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Cheesy Chickpea Omelets with Mushrooms & Spinach

There are a lot of classic dishes that I have been able to recreate with plant-based ingredients. Cheese, sauces, meat substitutes? No problem. Scrambled eggs, however, were always in that “impossible” category. The egg is so unique (they say) that you just can’t recreate it. Except, you can…

Why am I just now learning that chickpea flour works magically well to simulate the feeling of scrambled eggs (even the color is perfect!)? Between the high protein content, unique taste, and complete versatility, this is one ingredient that I’m really starting to love.

The flavor of chickpea/garbanzo flour by itself is, well, a bit chalky and vegetal. We’re remedying that by adding some great spices and also directly infusing some green onions and red bell pepper into the batter. The final result is an omelet with just the right spongey texture and tons of great flavors.

I couldn’t say if these omelets are exactly like their baby chicken counterparts (because I really don’t remember what eggs taste like), but whatever they are, they’re pretty darn delicious…

omelet

Makes 2 omelets

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup chickpea flour
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • Salt, to taste
  • Black pepper, to taste
  • 2 green onions
  • 1/2 red bell pepper
  • 1 cup baby spinach
  • 1 cup sliced mushrooms
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce / tamari
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley
  • 1/4 cup cashew nacho cheese (see recipe here)

Prep – make some nacho cheese, per the Loaded Nachos recipe. This has become one of my favorite sauces and I use it on everything. Here, it adds a wonderful, gooey cheddar flavor to the omelets.

Step One

Prepare the simple batter by combining the dry ingredients (chickpea flour, baking powder, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper) in a bowl and mixing together. Then, add in 1 cup of filtered water and stir until no clumps remain. Finally, stir in some very finely diced red bell peppers and green onions.

Step Two

Sauté your spinach and mushrooms by adding them to a skillet over medium heat with a splash of water and soy sauce. Let them slowly reduce in size over 10 minutes while you make the omelets.

Step Three

(Just like a typical pancake, there are two crucial aspects to cooking these omelets correctly: heat and non-stick. The heat must be high enough that you hear a sizzle when the batter hits the pan, and that pan better be nonstick (preferably ceramic) or you’ll end up with a mess.)

So, add a tiny smear of vegetable oil onto the nonstick pan and turn it up over medium high heat (but don’t burn the oil). Then pour in half of the batter and spread it out into a thin circle. Cook for about 3 minutes on this side, until the top starts to look like it’s cooking through. Flip and cook for another 3 minutes on the other side.

Step Four

Yes, we just cooked this flat like a pancake (as opposed to a traditional omelet, where you would fill with toppings and fold in half while still cooking in the pan.) Doing it this way helped us cook the batter thoroughly and it will be easy enough to fold in half.

So, drizzle the top side with cashew cheese, sautéed mushrooms, wilted spinach, and a sprig or two of fresh parsley. Fold in half and serve.

Other serving suggestions: I think the blend of bell pepper and green onion inside the batter is essential, but what you put inside is entirely up to you. Here are a few suggestions:

  • Marinated tempeh crumbles
  • Other sautéed veggies (asparagus?)
  • Hash browns and black beans
  • Spicy salsa and avocado

omelet_pan

40 Comments

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  1. When I learned about chickpea flour it revolutionized my vegan world. Here was a great protein option that made a variety of inexpensive, quick, and healthful meals. Yay! I like your idea of adding bell pepper and onion to the batter – great suggestion. Many times my besan pancake turns out as a scramble because I’m not so good with the flipping. Also, making sure the sucker is fully cooked takes care of the sometimes funky taste.

    On another note, I would like to know about your cookware choices. I need to buy some new items (previous flat-mate destroyed my cookware) and I’d really appreciate your thoughts on quality pans, pots, knives, etc.

    Bon appétit!

    • Thanks, Sabine! 🙂 Chickpea flour is amazing stuff, isn’t it?

      In terms of cookware, I like to use stainless steel for most thing, but I also have a super-cool cast iron skillet and one new ceramic non-stick skillet which I love (it’s not toxic like the teflon ones). For knives, I think it pays to invest in one quality knife, preferably a Japanese one like Global (which I have) or Shun.

  2. Beyond excited to try this! Omelets were my favorite meals growing up & I have been hoping for an alternative. This recipe will get me experimenting more w/ chickpea flour fer sher!
    Thanks!!

  3. I had heard about making vegan omelets with chickpea flour before. This looks like a super tasty recipe. I can’t wait to make this over the weekend. Mmmm dreaming of brunch…

    • Thanks, Erin! 🙂 I hope you like it! …and I’m glad my website isn’t still breaking the internet anymore 😉

    • In this photo, it’s a cast iron skillet and I don’t remember the brand. For the ceramic, I have a square non-stick skillet from Calphalon that I love so far!

  4. Made this for dinner last night, it’s amazing! So tasty and easy to make, I had smoked paprika in my cupboard with chilli in it so it also had a bit of a kick. Made double quantities so dinner tonight is sorted too! Thanks Andrew keep up the good work!

    • Very cool! I’m so happy to hear that it turned out well for you 🙂

      Lately I’ve been putting smoked paprika (has to be the smoked kind, right?) into just about every savory dish I make. It’s such a good flavor and I’m now wondering why I didn’t add it here… 🙂

      Thanks John!

  5. what do you think of using black salt here? (kala namak) which has that sulfurous egg-y essence? i have heard it works well with tofu, which has that super egg-whitey protein texture and structure…..

    • Honestly, I’ve never used black salt so I couldn’t comment. I know that black pepper works really well in these omelets to enhance the “eggyness” but black salt might work ever better?

      • Kala namak (black salt, which – go figure – is pink in colour) is definitely the way to go if you want the flavour of eggs. I will be trying this tonight and using it for sure. It’s rather spooky how much it tastes like eggs.

  6. First and formost, it must be noted to anyone cooking this omlette is this in no way is going to taste like an egg omlette… I have finally convinced my husband on the evils of eggs, one of the hardest things for him to let go of. I made him my version based on your recipe and he was amazed… 5 minutes after eating it he came in to say wow again.
    One thing I noticed with this recipe is the “egg” was extremely bland.
    I added to the mixture:
    N.yeast
    cumin
    cilanto
    garlic
    tumeric
    and salt free seasoning. to taste..
    used kale, tomato and mushrooms on the inside and pico de gallo and avo on top. BIEN!

    • Hi Caren! Thanks so much for the feedback and I’m glad the husband approves! 🙂 Yes, there’s a million ways to spice up the “chickpea eggs” and I love the additions you suggested!

  7. YUM! My husband made these yesterday morning. We used Daiya as our “cheese” and topped with salsa and avocado. Very filling! They are also super easy to make, which is a huge plus. They aren’t light and fluffy like traditional omelettes, but just as delicious. Will definitely be making again!

    • Yum! 🙂 Interesting, mine were quite light and fluffy, the baking power helps with that, as does beating them with a whisk just before cooking (like you would with eggs). I’m glad you guys liked them!

  8. Awesome! Made this today for our guests and us. I found it a bit tricky (probably the wrong pan) but it was devoured by all involved. Thanks for this! And there’s a lot of chickpea flour left, so this will be repeated for sure.

    • Thanks, Hens! Yes, they can be tricky. I had trouble at first as well. The pan needs to be nonstick and the heat needs to be fairly high so that it doesn’t stick. I’m so glad you liked it! 🙂

  9. Wow, I loved this. It tasted kind of fancy and delicious and was not too hard for the wow effect produced! I will be putting this in my regular rotation. Delicious.

  10. Yummmm I loved these as did my husband! Came out better than the last garbanzo pancake attempt. Used diced potatoes and onions along with mushrooms and kale inside. Look so pretty I took pictures!! I am excited to make the nachos now with the rest of the cheese (what a great excuse to make nachos!!!) Thanks!

    • Very cool, Catherine! I’m so glad you guys liked it (the potatoes and onions sound great!) and oh yes – those nachos are required if you have leftover sauce 🙂

  11. this made a delicious dinner. we did not have spinach. i added a little nutritional yeast and extra garlic powder to the batter. my husband (a meat eater) was skeptical, left out the mushrooms and and opted for ketchup instead of cashew cheese– worrisome, but he liked it and is up for having it again! thank you for a great recipe!

  12. Thank you so much for this recipe! I looked for chickpea omelette through images and clicked on the one that looked the yummiest. Glad I chose yours, it was great!! =)

  13. Wow, I’m not sure how I found your site but I’ve been browsing recipes for the last 2 hours and don’t know what to try first!
    Your work looks AMAZING, I can’t wait to get cooking (and eating!)
    Thank you 🙂

  14. Is there any alternative to using chickpea flour? I’ve looked in every supermarket, and unfortunately I don’t have a health food store near me that stocks it.

    Thanks!

    • Hmm, I’m afraid I can’t think of anything that would work well, chickpea flour is kind of essential. You could always try something else like brown rice but it wouldn’t be the same. Your best bet is probably to buy it online, it’s probably cheaper too.

    • Don’t be offended if this is too elementary a question, Becky. I didn’t know until I knew…
      have you looked for “Garbanzo bean” flour? That is chickpea flour . 🙂

  15. I wonder if these have any chance at freezing and then reheating well?
    I am always on the hunt for good, “grab n go” options on workdays.

    (btw – LOVED them when I made them on the weekend – thanks!)

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