This vegan Fried TVP Chicken is made by wrapping TVP slices in rice paper, dipping them in egg replacement and flour, and lastly pan-frying them until golden and crispy.
This recipe is somehow similar to my Vegan Schnitzel recipe because it also uses the TVP slices as a base, but with the added rice paper skin and pan-fried to crispy perfection, it turns into vegan Fried TVP Chicken! And it's a little bit insane.
TVP is short for Textured Vegetable Protein, it's available in different forms: granule, chunks, slices, curls. I am sure you have seen them in the store! I LOVE TVP because it's versatile, has a great "meaty" texture, and is easy to prepare (they cook rather quickly!). It also stores forever. You can read more about it in my Guide about TVP.
The TVP slices in this recipe are wrapped in rice paper wrappers which makes an awesome crispy skin. Depending on the size of your rice paper wrappers you'll have more or less skin.
I have to say - these are weirdly and amazingly awesome! The skin reminded me so much of fried chicken - I've never had anything that similar on a vegan basis.
The rice paper has to be soft and flexible in order to wrap the TVP slices. I've placed one rice wrapper after another into a shallow plate with water. It only takes a few seconds for the paper to get soft enough.
As for the spices, I've used a classic 'fried chicken' seasoning, salt, paprika powder, and garlic powder. But you can experiment with different spices. What about tandoori masala fried chicken? Or spicy sesame fried chicken? There are endless possibilities!
How to make Vegan Fried TVP Chicken
As always, you can find the whole recipe in the box below but I want to give you an overview of the required ingredients and basic steps with step-by-step photos first.
The ingredients
You will need:
- TVP slices/medaillons - If you don't have any access to TVP slices, you can easily sub it with some gardein or other fake meats that are available where you live. But keep in mind, that some of these fake meats don't need any boiling so just leave out the first step!
- veggie broth (alternatively just use water)
- rice papers
- frying oil
- flours: chickpea flour, all-purpose flour
- sriracha sauce
- spices: kala namak (or regular salt), salt, paprika powder, garlic powder
The basic steps
Serve the Vegan Fried TVP Chicken with...
- Buttery Parsley Potatoes
- Homemade Crinkle Cut Fries
- Easy Broccoli Rice
- Vegan Mashed Potatoes with onions and garlic
Love it? Rate it!
I hope you will enjoy this Vegan Fried TVP Chicken as much as I did! Drop me a comment if you’ve tried it!
And don’t forget to rate the recipe if you like it, this helps other users figure out if it is worth a try!
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Cheers, Bianca
Vegan Fried TVP Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 TVP slices
- 2 cups vegetable broth (or water)
- 4 rice paper
- frying oil
Ingredients for the egg replacement
- 3 tablespoons besan/chickpea flour
- 3 tablespoons water
- ¼ teaspoon sriracha sauce
- ½ teaspoon kala namak (gives it an eggy taste, alternatively replace it with ¼ teaspoon salt)
Ingredients for the flour coating
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose-flour
- ½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon paprika powder
- ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- In a pot, bring the veggie broth to a boil. Add the TVP slices and cook them until soft (takes about 10 minutes). Once they are soft, drain them and gently press out excess water.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the chickpea flour, water, sriracha sauce, and kala namak for the egg replacement. The mixture should be egg-like, you can add more or less water if you need to.
- In another small bowl, mix the ingredients for the flour coating: flour, salt, paprika powder, and garlic powder.
- Soften the rice paper by placing one in a shallow plate filled with water - it will be soft in 10-20 seconds.
- Transfer the softened rice paper onto a clean, lightly wet surface and add one TVP slice in the middle. Wrap it in. Repeat until you’ve wrapped all the TVP slices.
- First dip the rice paper-wrapped TVP slices in the egg replacement, turn them, then coat them in the flour breading. Then add them to a pan with frying oil (the bottom should be covered with the oil but don’t fill it too much otherwise it might spill over). Pan-fry the vegan TVP chicken on both sides until golden and crispy but this only takes about 4 minutes.
- Transfer them onto a paper towel to remove excess oil. Then you’re done!
Bonnie says
What a cool idea to wrap the cutlets in rice paper! I don't think I'd seen that before. They look so good.
bianca says
The rice paper skin always looks a little bit too real for me :D
wrapping them in rice paper causes them to stay super soft inside. yumm.
Joann Lakes says
@Bonnie, I wrap my vegan sausage meat mixes with rice paper.
Melissa @ vegan does it says
When I saw this on Instagram I had to come check it out...it seriously looks so much like the real thing. Really interesting use of rice papers! I think my hubby would really like them!
bianca says
Thank you so much Melissa! I'm such a sucker for fake meat dishes :D It's so interesting to see how others react to veganized dishes when they look and taste pretty much the same as the "real" ones!
Jennifer Harmon {Peppers and Peaches} says
Oh my goodness do these look amazing! I love the rice paper "skin"! I have ye to find TVP slices in my local grocery stores but I will keep my eyes peeled so when I do I can try these out! Thanks for sharing!
bianca says
Thank you so much for your lovely comment, Jennifer!! The TVP slices may be really hard to find! It really depends on the location. I somehow believe they are easier available in Europe - because I see them all the time. Good luck!
Natalie @ Feasting on Fruit says
These look SO much like chicken I'm a little freaked out! The spicy chickpea egg replacer, the fancy black salt that I don't know how to pronounce, and the ingenious rice paper layer...wow Bianca! And the name is perfect ;)
bianca says
I didn't want to shock you with this one Natalie! :D The dish turned out that similar tasting and looking to the "real deal" that I had to share it! So happy you like the name! Haha. My boyfriend helped me find this one - I'm sure he's the creative one in this relationship!
Kathryn Gannon says
@Natalie @ Feasting on Fruit, Ka-la na-mak.
Anu-My Ginger Garlic Kitchen says
This VEGAN FRIED CHICKEN looks incredible, Binaca. And what a fun idea to wrap chicken into rice papers! Beautifully presented! :)
bianca says
Thank you Anu! That's so nice of you!
Eibhlin says
Hi,
Do you think these would work with seitan? I have some homemade chickn style seitan that I need to use up, I think if I halve them they should be around the same size as the TVP slices. Thanks!
Bianca says
Sure! It's definitely worth a try. I can't think of anything that would speak against it. Make sure the seitan is not too thick otherwise it might not get warm enough and skip the first step if your seitan is already cooked (or steamed or simply ready to cook with). I'd love to know if it works out with seitan too if you try it :)
Eibhlin says
So I ended up doing something different with the seitan - but I made these with TVP steaks today - WOW. so delicious. and scarily chickenesque ;)
Bianca says
So glad you liked it, Eibhlin! Scarily chickenesque describes it perfectly!
Gayatri says
Bianca, loved the idea of using rice paper wrappers. I made tofu, spinach sandwich bites with rice paper wrapper, and will post the recipe on my blog tomorrow. Will link your post to it!
Bianca says
Thank you so much for stopping by Gayatri - I just checked out your post and love it! It's such a brilliant idea to use two tofu slices & fill them.
Adrianne says
Hi Bianca! I don't like to use any oil, how could I make these so that they can be baked instead?
Bianca says
Hi Adrienne. I haven't tried a oil-free version for these yet. You could try baking them in the oven, maybe brush them with water or marinade, so the rice paper doesn't get too crispy and breaks. Let me know how it turns out for you, if you give it a try :)