How tasty are these pumpkin and chickpea balls? You have to try them to know for yourself. I love them a lot and they’re also very light. They are vegan and gluten-free, made with simple ingredients we have at home and, of course, in autumn when pumpkins are abundant.
You can prepare them in advance and cook them just before serving. I usually roast the pumpkin in an air fryer in cubes and then use it for many preparations, like these balls. For me, it’s the fastest way to prepare them.
They cost only 1 point Weight Watchers each and provide protein and fiber so they are perfect for a main course. Let’s make them together!
I’ll leave you with some other recipes for making tasty balls:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 9 balls
- Cooking methods: Air frying, Oven
- Cuisine: Healthy
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter and Spring
Ingredients
- 7.75 oz cooked chickpeas (alternatively, boil 2.1 oz of soaked dried chickpeas)
- 14.11 oz pumpkin (you need about 5.29 oz cooked)
- 1 clove garlic
- 0.53 oz sunflower seeds
- to taste fresh rosemary, thyme, and sage (or even dried)
- to taste dried garlic, onion, and cumin (make a mix to your taste with these spices omitting those you don't like)
- 2 tablespoons water
- to taste salt
- Total points = 9 WW points
- Points per ball = 1 WW point
Tools
- Cutting board
- Knife
- Air fryer
- Blender
- Air fryer paper
- Ice cream scoop
Steps
As always, the first thing to do is to measure all the ingredients well so that all the steps will be easy to follow.
Put the chickpeas, sunflower seeds, herbs, dried spices, and a pinch of salt in the blender’s jug.
Blend by pulsing to chop and mix everything well without making a puree. This way, there will be small pieces that will give more texture to the balls.
Cut the pumpkin into cubes and place it directly in the air fryer’s basket. Roast the pumpkin at 340°F for about 30 minutes.
Add the roasted pumpkin to the blender jug.
Blend again by pulsing until you get a compact dough but still with small pieces. If it doesn’t compact, add a little water. Taste and add a bit more salt if needed.
Use an ice cream scoop to form evenly-sized balls or simply a spoon. You will get 9 if you use an ice cream scoop to make large balls.
Form the balls and slightly flatten them. Place a sheet of special paper in the air fryer basket or, as I do, use a Teflon sheet cut to size that you can wash and reuse.
Start cooking the balls at 340°F for 8 minutes, take out the basket and turn the balls over, but this time there is no need to use paper: turn them and place them directly on the basket. Cook them for another 7 minutes or more until they are nicely golden.
Here are our pumpkin and chickpea balls ready to be served! But if you let them rest a bit, they’re even better…
These were also liked by the Dutchman who doesn’t prefer pumpkin, so I was really satisfied.
Serve the pumpkin and chickpea balls with a big plate of vegetables and some good whole grain bread or you can slightly flatten them and make a wrap with a tortilla or a piadina adding arugula and tomatoes and some yogurt sauce. And you can also take them to work since they are delicious both hot and cold.
Let me know if you liked them in the comments below or in my Facebook Club.
Enjoy!
By Giovanna Buono
Storage
You can prepare the dough in advance the day before, keep it in the fridge, and cook the balls afterward.
Once cooked, you can store them in the fridge for 4 days or freeze them and then reheat them as needed without defrosting.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
If I want to use dry chickpeas, how do I do it?
If you want to cook them yourself, soak about 2.1-2.8 oz of dry chickpeas overnight and then boil them in unsalted water for about 2 hours. If they don’t soften, you can add a pinch of baking soda and cook for another half hour. Once cooled, you can also remove the skin for better digestibility. Take the amount you need and freeze the rest.
What can I use instead of chickpeas?
I believe any other type of cooked legume could work, although I personally haven’t tried yet.
Can I also use the oven?
Sure, you can make more balls in the oven! I haven’t tried it in the oven, but I’m sure if you preheat the oven to 390°F, bake for 12 minutes, then turn the balls and bake for another 12 minutes, it should work: you can judge by the color of the balls, which should be nicely golden.
