Vegan Seafood Scampi
Vegan seafood scampi, made with shiitake mushrooms, heart of palm, chickpeas, tomatoes, and fresh parsley tossed in a white wine and vegan butter scampi sauce, served over orzo. And yes, it tastes like seafood! The trick? It’s all in the seasoning and sauce!
Jump to Recipe
Seafood scampi…that wonderful dish that can be described as comfort food AND super refreshing. It’s the perfect meal when you want to fill up on a bowl of savory goodness, but are still looking for a light, fresh flavor. Many of us crave that incredible scampi flavor, so coming up with a plant based version of this dish was an absolute must.
This meal is the perfect meal when you are looking for a simple way to take dinner up a few notches and make something a little special. Perfect for date nights, gatherings, and a great recipe for beginners!
HOW DO I MAKE VEGAN SEAFOOD?
When it comes to mimicking seafood, flavor and texture are very important. The base of the seafood blend consists of shiitake mushrooms, heart of palm, and chickpeas. I went with these these because of their flavor and texture. Shiitake mushrooms have a great chew to them that reminds me of clams and mussels. They also bring an amazing earthy flavor to the table.Â
Heart of Palm is super light and refreshing. When you cut them up they look like little baby scallops!Â
Chickpeas add a nice thicker texture and bulk to the dish and more importantly…protein!
To give the shiitake, chickpeas, and heart of palm a seafood-inspired flavor I added a few things. First, I started by sautéing them in olive oil, shallots, and garlic. Once they cooked down a bit, I added nori flakes and capers. Nori flakes (seaweed flakes) gave the blend an umami, seafood flavor. Capers are salty, which can help mimic the salty flavor profile of seafood. They are also often found in seafood dishes, so our brains tend to associate them with seafood, which is helpful when trying to mimic a seafood flavor.
When you take this method of creating vegan seafood and pair it with scampi sauce…its pure heaven!
HOW TO MAKE SCAMPI SAUCE
The sauce element of seafood scampi is traditionally butter, garlic, white wine, and lemon. This part was super easy to create a plant based version. Simply swap regular butter for vegan butter!
When it comes to the white wine, you want to go with a dry one. I personally used Sauvignon Blanc, which added some nice citrus notes to the dish.
I made a few additions to this scampi sauce to really elevate the flavor. As mentioned above, I added nori flakes to the “seafood” mix. Nori Flakes are flakes of seaweed. Adding this really helps to capture that seafood flavor.
I also included miso paste. Miso paste is a fermented soybean paste, traditionally used in a lot of Asian cuisine. It’s earthy, salty, slightly sweet, and rich in umami. Adding miso to this scampi sauce helps develop a more complex flavor for the dish.
VEGAN BUTTER
Luckily we have hit the glorious time in history where there are several fantastic vegan butter options on the store shelves! Miyoko’s is my personal favorite. The flavor of this plant based butter is rich, slightly salty, and absolutely perfect.Â
You can find this brick of creamy heaven in the butter section of many grocery stores.
Can’t find Miyoko’s? You can substitute any vegan salted butter.
SHALLOTS VS ONIONS
If given the option, I always go with shallots over onions when it comes to creating a delicate white wine and butter sauce. Why?  I find shallots a bit more sweet and flavorful. Although they are admittedly slightly more annoying to cut, it’s definitely worth your time when looking to create a flavorful dish that’s really worth writing home about. So shallots over onions for this particular dish was a no brainer.
Want to use onions? Go for it! Like I said, its just a personally preference, but white onion or sweet onion will work great in the dish as well. Just make sure you slice them thin and cook them down a bit so they don’t over power the dish.
ABOUT THE ORZO…ACCIDENTALLY GLUTEN FREE
For this dish I went with a gluten free orzo. And I’m not going to lie, this was honestly an accident! I didn’t notice I grabbed the gluten free option until I arrived home from the grocery store…whoops! But I figured I would just go with it.
So I was super nervous using the gluten free version, because it has been a while since I’ve dabbled in gluten free pasta alternatives…and back in the day, they were often a hit or miss. So there I was, sweating bullets, ironically stress eating bread, hoping that my accidental purchase wasn’t going to ruin dinner.
I am pleased to report that this one was a hit!
The texture was great! The flavor was great! 10 out of 10 approval for Delallo’s Imported Italian gluten free pasta!
For this recipe, you obviously do not have to go with the gluten free version. Go with your orzo of choice and follow the directions on the packaging to prepare it.
GREAT FOR MEAL PREP AND GATHERINGS
This vegan seafood scampi recipe is a wonderful option for meal prep and gatherings. It’s a simple meal to prepare ahead of time, store in a container, and reheat when you are ready to serve it. When storing, keep the orzo separate from the rest of the dish so it doesn’t soak up all of the sauce and become soggy. You may want to add a touch of olive oil to the orzo before storing as well to help prevent it from sticking.
This recipe is super simple to make as well and is an excellent recipe for beginners!
Vegan Seafood Scampi
Ingredients
- 1 12 oz package of orzo I used Delallo's gluten free orzo
- Water for orzo see packaging for directions
- 2 tbsp vegan butter I used Miyoko's salted vegan butter
- salt to taste
FOR SEAFOOD SCAMPI
- 2 tbsp vegan butter I used Miyoko's salted vegan butter
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp miso paste I used white miso paste, but any will work
- 1/2 cup dry white wine I used Sauvignon Blanc, but any dry white wine will work
- 2 shallots, thinly sliced
- 4 cloves of garlic, chopped small
- 1 tbsp capers, cut super small
- 5 oz shiitake mushrooms, sliced
- 1 can of heart of palm, sliced into smaller pieces
- 1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 tbsp nori flakes
- 1 cup water
- 1 large tomato, diced
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
COOK THE ORZO
- Begin by cooking your 12oz package of orzo. I personally used Dellallo's Gluten Free Orzo. But any orzo will work!
- Follow instructions on packaging
- When cooking is complete, remove from heat. Add salt to taste and vegan butter. Stir until evenly coated
- Set aside
- **While orzo is cooking, move ahead to next steps to use your time wisely.
PREP YOUR INGREDIENTS
- Slice shallots into thin slices, set aside
- Chop garlic into small pieces, set aside
- Chop capers into small pieces, set aside
- Slice shiitake mushrooms, set aside
- Open and drain can of heart of palm. Cut into smaller pieces. Set aside.
- Open chickpeas, drain and rinse. Set aside
- Dice tomato, set aside
- Chop fresh parsley, set aside
COOK THE "SEAFOOD" SCAMPI"
- Start by combining olive oil and sliced shallots in a non-stick skillet
- Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until shallots begin to become translucent and start to brown.
- Add shiitake mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes
- Add garlic and capers. Cook for another 5 minutes
- Add heart of palm and chickpeas. Cook for another 2 minutes
- Add nori flakes, miso, vegan butter, water and white wine
- Cook and stir for another 2 minutes
- Add tomatoes, lemon juice, and parsley. Cook one more minute and remove from heat
TIME TO PLATE!
- Place "seafood" scampi in serving bowl (serves 6)
- Place orzo in each serving bowl over top
- Serve and enjoy!
IF YOU PREPARE IN ADVANCE FOR MEAL PREP
- This recipe is great for preparing in advance for a gathering or meal prep!
- Make sure you store orzo and "seafood" scampi in separate containers! That way your orzo will not get soggy
- Toss your orzo in a touch of olive oil before storing to help it not clump together
- You can refrigerate this recipe for around 5 days or store it in the freezer for at least a month
