These flavorful chickpeas are full of colorful veggies and rolled into amazing healthy chickpea balls! They are vegan, protein and fiber-packed, oil-free, and gluten-free!
Enjoy these delicious chickpea balls plain or serve them with our easy 5-minute Walnut Sauce or our quick and creamy Smooth Cashew Sauce.
They make a perfect to-go lunch, a tasty snack, or a healthy family dinner. Abundant in vegetables and spices, they are protein, vitamin, and antioxidant-rich yet full of flavor and tastiness.
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Simple Whole Food Ingredients
The recipe for these tasty chickpea balls is plant-based. They are cooked without any oil or other processed ingredients. They are baked, not fried. Here are the several simple ingredients you’ll need:
- chickpeas – I cooked my own chickpeas, however, you can also use canned
- parsley – use fresh parsley
- vegetables – I used carrot, red pepper, and onion
- sweet corn – I used frozen, you can alo use canned
- green peas – I used frozen, canned is also fine
- flax seed – use ground flaxseed (you can easily grind whole flax seeds in a blender)
- spices – you need fresh garlic, paprika, cumin, curry powder, coriander, and salt
For the full ingredients list, measurements, and instructions, please find the recipe card below.
How to serve
You can enjoy these healthy chickpea balls as part of a main mail or snack, or appetizer. Here are some serving suggestions:
- Dip them in any kind of sauce or dip, such as this easy and smooth Universal Cashew Sause or 5-minute Walnut Sauce. You can try also try them with this Creamy Zucchini Dip.
- Enjoy these chickpea balls in a pita/sandwich wrap with sauce and veggies
- Serve them with a big rich salad, like this Cucumber Carrot Salad or Broccoli and Tofu Green Salad.
- Make a colorful buddha bowl together wih some veggies, greens, cooked rice, noodles, avocado
- Make a burger – shape the mixture into patties and use them in your veggie burger
Health Promoting Vegan Chickpea Balls
- Only healthy whole natural plant food ingredients, oil-free and no sugars!
- No animal products and no oils are used so that you are protected against heart disease, diabetes, even cancer!
- Gluten-free
- Chickpeas and peas are probably one of the best sources of protein as well as resistant starch which is important for gut health.
- Fiber-rich and contain only healthy complex carbs which are slow to digest, keep you full for longer and stop you from overeating.
- Broccoli, onions, and garlic are abundant in isothiocyanates or organosulfur compounds that are shown to prevent disease and detoxify the body.
- Fresh parsley, black pepper, curry, coriander, and cumin are also antioxidant and phytonutrient-rich, fighting inflammation, oxidative stress, and aging.
- Omega-3 and lignan-rich flax seeds boost your immune system and protect your brain.
- Baked, not fried to preserve nutrition
These Baked Chickpea Balls are:
- plant-based (vegan)
- whole food
- oil-free
- nut-free
- gluten-free
- made with simple pantry ingredients
- packed with healthy plant protein
- perfect for vegan lunch or dinner
more Vegan Nuggets & Burgers
- Sweet Potato Black Bean Burgers
- Homemade Falafel Recipe
- Delicious White Bean Nuggets
- Veggie Zucchini Burgers
- Cauliflower Burger Patties
If you give these Baked Chickpea Balls a try, I’d love a comment and recipe rating below. You can snap a picture and don’t forget to tag me in your Instagram or Facebook post with @wellnessdove and #wellnessdove, I would love to see your remakes!
Baked Chickpea Balls
Ingredients
- 5 cups (750 g) cooked chickpeas, 26 oz
- ¼ bunch (30 g) fresh parsley, 1 oz, chopped
- 1 (100 g) onion, 3.5 oz
- 4 cloves garlic
- ½ cup (65 g) frozen sweet corn, 2.3 oz
- ½ cup (65 g) frozen green peas, 2.3 oz
- 1 medium (130 g) carrot, 4.5 oz, diced
- ½ cup (70 g) red pepper, 2.4 oz, diced
- 3 tbsp ground flax seed
- 2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp coriander
- 2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Place the frozen corn, green peas and diced carrot in a saucepan with ½ cup (120 ml) water. Bring to a boil and cook for 10 mins. Once ready, drain the water.
- Meanwhile, put the onion, garlic, cooked chickpeas, and chopped parsley in a food processor. If your food processor is small you'll need to work in batches. Pulse for a few minutes. You may need to scrape down the sides from time to time. Do this until everything is well mixed. Put the mixture in a large bowl.
- Add the cooked and drained corn, peas, and carrot, and the diced red pepper to the bowl as well. Season with paprika, cumin, curry, coriander, and salt. Add the ground flax seed and stir everything well.
- Take about a full teaspoon of the mixture and roll into small balls or patties. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 20 minutes.
- Enjoy them topped with our quick 5-minute Cashew Sauce.
Notes
- If you use dry chickpeas, you'll need about 2 cups (360 g). Soak them overnight (for 12 hours). Then, put them in a pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Cook for about 40 mins or until soft.
- You can shape the chickpea mixture into balls or patties and make a veggie burger.
- You can add different vegetables to the balls according to your taste or leave some out.
Nutrition
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I know these were intended to be vegan but if vegetarian do you think adding an egg as a binder would help? Just a thought…
Thank you for your question! Adding an egg as a binder could definitely help with the texture if you’re okay with making them vegetarian.
Good afternoon, what a lovely recipe and Very taste. However, the mixture was crushed after baked and the balls were not tight. Any tips or suggestions;
Hi Konstantina,
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the flavor! For firmer chickpea balls, a couple of adjustments might help. Firstly, ensure the chickpeas are thoroughly drained before blending to reduce moisture. Also, consider adding a binding agent like a bit more ground flax seeds to help hold the mixture together. Additionally, chilling the mixture before forming the balls can help them keep their shape during baking. I hope these tips help, and let me know if you have any other questions!
I had an idea. What about a tamarind sauce like a person might get with veggie samosas! Dates are a good sweetener. I would have to see if I could figured the other ingredients. If I did that, I might swap out the parsley in favor of cilantro. Hmm.
I had an idea. What about a tamarind sauce like a person might get with veggie samosas! Dates are a good sweetener and if have to see if I could figured the other ingredients. If I did that, I might swap out the parsley in favor of cilantro. Hmm.
Very tasty and easy to make. I made exactly 33 but had added 1/4 cup of adamame, replaced the red pepper with jarred cactus and played with the size to see if larger or smaller they cooked differently—they did not. However, large or small the underside was wet after turning them over and they were not crispy or brown so I put them into the oven for another 12 minutes at 375° F. Next time I will bake them at 375° for 30 minutes turning them after 20 minutes. They fell apart once pierced with a fork so I may try adding a couple tablespoons of oat flour, 1/4 cup of quinoa and/or 1/4 cup of cooked red lentils. Thanks for the recipe.
These little chickpea veggie balls smelled so good while baking, and tasted just as yummy. They made me think of Indian food, which I love. The one teaspoon size balls yielded about 75 bite-size balls, which was more work than necessary, so I will make small patties next time. I expected the balls to get a bit of a crust while baking, but that didn’t happen, even with a longer baking time. I may try dusting them with chickpea flour next time. They fell apart when I tried piercing them with a fork. The cashew sauce was bland, so I will skip it next time. This recipe would make a wonderful filling for samosas!
I made some a bit larger and ended up with exactly 33. I expected a crispy crust too. I ended up turning them over to expose a moist underside so I turned up the heat to 375° F. and baked them for another 12 minutes. They still did not get golden brown and crispy but they tasted great. Also, I substituted jarred cactus for the red pepper and added 1/4 cup of adamame. Lastly, they fell apart more than I would have liked so next time I may add a couple tablespoons of oat flour, 1/4 cup of quinoa and/or perhaps a 1/2 cup of red lentils.
What ingredient gives you 10 grams of saturated fat in this recipe ? I think that is a typo? I see no added oil, except the polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats from the flax. Flax also gives you omega-3 and omega -6 fatty acids!
Hey Vicki,
You are right, there is no meaningful amount of saturated fat in this recipe. It’s probably a typo, I’ll check it out immediately.
Also, I agree, flax are such a great source of healthy fats and immune-boosting lignans! That’s why I use them anywhere I can!
Enjoy the recipe.
Can these be freezed for later dates?
Hi Casey,
yes, you can freeze the cooked chickpea balls in freezer-safe containers for up to 2-3 months.