Baked Chickpea Burgers

What is it about burgers that makes us want to celebrate? Is it the crispy, yet tender patty? The sweet and juicy tomato? The crunchy lettuce (or, if you’re like me, kale)?

Then comes the moment of truth. All the cheese, grease, and meat in traditional hamburgers make the popular party sandwich a heart attack waiting to happen. When I think of all the grease, sodium, and calories in the patties of traditional hamburgers, I want to cry.

Okay, so I’m not really quite that emotional. But really, I feel sad.

Now, let’s talk about vegans. We love our veggie burgers. 🙂

But, sad to say, not all veggie burgers are exactly healthy. Most of the vegan “chicken” patties out there are deep fried.

Right now, I just want you to think for a minute. What is it about a fried “chicken” (or chicken) patty that you like? The crispy edges? The tender insides? The flavor?

Is it possible to have a crispy exterior, tender insides, and loads of salient flavor without any frying involved?

Enter: the baked chickpea burger. Your new best friend.

Dress it up with some tomatoes, onions, fresh kale, and veganaise on a whole wheat bun, and you’ll forget any ~~one~~ thing else ever existed.

And their baked, not fried. (=SCORE!)

So, if you’ve been wondering what to make for your Fourth of July picnic, look no more. I’ve got your back.

You’re welcome.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time22 mins

Course: Main Course, sandwich

Cuisine: American

Servings: 8

Calories: 143kcal

Ingredients

▢ 1 can cooked chickpeas garbanzos (15 ounces or 1 1/2 cups, drained)
▢ 1 cup breadcrumbs or 2 slices of bread blended into crumbs, or a mixture of panko, cornflakes, and bread
▢ 1/2 cup gluten flour a.k.a. vital wheat gluten
▢ 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes
▢ 1 1/2 teaspoon McKay’s vegan chicken style seasoning or vegan vegetable bouillon of your choice
▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste, for patty dough
▢ 1 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce or Bragg’s liquid aminos for the patties
▢ 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
▢ 1/2 cup water use 1-2 Tablespoons less if you’re making youre using fresh bread (not dried for your breadcrumbs)
▢ 1 2/3 cup organic cornflakes for breading
▢ 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast flakes for breading
▢ 1 pinch salt for breading
▢ 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
▢ 3 teaspoons soy sauce or Bragg’s liquid aminos
▢ 2 teaspoons organic cornstarch

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a high speed blender or food processor, pulse blend your cooked garbanzos until they resemble a chunky/crumbly course meal.
Place garbanzo “meal” (for lack of a better term), bread crumbs, gluten flour, yeast flakes, salt, and McKay’s “chicken” seasoning (or vegetable bouillon) in a bowl and use your fingers to combine.
Next, mix your soy sauce, olive oil, and water in a cup and stir briskly with a fork or wire whisk. Pour your wet mixture into your garbanzo/gluten mixture, using your fingers to combine.
In a blender or food processor, blend your organic cornflakes until they become course crumbs. You don’t want a fine powder, but you don’t want any visibly big pieces either. Find a happy medium. 🙂
Now, you’re going to place two small bowls out on your counter. In the first bowl, you’re going to combine your unsweetened almond milk, organic cornstarch, and soy sauce. In the second bowl, you’re going to mix your organic cornflakes crumbs, yeast flakes, and salt.
Lightly grease a baking sheet with olive oil.
Now, form 1/4 cup sized patties out of your garbanzo/bread crumb/gluten flour dough. You should be able to make at least 8 patties. Dip each patty in your almond milk mixture, then in your cornflake crumb breading. Place the patties about 1 – 2 inches apart on your baking sheet.
Bake patties at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, flip each patty over, then bake for another 10-12 minutes.
Serve hot, fresh out of the oven, with veggies on a whole wheat bun. Or, store in an airtight container in the fridge to be re-heated later.

Notes

1. If you aren’t going to be serving these chickpea patties immediately, I recommend storing them in an airtight container as soon as they are cool enough to handle. Once, I left them sitting on the baking sheet for a couple of hours to cool off after baking. It turned out to be a really bad idea, as the patties really dried out. Because they aren’t fried, there isn’t alot of oil to lock in moisture. So, you just have to be careful not to let them dry out.

2. This recipe was inspired by VeganDad’s Chickpea Burgers, although I have made serious amounts of changes to his recipe, which was modified from Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s recipe, from Veganomicon, posted here.

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