The Best Vegan Soy Curls Chick’n!

I love using soy curls, and Freely Vegan’s Magical Broth Powder gives them the best chicken flavor! This recipe makes 1 1/4 lbs of basic chick’n strips which are great by themselves in salads and sandwiches, or you can use them to replace the chicken in any recipe. For example, I use these seasoned chick’n strips for curry, casseroles, stir fry, picata, Buffalo chick’n, BBQ, and more!

This chick’n is very easy to make and you only need the soy curls, Magical Broth Powder, salt, and water to make it! (If you are on a low sodium diet, use Reduced Sodium Magical Broth Powder and leave out the salt.)

Please note that I do not follow the directions on the soy curls packaging because I think the following method gives much better flavor and texture.

Start by pouring the soy curls into a strainer and sifting out any powder and small bits. These give the chick’n an off texture when they rehydrate and stick to the larger pieces, so it is much better to remove them now.

Transfer the strained soy curls to a large glass bowl:

Bring 8 cups of water to a boil, then mix in the Magical Broth Powder and salt:

Pour the hot broth over the soy curls and give them a stir. They will start to rehydrate immediately and try to float to the top of the broth. Keep pushing the soy curls down into the broth for a minute, then set a timer for 20 minutes and leave them to soak up the broth. (I usually give them a stir a few times during that 20 minutes if I’m in the kitchen anyway but this is not essential.)

This is what the soy curls look like after 20 minutes:

Pour the soy curls and broth into a strainer over your sink, then place the strainer with the drained soy curls in the bowl for ten minutes to cool enough to handle:

Only a small amount of broth will have drained out:

The soy curls are still too wet for the best texture, so I like to squeeze more broth out. The best way I have found to do this quickly is to use a nut milk bag. Several layers of cheesecloth will also work but it’s a lot messier and harder to clean. (Ellie’s Best Nut Milk Bag is my favorite and I highly recommend it!)

You only want to squeeze out about 5 oz of broth. That removes the excess liquid so the soy curls are not waterlogged, but keeps enough liquid so they are not too dry. This happens pretty easily by squeezing gently and not twisting the bag at the same time:

Spread the soy curls out on a rimmed baking sheet, then sprinkle them evenly with the remaining 2 TBS of Magical Broth Powder:

Toss the soy curls with your hands until there is no more loose powder on the pan:

That’s all there is to do! You now have 1 1/4 pounds of delicious seasoned chick’n strips that are ready to use however you like! Store in a sealed container for up to four or five days in the fridge, or freeze for up to 2 months. I usually make a double batch and freeze one for later use.