Chickpea Vegan Sausage Crumbles
If I need to add flavor to anything from soups to salads, I immediately reach for these chickpea vegan sausage crumbles. I use chickpeas, fennel, and pantry spices to create a sausage-style seasoning and crumbly savory topping without any synthetic meat. It takes just 30 minutes to make, so I always have a jar ready for elevating my meals.
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 120kcal
Ingredients
- 2 cans chickpeas (15 ounces each)
- 2 tablespoons fennel seeds , crushed (easily done by using the back of a spoon)
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1-2 teaspoons Himalayan pink salt (see note)
- 1-2 teaspoons crushed red pepper , optional
- 1 tablespoon oat flour , use gluten free for gluten free version
Instructions
- Rinse and dry chickpeas very well. Put them in a kitchen towel and rub dry. Try and remove as many of the outer thin skins as possible, rolling them around with your hand on the towel helps. Don’t worry about getting them all, just as many as you can easily remove. Place dried chickpeas in a bowl.
- Add all the spices to the bowl, everything except the flour.
- Using a potato masher, or your hands, begin to crush chickpeas and break them into small pieces. The more skins that were removed, the easier this will be. You don’t want them mashed, just crumbled.
- Add oat flour to the bowl and using your hands combine well to coat the crumbles. This will help separate the crumbles as well.
- Spread onto a parchment lined cookie sheet in an even layer. Bake at 375°F/180°C for 20 minutes, until outside is just beginning to get crispy.
- Sprinkle over everything and anything!
Notes
- My #1 Secret Tip for this chickpea vegan sausage crumbles recipe is to dry the chickpeas thoroughly and remove as many skins as possible before crushing. If they are still damp, the seasoning will not cling as well, and the mixture is more likely to steam in the oven instead of crisping. I also try to remove all the skins to ensure they crush nicely and do not have a slightly bitter taste.
- Do not mash too much: I want crumbles, not hummus, so I stop once the chickpeas are broken into small pieces with some texture.
- Crush the fennel seeds: I always crush the fennel seeds a bit first, so their flavor spreads more evenly through the crumbles.
- Spread them out: If the crumbles are piled too close together on the baking sheet, they will soften instead of crisping.
- Taste for salt: If I know I am sprinkling them over something lightly seasoned, like salad, I use a higher amount of salt. But if the final dish is already salty like pizza, I scale it back.
- Reheat to refresh: These are best fresh, but a few minutes in the oven or skillet brings back some of that crisp texture if you are using leftovers.
Nutrition
Calories: 120kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 2g | Sodium: 411mg | Potassium: 55mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 105IU | Vitamin C: 0.6mg | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 1.7mg