Chickpea flour is the perfect ingredient to create a protein packed eggless omelette! This chickpea flour omelette is quick (10 minutes!) and simple to make and, as well as being delicious, it’s vegan, gluten free and soy free. The combo of chickpea flour and black salt is where the magic happens. Great served with garlicky mushrooms.
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🌟 Why this recipe works
- 4 ingredients – that’s right, just 4! Sometimes simple is better and that’s definitely the case when making a light and fluffy chickpea flour omelette. All you need is chickpea flour, nutritional yeast, black salt and water.
- Versatile – we like to serve our chickpea omelette with fried mushrooms and vegan cheese, but anything goes. Whatever you’d usually add to an omelette, or whatever whacky ingredients you want to add, it’s up to you.
- No flipping required – when making a vegan omelette, or even pancakes, flipping is the stage where it could all go horribly wrong. We’ve tested this recipe with and without flipping – the good news is that it doesn’t need flipping. If you want to brown the other side of your chickpea flour omelette, and you’ve got the confidence and skills, it does work, but it might take practice!
- ‘Secret’ ingredient – chickpea flour really is a top-notch vegan ingredient. While it’s not a true secret as we quite openly use it here, the ‘secret’ is out – chickpea flour is great for replicating eggs, and that’s why it has to be used in this recipe! It just wouldn’t work with anything else. It has unique properties!
- One vegan omelette – it’s important to make one at a time. We have tried making a few at a time but it just doesn’t work. The batter is too thick, hard to fold, and harder to work with if you make more than one at a time. Therefore, just like a non-vegan omelette, it has to be made one at a time.
📋 Ingredient Notes
- Chickpea flour – you can’t make a chickpea flour omelette without chickpea flour! Also known as gram flour, garbanzo flour or besan. Besan is made from a dark chickpea, so besan flour is darker in colour than gram or garbanzo flour. However, either type of chickpea flour can be used in this recipe, as once the bean is made into flour, they are interchangeable.
- Nutritional yeast – yep, another incredibly popular vegan ingredient. Nutritional yeast, or nooch, adds a distinctive savoury flavour to recipes. Often described as tasting cheesy or nutty, however you describe it, we think it’s the perfect addition to this chickpea omelette. It's a key ingredient for vegan scrambled eggs.
- Kala namak – a sulphurous eggy smelling and tasting salt. It’s also known as black salt or Himalayan black salt, even though it’s actually kind of pink. This is how the vegan omelette is going to get an eggy taste even though it's egg-free!
- Hot water – not boiling, just hot from the tap. We found using hot water helps the ingredients to mix easier and also dissolves the nutritional yeast better.
Check out the recipe card at the bottom of this article for exact measurements to make this vegan chickpea flour omelette.
🔪 Step-by-step Instructions
This is a step-by-step overview with photos for this recipe. The full recipe, along with measurements and detailed instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
1. Put the dry ingredients in a measuring jug or bowl and add the hot water gradually while whisking to create a smooth batter.
2. Get a frying pan on medium heat with a little oil, or a few squirts of oil spray, then pour in the chickpea flour omelette mix.
3. Put a lid on the pan and cook for 3 minutes – the top of the omelette should no longer be wet.
4. Optional: if you want to brown the other side, carefully flip and cook for another minute on that side. We find using a spatula helps. This isn't necessary for a tasty chickpea omelette though (and can be tricky!). Then add the filling.
5. Add fried mushrooms and grated vegan cheese, or any other fillings of your choice, to one half of the omelette.
6. Carefully fold the other half over, put the lid on the pan, and allow the vegan cheese to melt for a minute, if using. Repeat the process for each vegan omelette you’re making. Serve hot from the pan or gently heat in the oven to keep warm if making a batch for a group.
👩🍳 Expert Tips
- One at a time – this chickpea flour omelette recipe makes enough for one omelette. We found that making up one batch of the mix at a time in a small measuring jug, pouring the mix into the pan and then getting the next omelette ready while the first cooks is the ideal process. We don’t recommend trying to make a large omelette with double the quantities – it just doesn't cook evenly with the amount of time that’s required to cook the extra mix, and is harder to work with. If you’re cooking for a group, put each omelette in the oven to keep warm until you’re ready to serve, or serve them as they’re ready.
- Chickpea flour – this is a really great ingredient that’s often used in Indian cooking, but it’s super versatile (just look at these chickpea flour vegan Yorkshire puddings!). It’s also known as gram flour, garbanzo flour or besan. There’s actually a very similar chickpea flour pancake recipe originating in India called besan chilla (or besan cheela). A lot of supermarkets now sell chickpea flour – if you can’t find it check the ethnic foods aisle, or go to your local Asian supermarket.
- Hot water – the chickpea flour omelette mix just combines better with hot water. It shouldn’t be boiling or from the kettle, we found that water from the hot tap is just right. It helps the nutritional yeast to dissolve and achieves a smooth batter.
- Slowly does it – when mixing the dry ingredients with the water, add the water a little at a time while whisking with a fork or small whisk. Similar to when making a roux (or white sauce), it helps to achieve a completely smooth batter. Adding all of the water and then whisking usually results in a lumpy batter, which alters the consistency of the mix and how the chickpea omelette will turn out.
- Kala namak – if you ever want to add an eggy flavour to a recipe, use kala namak! It’s also known as black salt or Himalayan black salt. It adds an egg-like flavour (and stinks) because of its high sulphur content. Just beware – a little goes a long way – that’s why we only use ¼ teaspoon.
- To flip or not to flip – we recommend not flipping this vegan omelette recipe purely because it could go wrong. It might crack or split if you’re not careful and it doesn’t need flipping to cook through. Flipping does allow the topside of the chickpea omelette to brown though, so if you’re feeling brave, give it a go! However, as this side is folded in when served, we don’t think it needs to be browned.
- Storage – this recipe doesn’t freeze and shouldn’t be made ahead. It should be served fresh out of the pan with your favourite filling.
💭 FAQs
Mix chickpea flour, nutritional yeast, black salt and water. Pour the batter into a lightly oiled frying pan on a medium heat and cook for 3 minutes with the lid on. You can grab full ingredient measurements and instructions in the recipe card below.
Common replacements are chickpea flour (like we use in this recipe), silken tofu or a mixture of both.
Usually chickpea flour (gram flour) is used to make a pancake-style batter mix, like in our recipe. Black salt and nutritional yeast are added to give it an eggy flavour.
To make a chickpea flour omelette you have to make a batter with chickpea flour. This replaces the usual whisked egg mix that would be made when creating a traditional omelette.
🍛 What to serve with it
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📖 Recipe
Chickpea Flour Omelette (Vegan)
Ingredients
Omelette mix:
- 6 tablespoons chickpea flour
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- ⅓ cup water hot
- ¼ teaspoon kala namak AKA Himalayan black salt
Instructions
- Put the dry ingredients in a measuring jug or bowl and add the hot water gradually while whisking to create a smooth batter.6 tablespoons chickpea flour, 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast, ⅓ cup water, ¼ teaspoon kala namak
- Get a frying pan on medium heat with a little oil, or a few squirts of oil spray, then pour in the chickpea flour omelette mix.
- Put a lid on the pan and cook for 3 minutes – the top of the omelette should no longer be wet.
- Optional: if you want to brown the outside, carefully flip and cook for another minute on the other side. We find using a spatula helps. This isn't necessary for a tasty chickpea omelette though (and can be tricky!).
- Add fried mushrooms and grated vegan cheese, or any other fillings of your choice, to half of the omelette. Carefully fold the other half over, put the lid on the pan, and allow the vegan cheese to melt for a minute, if using.
- Repeat the process for each omelette you’re making. Serve hot from the pan or gently heat in the oven to keep warm if making a batch for a group.
Notes
- Chickpea flour is also known as gram flour, garbanzo flour or besan. There’s no good replacement for this ingredient but it’s common in big supermarkets or in Asian supermarkets.
- Kala namak, or black salt, is important because it adds an eggy flavour to the recipe. We’d recommend using it for this recipe and it keeps for a long time in the cupboard. If you don’t use it the recipe won’t have an omelette flavour.
- Hot water is used to help dissolve the nutritional yeast and to make a smoother batter. It doesn’t need to be boiling hot, just from the hot tap.
- When combining the dry ingredients with the water, stir with a fork or small whisk while gradually adding the water. This helps to ensure a smooth batter – adding all the liquid then mixing results in lumps and affects the consistency.
- Use a frying pan with a lid, then put the lid on when cooking the omelette. Trapping the heat helps to cook the top side of the omelette.
- Any filling you want to use works for this recipe. We cooked ours with garlicky fried mushrooms and vegan grated cheese, but it works really well with wilted spinach, sauteed vegetables or even a tofu scramble.
- This vegan omelette doesn’t freeze and shouldn’t be made in advance. Best served fresh out of the pan.
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