Canned garbanzo beans, oats, and simple falafel-style seasonings make the best vegan chickpea burgers, perfect for decorating with your favorite toppings when you want a warm, handheld meal any night of the week. They're also hands down one of the easiest and most affordable meals ever. Throw together a few simple ingredients and serve in less than 20 minutes!
Why You’ll Love This Vegan Chickpea Burger Recipe
- Inexpensive and affordable entree
- Made with simple, wholesome ingredients
- Naturally gluten-free
- Loaded with plant-based protein and fiber to keep you full
- Scratches that burger/sandwich/wrap itch nicely
- Fast enough to throw together on those busy nights
- Great option to meal prep for the week
- Versatile flavor profile that works all your favorite sauces and sides
Main Ingredients for Chickpea Veggie Burgers
This is one of those great recipes that requires so few ingredients, you can't believe you haven't made it before. The seasonings echo the flavor of falafel, which makes them great with other Mediterranean-style dishes, too.
- Olive oil spray - To help crisp out the outside as you cook them in the air fryer.
- Chickpeas - Not only do canned chickpeas offer the bulk of this recipe, the liquid from the can (aquafaba) acts as a binder to bring the mixture together.
- Gluten free rolled oats - Either rolled or quick oats can be used.
- Seasonings - Season the mixture with salt, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and ground cumin.
- Jalapeño - For extra heat, I like to add diced jalapeno. It's technically optional, but highly recommended.
- Fresh parsley - For a little freshness and a nice herby note. Green onions are a nice alternative.
Bonus tip: To make this recipe gluten-free, just be sure to use certified gluten-free oats. The rest of the ingredients are naturally free from gluten although don't forget to grab gluten-free buns if you're serving these as veggie burgers.
How to Make Vegan Chickpea Burgers in the Air Fryer
These easy chickpea burgers are seriously simple. Just mix everything together, form patties, and bake! One batch makes 4 patties, and you can easily make a double batch to leftovers.
- Make oat flour by blitzing the oats in a food processor or blender.
- In a large mixing bowl, add chickpeas and mash with a fork or potato masher
- Add smoked paprika, salt, garlic powder, cumin and oat flour and mix. Then add parsley, jalapeño and aquafaba and mix until a sticky meatball like texture forms.
- Form patty mixture into 4 patties.
- Spray with olive oil and air fry for 12-15 minutes at 390 degrees until golden brown and crispy on the outside.
- Eat on gluten-free burger buns, pitas, or wraps of your choice of sides. (I recommend my tahini salad.)
Storing Suggestions
Store any leftover patties in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. To reheat, it's best to crisp them back up in the air fryer or toasted in a nonstick skillet to toast the outside. You can also freeze the extras in a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw and reheat like normal.
Tips for Making the Best Vegan Chickpea Burgers
- Play with seasonings. If you're not into the Mediterranean/Middle Eastern-style seasonings here, feel free to use your favorite spice mix or seasoning blend. It's a very forgiving recipe.
- Adjust the size. Instead of traditional patty sizes, feel free to make mini patties. They're great for kids or serving over salads.
- Reduce the heat. Feel free to skip the jalapenos if you're not a fan of spicy flavors. Or, if you want even more heat, add red pepper flakes or a dash of cayenne pepper.
FAQs
These homemade veggie burgers were made to serve as a quicker alternative to falafel on those busy nights. We serve them with lettuce leaves on pita bread with
Our preferred method is to serve them with this tahini salad, which is packed with fresh herbs, tomatoes, and cucumbers. It's very refreshing and gives the whole meal a summery, Mediterranean feel.
If you're craving more traditional style burgers, adjust the seasonings and serve on your favorite buns with vegan mayo, sliced tomatoes, red onion, and all the fixings.
Or, you can serve them over salads, alongside roasted sweet potatoes or fries, and much more.
Yes! Instead of air frying, you can either bake the vegan chickpea patties on a baking sheet in a hot convection oven around 400F or pan-fry them in a frying pan with a little oil. Air frying makes it easy to get a nice, crisp texture without lots of oil, which is why I recommend it.
Although you technically can replace chickpeas with other canned beans, I recommend using chickpeas since the aquafaba is such a key part of this recipe.
If you were to use black beans, for example, the cooking liquid would add a purple-gray tint that can make the black bean burgers look unappealing.
Other Delicious Vegan Recipes
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Air Fryer Vegan Chickpea Burgers (Gluten-Free)
Equipment
- air fryer
- food processor or blender
Ingredients
- 1 can chickpeas drained; reserve ½ cup aquafaba.
- ¾ cup gluten-free oats
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 jalapeno diced
- 2 tbsp parsley chopped
- olive oil spray
Instructions
- Make oat flour by blitzing gf oats in a food processor or blender.
- In a large mixing bowl add chickpeas and mash with a fork or potato masher
- Add smoked paprika, salt, garlic powder, cumin and oat flour and mix. Then add parsley, jalapeño and aquafaba and mix until a sticky meatball like texture forms.
- Form mix into 4 patties.
- Spray with olive oil and air fry for 12-15 minutes at 390 degrees until crispy on the outside.
- Eat on a gluten-free bun, pita or wrap of your choice with tahini salad or your favorite toppings.