Chickpea Nuggets
Before going vegan, I couldn't stand chickpeas. As hard as that is to believe now.
I thought they were weird, they looked weird and they definitely tasted weird. Don't even get me started on hummus. Weird.
But oh how that's changed now. If I had to pick one favourite legume, it would be chickpeas. I eat them almost every single day and they are just so versatile. From chilli, falafel and hummus, to chickpea blondies, omelettes and now these delicious chickpea nuggets. Love em.
Crunchy and golden on the outside, tender, moist and packed with flavour on the inside. Plus they're also full of fibre, plant protein and a range of micronutrients, such as folate, iron, manganese, magnesium, zinc and more. All while being free of the cholesterol, saturated fat and cruelty that you'd get with traditional nuggets of the non-chickpea kind.
I tested these out on my Dad (a former nugget lover) and they got a big tick of approval too! A perfect lunch paired with some salad or roasted veggies, and a delicious dipping sauce!
Don't forget to tag me on Instagram if you give them a go, I love seeing all your creations!
Ingredients
- 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (reserve 1/4 cup of the liquid from the can)
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt, or to taste
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp chickpea flour
- 1/4 cup polenta (cornmeal, see Notes)
Method
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius and line a tray with baking paper
- In a food processor, blend together the chickpeas, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, lemon, mustard and chickpea flour until smooth
- Using your hands, form the mixture into equally sized 'nuggets'. I made about 10.
- First, dip the nuggets into the reserved chickpea liquid (this is called aquafaba!), and then coat in polenta. Place onto your baking tray
- Bake for 20 minutes until golden, serve with tomato sauce or sweet chilli sauce to dip!
Notes:
- I have also tested this recipe leaving out the aquafaba and coating the nuggets in Nutritional yeast instead of polenta, and it also worked out perfectly!
