These Chickpea Pancakes are a high protein vegan recipe that you’ll crave for any meal of the day! Don’t skip on the creamy avocado sauce!
Savory Chickpea Pancakes with Avocado Sauce
When you hear the word “pancakes”, what comes to mind? I can probably guess – a big stack of sweet, fluffy pancakes topped with a pat of butter and maple syrup served on Sunday morning, right?
Don’t get me wrong, I love a good, classic pancake recipe, but there are SO many different ways to make pancakes. You’ve got crepes, dutch babies, scallion pancakes, potato pancakes, and of course chickpea pancakes.
This chickpea pancake recipe is truly a go-to for me. Is it breakfast? Is it dinner? Why not both?! It’s so easy to make and is full of vegetables and plant protein, it’s a recipe I come back to time and time again. Let’s dig in.
Ingredients for This Chickpea Pancake Recipe
So what’s the “chickpea” in these chickpea pancakes? Chickpea flour! It’s high in protein (24 grams per cup), iron (40% per cup) and fiber (20 grams per cup). This is a flour you NEED in your pantry; I find it cheap in the bulk aisle.
We’re adding ground flax seed for binding and nutritional yeast for a savory, cheesy flavor. Plus some spices you most certainly have in your pantry! Enjoy these chickpea pancakes for breakfast, lunch, dinner… any meal you choose! I like to make them for a quick dinner when I don’t have time to cook beans (the struggle), then eat the leftovers for breakfast. Here’s everything you’ll need to whip up a batch:
- Oil. Use whatever you like to cook your pancakes with!
- Veggies. These chickpea pancakes are packed with vegetables. We’re using red onion, bell pepper, tomatoes and spinach.
- Chickpea flour. Instead of all purpose, these chickpea flour pancakes are made out of – yep you guessed it – chickpea flour.
- Ground flax seed. If you have whole flax seeds, you can throw them in a blender and grind them yourself.
- Nutritional yeast. This adds a delicious, savory flavor to our chickpea pancakes.
- Baking powder. We want a nice and fluffy chickpea pancake, and baking powder is perfect for the job.
- Spices. This chickpea pancake recipe packs in a TON of flavor thanks to garlic powder, onion powder, turmeric, cayenne, salt and pepper.
- Non-dairy milk. Any variety will work. You could also use water instead.
How to Make These Chickpea Pancakes
This chickpea pancake recipe is pretty similar to any other pancakes you’ve made in the past. Since we’re packing in plenty of flavor, we just have one extra initial step to cook up some vegetables. It’s worth the extra effort, I promise!
Here’s how to make chickpea pancakes:
- Cook your vegetables. Heat oil in a skillet and cook onion for 5 minutes. Add in your bell pepper and tomatoes and continue cooking until tender. Finally, add your spinach and cook until it begins to wilt.
- Make your chickpea pancake batter. Add chickpea flour, flax meal, nutritional yeast, baking powder, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, turmeric, and cayenne pepper to a bowl and mix. Next stir in your milk until evenly incorporated.
- Fold in the vegetables. Once you have your chickpea pancake batter, fold in the sauteed vegetables until evenly incorporated.
- Cook your chickpea pancakes. Add a little more oil to the skillet, reduce heat to medium-low and scoop 1/4-cup spoonfuls of batter onto the skillet. Cook for 4-5 minutes on each side.
How to Make the Avocado Sauce
If you’ve got a few extra minutes, these chickpea flour pancakes are AMAZING with a homemade avocado sauce, plus it packs in plenty of healthy fats and extra fiber.
To whip up the sauce, toss a half an avocado into a blender along with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and black pepper. If you like a little bit of heat, a dash of cayenne is also delicious. Blend it up and you’ve got yourself a super creamy, savory sauce to pour all over your chickpea pancakes! Yum.
More Vegan Pancake Recipes
If you haven’t tried savory pancakes before, I highly recommend you give these chickpea pancakes a try! I promise you’ll be hooked after one bite. If you’re craving something sweet, check out these other vegan pancake recipes!
- Peach Oatmeal Pancakes
- Vegan Buckwheat Pancakes
- Blueberry Vegan Protein Pancakes
- Chocolate Banana Oatmeal Pancakes
- Red Velvet Beet Pancakes
- Peanut Butter and Jelly Pancakes
Chickpea Pancakes with Avocado Sauce
These protein-packed vegan Chickpea Pancakes with avocado sauce will keep you feeling satisfied for hours. Enjoy them for any meal!
Ingredients
For the pancakes:
- Oil for cooking
- 1/4 red onion, chopped
- 1/2 bell pepper, chopped
- 1 cup tomatoes, chopped (about 1 Roma tomato)
- 2–3 cups spinach, chopped
- 2 cups chickpea flour
- 1/4 cup ground flax seed
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/8–1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened non-dairy milk or water
For the avocado sauce:
- 1/2 avocado
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons water
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
- Dash of ground cayenne pepper (optional)
Instructions
- In a skillet over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Once hot, add onion; cook for 5 minutes, or until onion begins to soften. Add bell pepper and tomatoes; stir to combine. Cook for 4-5 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Add spinach; cook for 1 minute, or until slightly wilted.
- In a large bowl, add chickpea flour, flax meal, nutritional yeast, baking powder, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, turmeric, and cayenne pepper. Stir until mixed thoroughly.
- Slowly pour in the milk. Stir to combine, adding more liquid if thinner pancakes are desired. Add the vegetables; stir until just combined.
- Add a little more oil to the skillet; reduce heat to medium-low. Once hot, scoop 1/4-cup spoonfuls onto the skillet. Cook for 4-5 minutes on each side, or until the sides begin to brown.
- For the avocado sauce: To a blender, add avocado, water, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Blend until combined.
- Top pancakes with avocado sauce.
Notes
Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
