Vegan chickpea muffins are an easy & savory alternative to traditional breakfast muffins! They are made with chickpea flour and veggies for a filling snack or breakfast.
I came up with the idea for savory chickpea muffins because I wanted to share an egg-style breakfast muffin without eggs. I have these vegan breakfast egg sandwiches, but these are a more "whole foods" approach because they use chickpea flour as the main ingredient.
Chickpea flour is a gluten-free flour made from ground chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans. It is traditionally used in Indian cooking, where it is better known as gram flour.
Since it is made entirely from garbanzo beans (chickpeas), this flour provides 21 grams protein per cup, whereas all-purpose flour provides 13 grams. That means that the chickpea muffins are a little higher protein than your standard vegan muffin.
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Recipe features
- Dietary features: Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, nut-free
- Versatile: Packed with veggies! You can use any variety of veggies you like.
- Enjoy any time: Freezable and perfect as a grab-and-go breakfast or snack.
- Flavor: If you're new to chickpea flour and wondering what it tastes like, know that I was wondering the same thing before I tried it. Yes, there is a taste reminiscent of chickpeas in the flour, but only slightly. It has a slightly cornbread-esque flavor which certainly contributes to the savory factor of these muffins.
Ingredients
- Chickpea flour: You can usually find chickpea flour in the "health foods" section, baking aisle, or international aisle of most large grocery stores. I use the Bob's Red Mill brand.
- Nutritional yeast: This adds a "cheesey" flavor and more depth to the muffins. I love using nutritional yeast in everything from vegan mac and cheese to marinated tofu.
- Seasonings: Onion powder, garlic powder and fresh parsley are the main seasonings in this recipe. You can use 1 and ½ tablespoons dry parsley in place of fresh.
- Vegetables: Mushrooms, red bell pepper and spinach are my go-to add-ins. You can also try adding sauteed kale, leeks or broccoli. Sauteing the veggies releases their moisture and deepens their flavor.
- Baking ingredients: Baking powder, baking soda and apple cider vinegar all work together to leaven, or raise, the muffins. Regular vinegar will also work.
Step by step instructions
- Heat one tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the diced mushrooms and pepper. Saute until often, about 7-8 minutes. Add spinach and let wilt, about 1 minute. Drain off extra liquid. Set aside.
- Prepare the muffin batter using the traditional "muffin method". Simply combine the dry ingredients: chickpea flour, nutritional yeast, seasonings, salt, baking powder, baking soda. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.
- Pour in the wet ingredients: vegetable broth, olive oil, apple cider vinegar. Stir with a wooden spoon until just combined, careful to not overstir. It's okay if some small dry bits still remain.
- Fold in the sauteed veggies until just combined.
5. Lightly oil a 12-tin muffin tin with cooking spray or muffin liners. Use a ⅓ cup measure to divide the batter between 9 tins. Bake at 350 for 20-22 minutes. The muffins are ready when a toothpick inserted in the center muffin comes out clean.
Cassidy's tips
- Different veggies: You can add any steamed, roasted, or cooked veggies you prefer. I don’t recommend adding raw veggies because they will release water while they cook and may alter the muffin.
- You can use paper liners or just lightly spray the muffin tin with cooking oil to keep the chickpea muffins from sticking.
- When making muffins, I like to make a double batch and freeze half for later. This is one of my favorite meal prep tips.
- Serving ideas: I usually eat one or two for breakfast with berries on the side. They also work well a snack or served with smoked tempeh bacon for a more filling meal.
- Extra protein: Add a can of chickpeas to the batter to really drive the "chickpea muffins" title home. Or add sauteed vegan sausage or vegan bacon.
Storage tips
- Storage: Keep at room temperature in a closed container for 1-2 days. For best quality, refrigerate for 3-4 days.
- Freezing: Freeze in a freezer-safe container or bag for up to 3 months. Let thaw in the fridge overnight before eating.
Looking for more breakfast ideas?
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Savory Vegan Chickpea Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon olive oil divided
- 1 medium red bell pepper finely chopped
- 4 ounces Baby bella mushrooms finely chopped
- 2 cups spinach
- 1 and ½ cups chickpea flour
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley loosely packed
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ cups vegetable broth water will also work
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil or line a muffin pan.
- In a large skillet, heat one tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the bell pepper and mushrooms. Saute 7-8 minutes, or until softened. Add spinach and allow to wilt. Drain off any excess liquid. Turn off heat and set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine chickpea flour, nutritional yeast, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, baking powder, baking soda.
- Mix in the vegetable broth, ¼ cup olive oil, and apple cider vinegar. Mix to form a loose batter. Fold in the sauteed veggies until just combined.
- Use a ⅓ cup measure to measure evenly between 9 muffin tins. Bake for 20-22 minutes at 350F, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before cooling muffins on a cooling rack. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Parsley: You can also use 1 and ½ tablespoons dry parsley in place of ¼ cup fresh.
- Storage: Store refrigerated in a closed container for 3-4 days.
- Vegan cheese: You can sprinkle vegan parmesan shreds on top or fold into the batter for a little extra cheesiness.
sadie says
These look great!
Any thoughts on subbing the broth for soy milk? I could add 1 tsp of Better than Broth for flavor to the milk, too, maybe?
I'm asking because I'd like to up the protein in this.
TIA for your input.
😀
Cassidy Reeser, MS, RD says
I bet that would work well! And I agree on keeping the bouillon to keep that savory flavor.
Pam says
I don’t know what went wrong. Before I added the veggies, the batter was super dry. Crumbly! So I added more broth. Quite a bit (double checked all the measurements) enough to make it look like your picture. Then, it didn’t rise at all. 🤷♀️ It still tasted dry after baking.
Cassidy Reeser says
I think adding extra broth was the right move, but I'm wondering if at that point they had trouble rising due to overmixing? The batter should be on the thicker side but still wet. If you do try these again, I'd recommend measuring the chickpea flour by spooning it into the cup and then wiping off excess flour with the back of a knife (maybe you already did this, but just a tip for anyone else who may run into this issue).
Thesmiths says
Yum! I didn't have mushrooms or spinach, I used sweetcorn, peppers and red onion. I didn't measure anything either, just had a guess, got it all sort of similar to pancake batter, and waney! Thanks so much for the inspiration.
Cassidy Reeser says
Yum, sounds like the perfect summer ingredients! 🙂
Cat says
Could you swap out the yogurt for pumpkin? If so, how would you adjust?
Cassidy Reeser says
Did you mean something else? There is no yogurt in this recipe.
Katherine says
Came out perfect as is.
Baked in mini muffin tin for 12 minutes
Cassidy Reeser says
Awesome! Thanks for the review 🙂
Jessica says
Hi! I just made these, and im wondering, are they good straight out of the fridge? I used to make egg muffins before going vegan, and that's how was planning on treating these - kinda like a busy morning grab and go breakfast.
Cassidy Reeser says
They should be good at room temp for 2-3 days but you can definitely eat them out of the fridge. They'll keep longer than way!
Michelle Carver says
I LOVE THESE. I make them at the end of the week to use up veggies before I go grocery shopping. You can pretty much put any veg in and they come out great. My boyfriend even likes them, and he’s super picky
Cassidy Reeser says
I'm so glad to hear it, thanks so much for the review!