Vegan spicy chicken sandwiches for all!
Man oh man! I loved fast food spicy chicken sandwiches when I was a kid. Any kind of crispy chicken in sandwich form was my go to when we headed to the drive through. These vegan spicy chicken sandwiches are an ode to my youthful cravings. Spicy white bean “chicken” patties crusted in spicy bread crumbs, layered with spicy mayo and vegan pepper jack cheese. This is real, I promise.
These “chicken” patties are made with vital wheat gluten which may intimidate some people, but I promise, they could not be any easier. Simply mash the beans, and stir with the remaining ingredients. Knead with your hands for a minute. Form into patties and coat with bread crumbs, bake and enjoy, and you will enjoy!
Let’s talk about vital wheat gluten:
- Made from the protein of wheat, vital wheat gluten it’s magic.
- It can turn any simple ingredients into a very meaty substitute.
- It is now easier than ever to find, many companies make bags of it, and many stores sell it in bulk!
- Once you master it, you will be using it all the time!
Let’s talk about vegan pepper jack cheese:
- For this recipe, I used Follow Your Heart Vegan pepper jack cheese. It’s amazing and melts well.
- There are a few other brands that make vegan pepper jack.
- There are a bunch of really great recipes for vegan pepper jack if you want to make your own!
I don’t think it gets any better than these vegan spicy chicken sandwiches. This recipe makes 4 sandwiches, so I like to make them on a Sunday and have lunches for a few days. They reheat really well and I’m totally in love. It’s a good day when I get to sink my teeth into one of these bad boys for lunch or dinner. Or breakfast or dessert, ya know, whatever floats your boat!
Vegan Spicy "Chicken" Sandwiches
Ingredients
For the Spicy "Chicken"
- 1 Can(15oz.) Cannellini Beans
- 1 Tablespoon Olive oil
- 1/3 Cup Vegetable broth
- 2 Tablespoons Soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons Chili paste or sriracha
- 1 Cup Vital wheat gluten
- 1/3 +1/2 Cup Panko bread crumbs, divided
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
- 1/2 Cup Plain bread crumbs, vegan
- 1 teaspoon Red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon Chili powder
For the Spicy Mayo
- 1/3 Cup Vegan mayo, I used Hellman's
- 2 teaspoons Hot sauce, I used Franks
For the Sandwiches
- 4 Hamburger Buns, vegan
- 4 Slices Vegan pepper jack cheese, I used Follow your Heart
- Lettuce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees(F).
- Drain the beans, and add them to a large mixing bowl. Mash the beans with a fork or potato masher until all the beans are mashed.
- Now, add the olive oil, vegetable broth, soy sauce and chili paste or sriracha to the bowl with the beans. Then stir to fully combine.
- Next, pour the vital wheat gluten, the 1/3 cup of panko, salt and cayenne to the bowl.
- Stir to combine, then begin to knead with your hands until the mixture forms a nice ball that isn't sticky and holds together well.
- Now in a separate bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 cup of panko, the plain bread crumbs, the red pepper flakes and the chili powder.
- Then, divided the "chicken" mixture into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a large ball, then put one of the balls into the bowl with the bread crumb mixture and press down to flatten out and coat in the bread crumbs. Flip and coat the other side making sure you now have a flat patty.
- Place the patty on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick spray and repeat with the remaining "chicken" patty mixture.
- Spray the tops of the patties with more non-stick spray. Bake for 15 minutes, flip and bake for 15 more minutes or until the patties are nice and brown and firm.
- Now, make the spicy mayo while the patties bake. Just whisk together the vegan mayo and hot sauce and set aside.
- Once the patties are done, you can put a piece of vegan pepper jack on each patty and bake for a few more minutes to melt the vegan cheese, or you can just place a piece on top before serving.
- When ready, spread some vegan spicy mayo on the bottom of a bun, then the "chicken" patty, then the vegan pepper jack, then some lettuce then some more vegan spicy mayo on the top bun and put that on top. Enjoy!
Nutrition
OMG thank you…that looks awesome. I think I’m gonna make these for my lunch this week. Does your nutritional information include the cheese and bun also? of just the Chikn patty?
Yay! The nutritional information includes everything!!
Looks amazing! Does the nutritional information include the bun?
Yes, it should include everything that is written in the ingredients list!
So good! But my patty fell apart when trying to flip:(
Not sure what I missed…any advice?
Were they crumbly? They should definitely be moist enough and firm enough that there is no chance that they fall apart. I have never seen that happen before. I’m not sure exactly what happen, but I would recommend making sure you are kneading the “chicken” mixture enough so it feels very firm and is holding together really well. You should be able to squeeze the mixture together and form it in any shape and it will stay. I hope that helps! I’m also happy to help more if you have any other ideas about what might have happen!:)
What if I can’t find cannellini beans in my podunk town??? Any ideas for substitute? I have to make these.
Chickpeas work, or most other types of beans will work too!
Any white bean could do. Great northern, navy beans, maybe even pinto
I’ve made these with all kinds of beans Ann they came out great! I’ve used then to make vegan chicken Marsala and parmigian. Also made then into nuggets and fingers for wraps. Love that they can be frozen. Do you know how long they’ll keep in the freezer?
I have tried recipes that use beans and wheat gluten before but it never worked out. BUT THIS RECIPE DOES! I absolutely loved this recipe. This is going to be a new staple in my home. Thank you for creating this lovely recipe!
Do you think these would freeze well?
They do! Sometimes I make a big batch and freeze some of the patties until I want a quick lunch or dinner!
These look so good! I found them as I have a craving for spicy chicken burgers from White Spot that I used to have all the time back in the day. So excited to try this!
I made these tonight but I must have messed up somewhere along the way. For lack of a better word, they were way too “gluten-y”. They had the texture of stringy elastic if you pulled them apart. And they tasted kind of like dough more than anything. Is the cup of vital wheat gluten the correct amount? I’m just wondering if I used too much. And I must have made them too think because they tasted like dough so I am assuming I didn’t cook them long enough. Help!
Hi there! I can’t tell you exactly what went wrong. The measurements in the recipe are correct. Maybe they didn’t bake long enough? Did you replace any ingredients with something else? They may just need to be thinner and bake longer. The vital wheat gluten will naturally give anything that stringy/elastic like texture, that’s it’s purpose. Once baked long enough though that turns to a meaty texture. I hope that helps a bit!
Is there anything to be done for a gluten free option?
Unfortunately, there isn’t much that acts as a suitable alternative to vital wheat gluten, in our opinion. If you’re looking specifically for sandwiches, check out this new recipe – https://www.rabbitandwolves.com/vegan-fall-bbq-sandwiches/
These were fantastic. Not only were these faster than ordering delivery (I’m a weak human and nearly gave in haha) but now I have chicken patties in the freezer, too! Every recipe we make from this site is freaking BOMB, you hear me?! The only thing I would change is upping the salt…but we eat way too much sodium here so that has absolutely ZERO to do with the creator. 😀
PERFECT Texture, flavor and SO many uses!!! I’m
Seeing this chopped up on a good vegan Alfredo dish! So awesome!
I have made this a couple times for my hubby and I and we both really enjoy it! I think I will set up and make a batch just to freeze so we can have super easy (and delicious!) meals.
Do you think that butter beans would work also?
When you freeze the patties, can you then cook from frozen or do you have to defrost them first? Can’t wait to try these!
I usually cook them from frozen, they just take a bit longer than if they were thawed, but it works out fine.
Excellent recipe! Great texture and all around well done. I had to alter just a bit due to sodium concerns, so I subbed coconut aminos for soy sauce, then to ramp up the nutrition for crust factor, I used whole wheat panko and rolled the patties in Uncle Sam cereal for more crunch and nutrition.
Also, I have been using the ‘bones’ of your recipe to create a burger by subbing pinto beans for cannelinis, then subbing tomato paste for soy, Ramping up umami by adding some rehydrated shiitakes and next time will try a little coconut oil to reduce density…but you have developed the perfect foundation for creating veg alternatives and I thank you for the inspiration!
This is sooo delicious! Everyone saying that it makes four large patties are correct. I think I’ll split it into six next time. It’s very similar to a $10 “unchicken” sandwich we’d buy from a vegan restaurant though, tastes delicious, and is actually easy to make. I love this blog….thank you for making the world a better place!!! 💕💕💕
Can I sub panko for all the breadcrumbs?
Yup! you sure can!
This is WAY TOO GOOD!!! First time making my own “chick’n” using vital gluten, & this recipe was so easy to follow. Turned out beautifully. I took it a step further (because I can’t get enough spice) & at the 25min/30 min mark, I tossed the patties in some hot sauce (diluted a bit in some vegan butter) then popped it back in for the last 5 mins. YUM!! Definitely using this recipe again, even as a base for nuggets & what not. Thanks for this!!
This was really good! I have been making your caesar chicken sandwiches for awhile, excited to find a spicy version. I had 3 patties leftover, so the next day I just used them to make your “chicken parm” recipe, it was very good!
These look so good! What brand of buns did you use? They look tasty too
I usually use Trader Joe’s brand!
hi lauren, i’m so excited to try this!! however im a bit confused. this seems to b almost the exact same recipe as ur chickn caesar sandwiches, but that one calls for 1/2 c wheat gluten while this one calls for a whole cup. may i ask why & if the amount used makes a difference? im trying to watch my calories so a 1/2 c of pure gluten makes a big difference lol!! thanks in advance:)
Dumb question, but can these be made gluten free??
These are amazing! So yummy and quick! When you freeze them, do you cook them first?
I baked them and freeze , it’s great!
These are SO good and I love that they are high protein and my kids LOVE them! I make them often for my family and I’ve made them for a crowd.
Hi! No need to boil or steam before we pass them through breadcrumbs?
Nope they just get breaded and go into the oven. No need to precook them in any way!
These are awesome! It’s the perfect amount of spice and they have a great texture. I only had chickpeas, so I used those and it still worked really well. I can’t believe you can make these yourself in like 10 minutes. Thanks for this recipe!
I’m so excited to make these! I thought I had cannelloni beans or great northern but I guess I used them. I have garbanzo beans and pinto beans. Will those work? If not I’ll have to wait until I go to the market.. I’m just craving this now!!!
I added all ingredients and made as instructed. These were delicious! I’ll make again. Thank you for this recipe.
This is one of theee best seitan recipes in existence. We have been making these sandwiches for years now and we absolutely love them every time. I should have reviewed them sooner, but better late than never! Thank you so much for all of your outstanding recipes!!