Today I’ll be serving up some more plant-based witchcraft for you in the form of this vegan omelette, made from chickpea flour. Yep, you heard that right – chickpea flour. Powdered chickpeas. A fine, soft yellow powder that can magically transform into an unctuously pillow-y, almost pancake-like vegan omelette that you’ll be salivating over at the breakfast table. Pack inside it some caramelized onions, spinach and salty Kalamata olives, and drizzle on some creamy dill tahini sauce, and this is one dish you’ll be coming back to again and again – I guarantee it!
What’s In a Vegan Omelette Batter?
This vegan omelette batter is actually very similar to a pancake batter, in so much as it’s basically just flour, milk/water and some spices. One notable difference here however is that this batter is going to be thinner (so that it can spread around in the cast-iron more easily), and more importantly will also require no binders (such as an egg). Basically, chickpea flour can act as its own binder, as it holds together nicely of its own accord.
Here’s what you’ll need for the omelette batter:
- Chickpea flour
- Nutritional yeast
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Ground turmeric
- Unsweetened soy milk, or your favorite unsweetened plant-based milk
- Water
- Ground black pepper
Really, that’s it. Nothing too fancy or out of the ordinary is required to make this exceptional vegan omelette.
How To Cook a Chickpea Flour Omelette
This is probably the trickiest part of the entire recipe.
Cooking a vegan omelette made with chickpea flour is simple once you get the hang of it, but at first may seem daunting.
Once you’ve got the batter made, and the cast-iron is preheat over medium heat (that includes with some vegan butter or olive oil already melted too), you’re ready to start cooking your vegan omelette.
- Since this recipe yields two omelettes, pour just half of the batter into the skillet to begin making the first omelette.
- Immediately upon pouring half the batter in the pan, pick up the cast-iron from the heat and rotate it around gently, allowing the batter creep its way around the surface of the cast-iron until it reaches the sides of the pan. This will ensure your omelette cooks evenly, and also have a more pleasant, circular omelette-y shape. For this reason, you can also spray the sides of the cast-iron with cooking spray, too – this’ll prevent the batter from sticking there.
- Next, allow the omelette to cook until you see bubbles emerge all over, and it no longer looks wet. Test it by touching your finger to the omelette – if batter rubs off onto your finger, it’s probably not quite done. The cook time for one omelette should take about 3 – 4 minutes total. If you want to be really sure that it’s done, you can work a knife or spatula around the outside of the pan to lift up the omelette to check its doneness. You want a delicious golden brown tinge on the pan-side down.
- Once golden brown and no longer wet, transfer the omelette carefully to a plate using a spatula.
A Quick Dill Tahini Sauce
This is one of the most important aspects of the dish.
While this vegan omelette is very delicious, I do think that it needs a creamy element to really tie everything together. What better creamy thing than raw tahini?!
I use tahini all the time, and so I’m no stranger to creating a quick tahini sauces for when my recipes feel a little lacking of that particular umph. Truly, tahini is a versatile sesame seed paste that really adds a lot – both flavor-wise but also aesthetically.
Here’s what you’ll need for the dill tahini sauce:
- Raw tahini (you can use roasted, but raw just has less of a bitter flavor)
- Lemon juice
- Water
- Salt
- Dried dill (fresh dill is great too – probably about 1 tablespoon of fresh dill should do).
And there you have it – the perfect sauce to drizzle over top your chickpea omelette.
Also, check out these other recipes that employ tahini, if you’re curious!
- Butternut Squash Bowl with Cinnamon Tahini
- Roasted Cauliflower & Tahini Salad
- Tahini Scones
- Roasted Garlic Hummus
- Creamy Carrot Salad with Braised Chickpeas
- Green Lentil Fritters
I hope that you enjoy this vegan omelette using chickpea flour. Let me know what you think by leaving me a comment or recipe rating before you go – it’s always great to hear from you!
Caramelized Onion Chickpea Flour Omelette
Equipment
- Cast-iron pan or non-stick pan
- Cooking spray (optional)
Ingredients
- 2 – 3 tablespoons vegan butter (or olive oil), divided
- ½ yellow onion, cut into half-moon strips
- Couple handfuls spinach, about 2 – 3 cups
- ¼ cup halved Kalamata olives
For the omelette batter
- ⅔ heaping cup chickpea flour, heaping here means about 1 – 2 tablespoons extra
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt,
- ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½ cup unsweetened soy milk, or your favorite unsweetened plant-based milk
- ½ cup water
- Some ground black pepper
For the dill tahini sauce
- 2 tablespoons raw tahini
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon water
- Some salt
- ¼ teaspoon dried dill
Instructions
- Begin by sautéing the onion in a cast-iron skillet (or non-stick pan) over medium heat in 1 tablespoon or so of vegan butter or olive oil, for about 7 – 8 minutes, until the strips of onions caramelize and become golden brown and more translucent. When the onions are nearly done, add the spinach until it's wilted (about 2 minutes), and then the halved Kalamata olives until they're heated through (about 1 minute). Transfer the sautéed ingredients from the cast-iron onto a plate, and then cover with foil to keep warm.
- Next, in a large mixing bowl, combine together chickpea flour, nutritional yeast, baking powder, salt, ground turmeric and ground black pepper, as well as the soy milk and water. Whisk this until it's smooth and more thicker than thin, and then let it sit for a couple minutes. Note: if you think the batter is too watery and thin, just add another tablespoon or so of chickpea flour and whisk that in.
- Next, in a smaller bowl, combine together the tahini sauce ingredients of raw tahini, lemon juice, water, salt and dried dill, whisking well until smooth and creamy. Add more water or lemon juice for a more drizzle-able texture, if need be. Set this aside until you're ready to use it.
- Over medium heat, using the same cast-iron pan (or non-stick pan) that you sautéed the onion, melt another 1 tablespoon or so of vegan butter (or olive oil), and then add half of the chickpea omelette batter to the cast-iron. As soon as it hits the pan, be sure to rotate the batter around until it reaches the sides of the cast-iron, and covers most of the surface. You only have to cook the omelette on the one side, for about 3 – 4 minutes usually. You know it's done when it's no longer wet to the touch and no batter transfers to your finger. Note: you have the option to spray the sides of the cast-iron with cooking spray too – this will help prevent the batter from sticking to the side as much, or use a non-stick pan and save yourself the trouble.
- Now, work a knife or spatula along the edge of the omelette to help dislodge it from the pan, then carefully plop the chickpea flour omelette carefully onto a plate. After that, lay down some tahini sauce, followed by some of your sautéed onions, spinach and olives. Fold the chickpea omelette in half over the ingredients, and drizzle on some more tahini sauce.Repeat the previous step and this one for the remainder of the batter leftover to make the second omelette.
Nutrition
May you have good food in good company,
That Vegan Nephew
Yes please! This looks freaking tasty. Gorgeous post and thanks for making me hungry.
This was really good. I made it for Sunday dinner. I made it with a potatoes and spinach filling and the delicious tahini dressing. Then topped it with pickled red onion. Served baked delicata squash circlets and slices of avocado on the side. Lucious.