You know I’m no stranger to making super meaty, cheesy dishes vegan. I mean, have you seen my list of BBQ recipes?! I won’t lie, there were some freakin’ tasty things I ate before I went vegan. One that I ate right before my transition was a stacked cubano sandwich. If you haven’t had one, it’s got a classic combo of layered meats, swiss cheese, pickles and mustard. For episode #2 of my epic summer sandwich series, I decided I better get cookin’ and whip up a vegan cubano sandwich we can all feed our faces with!
If you’ve got your copy of the hot for food cookbook, you’ve probably flipped past (or even made) my saved by seitan recipe. It’s making an appearance on this cubano as one of the mind-blowing vegan meat layers! The second veg-friendly meat is ‘pork’ made with hearts of palm. The rest is pretty straightforward. Bring these vegan cubano sandwiches to your end-of-summer festivities and let the good times roll.
Don’t forget some extra pickles on the side to munch on! Are you one of those “are you gonna eat that pickle spear” friends, or do pickles make ya wanna barf? I’m definitely here for extra crunchy dill goodness wherever possible!
Oh, and exciting news! Vegan Comfort Classics: 101 Recipes to Feed Your Face was recently featured in OriGym’s article on the Best 27 Vegan Cookbooks. Read it here. Thanks for all the love, y’all!
You'll be blown away that this meaty, cheesy stacked cubano sandwich is completely vegan!
COURSE Lunch, sandwiches
CUISINE American, cuban
KEYWORD cubano, sandwiches, seitan, vegan pork
PREP TIME 25 minutes
COOK TIME 1 hour 45 minutes
REFRIGERATING SEITAN 12 hours
TOTAL TIME 14 hours 10 minutes
SERVINGS 4 sandwiches
AUTHOR Lauren Toyota
ingredients
SAVED BY SEITAN (HALVED FROM HOT FOR FOOD COOKBOOK, VEGAN COMFORT CLASSICS)
1 1/2 C vital wheat gluten
1/8 C nutritional yeast
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/2 C vegan beef-flavored bouillon stock (or vegetable stock)
1/8 C vegetable oil
1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce or tamari
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp tomato paste
VEGAN ROAST PALM 'PORK'
2 x (800 ml) cans hearts of palm, drained and hand pulled into shreds
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp + 1 tsp low sodium soy sauce or tamari
4 tbsp brown vegan cookbooks sugar
1 tsp granulated garlic powder
1 tsp chili flakes
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp sea salt
vegetable oil
SANDWICH
4 vegan french rolls
4 tbsp vegan mayonnaise, divided
4 to 6 garlic dill pickles, sliced thin
6 to 8 slices vegan swiss cheese or mozzarella, divided
4 tbsp yellow mustard, divided
3 tbsp vegan butter, divided
instructions
Preheat the oven at 350°F.
To make the seitan, in a large bowl add vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, onion powder, sea salt, celery salt, smoked paprika, garlic powder, dried thyme, dried oregano, dried basil, ground mustard and ground pepper.
In a separate bowl add your stock, vegetable oil, soy sauce or tamari, apple cider vinegar and tomato paste. Whisk to make sure it’s well combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon until a dough forms.
Knead the dough on a clean surface, folding the dough over itself several times so you can feel the gluten forming. Form the dough into a rectangular log about 3.5 x 5-inches. Transfer the dough onto a large piece of heavy duty foil on a baking sheet. Tightly wrap the log and twist the ends. You may need 2 sheets of foil to make sure it’s covered completely and there are no tears in the foil.
Bake for 90 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature before refrigerating overnight. To use, slice thinly with a knife or on a mandolin.
To make the vegan roast palm ‘pork’, take the drained hearts of palm and using your hands, pull the hearts of palm into thin shredded pieces about ⅛ to ¼-inch thick. Then add liquid smoke, apple cider vinegar, soy sauce or tamari, brown sugar, granulated garlic powder, chili flakes, smoked paprika and sea salt. Toss to coat all the pieces evenly.
Heat up a cast iron pan or a non-stick pan over medium heat. You may need to pan fry the hearts of palm mixture in 2 batches. Add some vegetable oil and the hearts of palm mixture. Pan fry for 8 to 10 minutes until slightly charred in places and warmed through. Set aside.
To assemble your sandwiches, spread 1 tablespoon of vegan mayonnaise on the bottom of the french roll, then add about 80 g of sliced seitan, some vegan roast palm ‘pork’, pickle slices, 2 slices of vegan cheese and spread some yellow mustard on the top half of the french roll.
To grill your sandwiches, put 1 teaspoon of vegan butter in a cast iron grill Thug Kitchen 101 pan set to medium-high heat. Place 2 sandwiches onto the grill pan and weigh down the top. Grill for 3 to 4 minutes on each side until the tops have golden grill marks and the cheese is melted. Add more butter when flipping the sandwiches and turn down the heat slightly if needed. Repeat with the last batch of sandwiches. Slice sandwiches in half and serve immediately!
recipe notes
You will need to plan ahead and make the seitan a day before you serve your vegan cubano sandwiches.