Vegan Chickpea Pancakes With a Creamy Pesto Dressing (Gluten-Free)
You’ll be surprised how good these vegan chickpea pancakes taste! Especially considering that they’re gluten-free, grain-free, egg-free, and dairy-free.
I set out to make something delicious, that also had plenty of flavour, as well as quick and easy to make.
I’d been looking at all the other chickpea pancake recipes online and wanted to make my own version with loads of veggies.
If you’re short on time, you can, of course, eat the pancakes on their own. Still very delicious and filling and perfect to pack for a work or school lunch!
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Perfect for any meal
These vegan chickpea pancakes can be served for any meal. Breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner! You can also throw in pretty much any veggies you like. I’ve made it with fresh tomatoes inside the pancakes before and works well. I’ve also done it with mushrooms and spring onions.
You can use whatever you have in the fridge. I like the colour and flavours that come from the onions, red bell peppers, and the grated zucchini, and lots of greens give it a wonderful texture.
I’ve also left the batter in the fridge overnight as I made a double batch once and they were still amazing when made the next morning for breakfast. I haven’t experimented with freezing them once they’re made so I can’t say how well they will hold when thawed. If you give it a try, please let me know how you went!
Before we get into the recipe, some of you may have never heard of chickpea flour before. So I thought I’d share some useful information on this wonderful ingredient.Â
What is chickpea flour?
Chickpea flour, also known as besan, gram, or garbanzo flour is made up of ground-up raw chickpeas.
It has a distinct smell and flavour when wet. However, when you cook it, most of that flavour goes away. If you add the right balance of flavours, you won’t taste it at all. I don’t recommend you taste the raw batter, trust me, it’s pretty awful.
The flour may also vary from brand to brand in consistency, so please use the image of the wet pancake batter as a gauge for what it should look like. If it’s too dry, mix in a little more water. Too wet, add a tablespoon or so more of the chickpea flour.Â
Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be whipping up these chickpea flour pancakes all the time! I don’t say that to scare you but to give you confidence that it’s not that tricky to stuff up if you know the consistency you’re going for in the batter.Â
I buy my flour from my local bulk store. That way, I can just take my jar in and fill up as much as I need. I always have some in my pantry.Â
The benefits of chickpea flour
As I mentioned earlier, I started digging around for ideas of meals I could eat that were high in protein. Anything to make with chickpea flour kept coming up time and time again.Â
Read more: 12 Yummy Chickpea Flour Recipes (Savoury & Sweet)
Not only is it high in protein, but it’s also a great source of fibre amongst other nutrients such as potassium, magnesium, zinc, iron, and B vitamins. It may assist in helping keep weight down, has been known to improve cardiovascular health, assists in boosting your immune system, and since it’s high in fibre, it helps with constipation.
It’s truly is wonderful stuff!
I hope you fall in love with these fluffy, golden chickpea pancakes as much as I have. Soft and healthy, they’ve become my go-to meal when I don’t feel like cooking. Paired with a deliciously creamy, earthy, and rich pesto dressing, the rocket, and tomato salad will take it to another level.
I would totally serve this dish to guests when they come over for breakfast or brunch. It caters to so many dietary restrictions that it’s perfect in any situation. If you have someone that is allergic to nuts and can’t serve the pesto, you can swap the cashews out for sunflower seeds.
Other recipes you’ll also love:
- Sugar-Free Chocolate & Hazelnut Granola (Vegan and GF)
- Sun-Dried Tomato Hummus Toast with Asparagus
- Vegan Walnut Pesto
- 1-Bowl Tofu Scramble
- Easy Vegan Hash Browns With Caper Mayo
- Vegan Spinach Crepes with Pesto Mushrooms (Gluten-Free)
If you try this savoury chickpea pancakes recipe, let me know! I would love for you to leave a comment and rating below. If you want to go that extra mile, tag us on Instagram or share your photo of the recipe on Pinterest.
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Vegan Chickpea Pancakes With a Creamy Pesto Dressing (Gluten-Free)
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: Yields 10-12 pancakes
Description
These fluffy vegan chickpea pancakes are a great high protein gluten, grain, egg and dairy-free breakfast or brunch option. Packed with veggies and a delicious creamy cashew pesto, this dish is a wonderful healthy meal option.
Ingredients
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 cup red peppers (capsicum), diced
- 1 cup / 1 medium zucchini, grated
- 2 handfuls of greens, chopped (you can use kale, collard greens, baby spinach, silverbeet/chard)
Dry ingredients:
- 2 cups / 230g chickpea flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper, or to taste
Wet:
- 1½ cups / 375ml water
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice)
- Neutral oil, for frying
To serve:
- Rocket (arugula)
- Tomatoes, diced
Creamy pesto dressing:
- 2 handfuls / 30g fresh basil
- â…“ cup /45g raw cashews
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Salt, to taste
- Pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup / 60 ml water
- ¼ cup / 45g vegan mayonnaise
Instructions
- In a skillet, add in a tablespoon of oil and add the onion. Cook for a few minutes until the onion is soft.
- Add in the red peppers and let it cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add in the zucchini and cook for a further 3-4 minutes until the zucchini becomes soft.
- Add in the greens and put a lid on the skillet. This will help the greens to shrink and then cook for a further 3-4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- While the veggies are cooking, in a large bowl add in all the dry ingredients. Whisk to combine.
- Pour in the wet ingredients and whisk to make sure that there are no lumps in the mixture.
- Add in the vegetables and combine well.
- Give the skillet a wipe out and add oil to it again (1-2 tablespoons) on medium heat.
- Using a ¼-⅓ cup, scoop out some batter and spread out evenly to the desired shape.
- Let it cook until the edges of the batter look like they’re cooked (see image above), this should take around 4 minutes. Flip over (it should be nice and golden) and cook for a further 2-3 minutes on the other side.
- Repeat the process until all the batter is used.
- Serve on a bed of rocket with some cherry tomatoes and a generous dollop of the creamy basil pesto.
- To make the pesto: Add all but the vegan mayonnaise to a blender or food processor and blend until you reach a nice consistency. I like to still have a little bit of texture in mine, but if you want it super smooth, just blend for a further 30 seconds. Add in the mayonnaise and blend enough to combine.
Notes
These pancakes do tend to be a little on the dry side (in my opinion) if eaten on their own, so I recommend that you either use some sauce/dressing with them or with a salad (as recommended).
- Diet: Vegan
Just made these and they were delicious….. The sauce was a bit too zingy for me so I might use less lemon juice or try a vegan cream instead of mayo.
Thanks for your review and feedback, David! Glad to hear you enjoyed them.
Not sure what I did wring but they kept falling apart when I tried to flip them. Tried less/more water but they always ended up a crumbly mess. The taste was pretty good though, but definitely not picture perfect like yours. I agree that they are on the dry side!
I’m so sorry they didn’t quite work out for you, Tata. That is strange as I’ve never had any issues with them not staying together. Did you alter the recipe at all? It could have been the heat of your pan or it not being cooked enough on the first side before flipping that could have caused them to fall apart.
I haven’t tried this recipe yet but I just came across it and it looks amazing. As always the photographs are absolutely beautiful and the descriptions are clear and informative. Its so helpful to have such a great way to use chickpea flour and I cant wait to try this recipe! Ill write a proper review after I make the pancakes tomorrow.
So sorry I’m only seeing this now Sally! Thank you so much for the kind words, it means a lot. How did you go with it? 😊
Loved this new dish, very healthy and full of flavors!
So glad you enjoyed it, Jose! It’s a staple in our household 🙂
Hi, my darling daughter is vegan and just had a little one of her own. I’m batch cooking for her at the moment and was wondering if these would freeze well. Kindest regards.
Hi Carol, what a lovely gesture. Congratulations! I haven’t tried it myself but I think they should be fine 🙂
Can we freeze the pancakes?
I haven’t tried it myself, but that should be fine 🙂
My first experiment with chickpea flour and nutritional yeast was a hit. We’re not vegan but this recipe was perfect for us and my 9 year old, too. Thank you!
This recipe looks great! Ive only just started to experiment with Chickpea flour, so I cant wait to try your recipe!
Great, hope you enjoy it!
If you specify “vegan mayonnaise” as an ingredient, please include the recipe so people don’t need to go elsewhere to look it up.
I don’t use a recipe for the mayonnaise, I just use a store bought one 🙂
I skipped the mayonnaise to make it healthier and the pesto was creamy and very good.