EASY Vegan Chickpea Nuggets- these chickpea nuggets are SO delicious and a fun meat-free meal that the whole family will love!

EASY Chickpea Nuggets- Vegan AND Gluten Free, these nuggets are the perfect meat-free alternative to your kids favorite meal! Easy to make and so delicious! this recipe

Ever since Jemma started eating solid foods, I’ve been on the hunt for easy and healthy recipes that she can easily feed herself. I saw something similar to these chickpea nuggets in the frozen section one day and KNEW that I had to make my own version at home. I’m in love with how these turned out!

My goal was to keep these as simple as possible. I debated adding finely diced veggies into the chickpea mixture but decided that I would keep this recipe as basic as I could and maybe later I will create a veggie version (already excited about that!).

EASY Chickpea Nuggets- Vegan AND Gluten Free, these nuggets are the perfect meat-free alternative to your kids favorite meal! Easy to make and so delicious!

When working on the breading of these Chickpea Nuggets, I wanted an option that would keep these vegan. So, instead of dipping the nuggets in an egg wash before rolling them in the panko, I dipped them into the leftover liquid from the chickpea can. I wasn’t sure how well it would work but it turned out great!  If you aren’t concerned with making these vegan then you can totally use an egg.

Another quick tip for you: the recipe calls for oat flour. If you don’t have any on hand, you can simple blend some up yourself as opposed to buying a whole bag of it. Simple add about 2/3 cup of rolled oats to your food processor and blend into a nice fine flour. For this particular recipe, it’s okay if there are still a few small chunks of oat left over.

EASY Chickpea Nuggets- Vegan AND Gluten Free, these nuggets are the perfect meat-free alternative to your kids favorite meal! Easy to make and so delicious!

How to Make these Chickpea Nuggets:

To give the outside of the nuggets a nice golden color, we’ll start by first lightly toasting the panko crumbs. Simply place them on a baking sheet and toast for about 6 minutes, tossing halfway through.

Make a flax egg by whisking together 1 tablespoon of flaxseed meal with 2 tablespoons of the chickpea liquid.

EASY Chickpea Nuggets- Vegan AND Gluten Free, these nuggets are the perfect meat-free alternative to your kids favorite meal! Easy to make and so delicious!

Next we’ll blend together all of the ingredients in a food processor: chickpeas, oat flour, spices, and the flax meal mixture. The dough is formed into little nuggets. I got about 15 nuggets out of mine.

Each nugget is dipped in the leftover liquid from the chickpea can before being rolled in the panko bread crumbs.

EASY Chickpea Nuggets- Vegan AND Gluten Free, these nuggets are the perfect meat-free alternative to your kids favorite meal! Easy to make and so delicious!

Finally, just bake the nuggets for 15 minutes and then ENJOY! These nuggets freeze nicely so I highly suggest making a big batch and then freezing some for lazy weeknight dinners :)

As I mentioned above, I’m really excited to try a version of this that also has veggies in it. I figure that I’ve got to sneak veggies in whenever I can, right? :D

EASY Chickpea Nuggets- Vegan AND Gluten Free, these nuggets are the perfect meat-free alternative to your kids favorite meal! Easy to make and so delicious!

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Chickpea Nuggets

★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Food with Feeling
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 15 nuggets 1x
Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 cup of Panko bread crumbs (HERE is a gluten free option!)
  • 15 ounce can of chickpeas (do not discard liquid!)
  • ½ cup of oat flour*
  • 1 tablespoon of flaxseed meal
  • ½ teaspoon of garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon of Adobo seasoning**

Instructions

  1. Start by toasting your bread crumbs. Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees F and line a large baking tray with parchment paper. Spread the bread crumbs out in an even layer and toast for 3 minutes. Toss well, spread even again, and toast for another 2-4 minutes. You’ll want to watch them closely as they can go from browned to burned rather quickly. Once done, place in a shallow bowl and set aside.
  2. Drain the liquid of your chickpea can into a bowl and set aside.
  3. In a small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons of the chickpea liquid with 1 tablespoon of flaxseed meal. Let sit for 5 minutes to thicken.
  4. In the bowl of a food processor, add the chickpeas, oat flour, garlic powder, the flaxseed meal mixture, and adobo seasoning (or salt and pepper if using those instead). Process until fully combined. Taking about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the chickpea dough, form nuggets. I found it easiest to pat them into ~1/3 inch thick rectangles and then gently round the edges to get a more classic nugget look.
  5. One at a time, dip the nuggets into the chickpea liquid so that it’s fully submerged and then roll it in the breadcrumbs. Very gently press the panko into the nuggets so that it sticks better.
  6. Place the nuggets on your baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. ENJOY!

Notes

*if you don’t have oat flour, you can simply blend about 2/3 cup of oats in a food processor until it’s a fine flour texture. Measure out 1/2 cup of the flour for this recipe

**if you do not have Adobo seasoning, you can simple replace it with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper

  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Category: vegan
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American

Keywords: vegan, nuggets, kids, chickpeas