With just a few ingredients and a quick cooking time, these Chickpea Fritters are a protein–packed meal that’s ready in under 20 minutes. (And they reheat well for the future, too!)
I love turning simple pantry staples into easy meals for my family, especially when it involves making fritters. Much like my Broccoli Fritters and Quinoa Fritters, this Chickpea Fritter recipe is super easy to make and seriously delicious to eat.
They are easy to adjust for allergies, can be made on the stove top or in the air fryer, and are great with a range of dipping sauces including Cucumber Yogurt Sauce, salsa, guacamole, hummus, and ketchup.
(You may also like Soft Roasted Chickpeas, Chicken Fritters, Lentil Patties and Chickpea Blondies.)
Table of Contents
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Ingredients You Need
Below is a look at the ingredients you need to make this vegetarian recipe so you know what to have on hand.
- Chickpeas (rinsed and drained): I like to use canned chickpeas, which are sometimes called garbanzo beans, to make this easy. You can also cook chickpeas from dry if you want. Cook fully, drain, and let cool before you start the recipe.
- All-purpose flour: Adding a little flour to the mixture helps it hold together. You can use a gluten-free flour blend as needed to make this recipe gluten-free.
- Parmesan cheese: Grated Parmesan cheese adds nice flavor to these plant-based patties.
- Cumin, garlic powder, and salt: A mix of these three ensures the chickpea patties are flavorful enough for kids and adults, without being overpowering.
- Olive oil: I like to pan-fry my fritters in extra-virgin olive oil. You can also use butter or avocado oil if you prefer.
- Cucumber-yogurt sauce, tzatziki, or hummus for serving as you like.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Below is a preview of how to make this recipe so you know what to expect from the process. Scroll down to the end of the post for the full recipe, including the amounts and the timing.
- Drain the chickpeas (I save the liquid for an egg replacer to use in baking). Rinse with cold water (this removes some of the sodium).
- Add to a shallow dish or bowl with the rest of the ingredients except the olive oil.
- Mash with a potato masher or fork until very smooth.
- Form into round, flat patties using 1 tablespoon batter in each. Add olive oil to a pan or skillet over medium heat and cook the fritters until golden brown.
How to Store
Once cooled, store leftovers in an airtight container for up to a week. Warm in the microwave, toaster oven, or air fryer briefly to serve. You can also freeze these in a freezer bag with as much air removed as possible for a future week.
Best Tips for Success
- Use gluten-free flour blend in place of the all-purpose flour to make these gluten-free.
- To make in an air fryer, coat the tray with nonstick spray or avocado oil, place the patties on top and spray with oil. Cook at 375 degrees F for 6-8 minutes or until golden brown.
- Add fresh herbs such as minced fresh parsley for more fresh flavor, if desired.
- Serve with desired dipping sauces and/or pita bread if you’d like.
Related Recipes
I’d love to hear your feedback on this post, so please rate and comment below!
Easy Chickpea Fritters
Ingredients
- 14.5- ounce can chickpeas (rinsed and drained; sometimes called garbanzo beans)
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese (or nutritional yeast to make dairy-free)
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Cucumber-yogurt sauce, tzatziki, or hummus for serving
Instructions
- Drain the chickpeas (I save the liquid to use as an egg replacer in baking). Rinse with cold water (this removes some of the sodium).
- Add to a shallow dish with the flour, Parmesan, cumin, garlic powder, salt, and 2 tablespoons water.
- Mash with a potato masher until very smooth and uniform, adding another 2-4 tablespoons of water as needed.
- Form into round, flat patties using 1 tablespoon batter in each. Patties should be about ½ inch thick.
- Add olive oil to a pan over medium heat and cook the fritters for 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
- Place onto a paper towel to drain, if desired, and serve warm with desired dips.
Notes
- Once cooled, store in an airtight container for up to a week. Warm in the microwave, toaster oven, or air fryer briefly to serve.
- Use gluten-free flour blend in place of the all-purpose flour to make these gluten-free.
- To make in an air fryer, coat the tray with nonstick spray or avocado oil, place the patties on top and spray with oil. Cook at 375 degrees F for 6-8 minutes or until golden brown.
- Add minced fresh parsley for more fresh flavor, if desired.
Hi! These got crispy easily on both sides, the sides and centers were still soft/moist. Is the entire fritter meant to be crispy, or are soft/sought centers and sides still okay? Thank you
Flavor was amazing, just making sure I cooked them correctly/fully.
Middle should be soft.
I’ve been trying different foods for my baby to transition from purées and they all have been duds but these were a success! I gave her a taste while I was still cooking them and she couldn’t stop licking her lips wanting more. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I’m so glad to hear that!
These are delicious! If my toddler doesn’t end up eating them all I will! I also didn’t have a potato masher, but a fork worked just fine.
These are so delicious! Made them for my toddler, who loved them, but my mom and I ate the rest. We will be making them again as a toddler/grownup snack
These have been a huge hit! Would you ever freeze the “dough”?
I would probably freeze leftover cooked fritters since they would be easier to serve, but there’s probably no reason freezing the dough wouldn’t work too.
Tasty fritters and both my kids liked them. I did add an extra fresh parsley and some mint. Also, I used an immersion blender because fork mashing was taking too long.
These are SO good and so easy and fast to make. Our recipe made 12 small patties and we ate almost all between 2 of us. This was also such a great recipe for my 4 yr old to make with me since it’s easy to do and she loved mashing the chickpeas. We used nutritional yeast instead of Parmesan.
I am excited to make them again, with only one small modification: no salt (I found these to be too salty for my taste). I am so glad I found this recipe, it will go into the dinner rotation for sure. They will make great leftovers and lunches so I may make a double batch next time!
I’m so glad to hear this!
Fast, easy and tasty! Thank you, Amy!
My son DEVOURED these. He’s 16 months old and this recipe will be added to our weekly batch cooking. Thank you Amy!!!!
Huge hit tonight.
I added some parsley and dill weed, probably 1/4 tsp each. And “fried” them in avocado oil. I liked them and hubs did too!
Almost 3 y/o son ate 5 – huge win!!!!
Huge hit tonight.
I added some parsley and dill weed, probably 1/4 tsp each. And “fried” them in avocado oil. I liked then and hubs did too!
Almost 3 y/o son ate 5 – huge win!!!!
Huge hit tonight.
I added some parsley and dill weed, probably 1/4 tsp each. And “fried” them in avocado oil.
I liked then and hubs did too! Almost 3 y/o son ate 5 – huge win!!!!
I subbed Parmesan for vegan ‘sheese’ for my DF 2 year old, and added garlic + onion powder and paprika, and then blitzed the lot in the blender. Served with tomato sauce because she’s a heathen, told her they were pancakes, and she’s HOOVERING them up as I write. Thank you for another way to get secret good things into my vegephobic child 🙏🏼