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This fluffy, vegan omelet is fluffy and full of veggies but no tofu. Learn how to make the perfect egg-free chickpea flour omelet! This post was originally published on sept 2 , 2014
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Vegan omelets are tricky. Some have the right texture, some have the right flavor, some have a bit of both but not exactly. Chickpea flour makes a good substitute for an omelet, it being high in protein and yellow :). There’s 10 gm protein and 5 grams fiber in each chickpea omelet! They however can have a dense texture once they cool. You want to serve these right off the skillet for the best fluffier texture.
This format of vegan omelet recipe comes courtesy of my husband, Vivek. If you want to get to know Vivek, we did a recipe video together on YouTube with my chickpea loaf.
When Vivek cooks weekend brunch, he goes for Indian breakfast dishes like chilla,(which is unleavened chickpea flour pancakes) or poha .
One weekend, he decided to up his game and experiment with my chickpea flour omelet recipe. He wanted buttery onion-tomato uttapam (South Indian pancakes made gotu style from his fave breakfast place), so he improvised to make the chickpea flour pancake with onion and tomato slices.
I often make it his way. Other times I chop up veggies and add to the batter along with some vegan cheese.
I add some baking soda and non dairy yogurt for fluffiness and moisture, some flax seed meal for binding, Kala namak(Indian sulphur salt) for the eggy flavor.
This vegan omelet is super versatile! Make it your own by adding nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavor or leaning more into that Indian chilla flavor with some carom seedsor Cumin seeds.
For an even fluffier chickpea flour omelet, blend the batter in a blender. That will add more air to the batter. The texture is best when hot off the skillet. Chickpea flour, lentil flour pancakes set up and get denser as they sit. So serve freshly made. You can make the batter and refrigerate for upto 3 days so you can make the omelet when needed!
No matter how you prepare it, this egg-free omelette is absolutely delicious with a light, fluffy texture.
Why You’ll Love this Vegan Omelet
- light and fluffy texture, very similar to eggs
- incredible flavor from garlic powder, black salt, cumin, and veggies
- versatile! Play with mix-ins and even adjust the texture to suit your tastes.
- naturally gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free.
More Vegan Egg breakfast
Chickpea Flour Vegan Omelet
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup chickpea flour
- 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal or chia seed meal
- 1 tablespoon potato starch, or tapioca starch or cornstarch
- 1 tablespoons nutritional yeast, optional
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kala namak, Indian sukphur salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Wet Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon non dairy plain yogurt, unsweetened or lightly sweetened
- 1 1/4 cup water or stock
- veggies, like sliced tomato, red onion, mushrooms, jalapeño slices or pickled jalapeño slices, and chopped cilantro, chopped spinach
- mix-ins, like vegan cheese and green onions, optional
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients. Add the non-dairy yogurt and pour 1/2 cup of the water to the dry mixture, while mixing in. Once the water is mostly combined, Pour more water, keep mixing, stopping after every 1/4 cup to combine well, keep adding more water to make a thick pourable batter. Mix well so there are no lumps. (If you dump the entire water into the flour mixture, it will get lumpy and be really hard to get a smooth batter). You can also blend the ingredients in a blender. Let this batter sit for 2 minutes. If you want, you can add vegan cheese, green onions, and other mix-ins to the batter at this point.
- Heat a heavy-bottomed skillet at medium heat. When the skillet is hot, brush oil to grease. Pour 1/3 cup or more batter using a ladle and spread on the pan, (spread using your ladle or by moving the pan) then place the vegetable slices on the batter. Make thinner and smaller pancakes to get a hang of these to start with. Alternately, you can mix things like vegan cheese and chopped veggies into the batter
- Cover the pan and cook for 2 mins then uncover and cook for another 2-3 minutes, depending on your pan and the thickness of the vegan omelet. The first one usually takes longer as the pan heats up.
- Once the center is set, flip and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes and serve. For extra eggy flavor, sprinkle a pinch of Kala namak on the omelet. The Kala namak flavor fades in cooking, so use it in the end to add a stronger egg flavor.Serve hot with ketchup, Sriracha, chutneys, roasted potatoes, hash browns or other breakfast fixin's.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Ingredients
- chickpea flour – This is the base for your vegan omelet. Learn about the difference between besan and chickpea flour, if you’re not sure which is which.
- potato starch- or cornstarch. Adds a bit of binding
- flax meal – Or use chia seeds. This is the binder that helps the omelette stay together.
- salt and spices – Kala namak gives this vegan omelet an eggy flavor. You also season it with turmeric (for color), garlic powder, black pepper, and table salt.
- baking soda – Helps it rise and get fluffy.
- non-dairy yogurt – The yogurt gives this an amazing, eggy texture with no eggs!
- veggies and mix-ins – Use veggies of choice! I am using tomato, red onion, spinach, and mushrooms to top one of my chickpea omelets and making another one plain but adding vegan cheese and green onions to the batter.
💡Tips
- You want a smooth, pourable batter. Whisk in more water by pouring it slowly so that it can incorporate into the flour instead of making pools of water in the batter
- You need a good nonstick or well-seasoned cast iron pan to make this recipe. Chickpea flour batter loves to stick to the pan! If it does stick, simply pivot from making an omelette to a scramble.
How to Make a Chickpea Flour Omelette
In a bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients.
Add the non-dairy yogurt and pour 1/2 cup of the water to the dry mixture, while mixing in. Once the water is mostly combined, Pour more water, keep mixing, stopping after every 1/4 cup to combine well, keep adding more water to make a thick pourable batter. (If you dump the entire water into the flour mixture, it will get lumps and be really hard to get a smooth batter). You can also blend the ingredients in a blender. Let this batter sit for 2 minutes. If you want, you can add vegan cheese, green onions, and other mix-ins to the batter at this point.
Let the batter sit for a few minutes.
Heat a heavy-bottomed skillet at medium heat. When the skillet is hot, brush oil to grease. Pour 1/3 cup or more batter using a ladle and spread on the pan, (spread using your ladle or by moving the pan) then place the vegetable slices on the batter. Make thinner and smaller pancakes to get a hang of these to start with. Alternately, you can mix things like vegan cheese and chopped veggies into the batter
Cover the pan and cook for 2 mins then uncover and cook for another 2-3 minutes, depending on your pan and the thickness of the vegan omelet. The first one usually takes longer as the pan heats up.
Once the center is set, flip and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes and serve. For extra eggy flavor, sprinkle a pinch of Kala namak on the omelet. The Kala namak flavor fades in cooking, so use it in the end to add a stronger egg flavor. Serve hot with ketchup, Sriracha, chutneys, roasted potatoes, hash browns or other breakfast fixin’s.
What to Serve with Chickpea Omelettes
Serve hot with ketchup, Sriracha, chutney, roasted breakfast potatoes, hash browns or other breakfast fixin’s.
Frequently Asked Questions
This chickpea omelet is naturally gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free (depending on the non dairy yogurt used). It’s also egg-free, corn-free, and coconut-free.
You can use besan(gran flour), you’ll need a bit less water to make the batter. Learn about the difference between besan and chickpea flour here
This is very delicious! I had it for breakfast and lunch from one batter. I omitted the onion and jalapeños, added lightly mushrooms. The chili hot sauce I put on top was a perfect compliment. I’ll have to make this for my family to see if they like it. If or, more for me.
I used besan flour and the liquid made it too watery, I added more flour. Next time I’ll try 1/2 cup and add more water when required.
So good!
Awesome! Yes, I mention it in the notes that with besan use less water (or more besan) to get a thick consistency. Besan is more finely ground and a different chickpea.
I use made a chickpea-egg recipe with crashed chickpea which was yummie so Im glad someone uses chickpea as the same egg alternative. In your recipe, I do not understand what role plays the yogurt, I would love to skip that. Is it possible?
yogurt makes the pancake softer and fluffier. you can omit it. the omelet will be flatter thats all.
I’m sooo happy I found you! Your recipes are divine and inspirational! I’m trying desperately to make these and they never seem to cook all the way through. Cooked on the outside but always wet in the middle. Any suggestions??
Hi Diele,
Here are a few things to try. Make a thinner batter so the pancakes are thinner and will cook faster. Cook longer on both sides (the pan and stove matter in terms of cooking time, thicken pans will take much longer, let both sides get golden brown), let the omelet sit for a minute or so before serving as it continues to cook after taking off heat as well. These chickpea pancakes are made thicker so they stay somewhat fluffy like omelets. There are some other variations on the blog as well from thinner crepes to fat cakey pancakes which work like burger patties. https://fettabbau-trim.today/?s=chickpea+omelet
Hello Richa,
I am a live plant- based loving foodie who just discovered your website and am quickly falling head -over- hills in love.
Even though, I lean toward largely a raw diet when preparing foods for my family, I must say your creativity and versatility is amazing! You are inspiring.
With regard to the chickpea omelette which looks enticing. As I prefer baking or dehydrating, do you think either of these methods will work as well?
Please let me know what you think. I cannot wait to prepare it for my family.
Thank you.
Thank you Rhonda!
Yes, you can bake this pancake. See my frittata recipes as they use a similar chickpea flour base and are baked. https://fettabbau-trim.today/?s=frittata
So sorry, I do write richa but machine keeps changing it.
Very kind, thank you Richard!
I made this today and it was delicious though I need practice at getting it to look pretty! Thank you so much for the recipe. I’ve just ordered your book and can’t wait for it to get here.
May I ask can I use white spelt flour?
With spelt, the result will be like a regular pancake, taste and texture wise. Chickpea flour/besan add a thick custard like texture and nutty eggy flavor that is enhanced by adding kala namak.
Hi! I accidentally bought kala chana besan (black chickpea flour). It’s not very dark but I wonder if it will still work. Either way I’m trying it! This recipe looks delicious!
Hi Sarah, thats fine. besan is usally made with brown chickpeas ( either skinned to remove the brown skin or unskinned). it will need less water to make a thicker batter thats all.
I tried this but it didn’t work for me. In fact, it turned out so badly that it was inedible & unfit for company. It needs more fluffiness. It was bland and dry, did not fold over easily like an omelette. It didn’t even taste minutely eggy. I’m surprised because when I make Burmese tofu it naturally has an eggy taste to it and it too is made with chickpea flour.
hmm, i am not sure what went wrong. was the batter quite thick? like pancake batter? What flour did you use, chickpea or besan?
Add a 1/2 tsp baking powder to the dry ingredients so it fluffs up even more.
You can also add more spices and herbs to the batter for flavor. I am not sure why it dried out, maybe it got cooked too long? The omelette tastre quite similar to burmese tofu, just fluffier.