These easy Chickpea Patties are certain to become a regular addition to your meat-free meal plans. The patties are seasoned with ground cumin, cayenne pepper and parsley and are tender on the inside and slightly crispy on the outside. As well, they are gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free and vegan, making them suitable for many people with specific dietary requirements.
Why you’ll love this recipe:
The Chickpea Patties are made from ingredients that are readily available and come together quickly and easily.
They are gently spiced making them suitable for the whole family.
Serve with our Herbed Garlic Yoghurt Sauce – a delicious accompaniment.
You will love the Chickpea Patties because:
- They are easily made, being suitable for experienced cooks or those who are just beginning.
- Whilst we use a food processor for this recipe, the patties can be made without one.
- They are perfect for busy nights as they can be prepared with minimal effort.
- You will find so many ways to use them. They are delicious served with our Tomato and Onion Salad or Kale and Apple Slaw. Serve them as vegan chickpea burgers or with pita bread and yoghurt sauce. Make them small and serve as an appetiser.
- The patties are high in protein and satisfying.
- They are economical to make.
Ingredients in this recipe:
Please see the recipe card further along in the post for exact quantities of ingredients and the full method.
Chickpeas/garbanzo beans – for convenience, we have used tinned chickpeas. It’s great to have some on hand, there are so many ways to use them, such as our Easy Hummus recipe.
Brown/yellow onion – adds great flavour. You can use white onion if you prefer.
Parsley – Some Italian/flat-leaf parsley adds nutrition and fresh flavour.
Aquafaba – this is the liquid from the drained chickpeas. We use a small amount of the liquid to bring the mixture together.
Cumin – some ground cumin adds gentle, aromatic spice.
Salt – sea salt is an essential flavour booster; without it, the patties would be dull. We use coarse cooking salt, not table salt. It is very fine and would make the patties too salty.
Cayenne – a small amount adds a hint of spice. You could use freshly ground black pepper if you prefer.
Carrot – some grated carrot adds flavour and is a great way to incorporate some vegetables without it being obvious.
Chia seeds and ground flax seed – as the patties do not contain egg or breadcrumbs, we use the chia seeds and ground flax seeds to bind them together.
Rice flour and olive oil – we coat the patties in the flour before frying in olive oil. This helps give them a slightly crispy exterior.
How to Make Chickpea Patties:
Please see the recipe card further along in the post for exact quantities of ingredients and the full method.
1 – Process the mixture:
Add the chickpeas, onion, parsley, aquafaba, spices, carrot, ground flax seeds and chia seeds to a food processor.
Process until the mixture is combined, but still has some texture.
2 – Measure the patties:
Use an ice cream scoop to evenly measure the patties. Add the scoops of the mixture to a large plate that is covered with cling wrap.
3 – Shape the Chickpea Patties:
Firmly shape the scooped chickpea mixture into patties and place the patties into the fridge to chill for 20 minutes.
4 – Coat in flour:
Add the rice flour to another large plate and coat both sides of the patties in the flour.
5 – Fry the patties in batches:
In a frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat until it is hot but not smoking then add the patties.
Cook for about 3 minutes and when golden brown, carefully turn and cook the other side.
6 – The golden patties ready to serve:
If cooking in batches, drain on a plate lined with paper towel. To keep the patties warm while cooking the remainder, place the plate in a 100 degrees C (200 F) oven.
Repeat with the remaining patties, adding extra oil if required.
Tips for success and FAQs:
These delicious Chickpea Patties are simple to prepare and full of flavour. Follow our tips below for the best results.
Yes, you can. Add the drained chickpeas to a medium-size bowl and mash them with a potato masher or a fork. You want to break them down until they are in small pieces but not completely smooth.
You can make the Chickpea Patties up to 3 days in advance. Store them, covered with cling wrap, in the fridge. Coat them with rice flour just before cooking.
Firmly compress the mixture to form the patties, and then let them rest in the fridge for 20 minutes. This will help them to firm up. And when frying the patties, don’t move them around. Let them firm up and become golden brown before turning them. If possible, only turn them once.
They are best eaten shortly after cooking, but you can store the cooked and cooled patties in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months. We do not recommend freezing the uncooked patties.
To reheat, preheat your oven to 180 degrees C (355F). Place your patties on a baking sheet lined with non-stick baking paper, cover loosely with aluminium foil, and reheat in the oven for about 8 minutes.
Variations and substitutions:
Italian parsley – use another fresh herb if you prefer, such as finely chopped rosemary, coriander or chives.
Cayenne pepper – use chilli powder or freshly ground black pepper.
Serving suggestions:
You will find so many ways to use these flavoursome Chickpea Patties. Serve them simply with some Herbed Garlic Yoghurt Sauce and a salad such as:
Or, serve them as vegan chickpea burgers or with pita bread and yogurt dressing.
You can even make them small and serve them as an appetiser.
These Chickpea Patties are so easily prepared that they are perfect for busy weeknights. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do – please let me know in the comments below if you try them.
Alex xx
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Chickpea Patties
Please note:
For accuracy, when weights are provided, we recommend weighing your ingredients. This will produce the best results. All oven temperatures listed are for fan forced.
Ingredients
For the Chickpea Patties:
- 1 400 g (14-ounce) tin of chickpeas – drained and the liquid (aquafaba) reserved
- ½ medium brown onion – chopped in small dice – prepared weight 90 g
- 1 tablespoon flat-leaf parsley – roughly chopped See Note 1
- 2 ½ tablespoon chia seeds – black or white See Note 1
- 2 teaspoon ground flax seeds
- 6 teaspoon (30 ml) aquafaba – liquid from tin of chickpeas
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 ½ teaspoon coarse cooking salt See Note 2
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper – See Note 2 See Note 3
- ½ large carrot – grated – prepared weight 85 g
For Coating/Frying the Patties:
- ¼ cup (40 g) rice flour – to coat See Note 4
- ¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil – for shallow frying See Note 5
Herbed Garlic Yoghurt Sauce:
- ½ cup (120 ml) Greek yoghurt
- 1 small garlic clove – finely grated or chopped
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon parsley – finely chopped – or mint/coriander
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
For the Chickpea Patties:
- Add the chickpeas, onion, parsley, aquafaba, spices, carrot, ground flax seeds and chia to a food processor.
- Process until the mixture is combined, but still has some texture. The chickpeas should be broken down but not a paste. Take a small amount of mixture in your hand to check that it will form a patty.
- Use an ice cream scoop to evenly measure the patties. I used a 40 ml scoop.Add the scoops of the mixture to a large plate that is covered with cling wrap.
- Shape the scooped chickpea mixture into patties about 2 cm thick. Shape them firmly with your hands to compact the mixture. Place the patties into the fridge to chill for 20 minutes.
- Add the rice flour to another large plate and coat the patties in the rice flour.
- In a frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat until it is hot but not smoking.Add the patties and shallow fry for 2-3 minutes until golden brown, then carefully turn and cook the other side for 2-3 minutes. The patties are fragile, so it is best not to move them too much – let them firm up from cooking before turning them. Ideally, turn them once only.
- If cooking in batches, drain on a plate lined with paper towel. To keep the patties warm while cooking the remainder, place the plate in a 100 degrees C (200 F) oven.Repeat with the remaining patties, adding extra oil if required.
For the Herbed Garlic Yoghurt Sauce:
- In a small bowl, combine all of the ingredients and mix well. Check that the seasoning is to your liking. Chill until you are ready to serve.
Video
Notes
- Tablespoon: we use a standard Australian tablespoon which is 20 ml (4 teaspoons).
- Salt: use coarse kitchen salt. Fine table salt is not suitable as it is too concentrated.
- Cayenne pepper: substitute with ground black pepper if you prefer.
- Rice flour: I use finely ground rice flour from my local Asian Grocery.
- Olive oil: depending on how many batches you need to fry, you may require more oil.
Nutrition Estimate:
Nutritional Disclaimer:
The nutritional information is an estimate only, and is derived from online calculators. For accurate results, we recommend calculating the nutritional information based on the ingredients and brands you use.
This post was originally published in July 2022. It has been updated with more information. The recipe has been altered slightly to include the addition of ground flax seeds, which helps to make the patties less fragile. Special shout out to my great friend Cook it Real Good, who came up with this addition so her toddler was able to pick up the cooled cooked patties in his hands!
Sarah C.
Really tasty!!!!!! Love them.
Alexandra Cook
Thank you, Sarah!
Alex xo
Abha d
Hi, can I bake these and not fry them…
Alexandra Cook
Hello Abha!
This wasn’t something I had tried before, so I made a batch to test.
I will be honest – it is not my favourite method of preparing them. I didn’t coat in the flour, but did drizzle with a little oil and baked in a 180 degree C oven for 20 minutes.
They were “okay”, and they do work, but they don’t get the nice crust that you get when you pan fry them, and I didn’t think the flavour was as good as a result.
Another option is to air fry, if you have one of those! My best friend makes these regularly and that’s her preferred method of cooking.
Hope this helps! Alex xo
Kar
Seriously, these were so delish and easy to make. I had all the ingredients on hand – fresh herbs from the garden. Used cilantro for the sauce this time and it was a perfect match for the Pattie’s. I will double the recipe next time because they were gone fast!
Alexandra Cook
Hello Kar,
Thanks so much for your comment! I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe 🙂
Alex xo
Fay
Easy to make and love the flavor. Didn’t serve with the sauce, but followed the recipe otherwise.
Alexandra Cook
Hi Fay!
Thank you for giving the recipe a try, and pleased you enjoyed it.
Appreciate you taking the time to let me know. Alex xo
clara
Is there a grain free flour I can substitute for the rice flour?
Alexandra Cook
Hello Clara,
You could perhaps try chickpea/besan or tapioca. I haven’t personally tried these, but readers have.
On another recipe for patties, a reader also used almond flour.
Let me know if you give any of these options a try 🙂
Alex xo
Andy
I loved this recipe as I had every ingredient at hand, it didn’t require lots elements and it’s economical. They looked great, tasted great and were really easy to form into patties. Both daughters wanted the recipe. I’ll make again plus more of your recipes. Thank you.
Alexandra Cook
Hello Andy,
Thank you so much for your comment! Lovely to hear they were enjoyed by you and your daughters 🙂
I look forward to hearing which recipe you try next! Thanks, Alex xo
A.E. Brown
These came out much better than I ever could have imagined! I made them for my vegan daughter, but we all enjoyed them, and it will be nice to add them to our meal rotation and actually have a meal that all of us can eat and enjoy together!
Alexandra Cook
Hello 🙂
Thank you so much for making this recipe. I am so pleased that you all enjoyed them, and I love that this is a meal you’ll continue to enjoy together.
I am really grateful for your comment! Alex xo
Padma
Love, love chickpeas and this recipe! All those spices and herbs are so delicious and flavorful!
A winner for sure.
Alexandra Cook
I am so happy you liked this recipe, Padma 🙂 I agree – the flavours really are so tasty.
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment, Alex xo
Kit
A great weeknight dinner! And love the sauce!
Alexandra Cook
I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe, Kit! Alex xo
Jacqueline
I made these patties slightly smaller and served them as an appetizer as you suggested. Everyone loved them. I’m happy to have found a recipe I can use which works for so many dietary needs.
Alexandra Cook
Hi Jacqueline,
I am so pleased that you enjoyed this recipe – they really are ideal as an appetiser!
Thanks so much for sharing! Alex xo
Troy
This was hopeless. Not much taste and the patties fell completely apart. Not worth your effort.
Alexandra Cook
Hey Troy,
I am sorry to hear you had issues with this recipe! I make them weekly, and although the patties do need to be treated gently, they certainly shouldn’t completely fall apart.
Did you make any changes to the recipe at all? Also, did you (as per step 2), check that the mixture was the right consistency to hold together as a patty? If they fell apart, my guess would be that they needed a little more moisture to bind the mixture together, or they were not chilled for long enough.
Sorry this didn’t work out for you! Kind regards, Alex
Carmel Maher
Unfortunately I agree about these falling apart (slightly). But any negativity ends there. They were seriously delicious, and I’m determined to get it right. For a start, tonight I will be rolling the uncooked remaining patties in some evoo and carefully air frying them. Fingers crossed!
Alexandra Cook
Hi Carmel!
Thanks so much for your comment –
I am glad you found them delicious 🙂 My best friend makes these regularly and often uses her air fryer, so I hope you enjoyed them cooked that way!
Out of interest, she recently mentioned that she sometimes adds 1 tsp of ground flax seed to the recipe too – she makes them for her toddler and he likes to be able to pick them up, so this gives them a little more stability.
I am going to give that a try over the next few days. Alex xo
JP
Do you think I could use either a gluten-free AP flour blend (which contains rice flour) or coconut flour instead of straight rice flour?
Alexandra Cook
Hi JP,
Definitely fine with gluten-free AP flour as it is just for coating the patties before frying. I haven’t tested coconut flour, but I would assume that would be fine.
Hope you’ll enjoy this recipe! 🙂
Roschelle
I’m really looking forward to making these today. Can I sub 2 eggs for the chia seeds?
Alexandra Cook
Hi Roschelle,
We have only tested this recipe as vegan, so I couldn’t say for sure. I would recommend starting with one egg, however. Eggs make a great binder, but too much egg could make it too liquidy and cause the patties to not come together.
You may also find that you don’t need to use any/all of the aquafaba, as you’ll be adding addition liquid in with the egg.
Let me know if you give the recipe a try with egg 🙂
Kind regards, Alex
Chad H McCorkle
Can I use an air fryer to cook these?
Alexandra Cook
Hi Chad,
I haven’t tried these in the air fryer, but a friend has and she said they were successful.
If you give them a try, I’d love to hear how you get on!
Thanks, Alex
Leanne
can this be frozen as I want to get into meal preparation for when I’m busy?
Alexandra Cook
Hi Leanne,
They can be! 🙂
They are best eaten shortly after cooking, but you can store the cooked and cooled patties in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months. We do not recommend freezing the uncooked patties.
Please see the Tips for Success section of the blog post for more FAQs.
Enjoy the recipe! Thanks, Alex
Lea
Looking forward to trying this recipe. Question, where you say “brown onion… prepared weight..” Does that mean to saute the onion first then weigh it then add it to chickpea mixture?
Alexandra Cook
Hi Lea!
No, the onion isn’t cooked. This is just to give an idea of how much onion we use as they can vary in size a lot. So, once the stem and the root are removed etc, that’s the prepared weight.
Hope you enjoy this recipe! Thanks, Alex
Ellen Lebowitz
Hi, Alex. Thanks for this recipe which I’m making for dinner tonight. I was wondering why you say to drain the garbanzos and then add to the processor with the liquid.
Cannot wait to taste these.
Thanks again.
Ellen
Ellen Lebowitz
AHA! I see only 4 teaspoons of the liquid!
Thanks again.
E
Alexandra Cook
Hey Ellen!
Thanks for your comment, and I saw you’d found the answer to your question too 🙂
I really hope you enjoy the patties! Thannks, Alex