I’m from Philadelphia, so this was bound to happen eventually. I mean, it does make me an expert on Philly cheesesteaks, right? I modeled these delectable vegan cheesesteaks after my favorite greasy sandwich from my favorite south Philly steak shop. Psych! I’m totally kidding. I’ve never even entered a south Philly steak shop, and I’ve never had a real Philly cheesesteak. But having lived in Philly I’ve been around the city’s famous steak sandwiches enough to have a pretty good idea of what they’re all about and I’m confident that I’ve created the best vegan Philly cheesesteak sandwiches out there.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Vegetable oil. Pretty much any high-heat oil will do. You can use regular old vegetable oil, canola oil, corn or avocado oil.Onion. As they say in Philly, these are cheesesteaks “wit.” That means “with” as in with onions. Hey, don’t look at me, like I said, I’ve never had a cheesesteak, so I certainly didn’t invent the ordering lingo.Long hot Italian peppers. Our vegan cheesesteaks are also wit hot peppers. Although I’m not sure if the whole wit thing carries over to peppers? Let’s just say it does! Leave the peppers off if you’re not into heat.Garlic.Seitan. You can buy seitan or make your own using my homemade seitan recipe. If you use my recipe, make the beef flavor for a vegan version of a traditional cheesesteak, or the chicken flavor for a vegan chicken cheesesteak. (Chicken cheesesteaks are indeed a thing.)Soy sauce. Tamari or liquid aminos could be substituted if needed.Paprika.Salt & pepper.Torpedo rolls. Torpedo rolls are basically long rolls. They might also be called steak rolls, hoagie rolls or sub rolls. Most supermarkets carry them in the bakery section. You can absolutely substitute another type of roll if you’d like.Vegan cheese sauce. You can buy vegan cheese sauce (Daiya makes one), or make your own. I happen to have a few recipes for various vegan cheese sauces on this site! Choose from my cashew queso, nacho sweet potato cheese, or cauliflower nacho cheese.Ketchup. I’m going to be totally frank here: I don’t know if this is a normal cheesesteak topping. I asked my husband and he said “not for people with any taste.” Hmmm. My family always put it on their steaks growing up and I happen to really like it on my vegan Philly cheesesteaks. Apparently there’s some controversy around this topic. Do what you will.
How to Make Vegan Philly Cheesesteaks Sandwiches
The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you’d like to skip right to the recipe!
Do your prep work first. Slice your onions and pepper thinly. Mince your garlic. Slice your seitan suuuuuper thin. Get the pieces as thin as you can. A mandoline slicer is a great tool to use! Heat up your oil in a skillet then add onions and long hot peppers. Fry the onions and peppers for a few minutes until they begin to brown, but keep a close eye on them, as they can burn pretty quickly.Add minced garlic to the pan and sauté it briefly.
Add your thinly sliced seitan to the skillet, along with soy sauce and paprika. Fry everything for a few minutes, until the seitan pieces start to crisp up around the edges.
Stuff your vegan cheesesteak filling into sliced rolls and top it with vegan cheeses sauce and optionally ketchup.
Leftovers & Storage
If you have leftover vegan Philly cheesesteak filling, it will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for about 3 days.
More Vegan Hot Sandwich Recipes
Vegan Sloppy JoesVegan Po’ Boy SandwichesGrilled Avocado SandwichJackfruit Pulled Pork SandwichesCrispy Vegan Fish Fillet Sandwiches with Tartar Sauce
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