Last Updated on December 11, 2023

This Epic Holiday Vegan/Vegetarian Roast (GF) is super easy to make. A delicious, hearty, festive vegan roast, and it’s also not in any way a diet of deprivation or loss of flavor for going vegan!

epic-holiday-vegan-roast-gluten-free — The centerpiece on the dining table!

Vegan/Vegetarian Roast (GF)

Now you can ditch pricey vegan meat products from supermarkets and start to make your own. It’s much cheaper and healthier.

Perfect to pair with Garlic mash, delicious vegan Gravy( gluten-free), Roasted Brussels sprouts, potato bake or Baked Stuffed Potatoes, and Grilled Asparagus in Foil.

Oh, please don’t throw away the trimmings, the leftover trimmings are great for sandwiches.

The reason why I decided to make this gluten-free version of vegan/vegetarian roast is that I saw a lot of people asking on the internet” What can my family and friends eat on the holiday dining table if they’re gluten intolerant?”

And the answer often is “They can eat roast vegetables and mashed potato”.

So I think “Hey! Why not just make a gluten-free vegan roast and gravy that everybody can enjoy?”

What’s a Vegan/Vegetarian Roast made of?

Most vegan/vegetarian roast products and recipes are made with Seitan.

Seitan is a popular vegan meat alternative that is made with whole wheat flour or vital wheat gluten. It has a unique meat-chewy texture.

For this gluten-free version, I used chickpeas (I’ve tried a few times with butter beans, they worked well with this recipe too).

And replacing vital wheat gluten with rice flour and psyllium husk (as a binding agent). Plus, add my favored dried herbs and seasonings, brushed with vegan barbecue glaze.

Honestly, I was very pleased with the result, and it’s less stressful to make if you compare it to most seitan-based vegan/vegetarian roasts.

You won’t believe how easy to make this GF vegan roast.

This recipe doesn’t aim to perfectly replicate the texture of meat like most seitan-based recipes do. Instead, we focus on the flavors.

What ingredients and tools do You need?

For this recipe, you need a powerful food processor to do the hard work for you.

Chickpeas– are used as the base and main source of protein. You can use canned or hydrated cooked chickpeas. Canned chickpeas need to be washed and drained. You can also use butter beans.

Vegetable Broth (low-sodium)– We use low-sodium vegetable broth as we are going to add our seasonings later. If you’re on a gluten-free diet, make sure to check the label before purchasing.

Nutritional Yeast (Nooch)– give our gluten-free vegan roast the umami flavor and extra nutrients.
Seasonings– the taste of dried herbs is stronger than fresh herbs. So here I use dried rubbed Sage (if you use ground sage, reduce to half the amount), Rosemary, Thyme, and Oregano. Plus vegetable bouillon powder, garlic powder, onion powder, white miso paste (gluten-free ones), and oil (optional if you’re WFPB).

Rice Flour– replacement for vital wheat gluten.

Psyllium Husk – Used as the binding agent and also increases fiber-intake.

Vegan BBQ Sauce – Brushed on the vegan roast as a glaze. You can use smoky BBQ if you like the smoky flavor.

How to make Glute-Free Vegan Roast

This is the overview process shot, you can scroll down to find the complete, printable recipe.

1. Preheat the oven to 400 °F (or 200 °C). In a powerful blender, add the Chickpeas (rinsed and drained), vegetable broth, nutritional yeast, oil, onion powder, garlic powder, vegetable stock powder, white miso paste, dried herbs (rubbed Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, and Oregano) and blend until smooth.

Blending method for gluten-free vegan roast — Blitz everything to a smooth puree.

2. Place rice flour and psyllium husk powder into a large mixing bowl, stir, and mix them thoroughly. Add the wet mixture to the mixing bowl (use the spatula to scrape the wet mixture out as much as possible).

3. Mix everything with a spoon/spatula until the rice flour becomes invisible and it should form a wet dough. It takes about 5 minutes to mix them very well. The dough should be a bit wet, if it’s too wet or too sticky, just add a little bit more rice flour. The consistency we’re looking for is that you can rub the mixture between your fingers and your fingers are still clean.

4. Line two pieces of alfoil on the bench, along with a piece of parchment paper. Place the mixture onto the parchment paper, then spray a bit of oil on your both hands (oil-free eaters can use water to wet your hands), and shape it into a log with a diameter of about 4 inches.

Wrap up with the parchment paper then the alfoil tightly and twist each end shut like a big candy.

5. Place the foil-wrapped vegan roast onto a small baking dish place it on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

6. After 30 minutes, take it out of the oven and unwrap it, line the parchment paper on the baking dish.

Place the vegan roast in the baking dish, brush the surface with vegan BBQ sauce then put it back in the oven for a further 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, take it out from the oven, cover it with foil to keep it warm, and let it rest for 15 minutes before carving.

gluten-free vegan roast and gravy — The glaze gives the vegan roast a shining surface also a bit of sweet flavor

sliced.vegan roast fried in a pan — sliced vegan/vegetarian roast (gf) fried up for next day brekky.

Can I make Vegan Roast ahead?

This gluten-free vegan roast can be made in advance or frozen-either cooked or uncooked.

Wrap the cling film over the top and freeze it in the freezer. When you need it, take it out of the freezer. Let it completely defrost before cooking.