Makes 8 cutlets
This recipe is a Veganomicon favorite! Vegan food that will put your lonely steak knives to work? I’m in! As the years pass I make modifications to all my recipes, as you probably do, too. This one is pretty faithful to the original, only I’ve increased the quantity because might as well. Why not have extra cutlets for tucking into sandwiches or chopping up over a Caesar salad?
I’ve paired down the ingredient list a little bit — it doesn’t exactly need the garlic and lemon peel, although I’ve listed them as optional. Sometimes I’m just not in the mood to break out the microplane grater (I can get pretty damn lazy.) I’ve also taken a few pictures so that you can see exactly how they should look throughout the prep. And last but not least, because people always ask, I’ve added food processor instructions. Hopefully this makes the recipe even easier and more foolproof then it was, and I think it was already pretty easy.
A couple of other things: Wheat gluten can vary from brand to brand. These come out great with either Arrowhead Mills Brand or Bob’s Red Mill, although I think Bob’s brand makes them a bit firmer. Also, you should only use storebought breadrumbs unless you plan on tweaking the recipe. I’ve tried homemade breadcrumbs and they come out way to mushy.
The texture we’re looking for is firm and a bit crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. I find that for the best texture you should let the cutlets rest after cooking for 10 minutes or so before digging in.
1 16 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup vital wheat gluten
1 cup plain breadcrumbs
1/2 cup vegetable broth or water
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
Olive oil for pan frying
Optional ingredients:
4 cloves garlic, pressed or grated with a Microplane grater
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
In a mixing bowl, mash the chickpeas together with the oil until no whole chickpeas are left. Use an avocado masher or a strong fork. Alternately, you can pulse the chickpeas in a food processor. We’re not making hummus here, so be careful not to puree them, just get them mashed up. You can also sneak the garlic cloves in here instead of grating them, just pulse them up before adding the chickpeas. If using a food processor, transfer to a mixing bowl when done.
Add the remaining ingredients and knead together for about 3 minutes, until strings of gluten have formed. The strings should look like this (click photo for an even closer up view):
Preheat a large heavy-bottomed skillet over low-medium heat. Cast iron works best. If you have two pans and want to cook all the cutlets at once then go for it, otherwise you’ll be making them in two batches.
Divide the cutlet dough into 2 equal pieces. Then divide each of those pieces into 4 separate pieces (so you’ll have 8 all together). To form cutlets, knead each piece in your hand for a few moments and then flatten and stretch each one into a roughly 6 by 4 inch rectangular cutlet shape. The easiest way to do this is to form a rectangle shape in your hands and then place the cutlets on a clean surface to flatten and stretch them. (OK, maybe my surface wasn’t that clean.)
Add a moderately thin layer of olive oil to the bottom of the pan. Place the cutlets in the pan and cook on each side for 6 to 7 minutes. Add more oil, if needed, when you flip the cutlets. They’re ready when lightly browned and firm to the touch. I’ve found that they cook more thoroughly if I cover the pan in between flips. I also use my spatula to press down on them while they’re cooking, that way they cook more evenly.
Now let them rest for a bit and you’re done!
Thought I’d share one change I made to these. I replace half of the breadcrumbs with cracked wheat. It gives the cutlets a more interesting texture, in my opinion.
chickpea flour makes awesome crepes!
these look amazing…i defiantly need to try them out soon. i absolutely love anything with chick peas. these would be great for dorm room vegans. :]
Does anyone have any ideas for something to substitute the wheat gluten with?
oof didn’t see the above link :/ stupid
In my experience, Panko works AWESOME in bean burgers, cutlets, etc., but I have not tried it in this particular recipe, which is so tasty and satisfying as it is.
Where I live (west Africa), today is an upsetting annual holiday for a vegan: the day of sacrifice. My (culinary) response has been to make these chickpea cutlets, although today I am feeling averse to the word “cutlet”. But it’s a great recipe and this is not the first time I’ve made it. Many thanks.
Because of the great reviews I took a chance and actually TRIPPLED the recipe first time out. We have a family of 6 and a visitor. They were a HUGE hit. I made them round and a little fatter than they should have been, so they took a bit longer to cook. I was worried at first b/c they seemed stringy in the middle at first, but I put them into some gravy and allowed them to continue cooking in gravy in the oven and they were ABSOLUTELY AWESOME. Next time I’ll definitely make the cutlet shape, but these are not going to waste for sure. Great taste and texture! I’m sure this will become a staple in our home. Thanks for (another) great recipe!
I have always used fresh breadcrumbs . I think that I usually put the bread in the toaster first to dry out. They always came out great! I will have to try it with store bought breadcrumbs to check out the difference. But I will have to try to make an extra stop at the regular grocery store and skip the co-op their breadcrumbs are expensive!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE these, they’re like the chickpea gravy but in a “meatier” form. These are something I’m going to be making alot of 🙂
Is it ok to leave out the sage, the store didn’t have any, and i got everything last minute 🙁
I am making these for TG, but I was going to make the dough either tonight or in the morning to fry later tomorrow. Will the gluten in it do anything weird if I let it sit in the fridge overnight or out at room temp for a few hours tomorrow? I’ve made these several times before and they are awesome, but I’ve never made up the dough in advance. Thanks!
Just made them last night for the first time. OMG, where have these been all my life. An instant staple in my fridge/freezer fo sho!
My husband made these for Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. They were fantastic! Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe!
Ana, you say you used quick cooking oats instead of bread crumbs. Did you use them whole?
Thanks.
I made these last night and the family LOVED them. My husband had seconds. That was a bonus since when I was making it he said, “Is that like….fake meat??” LOL I used homemade BBQ sauce instead of soy sauce because my 4 year old is allergic to soy. I can’t wait to eat the leftover one for lunch!
My first time using vital wheat gluten – holy protein! They were really filling without being heavy and causing a food coma. Awesome! Can’t wait to play around with the flavors.
This is a fantastic recipe! My bf asks for them for dinner every night. I think we need to make a quadruple batch 😉
This recipe is awesome! Second time to make it this week! This time I ended up seasoning with diced green chilies, garlic, mexican chili powder, cumin, and oregano. They are yum! Barely got them to the dinner table before they were all gone! 🙂
Chickpea Cutlets were my first Veganomicon recipe!
thank you for this…it is a staple now. I freeze them with no problems…even though they really do not require much work at all to make fresh it is still nice when im a lazy butt and just pop in microwave for 2 mins then right to the pan.
Made these again, today, for guests. Everyone loved them–meat-eaters and vegetarians and vegans alike. Many thanks! A great recipe.
Ok. I feel like a moron, because I made these for my in laws and they were chewy and gummy inside the cutlet. Totally grossed out and inedible. Not to mention embarrassing. Perhaps my in laws stove was too high? I set it on low and it still turned out this way. Any suggestions? I did try these (a friend made them) and they were absolutely amazing! please help. :o)
far too chewy! it became virtually inedible. such a bummer too, since the flavor was on point. i think i’ll try it without the wheat gluten and just bread crumbs. I felt sick after eating just one cutlet.
Made this for the first time for Xmas dinner. After reading some comments and reviews around the web, I was concerned they would be too chewy/stringy for my liking (I have found most seitan dishes I’ve tried too rubbery). Tried this with half the amount of wheat gluten (1/2 c in a double batch) and twice the broth (1/2 c). Minimal kneading and pressed it to about 1/2″ thick because I wanted ’em crisp. However it was a challenge getting the oil the right temp for pan-frying: first cutlet was perfect; others browned unevenly. Will try baking next time. Omni sister said it reminded her of a schnitzel. Nicely tender and the chickpea flavour came through.
I know most people don’t like hydrogenated oils, but I made some chickpea patties at my mom’s last year and used Ritz crackers instead of bread crumbs (her breadcrumbs had cheese!) I then baked until they were almost cooked and lightly fried them to finish cooking. They were the MOST delicious cutlets I’ve ever had!!
I just made these for lunch and they came out fantastic! I had no sage and substituted with marjoram. Also, I had no plain breadcrumbs. My Italian flavored breadcrumbs probably added to the flavor. Yum! Plus, I put in 2 cloves of garlic. I’m newly vegan (junk food vegetarian for about 10 years), and I’m finally eating right after all these years. With all the new recipes I’ve tried lately, I don’t like going out to eat anymore. Thanks so much!
I’m an omnivore, having said that these are brilliant! I just made em’ for my vegan fiance and I.
So cruchie on the outside and tender on the inside. One of the best cutlets (meat or not) I’ve ever had.
Served with garlic mashed potatoes, sauteed broccoli & green beans, and a sage pepper gravy. I will be making this recipe again in the very very near furure………….great stuff.
Yummm these sounds great. I made my man some lentil burgers the other night, and they were really crumbly and not too flavorful… he said they tasted like ass. Maybe I can fool him with these, LoL.
For those asking for nutritional info, I plugged the recipe into an estimator:
Serving Size: 1 cutlets
Amount per Serving
Calories 227
Calories from Fat 78.8
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 8.75g 13%
Saturated Fat 1.2g 6%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 874.5mg 36%
Total Carbohydrate 23g 7%
Dietary Fiber 4g 16%
Sugars 1g
Protein 17g 34%
Est. Percent of Calories from:
Fat 35%
Carbs 40%
Protein 29%
I am trying to be conscious of my sodium intake so I did sub 1/2 of the soy sauce for braggs.
Just know that the sodium is higher than listed above if you opt to make them with the full quarter cup of soy sauce.
Making these right now..can’t wait to see how they turn out. I already pan-fried these puppies and finishing them up in the oven for extra crispiness!
Just got done eating dinner….My boyfriend and I enjoyed the cutlets, but believe they can be made even better. Next time I will reduce the amount of wheat gluten, add a little more water/broth (probably 1/4 cup more) and play around with the spices more. I’ll try and add more chickpeas too next time. For those of us who can’t really afford buying wheat gluten ALL the time..
We had these these this evening. We had trouble getting them to cook all the way through, they were a bit soggy in the middle. My 4 yo loved them but that could be that they were a rare vehicle for ketchup (his choice of condiment, no one else’s). We will try again, playing around with cooking temp, moisture, etc.
I didn’t use the lemon zest, and used water instead of broth (because I’m lazy) and these turned out friggin awesome. I did have soft middles in the first batch, so I made the rest thinner – a little more than 1/4″ high. Thanks Isa!
I was excited to try these but had the same bad luck as a couple of other posters–the cutlets were crisp on the outside but gooey like dough in the middle. I cooked them for the recommended length of time, but I notice the recipe doesn’t say what heat level to use. Could someone help me out with that? Should i have cooked them longer over lower heat? i ended up putting these in the oven to try to cook them all the way through–will see how that worked.
Off-topic: Also made the red-curry sweet potato purple kale soup today and it is SO good. Thanks!