This chickpea-spinach patty or burger recipe grew from some consternation with a commercial brand of chickpea-spinach burger that had more than a few ingredients, a few of which I felt could be excluded from a recipe and still have the same flavourful and 'kind' appeal without those ingredients.
Plus, as an ethical vegan, I was not crazy about the idea that the particular brand is just a side line for a longtime "meat packing company." While I think it is wonderful that there are an amazing number of vegan "meats" hitting the market, I don't think that I am reduced to buying a product that is likely just a way for this company to capture some of the 'new' revenue coming in with vegan foods, while they continue to support the factory-farming of animals, their "inhumane" slaughter (is there a humane way to kill a sentient being to eat?) and the ongoing other ethical and morale concerns perpetrated by the meat industries.
So, yeah, this recipe was developed. There are quite a few other vegan chickpea burger recipes online that you might want to google. Some modified versions of them will likely turn up on here in the near-ish future since I plan to do a series of recipes that are (not exactly) copy-cats of some of the commercial burgers to show that these recipes can be put together without the kinds of ingredients that are often just meant to preserve shelf-life or be more like the solid-bulky texture you got used to with a hamburger, for example.
This recipe uses fabulous aquafaba (or a gel produced from chickpea "juice") as the "eggs" that appear as binders in the non-vegan burger recipes. I was originally set to use the usual "flaxseed egg" (2 Tbsp. Flaxseeds plus 1/4 cup water) but noticed the chunky gel that I had poured off my home-cooked chickpeas as it sat in the fridge in a mason jar. I subbed a 1/4 cup of it (picture below) for the flaxseed egg. And it worked well! I would suggest that you use the flaxseed gel if you feel less comfortable with using aquafaba.
The original recipe I was most attracted to had 18 ingredients. At the time I was "developing" this recipe (or "throwing it together" might be a less pretentious description), my husband and I were quite hungry, having gone past our usual suppertime schedule. So, while I knew that it might be minimally tastier if I searched for and measured out a bunch of individual spices (cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cardamom pods, ground ginger, etc.) it would work just as well for our not very discerning taste buds if we just used a really good variety of organic Mild Curry Powder that involves all the of the above spices, and then some. If you have experience with dealing with spices, or have a favourite formula that you love, by all means, use that in this recipe!
I also did a short cut on the 2 Tbsp. of Lemon Juice and the 1 Tbsp. of Garlic Puree because I use a combo frozen cube of Lemon Juice-Garlic every day in our smoothie (yes, it IS potent). I just tossed a cube of that in-- easy peasy. I include that in the recipe in case you want to go ahead and try making those cubes yourself, the recipe is HERE. It really comes in handy for a lot of recipes (as well as for our smoothie, of course heheh).
hoto of the reduced number of ingredients:
INGREDIENTS FOR VEGAN CHICKPEA AND SPINACH PATTIES/BURGERS:
Plus, as an ethical vegan, I was not crazy about the idea that the particular brand is just a side line for a longtime "meat packing company." While I think it is wonderful that there are an amazing number of vegan "meats" hitting the market, I don't think that I am reduced to buying a product that is likely just a way for this company to capture some of the 'new' revenue coming in with vegan foods, while they continue to support the factory-farming of animals, their "inhumane" slaughter (is there a humane way to kill a sentient being to eat?) and the ongoing other ethical and morale concerns perpetrated by the meat industries.
So, yeah, this recipe was developed. There are quite a few other vegan chickpea burger recipes online that you might want to google. Some modified versions of them will likely turn up on here in the near-ish future since I plan to do a series of recipes that are (not exactly) copy-cats of some of the commercial burgers to show that these recipes can be put together without the kinds of ingredients that are often just meant to preserve shelf-life or be more like the solid-bulky texture you got used to with a hamburger, for example.
This recipe uses fabulous aquafaba (or a gel produced from chickpea "juice") as the "eggs" that appear as binders in the non-vegan burger recipes. I was originally set to use the usual "flaxseed egg" (2 Tbsp. Flaxseeds plus 1/4 cup water) but noticed the chunky gel that I had poured off my home-cooked chickpeas as it sat in the fridge in a mason jar. I subbed a 1/4 cup of it (picture below) for the flaxseed egg. And it worked well! I would suggest that you use the flaxseed gel if you feel less comfortable with using aquafaba.
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Here is a close-up of the Aquafaba magic gel.... the thick liquid that came from cooking my chickpeas in the Instant Pot |
The original recipe I was most attracted to had 18 ingredients. At the time I was "developing" this recipe (or "throwing it together" might be a less pretentious description), my husband and I were quite hungry, having gone past our usual suppertime schedule. So, while I knew that it might be minimally tastier if I searched for and measured out a bunch of individual spices (cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cardamom pods, ground ginger, etc.) it would work just as well for our not very discerning taste buds if we just used a really good variety of organic Mild Curry Powder that involves all the of the above spices, and then some. If you have experience with dealing with spices, or have a favourite formula that you love, by all means, use that in this recipe!
I also did a short cut on the 2 Tbsp. of Lemon Juice and the 1 Tbsp. of Garlic Puree because I use a combo frozen cube of Lemon Juice-Garlic every day in our smoothie (yes, it IS potent). I just tossed a cube of that in-- easy peasy. I include that in the recipe in case you want to go ahead and try making those cubes yourself, the recipe is HERE. It really comes in handy for a lot of recipes (as well as for our smoothie, of course heheh).
hoto of the reduced number of ingredients:
INGREDIENTS FOR VEGAN CHICKPEA AND SPINACH PATTIES/BURGERS:
- 2 Tbsp. Flaxseeds plus 1/4 cup Water OR 1/4 cup thick Aquafaba (Chickpea juice gel)
- 1 medium Onion
- 1/2 Bell Pepper (red, yellow or orange-- green are unripe peppers)
- 1 tsp. Oil
- 1 tsp. Mild Curry Powder
- 1 tsp. Red Chili Powder (I used Chipotle)
- 1 Tbsp. Garlic Puree and 2 Tbsp. Lemon Juice or 1 Garlic-Lemon cube
- 1 Tbsp. Tomato Puree/paste
- 14-oz/114 ml can Chickpeas (save the 'juice') OR 1 1/2 - 2 cups of cooked Chickpeas
- 1 cup Baby Spinach
- Salt to taste
- 1 cup Chickpea Flour
DIRECTIONS:
Here are some other recipes you might also like to try:
How to make ChiaSeed Gel and How To Use It
How to Make Yummy No-Meat Balls (Gluten Free)
Barley Pecan Burger
Mushroom Walnut Burger
Vegetable Burger
The Classic Vegan Roast or Burger
Join Organic Granny Veggie Recipes Facebook for lots more Transitioning-to-Vegan Recipes
- If making a Flaxseed egg, combine the seeds and water in a small bowl and set aside.
- Finely slice the onion, and chop the pepper into small cubes.
- Stir-fry the Onion in the Oil over high heat, stirring continuously Add in the Curry Powder. Stir for 3-5 minutes until golden.
- Add in Bell Pepper, Chili, Garlic Puree, Lemon Juice (or cube), and Tomato Puree/Paste. Stir another 3-5 minutes until soft.
- Set aside to cool (briefly)
- When cool, add the mixture to a blender or food processor and blend until a smooth paste.
- To the food processor, add in the Chickpeas, Spinach, Flax egg or Aquafaba gel, and a pinch of Salt.
- Process until mostly smooth, although a rougher texture of Chickpeas is great. If you think it is too smooth, mash up some more chickpeas and add them in without further processing.
- Dump this mixture into a medium-large bowl and mix in the cup of Chickpea Flour.
- Stir until it is evenly mixed in.
- You can either divide the mass into six equal lumps and fry with in a pan with some oil, or you can turn the oven to 400F, cover a pan with parchment paper, and spoon six burger shapes onto the pan. Bake for about 15 minutes on each side, more if you are not happy with the texture.
- These patties (baked in the oven) resemble pancakes, but are savory and have a very nice texture that is not like a cookie or a pancake...
How to make ChiaSeed Gel and How To Use It
How to Make Yummy No-Meat Balls (Gluten Free)
Barley Pecan Burger
Mushroom Walnut Burger
Vegetable Burger
The Classic Vegan Roast or Burger
Join Organic Granny Veggie Recipes Facebook for lots more Transitioning-to-Vegan Recipes
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