference is butterhead, but feel free to use romaine, red leaf, little gem, or even iceberg lettuce!
We're adding beans to the seitan to boost protein and fiber, add moisture, and help mellow out the sometimes off-putting taste of vital wheat gluten. You may substitute the cannellini beans with great northern or navy beans.
Pantry staples: vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, vegan chicken broth, light soy sauce
Store in the refrigerator and enjoy within 3 days. Pack the lettuce leaves separately from the seitan, rice, and bell peppers to keep the lettuce crisp.
Equipment needed
Recipe
Korean BBQ Seitan Lettuce Wraps with Stir-Fried Peppers and Onions
Serves: 3
Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 40 min
Ingredients
For the seitan