For years, one of my favorite snacks was Health Is Wealth’s Buffalo Wings.  Pure, unadulterated vegan junk food.  And OMG, the seasoning and the amazing texture!  At some point, all my natural grocers stopped carrying them and I can only surmise they were discontinued.

Years later, I would find myself at Veggie Grill, a fast casual vegan restaurant that has proliferated across the U.S.  The waitstaff was walking around giving out free samples of their beloved vegan buffalo wings.  I was an instant fan.  From that day forward, if I was going to Veggie Grill, I was getting those wings in one form or another–as a side, on a wrap or in a salad.

This vegan buffalo chicken recipe uses the humble soy curl to create an out of this world delicious vegan buffalo wrap.  The soy curl is the perfect candidate, because it has such amazing texture and readily soaks up flavor.  UVK’s Vegan Al Pastor demonstrates this brilliantly.

Some people are hot sauce purists, and swear by Frank’s Red Hot Sauce.  I like it quite a bit myself, but for this particular recipe, I used Louisiana Hot Sauce, and was very pleased.

Store bought vegan ranch dressing works fine, or you can make quick, easy homemade vegan ranch from scratch.

As a variation on this vegan buffalo soy curls recipe or to make it gluten free, forget the tortilla and use the rest of the components to make a Buffalo Soy Curl Salad.

Buffalo Soy Curl Wraps

Buffalo Soy Curls:

2 cups dehydrated soy curls

2 large garlic cloves, chopped

¼ cup olive oil

¼ cup nutritional yeast

½ tsp lemon juice

Hot sauce, to taste (if sensitive to heat, add a small amount, taste and adjust until it’s right for you)

Wrap Components:

4 tortillas

Vegan Ranch Dressing (or store bought vegan ranch dressing)

Shredded carrots

Chopped celery

Cucumber slices

Avocado slices

Chopped scallions

Arugula

1. Add the soy curls to a mixing bowl, and cover with water. Allow to sit for 10 minutes.

2. Then, drain off the water, and squeeze the excess liquid out of the soy curls. Set aside.

3. In a skillet, add olive oil and garlic over high heat.  When the garlic begins to sizzle, turn down to low and sauté for 1 minute to flavor the oil.

4. Spread the soy curls in an even layer across the bottom of the skillet, and then, turn up the heat to medium.  Do not stir around.  After 2-3 minutes, flip the soy curls.  They should be a golden brown on one side.  Continue to pan fry until they reach the level of crispiness you prefer. It may need a little more olive oil, as you cook them up. 

5. When they are crisped enough, add lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and hot sauce.  Stir to combine, taste, and adjust taste (more nutritional yeast, more hot sauce, etc), if needed.

6. Assemble the wrap.  Add vegetables, vegan ranch dressing and buffalo soy curls to a tortilla.  Serve with celery sticks and any remaining sauce on the side.