Y’all are getting luck with 2 bao bun recipes in 1 week! These ones are a bit of a unique take on the traditional bao bun, but definitely do not disappoint! I mean how could you go wrong putting buffalo fried ‘chicken’ and pickles in anything, am I right?!

This post is delightfully sponsored by Blackbird Foods! They truly make some of the BEST seitan I’ve ever tried (even better than my homemade stuff to be honest). It comes in multiple flavors, plus they make the BEST 10/10 hands down frozen pizzas as well! For this recipe today I used their Rosemary Garlic Seitan, just because it adds even more delicious flavor to the fried chicken, but the original flavor would work just as well here!

If you’d like to purchase some of your own seitan or frozen pizzas from them, you can order directly from their website listed below! https://www.blackbirdfoods.com

So I’ve made plenty of fried chicken recipes on here, and I just used my “Pickle Brined Fried Chicken” recipe for this, but substituted the Gardein chicken scallopini for the Blackbird Foods Seitan! Such an easy swap, and is absolutely delicious per usual! But incase you haven’t seen that recipe, here’s everything you need to make it plus the extras you’ll need for the baos!

Fried Chicken

1 package Blackbird Foods Rosemary Garlic Seitan
1 tbsp sea salt
2 tbsp each onion powder, black pepper, garlic powder, ground sage, & paprika
4 tbsp poultry seasoning
4 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 cups all purpose flour
3 tbsp yellow mustard
3 tbsp dill pickle brine
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp baking powder
canola oil for frying

Other Ingredients

Bao Buns *I used frozen, and steamed them
Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
Dill Pickle Slices
Cilantro or Celery Leaves

And here’s how to make them! They truly couldn’t be easier, even though it may seem like a lot of steps!

Fried Chicken

Mix together salt, onion powder, black pepper, garlic powder, ground sage, poultry seasoning, paprika, nutritional yeast, and all purpose flour together.
In a separate bowl, mix together your mustard, pickle brine, water and 1/3 cup of the seasoned flour mixture & whisk to combine. This mixture should be roughly the consistency of pancake batter, a little thinner.
Add your baking powder to your seasoned flour mixture, and whisk to combine.
Line a baking tray with parchment or a cookie cooling rack to rest your chicken on when you’re done dredging.
Dip your pieces of seitan into your mustard mixture, make sure its fully coated, and then dip into the flour mixture to fully coat in that as well. You can dip twice in each mixture if you’d like, but I only did once. Place on your parchment lined baking sheet until you’re ready to deep fry.
Heat up your oil in a deep fryer or deep pot to 375F. Place 2-3 pieces of seitan in at a time, and cook for 4-6 minutes or until crispy and golden brown. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and allow to drain while you fry the rest of your chicken & make sure to salt each piece directly as it comes out of the fryer.

Assembly

Steam your bao buns according to package instructions.
Once you’re done cooking your seitan fried ‘chicken’, toss it in some Frank’s Red Hot Sauce.
Add it to a bao bun along with some cilantro or celery leaves, and some dill pickles. Repeat until all the bao buns are filled, and serve!

See I told you, I promise it’s sooooo easy to make & that you’ll fall in love instantly. Like. Super fucking instantly.

But that’s it! Super easy, super delicious, and definitely something amazing to make when you are craving that comfort food, need an appetizer to impress party guests, or really any time, let’s be honest. Once again, I just want to give a big thanks to Blackbird Foods for sponsoring this recipe and allowing me to share it with y’all! It’s truly delicious. As always, if you make this, make sure to tag me @plvntfood / #plvntfood, so I can see it! Love y’all with my cold little heart.