Where can you find vital wheat gluten in bulk??
If you’re a vegan looking for high protein sources, vital wheat gluten used to make seitan, vegan sausages, vegan pepperoni, or even vegan deli slices is a fantastic choice with about 20 grams of protein in only 1/4 cup of the raw vital wheat gluten before it has been cooked/made into one of the above products. If you’re looking for vital wheat gluten in bulk, I strongly suggest Anthony’s Vital Wheat Gluten available HERE. It’s much more cost effective than buying vital wheat gluten in a grocery store or natural foods store. Anthony’s actually started as a way to bring bulk alternative flours and baking goods to the online world when often you can only find 1lb bags with a premium price tag, making it difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle affordably. Here at the Vegan’s Pantry, we proudly support all of the good Anthony’s products are bringing to the wellness space. Keep reading our review of the bulk vital wheat gluten or find Anthony’s Vital Wheat Gluten available HERE in bulk (4 pounds!).
Taste Experience
As a long time vegans, we’ve had our fair share of vital wheat gluten and seitan products. Immediately when opening the bag, you’ll notice that Anthony’s non-GMO vegan vital wheat gluten is super smooth without any clumps. Some other brands (that I won’t mention here), are not as fine of a powder and do indeed include clumps from day one – which makes it more difficult when you go to use Anthony’s Vital Wheat Gluten.
It’s hard to compare the taste of the ‘flour’ that is vital wheat gluten without testing it in a recipe because it’s just not something you eat as is! Two recipes I’ve used with Anthony’s and other vital wheat glutens are vegan pepperoni and vegan fried chicken. I’ll post the recipe for the pepperoni below – it’s more like a sausage that you can use on pizza, in vegan calzones, on a vegan cracker and cheese board, or one of our favorites – in a cold Italian pasta salad!
When it comes to how Anthony’s Vital Wheat Gluten tastes in recipes made before, it’s a much smoother product that doesn’t get overly chewy (like some can). It has a very neutral flavor profile (what you want) and picks up the flavors of whatever it is cooked in. That’s great because some vegan vital wheat gluten flours taste a little cardboard-y (seriously!). The overall texture is softer and fluffy without overly chewy or dry. It’s honestly the best vital wheat gluten we’ve tested (and we’ve tested a lot) and we wonder if this is what some of the leading sausage brands use in their seitan based meat alternative products as it’s that good!
Below is that recipe for vegan pepperoni, but better yet, stock up on this vegan pantry staple HERE and you will not be disappointed by Anthony’s Vital Wheat Gluten. In fact, you’ll probably keep returning for more because you’re going to go through it so quickly!
Vegan Pepperoni
DRY INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/2 cups Anthony’s Vital Wheat Gluten Flour
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 2 teaspoons fennel seed
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 – 3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
WET INGREDIENTS
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients.
- In a smaller bowl, whisk all the wet ingredients together until well combined.
- Pour the wet into the dry ingredients and mix with a large spoon until it comes together. It will be like a dough that is pretty rough at this point.
- Turn the dough onto a work surface and knead until smooth. Break into 3 sections and shape each section into logs about 2 inches in diameter.
- Wrap tightly in aluminum foil, twisting the ends to secure.
- Bake for 60 minutes, placing the foil-wrapped logs directly on the oven racks.
- Remove from oven, unwrap and let cool for 5-10 minutes. Slice the pepperoni very thin, or thicker if desired. Store extra pepperoni in an air tight container or plastic wrap.
Nutrition
In 1/4 cup of Anthony’s Vital Wheat Gluten flour, there is only 110 calories. When it comes to other vegan protein sources, like nuts, seeds, and nut butters, they are considerably more calorically dense with more fat as well – as the vital wheat gluten only has two grams of fat per serving without any saturated fat or trans fat. While it’s important to have some fats in the diet, we often consume more than we need which can contribute to an increase in calorie consumption and weight gain. Choosing high protein foods like vital wheat gluten help to offset that.
There is not any cholesterol (obviously) or sodium. This is great because often store bought seitan products – or faux meat products – contain significantly more sodium than you need per serving. When you make your own seitan based vegan foods, you can control the amount of sodium you add (which is fantastic!). This means more flavor and less salt.
Because Anthony’s Vital Wheat Gluten flour is essentially the protein from wheat, there is very little fat like we discussed but there’s also very little carbohydrate. With only 4g of carbohydrate per 1/4 cup serving, this is a great high protein, low carb choice if you are monitoring your carbs. And if you’re not monitoring your carbs, it’s still a great choice that’s insanely high in protein. Just how high are we talking?? Well in that same 1/4 cup serving (which would make 1 large sausage or “burger” patty), there is a whopping 23 grams of protein. Even if you only consumed half of that – so a couple of tablespoons – you’d be consuming about 11 grams of protein! That’s a lot of protein in a small package! Plus, what’s better yet is this high protein, low fat, low calorie food is versatile – so you can have it just about everyday of the week if you wanted to!
Anthony’s Vital Wheat Gluten is a naturally good source of iron (6% daily value per serving) and even has a little bit of calcium (2% daily value per serving).
It should go without saying that if you have Celiac or another condition in which you have an allergy or intolerance to wheat gluten, you’d want to steer clear of this product. However, for most people vital wheat gluten can absolutely be a part of a healthy diet – vegan or not. Wheat can get an unfounded bad wrap sometimes, but we encourage you to rethink it – or ask your questions below! Anthony’s Vital Wheat Gluten is a high protein vegan powerhouse you can find HERE.
Parting Thoughts
If you’re a vegan, vegetarian, or omnivore looking for a high protein food that’s versatile and economical, Anthony’s Vital Wheat Gluten is perfect. It’s a super fine “flour” that when water/moisture and seasonings are added (and then it’s boiled or baked), it turns into a chewy, dense, meat like alternative. Anthony’s premium vital wheat gluten is indeed premium – it has a neutral flavor profile that picks up other flavors it’s cooked in or with. You can’t beat the low fat, low calorie, high vegan protein source. With 23grams of vegan plant-based non-GMO protein, Anthony’s Vital Wheat Gluten makes it easy to meet your protein needs and overall wellness goals whether you’re a flexitarian or weight lifting vegan! Check out Anthony’s Vital Wheat Gluten HERE.