Whip up these flavour-packed 1-Bowl Chickpea Fritters in about 20 minutes. Made mainly from pantry staples, these budget-friendly fritters are suitable for brunch, lunch, or dinner.

Taste Profile: Zesty with orange, fresh ginger, dried mint, and hot pepper flakes!

The Perfect Pairing: Minty orange yogurt recipe included!

Dietary Details: Plant-based, egg-free.

Time Commitment: About 20 minutes hands-on.

Ingredients

1-Bowl Chickpea Fritters

Chickpeas: Use home-cooked or canned cooked chickpeas. Chickpeas are an excellent, and inexpensive, source of plant-based protein!
Fresh Ginger: The fresh ginger gives the fritters a spicy bite! I don't recommend replacing with dried ginger as the zing contrasts well with the neutral-tasting chickpeas.
Hot Pepper Flakes: These provide a spicy counterpoint to the ginger, mint, and orange. If you don't like heat, you can omit them.
Dried mint: Dried mint has a more earthy, herbal flavour than fresh mint. I don't recommend fresh for this recipe as I think it would be too bold and sweet.
Aquafaba: This works as a binder/egg-replacer. Aquafaba is the liquid in the can of cooked chickpeas, or the liquid from cooking them yourself. Learn more about this versatile and almost free egg-replacer.
Cornstarch: A little bit of cornstarch helps make the fritters crispy.
Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice: This is a budget-friendly way to get a bright orange flavour. We are only using a little bit for the fritters and accompanying yogurt - I just scoop it out of the container and then pop the whole can, covered, back into the freezer. If you want to use fresh orange juice, you can do that instead but you'll want to add about 1/4 teaspoon of orange zest to get that concentrated orange flavour.
White flour: I used white flour and have not tested with other types. If you are gluten-free, consider trying these with chickpea flour.
Salt: A little bit of salt lifts all the flavours. Omit if you are using canned, salted chickpeas and add as needed.
Oil: Use any neutral oil that can take high heat. I used about 2-3 tablespoons. enough for a thin layer on the bottom of the pan. You could use more if you want crispier fritters.

Tips: Canned versus HOmemade Chickpeas

Both canned and homemade chickpeas are relatively inexpensive sources of plant-based protein, with homemade being the least expensive option.
Cooking chickpeas from scratch is not difficult, but takes more time as you soak the dry beans for 6-8 hours before cooking. Once soaked, the cooking time can range from 30 minutes to 90 minutes depending on how old the chickpeas are and how soft you want them to be.
Canned chickpeas provide a fuss-free way to obtain aquafaba, which makes an excellent egg replacer. You can freeze any unused aquafaba.

Serving with Minty Orange Yogurt

I made a Minty Orange Yogurt that includes the same pops of flavour: frozen concentrated orange juice, fresh ginger, dried mint, and hot pepper flakes. You could also serve the fritters with plain yogurt or mayonnaise.

1-Bowl Chickpea Fritters

Visual Overview: Making 1-Bowl Chickpea Fritters

Optional Step 1: Make Minty Orange Yogurt

If you're going to make the yogurt, make it before you start the fritters since you'll want to eat the fritters hot out of the pan.

Add all the ingredients to a small bowl and stir.

Top-down view of ingredients for Minty Orange Yogurt

Making Minty Orange Yogurt

Step 2: Making the Fritters: Combine the spices, juice, and aquafaba.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the ginger, mint, hot pepper flakes, frozen concentrated orange juice, aquafaba, and salt.