Vegetarian Chickpea Milanese made with a chickpea flour cutlet topped with arugula salad with canned chickpeas, tomatoes, and fresh lemon.
Chickpea Milanese
There’s a nearby restaurant that makes this vegetarian Chickpea Milanese that I loved so much I had to recreate it – with my own spin, of course! Milanese is one of my favorite things to order when I go out. So, when I tried this vegetarian one, I thought it was genius. It’s served with an arugula chickpea salad with tomatoes and fresh lemon. Chickpeas have plenty of protein and fiber, making them so versatile in vegetarian and vegan diets like in these Air Fryer Falafel. I add them to my salads, swap out potatoes for chickpeas when making breakfast and even have them in place of chicken in this buffalo chickpea salad.
What does Milanese style mean?
Milanese is a popular Italian dish made with veal, chicken, or fish. Milanese style is when the meat is coated in eggs and breadcrumbs and fried.
What are chickpea cutlets made of?
These healthy chickpea cutlets have six ingredients.
- Chickpea flour: If you’ve never cooked with chickpea flour (also called garbanzo bean flour) before, it’s a protein-rich, gluten-free flour made of chickpeas. If you can’t find it at your regular supermarket, Whole Foods sells it, or you can order it online from Amazon.
- Cornstarch
- Olive oil
- Seasoning: Garlic powder and kosher salt
- Breadcrumbs: Seasoned breadcrumbs give these patties extra flavor. To keep them gluten-free, use gluten-free panko or make them vegan with unseasoned crumbs.
How to Make Vegetarian Chickpea Cutlets
- Mix water, chickpea flour, cornstarch, olive oil, garlic powder, and salt in a bowl. The dough should hold together well and be slightly sticky. If it is too sticky, add a bit more flour.
- Put flour on your hands and roll the dough into a ball.
- Divide it into four and form four balls.
- Put the breadcrumbs in a shallow bowl. Place a ball on top of the crumbs and press it down until it’s about a quarter-inch thick. Flip it over to coat the other side with crumbs.
- Repeat the process with the remaining dough, and then cook them in a skillet over medium heat for a couple of minutes on each side.
Note: I did try to make these patties in the air fryer but didn’t have as much success. If you have leftovers, you could reheat them in the air fryer to crisp them up. You can store the chickpea cutlets in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
@skinnytaste Chickpea Milanese with Arugula Salad is perfect for #meatlessmonday #chickpeasrecipe #chickpea #vegetarian
More Chickpea Recipes You’ll Love:
- Grilled Chicken Chickpea Salad
- Air Fryer Falafel
- Arugula Pasta Salad with Chickpeas and Sun Dried Tomatoes
- Mediterranean Bean Salad
- Escarole and Chickpea Soup with Garlic Toast
Chickpea Milanese
Ingredients
- 4 ounces chickpea flour
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs, or gluten-free panko (unseasoned to make vegan)
- 6 cups baby arugula
- 1 cup halved grape or cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup canned chickpeas, drained
- 1 lemon, sliced into wedges
Instructions
- Combine 1/3 cup water in a large bowl with chickpea flour, cornstarch, 1 tablespoon olive oil, garlic powder, and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt.
- Mix well with a spatula, it should hold together well to form a ball and be only slightly sticky. If too sticky, add a little more flour.
- Flour your hands and roll it into a ball. Divide the mixture in 4 portions and form 4 balls.
- Put breadcrumbs into a large shallow bowl, place a ball on top and press with your fingers adding some crumbs on top so your fingers don’t stick to form a thin cutlet about 1/4 inch thin. Flip to cover both sides with breadcrumbs.
- Repeat with the remaining balls.
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the cutlets on both sides for about 2-3 minutes on each side, until golden.
- Divide 1 1/2 cups arugula on each plate with 1/4 cup each of tomatoes and chickpeas seasoned with salt and pepper and serve over the cutlets, with plenty of lemon for squeezing.
If your patties seem too crumbly, try getting your hands wet before forming them first. I like to wash my hands, shake off the excess water, then go straight to the dough without drying my hands on a towel. The extra moisture from my hands helps them stay together before pressing into the breadcrumbs. I love this recipe! We like topping it with marinara and dairy free mozzarella and then broiling a few minutes for a spin on a vegan Parmesan.
Sadly this recipe didn’t work for me. Im wondering if 4oz flour doesn’t equal 1/2 cup flour?
I have to say that this is the first recipe that I have not liked! I’ve been making your recipes for years now. I was able to make the fritters, but they were dry and lacked flavor. Oh well.
These are delicious, quick and easy! I love them as prepared in the recipe above, but they are also equally delicious dipped in chick fil a sauce or ketchup. 🙂
Have to agree with Ann. I tried this recipe 3 times with three different batches and got the same results. the pancakes crumble and are so fragile they cant be flipped or flattened without disintegrating. I managed to get a few in the pan where they continued to fall apart. was very disappointing. First recipe ever to fail me. Such a bummer because I have loved everything else I’ve tried. I’m wondering if maybe its the cornstarch that makes it so crumbly?
Excellent recipe ! The lemon sets off the flavors 100%
Hi. Would it taste similar if there were no breadcrumbs? Like would it be like a chickpea tortilla then?
It wouldn’t be milanese, I didn’t try it without crumbs honestly
This was lovely. The perfect summer dish. Flavorful, crispy, and light. Similar to falafel without the hassle. Will definitely make again!
So glad you liked it Ben!
Hi! Thank you for the recipe! Used homemade grinned chickpea flour, did not have corn starch ,so tapioca starch came to help. Instead of breadcrumbs, made crumbs out of 100% chickpea crisps. Served with topped greek style yogurt on it and on the side green bean, cherry tomatoes, roasted sweet potatoes dressed with lemon infused flaxseed oil salad.it was interesting way to use chickpea flour. I think all subs worked properly and actually was very quick to make.
Love hearing your version of this, thank you for sharing!!
I usually love your recipes as does my daughter who pretty much only cooks Skinny Taste. But this recipe does jot work. I have fresh chickpea flour so that is not the issue. After adding the first ingredients I had cornmeal type substance. I added more water, same, added a little more oil, same. Finally after tripling the water I was able to create a ball. Small balls went OK but when I went to flatten, they crumbled yet again. They are smaller and than yours and probably thicker but if I flattened more, I would have crumbles.
I have not cooked and eaten yet. This is strictly the frustration in execution.
Not sure how it went wrong, they should be thin. I just shared a video so maybe thats helpful/
Did you do 4 oz by weight or volume?
I’m wondering the same. Can anyone answer this? Thanks!
By weight.
I bought chickpea flour a while back and never took the time to look for a recipe to use it, so yesterday I opened my emails a saw this, I had no excuse then, I went ahead and made this recipe for lunch. At first, I thought, oh no, this is not going to work, totally different from what I am used to, but it actually tasted really good! I ate the cutlets topped with hummus and arugula and it was perfect, it was a great first experience with the chickpea flour! thanks!
Great, I love this recipe!!
Could this be made with AP flour instead of chickpea flour? I’m not sure I’ll be able to find it easily in Canada. Thanks!
No, sorry but I wonder if it’s hard to make your own flour by grinding dry chickpeas?
Thank you! I found some chickpea flour so will add this to my meatless Monday menu!
Great!
Is this vegan too? Looks great! Thank you for recipes like this!
Yes
Vegan if you use vegan breadcrumbs
Looks delicious!
Could you use canned chic peas and omit the water instead of chic pea flour?
I don’t think the texture will be the same, it will be more grainy like a falafel but sure
We are allergic to corn products. What can we used to replace the cornstarch in this recipe?
You could use AP or rice flour.