The chickpea and arugula meatballs are delicious and easy to prepare, without eggs and bread and without frying. This is the third chickpea meatball recipe we’ve experimented with in recent months, after the air fryer cooked vegan meatballs and the chickpea meatballs in sauce. In fact, chickpeas are such a versatile, tasty, and protein-rich legume that we often use it in our cuisine. That’s why we wanted to try these meatballs that were initially meant to be fritters, but as we prepared them, we realized the texture was more like that of a meatball, and so it was! The peculiarity of these meatballs is that they are without eggs, without bread, with the addition of soy milk, corn flour, and arugula which gives these meatballs a truly unique bold flavor!
The recipe is very simple: we put all the ingredients in the blender and once we have a compact and homogeneous mixture, we form the meatballs and cook them in a pan with a little oil.
We can prepare these meatballs either using the blender or mixer, or if we do not have it available, perhaps because we are on vacation, by mashing the chickpeas, grating the carrot, and chopping the arugula very finely and then combining all the ingredients in a bowl, mixing everything with a spatula. In just a few minutes and with minimal effort, we will have tasty vegan meatballs, perfect as a main course for lunch or dinner.
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- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Cheap
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
- Energy 57.21 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 10.05 (g) of which sugars 1.08 (g)
- Proteins 1.79 (g)
- Fat 1.27 (g) of which saturated 0.15 (g)of which unsaturated 0.39 (g)
- Fibers 1.05 (g)
- Sodium 321.55 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 20 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients to Prepare Chickpea and Arugula Meatballs
- 3.5 oz cooked, boiled chickpeas
- 1.75 oz arugula
- 1 carrot
- 1 cup corn flour
- 2/3 cup soy milk
- 1 pinch baking soda
- paprika
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt
Tools to Prepare Chickpea and Arugula Meatballs
- 1 Blender
- 1 Pan
- 1 Stove
Steps to Prepare Chickpea and Arugula Meatballs
Prepare the chickpea and arugula meatballs by placing in a blender bowl the chickpeas, corn flour, chickpea flour, soy milk, grated carrot, and baking soda.
Add also the arugula, the paprika, and a pinch of salt and mix until you get a homogeneous and compact mixture.
Take small portions of the mixture and form meatballs.
Cook them in a hot non-stick pan in which you have poured a little oil until they are well browned and crispy.
Serve the chickpea and arugula meatballs with a fresh salad or another side dish and with a sauce like yogurt sauce.
Simo and Cicci recommend
You can store the chickpea and arugula meatballs in the fridge for 3-4 days or even freeze them.
You can also cook the meatballs in the oven or in an air fryer at 355 Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes, placing them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and drizzling with a little oil.
You can replace the corn flour with chickpea flour or alternatively with breadcrumbs.
You can use any plant-based milk you prefer.
