The easiest vegan chickpea burgers! Deliciously savory, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and packed with flavor.
We totally loved these vegan chickpea burgers and I really hope you do too.
They’re wonderfully savory, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, packed with flavor and veggie burger goodness.
And if you love delicious things made with chickpeas then also check out our divine vegan falafels and our chickpea meatballs.
So, you know, I called these the easiest vegan chickpea burgers because they are.
Well at least they will hopefully be for you because I am going to do my absolute BEST to explain this so well that they will be flop proof!
Because here’s the thing. The first time I made these it was a smashing success. So of course I approached the second attempt with all the overconfident self assuredness you might expect and proceeded to totally flop them!
My chickpea veggie burger mix was too wet, who knows why, maybe my onion and cilantro had higher water content than the first time, and I failed to compensate with adding extra flour. The result? Very squishy burgers!
What you’re going for here is nice and firm of course. So you need a bit of flexibility. Follow the recipe but if you end up with something that doesn’t easily want to form a ball, then your mix is too wet, you’ll need more flour.
I adapted this recipe from a Jamie Oliver recipe. His recipe adds sweetcorn and lemon and doesn’t use onion or garlic.
I knew I wanted to use onion and garlic, but adding raw onion to the food processor with the chickpeas and other ingredients would have added too much moisture. So the solution was to cook them first!
How To Make Vegan Chickpea Burgers
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Lightly fry up the onion and garlic in some avocado oil (or other oil of your choice, I got a bit fancy with the avocado oil, I even bought some sesame oil, who knows what I’ll get next!) until just before they start to brown.
- Then add them to the food processor with drained chickpeas, cilantro, a little flour and some spices and process them until well mixed.
- Dust a baking tray with flour, dust your hands with flour too and form the chickpea burger batter into 4 balls.
- If the batter is sticking to your hands too much, add more flour.
- Then you do a neat little trick where you take a piece of parchment paper, place it on top of each chickpea burger ball, and then press down on it with the bottom of a glass. This flattens your chickpea ball into a perfect burger shape!
- Then place the baking tray with the burgers into the fridge to set for 30 minutes.
- Then you fry them up in a little more avocado oil (or other oil – you know the drill!) until perfectly browned!
- And your burgers are ready to serve!
Bake In The Oven For Extra Firm Burgers
There’s a further step that is completely optional, and that is to place the burgers into the oven and bake for a further 30 mins at 350°F.
The only time you would do this is if you really want the firmest of firm burgers.
We tried it both ways and liked them a lot both ways. So it’s really an optional step if you have the time to do it or feel so inclined. It also works as a ‘fix’ if your burgers ended up too squishy.
But if they look good as is, then serve them right away. The chickpea burgers pictured here did NOT have any extra oven time. Just pointing that out. And they look good right?
Serving Suggestions
And then of course you know how to serve them! Some avocado, lettuce, tomato, ketchup and mustard in a deliciously soft bun for the win.
Adding some vegan cheese or maybe some vegan mayo would also be awesome here.
Have them for lunch or dinner, with a side salad or fries, or just on their own.
Gluten-Free
If you’re gluten-free, then switch out the flour for a gluten-free all purpose flour and serve them on gluten-free buns or between two gigantic lettuce leaves.
Storing and Freezing
Keep leftover chickpea burgers stored in the fridge for 3-4 days. They can be reheated in the frying pan or in the oven at 350°F until heated through.
You can freeze the burgers before or after cooking. You can reheat them or cook them up from frozen, just allow a couple of minutes longer to make sure they’re heated through.
More Delicious Vegan Burgers & Sandwiches
- Tofu Burgers
- Vegan Burgers
- Vegan Black Bean Burgers
- Portobello Burgers
- BBQ Jackfruit Pulled Pork
- Vegan Sloppy Joes
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Easiest Vegan Chickpea Burgers
Ingredients
- 1 Medium Onion White, Yellow or Brown, Chopped
- 3 Cloves Garlic
- 1 tsp Avocado Oil
- 15 ounce (425g) Can Chickpeas Drained
- ½ tsp Paprika
- ½ tsp Coriander Powder
- ½ tsp Cumin
- ½ cup Fresh Chopped Cilantro loosely packed
- 3 Tbsp All Purpose Flour use gluten-free for gluten-free version – plus more for rolling**
- 2 Tbsp Avocado Oil or other oil
Instructions
- Finely chop the onion and crush the garlic and add to a frying pan with 1 tsp avocado oil and fry until just before they start to brown.
- Drain the can of chickpeas and add the chickpeas to a food processor with the cooked onions/garlic, paprika, coriander powder, cumin, freshly chopped cilantro and flour and process it into a thick burger batter.
- Sprinkle flour over a baking tray and cover your hands with it as well. Scoop the batter out onto the tray in 4 even sections, roll in the flour and form into 4 balls.
- If the batter is very sticky or too wet, add more flour so that it easily forms a ball.
- Take a square of parchment paper, place on top of each ball and press down on it with the bottom of a glass to flatten it into a burger shape.
- Place the baking tray with the 4 burgers into the freezer to firm up for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes add 2 Tbsp avocado oil to a frying pan and heat up until hot.
- Add all 4 burgers to the frying pan and fry on each side turning regularly until browned and crispy, roughly 5 minutes on each side.
- If you want your burgers extra firm and crispy you can place on a parchment lined baking tray and bake in the oven at 400°F (200°C) for a further 20-30 minutes.
- Serve on hamburger buns with sliced avocado, crispy lettuce, sliced tomato, ketchup and mustard.
Video
Notes
- If your canned chickpeas don’t contain salt, you might need to add some salt.
- If you’re making this gluten-free then use a gluten-free all purpose flour blend.
- Nutritional information is for the chickpea burger patties only, without the burger buns and additions.
- Prep time is only for the actual hands on prep, it doesn’t include time spent chilling in the fridge.
- Recipe adapted from Jamie Oliver.
These came out great. I threw a carrot in the mix too. Fried with some avocado oil and served on a bun with avocado slices and hot sauce. Yum!
Awesome Mary! Thanks for the great review!