Jumbo Chickpea Pancake – A High Protein, Filling Vegan Breakfast or Lunch!

*waves hello*

Miracles do happen…I’m posting on a weekend. It takes a lot of motivation for me to post on a Sunday morning, but I simply couldn’t wait another day to share this recipe with you! It’s that good.

Today’s recipe features chickpea flour, an ingredient you haven’t seen much on this blog. Chickpea flour is high in protein (7 grams per 1/4 cup according to Cuisine Soleil) and it’s naturally gluten-free making it friendly to our gluten sensitive friends. It also boasts 3 grams of fibre per 1/4 cup. I soon found out what a filling breakfast it makes!

After having a few bad experiences with chickpea flour recipes in the past, I almost crossed it off my list forever. I find the earthy, beany flavour of chickpea flour can be overwhelming if not balanced by other ingredients and it can take some getting used to, at least it did for me. This weekend, I decided to take another crack at it and I’m so glad I did.

Meet my newest breakfast love…she’s a beaut.

In case you can’t tell by the photo, this is a huge pancake about the size of a 10-inch skillet! I had to plate it on my extra-large round plate because it wouldn’t fit on my regular round plates. Who doesn’t want to eat a pancake bigger than their head? Noooooobody! After a few trials of this pancake, I finally nailed the consistency of the batter and flavour I was going for.

Best of all, it takes only 10 minutes to whisk together the ingredients and then another 10 minutes or so to cook. I also expect it’s quite versatile so feel free to change up the mix-ins and toppings. I think a sautéed mushroom, onion, and chive topping would be especially nice, especially with some cashew cream! One large pancake has around 14-15 grams of protein; add some toppings and you can easily hit 20 grams of protein without much effort.

I topped it with avocado, hummus, salsa, red pepper flakes, and a spicy cashew cream – a tasty change up from my normal breakfasts of smoothies and vegan overnight oats. This would also make a fun lunch or dinner too!

Jumbo Chickpea Pancake

Vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, nut-free, oil-free, refined sugar-free, soy-free

★★★★★
4.9 from 85 reviews

Yield
1 large or 2 smaller

Prep time
10 minutes

Cook time
10 minutes

Total time
20 minutes

This dense and filling savoury chickpea pancake is packed with protein and fibre. Feel free to change up the mix-ins and toppings based on what you have in your fridge. To prevent it from sticking to the skillet, be sure to spray the skillet liberally with olive oil before pouring on the batter. Also, I suggest chopping the veggies finely so they cook faster.

Ingredients

• 1 green onion, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red pepper
• 1/2 cup chickpea flour (also known as garbanzo flour or besan)
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons water
• For serving: salsa, avocado, hummus, cashew cream (optional)

Directions

1. Prepare the vegetables and set aside. Preheat a 10-inch skillet over medium heat.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the chickpea flour, garlic powder, salt, pepper, baking powder, and optional red pepper flakes.
3. Add the water and whisk well until no clumps remain. I like to whisk it for a good 15 seconds to create lots of air bubbles in the batter.
4. Stir in the chopped vegetables.
5. When the skillet is pre-heated (a drop of water should sizzle on the pan), spray it liberally with olive oil or other non stick cooking spray.
6. Pour on all of the batter (if making 1 large pancake) and quickly spread it out all over the pan. Cook for about 5-6 minutes on one side (timing will depend on how hot your pan is), until you can easily slide a pancake flipper/spatula under the pancake and it's firm enough not to break when flipping. Flip pancake carefully and cook for another 5 minutes, until lightly golden. Be sure to cook for enough time as this pancake takes much longer to cook compared to regular pancakes.
7. Serve on a large plate and top with your desired toppings. Leftovers can be wrapped up and placed in the fridge. Reheat on a skillet until warmed throughout.

Tip:

• For the cashew cream, see this recipe. I added red pepper flakes into the blender to make it spicy.
• You can make this recipe into 2 smaller pancakes if desired.

Nutrition Information

(click to expand)

Serving Size 1 of 2 small pancakes | Calories 100 calories | Total Fat 1.5 grams
Saturated Fat 0 grams | Sodium 270 milligrams | Total Carbohydrates 15 grams
Fiber 3 grams | Sugar 4 grams | Protein 5 grams
* Nutrition data is approximate and is for informational purposes only.

As you can see from the photo, this isn’t your regular fluffy pancake. Chickpea flour makes this pancake very dense and filling. I find the flavour can take some getting used to, but I really enjoy it prepared this way. On that note, I’m off to make another one! I’d love your feedback on this recipe if you make it.

On another note, Eric thinks he fixed the printing issue that a few of you were having with the new recipe display. It appears that those of you using Internet Explorer 8 web browser were having issues with printing, but it should be fixed now. If anyone has any further issues, please let us know! Everything looks good on our end.