Fresh ingredients, plant-based protein and Mediterranean inspired flavors come together to make these delicious Sun Dried Tomato Chickpea Burgers! Simply blend, shape then bake (or fry!) into your very own homemade veggie burgers. Load up with your favorite burger toppings and enjoy! | Gluten Free + Vegan + Grain Free Option
Originally shared this recipe on May 23, 2016 – updated February 28, 2023 with improved photos, recipe, tips and ingredient explanations.
Reasons To Love These Vegetarian Chickpea Burgers
- They’re easy to make! Preparation is super simple and mostly done with the help of a food processor.
- You can oven bake or pan fry the burgers! Bake the burgers to cut down on excess oil or cook them in a frying pan if you’re hungry and in a hurry.
- They’re filling, delicious and made with wholesome ingredients! These burgers are loaded up with fiber, protein and complex carbohydrates, meaning that they’ll fill you up and keep you satiated for longer.
Chickpea Veggie Burger Recipe Steps
- Mix fresh ingredients: Add the canned chickpeas, aquafaba, tomatoes, basil, onion, garlic and spices to a food processor bowl. Blend into a thick, chunky mixture.
- Mix in dry ingredients: Add the almond flour and starch. Blend until fully combined. The resulting mixture should be thick, slightly sticky and almost paste-like.
- Divide, shape and chill: Divide the chickpea mixture into 6 portions (about 100 grams or 1/2 cup each) then shape into burgers. Transfer to a plate lined with baking paper, cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
- Cook: Bake in the oven for about or pan fry on the stove top.
- Enjoy: Add to gluten-free buns along with your favorite toppings and enjoy!
Tips for Frying
I recommend you bake these patties for a more fool-proof experience. It’s much easier as a hands off approach, and the burgers end up a bit more sturdy in the end as they lose some excess moisture in the oven.
That being said, you can absolutely pan fry to success with a bit of patience and a few quick tips!
- Don’t make them too big! The thicker the burgers, the longer it will take to cook the middles. Thick burgers will also be much harder to flip and more prone to falling apart.
- Make sure to use a nonstick skillet or well oiled pan! If you’re not into teflon/non stick frying pans, make sure to use a properly seasoned cast iron pan (it’s what I used) or bake your burgers. If the patties stick to the pan you risk them falling apart before they have a chance to cook through.
- Don’t flip too early! Set a timer and wait at least 5 minutes before you attempt to flip (unless you can tell from the edges that they’re ready to go). The burger patties will be quite delicate until they’re fully cooked so be patient.
- Make sure the pan and oil are fully heated before you add the patties! You want the patties to sizzle when they hit the pan. This will help them form a nice, golden crust on outside which makes for a better flavor and texture.
Key Ingredients
- Chickpeas + Aquafaba: Drain the chickpea liquid (aka ‘aquafaba’) from the beans, but save about 3 tablespoons of the liquid to add to the burger mixture.
- Sun dried tomatoes: Sundried tomatoes are slightly sweet and tangy yet incredibly savory. The umami flavor they provide makes them a popular choice in Mediterranean cuisine and an excellent ingredient to use in plant based cooking.
- Onion & Garlic: Fresh onion and a couple cloves of garlic pack in a punch of flavor without overdoing it. I recommend red onion for both the color and flavor, but yellow onions works in a pinch.
- Fresh Basil: Sweet, peppery and a bit minty – basil adds a lovely, delicate flavor that plays well with the tomato and garlic flavors. If needed or preferred, parsley is another good option. You can use parsley as a sub or a mix of the two fresh herbs.
- Almond Flour + Starch: The almond flour/almond meal and starch help to bind the ingredients together and retain moisture. My original recipe relied purely on almond flour as the binder. I’ve since added starch as an ingredient for a little extra binding help.
- Herbs & Spices: I recommend salt, pepper, ground cumin, paprika and cayenne pepper but you can play around with the spices here if you like!
Serving Suggestions
- Load up on the burger toppings: add sliced red onion (or marinated sumac onions), tomato, lettuce, arugula, etc.
- Grab a couple of sweet potatoes and make a side of crispy sweet potato fries! You can also keep up on the chickpea love and make panisses (chickpea fries).
- Try my basil avocado dip as a creamy sauce! It’s a bit like a hummus without chickpeas and it’s always a crowd pleaser. You also can’t go wrong with a spicy mayo.
- Turn the remaining sun dried tomatoes into a Sun Dried Tomato Pesto and use it as a sauce.
- Serve these burgers alongside a salad like this Tomato Quinoa Salad With A Zhoug Style Dressing or a simple Tomato Arugula Salad With Walnuts.
Sun Dried Tomato Chickpea Burgers
Fresh ingredients, plant-based protein and Mediterranean flavors blend together in Sun Dried Tomato Chickpea Burgers! Gluten Free + Vegan
Ingredients
- 1 (15 oz | 400g) can of chickpeas, drained (save 3 tablespoons of the liquid 'aquafaba' from the can)
- 1 medium red onion, roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 6 sun dried tomatoes packed in oil, lightly patted dry
- 1 cup loosely packed fresh, basil, stalks + stems
- 1/2 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne (optional)
- 1 1/4 cup almond flour or almond meal (120 g)
- 1/4 cup tapioca flour or cornstarch (30g) or just use more almond flour
Instructions
- Add the chickpeas, aquafaba, onion, garlic, tomatoes, basil, salt, cumin, paprika, cayenne and pepper to the bowl of a food processor. Blitz into a thick, chunky paste.
- Add the almond flour and starch to the bowl. Blend into a thick, soft and slightly sticky paste-like mixture.
- Scoop out about 1/2 cup of the mixture (about 100 grams worth) and form into six patties - about 1/2 inch thick and 4 inches wide.
- Line a big plate or small baking sheet with parchment paper and add the shaped patties in a single layer. Cover and place in the fridge and chill for at least an hour to firm up.
Baking Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C. Grease or line a large baking sheet. Add the uncooked patties to the baking sheet. Lightly spray the patties with cooking spray or brush with a little bit of oil.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until burgers a firm and golden brown on top. Halfway though the cook time, flip the patties over and spray/brush with oil.
- Remove from oven, assemble into burgers and enjoy!
Stove Top Instructions
- Heat a large skillet (nonstick/well seasoned) over a medium-high heat. Add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. When the oil is hot, gently add the patties to the pan. Cook three patties at a time so you have enough room to flip.
- Let cook about 5-7 minutes on the first side with moving. Use a spatula to gently flip and cook about 5-6 minutes on the other side. If needed, add more oil to the pan.
- Remove the cooked patties from the skillet and transfer to a wire rack. Wipe down the pan if needed, add more oil and cook the remaining burgers.
- Assemble into burgers and enjoy!
Jess says
I know this is an older recipe posting, but I wanted to try this and wasn’t sure what you mean by dry the chickpeas … Do I just drain them and let them dey on a baking sheet, if so for how long? Or do I dry them in the oven? Just wanted some direction so I get this right cause it looks amazing!
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Jess! You just want to pat the chickpeas dry with a paper towel or kitchen towel. They don’t need to be bone dry – the idea is to just dry them off a little bit after they’ve been rinsed in water. Too much leftover moisture before blending everything together might make for an overly wet burger patty which can be tricky to handle. Hope that helps!
Jorden says
My husband just deemed these his favorite veggie burgers, and I make lots of veggie burgers ;). I had to make them stovetop because it is WAY too hot to use the oven, but I bet they are even more delicious when baked!! =)
Sarah says
Yay! So glad you guys enjoyed them! Thanks Jorden!
Huma says
Hi do you have a recipe for the buns as well? Thank you
Sarah says
I’m sorry I don’t! We’re lucky enough to have a decent selection of gluten free burger buns at our local grocery store
Alicia Ogard says
Hi there! I was wondering what I could use in substitution for the almonds? Would oat flour work? Or would you highly suggest almonds? Also, this recipe looks delicious!
Sarah says
Hi Alicia! I haven’t tried it yet with oat flour but I do think that would be a good substitute!
Alicia Ogard says
These were good! I did end up grinding almonds to make this but will try again with oat flour another time! Tasted like a vegan pizza burger at times!
Sarah says
Awesome! Really glad you enjoyed it!
Caitlin says
Could you use almond flour instead of ground almonds?
Sarah says
Yes! Though you will probably need more almond flour that almond meal since they have different masses. Add more almond flour a tablespoon at a time when you’re forming your patties until the mixture sticks better. If there’s too much moisture they’ll fall apart
Charlie says
Hello,
Strange question. I am thinking of bringing these into work for lunch. But don’t want to use the microwave to heat them up. I just want to double check that they are fine to eat cold?
Sarah says
That shouldn’t be a problem! I sometimes broke up some leftovers to eat in salads
Bianca says
Hi. I tried this, I followed the recipe but… I ended up with a mess of crumbly (if delicious) food !
Where did I go wrong?? Please help.
Sarah says
Hi Bianca! Glad you still liked the taste even though they crumbled up on you! It sounds like there might have been too much moisture in the patties – that’s usually the problem with veggie burgers that fall apart. If you ever wanted to make these again I’d recommend adding more almonds or even adding a couple tablespoons of tapioca or corn starch to create a little more stickiness. That a very gentle cooking should help!
Abbey says
Could I use sweet onion instead? Would they taste as good? It’s all I have on hand and I’m in dinner prep mode;)
Sarah says
That should be totally fine! It might affect the taste a tiny bit, but not at all in a bad way!
Allie Bell says
Can I refrigerate or freeze these? If so, for how long?
Sarah says
Refrigerating these should be alright, but I’m not sure about freezing them. I looked up what you would normally do for freezing veggie burgers and I saw this post by Oh She Glows about freezing burgers. http://ohsheglows.com/2012/08/09/how-to-prep-and-freeze-veggie-burgers-a-tutorial/ She made a note that freezing the chickpea burgers didn’t go so well because there was too much moisture after defrosting – they ended up falling apart. Since I’ve never tried freezing these myself I can’t say for sure how they would turn out, but based on her experience I wouldn’t recommend it. As for refrigerating these, they should keep well in the fridge for at least 4-5 days
Cherryl says
Allergic to almonds,can they be omitted
Sarah says
The almonds work kind of like a breadcrumb here that helps with binding. If it were me I would try substituting with breadcrumbs in its place – that being said I haven’t tried it that way so I can’t say with 100% certainty that it would work, but I think it should. Hope that’s helpful!