
*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

Yield
1 large or 2 smaller
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
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
- Prepare the vegetables and set aside. Preheat a 10-inch skillet over medium heat.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the chickpea flour, garlic powder, salt, pepper, baking powder, and optional red pepper flakes.
- 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.
- Stir in the chopped vegetables.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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)
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.

I was on the hunt for a vegan savory breakfast recipe and this one really appealed to me! This pancake really reminds me of a southern Indian dish called uthappam and another Indian dish called chila (also a breakfast pancake). Did you maybe get inspiration from these foods?
Hey Nitya, I had been brainstorming ideas on how to make a high-protein pancake and chickpea flour came to mind so I started testing savoury options. Uthappam and Chila both sound wonderful though!
I have always liked savory breakfasts and love things like leftover spaghetti (sometimes even cold). Before becoming WFPB I often enjoyed leftover pizza for breakfast. This recipe sounds great. And I’ll bet you could even find a way to make breakfast pizza the vegan way. It gives me all kinds of ideas. Thanks.
Recently went vegan, and miss my morning routine of eggs and savory breakfasts. When I saw this recipe I was thrilled! I just made it and it is amazing! I topped it with beans, roasted tomatoes, cilantro and garlic sauce. Hits the spot! Plus I think all ingredients this was less than $3 a serving!!! Thank you!!!
Do you have the Nutritional break down? Calories, carbs, etc? This sounds wonderful but I also have to watch my fat intake. Thank you.
I’m sorry, I don’t, JoAnn. But you can use a free online tool like caloriecount.com or nutritiondata.com to get a calculation fairly easily, I think. I hope that helps!
This is unreal. I have the world’s pickiest 3. 5 year old and he ate the whole thing. I like Onion and Sundried tomatoes for my filling. I also add some nooch into the batter.
I’ll be eating this daily. Thank you!
So glad to hear your little guy enjoys it, Lauren!
The pancake is really tasty and filling, I love it!! I wonder if it would work with buckwheat flour, what do you think?
:)
Hey Lena, Oh that’s a good idea! I haven’t tried it myself yet. I do know that buckwheat on its own can be a bit tricky to work with (it can be quite dense), so I’d be curious to know your results. If you try anything please let us know how it goes!
This was delicious! Thanks so much I can’t wait to play with different add-ins.
Look so good! I was wondering what to eat for breakfast tomorrow I saw your recipe. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for this incredible recipe! I have made one for the past 5 nights to go with my salad for a deliciously healthy and quick dinner. I enjoy the flexibility to play around with different vegetables. So far, jalapeno, green onion, and shredded carrot is my favorite combination.
Hi Shannon, So happy this is such a hit! I love your jalapeno, green onion, and shredded carrot….yum! I think I’m going to try this with my pickled jalapeños.
Shredded carrots?! That sounds amazing!
J. Michael
www.changeofseamery.blogspot.com
Holy yum-o-rama! I made this for lunch today I added some cumin to the mix and my veggies were shredded carrot, green onion, sliced radish and corn. I par cooked those then added to the batter. I topped with cilantro, sliced radish, avocado and a hummus salsa. This was the bomb!!! It was really filling and satisfying.
Hey Michelle, That sounds divine! Love those add-ins…I’ll have to try it next time. It’s been too long since I’ve made this!
Hi!!! this looks delicious ! I was wondering the nutrition info on 1 of these ? or at least approximate calories?
Hey Steph, I’m sorry, but I don’t have the nutritional info, but I looked on the chickpea flour package and 1/4 cup has 120 cals and 7 grams of protein. So these pancakes would have 240 cals, 14 g protein for the base, plus whatever veggies or toppings you add on. Hope this helps!
LOVED THIS! Can’t wait to try it again with more then just avocado. I love savory foods and I’ve been looking for a nice vegan breakfast that doesn’t include bread or loads of sugar. I added a little more seasoning to the batter…garlic powder and pepper. Will be making again.
Thank you!
So good! Mine didn’t flip in one piece but I think my pan wasn’t hot enough and I rushed it. Avocado and Cholula were my only toppings. I’m going to try it with maple syrup and blueberries instead of red pepper flakes and vegetables.
I like using coconut milk instead of water for my chickpea pancakes. Gives it a little extra volume, pancakes aren’t as dense. ?
Hi we have tried this recipe twice now – but the pancake breaks apart in the fry pan when you try to flip it over and it sticks really badly to the bottom of the pan. We eat it anyway and it tastes good – but if someone could please help with some advise on how to make this as pictured. I did read where it said “To prevent it from sticking to the skillet, be sure to spray the skillet liberally with olive oil before pouring on the batter.” We don’t have a sprayer, but we did use a lot of olive oil, even more the second time and it still stuck horribly. Any help would be very appreciated as I otherwise really like this recipe.
Hey L, Oh I’m so sorry you had sticking issues! That is so frustrating. I think the pan used can really make or break this recipe unfortunately. An eco-friendly non-stick skillet or even a well seasoned cast iron are probably your best bets.
Made it, and folded it over some spinach which had been thawed and all the water pressed out. Yum.
A few tips. I doubled the recipe to feed two very hungry people and the dry ingredients didn’t seem to scale up to make it thick enough so I ended up adding a bit more chickpea flour. I went by what I would expect regular pancake batter to look like.
Also, I used two pans so I could cook two at once — one nonstick and one regular — and the nonstick worked out perfectly. The regular, despite plenty of oil, stuck and became a chickpea scramble instead. So try to use a nonstick. Also, I added a tablespoon or so of nutritional yeast, highly recommended for a cheesier flavor.
Hey Doug, I love your addition of nutritional yeast…awesome idea. And I totally agree about using a nonstick. Really makes life a lot easier for this kind of recipe. Thanks for your feedback!
I am curious, why the use of garlic powder and not fresh garlic?
thank you
Hey naleśniki, just for convenience in the morning, but you can absolutely use fresh if you prefer! :)
This is one of my all-time favorite breakfast recipes. Savory, hearty, and delicious. Everyone who I make this for loves this recipe. It’s so easy and so good!
Thanks Renee!
must say this was yummy i added nutritonal yeast and some of my dehydrated veggies yum yum yum ….. thankyou you time on making this is appreciated.
The batter looks so deliciously light! Thank you for sharing Angela.
A healthy vegan breakfast is something I can definitely look forward to.