This high protein vegan scrambled chickpea “eggs” has a similar taste and texture to normal scrambled eggs. It’s quick, easy and cheap to make using home made chickpea tofu. Don’t be put off if you don’t like normal tofu as this soy-free chickpea version is different.
Suitable for vegan, egg-free, dairy-free, grain-free, oil-free, gluten-free and soy-free diets. This vegan scrambled egg is a perfect high protein and fibre breakfast.
The star of the show is the Kala Namak / black salt. This is a common ingredient in many Asian foods and gives the dish that sulphur eggy taste. If you like the taste of normal eggs then do use the salt, if you prefer the texture of eggs and not the flavour then omit it.
Kala Namak can be bought in many Asian shops where it’s inexpensive. More information in the paragraph at the bottom.
Chickpea Scrambled Eggs Video Recipe
Play on YouTube or No-music Video
If you don’t have any veggie broth then it’s fine to just use a bit of seasoning and water instead. I often make this with a yeast extract spread to give it a flavour boost and give my daily allowance of B vitamins.
The chickpea flour can stick to the bottom of the pan when you are making the chickpea tofu. You might want to use a good quality non-stick pan when making this recipe for easy cleanup and no waste. I just used a normal pan in the video for aesthetic reasons.
Ceramic pans with an eco coating that are free of harmful chemicals are a great choice to make vegan eggs in as the chickpea flour can stick to the bottom. A high quality ceramic pan is perfect for no oil healthy cooking and will last a long time.
I prefer to make this without any oil, but if you are fine with oil then go ahead and use it. You will probably want to brown the onions and garlic first before adding the chickpea tofu. It’s best to cook with an oil which has a high smoking point such as rapeseed oil for health reasons.
Chickpea flour is such a useful ingredient in healthy gluten free cooking that I buy it in large sacks. If you have an Asian supermarket it’s very inexpensive to buy there – less than half the price per kilo. Per a 30g serving it has 5g of fibre, 6g of protein and is a good source of iron.
What is Kala Namak / Black Salt?
Kala Namak is otherwise known as Himalayan Black Salt is a natural rock salt. Black salt is a common ingredient in many Asian cuisines and can be found at even small Asian shops.
Black salt has an eggy taste to it thanks to the high sulphur content but is vegan.
In large chunks the salt is black but once it is ground into a fine powder it has more of a light purple colour to it. You can use in place of normal salt in seasoning to give an eggy taste in recipes such as avocado on toast.
Western health food shops are now starting to stock it but the same product can be acquired significantly cheaper at most Asian supermarkets.
Chickpea Scrambled Eggs
Easy recipe to make vegan scrambled eggs from chickpeas and not tofu. These scrambled eggs have a similar taste, texture and protein content as normal scrambled eggs. This recipe is vegan, plant-based, oil-free, soy-free and gluten-free.
Ingredients
- ½ cup / 65g Chickpea flour
- 1.5 cups / 350ml Water
- ¼ tsp Turmeric
- ½ tsp Smoked paprika
- 1 clove Garlic
- 1 slice Red onion
- 3 tbsp Broth
- ½ tsp Kala Namak / Black Salt
Instructions
- Mix together the chickpea flour, turmeric and smoked paprika with a third of the water into a paste.
- Bring the other 2/3rd of the water to a simmer with a pinch of salt.
- Stir in the chickpea mixture into the water and stir constantly for 5 mins while simmering.
- Be careful not to let the bottom of the mixture catch.
- Remove from the heat when thick and pour into a glass dish.
- Chill for half an hour in the fridge then it should come away easily from the dish.
- Mash the chickpea tofu in a pan and then add the remaining ingredients.
- Cook for a few minutes until all the broth is absorbed and serve.
- You can store the chickpea tofu in the fridge for a few days before cooking.
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Nutrition Information
Yield
1Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 285Total Fat 5gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 1mgSodium 2447mgCarbohydrates 43gFiber 8gSugar 9gProtein 18g
Chickpea flour is such a useful ingredient in high protein vegan cooking. If you like this recipe check out my chickpea strawberry cake!
Just made this for my breakfast, very tasty!! Can’t wait to try some of your cheeses…….
So happy to hear you liked this, yes do try the cheeses – the smoked cashew cheese is my fave. Even if you don’t have agar agar its a great dip 🙂
I couldn’t find chickpea flour anywhere but I did find Gram flour which is made up of Chickpeas and split peas. Will that work?
Yes that should work as I’ve used this recipe with both chick pea and split pea flour seperately, let me know how you get on.
I get my Chickpea Flour in 1 or 2 lb bags on amazon.
Great recipe and video, can’t wait to try it today.
I love the flavour and how inexpensive it is (haha), but I find mine doesn’t get the texture your video shows. Mine looks more pasty still. Any tricks?
Ha thanks Rae! I find the trick is to slowly fold in the mixture into the aquafaba so that all the volume isn’t lost and to pre-heat the oven to bake as soon as its folded. I don’t worry too much about folding all the mixture perfectly just to keep as much air in as possible. Hope that helps 🙂
Your posted recipe isn’t listing aquafaba. What’s the recipe when that is used?
Hi there, this recipe isn’t using aquafaba – just chickpea flour. Attempts to make it with aquafaba didn’t work so weren’t published.
Mine is pasty, too, though I am sure I followed the directions. I left it in the fridge for an hour, but it was still thick liquid. Your recipe doesn’t say to bake, but to cook. After 45 minutes cooking with no success I am trying to bake it.
Bastian in your message to Rae you mention this and this is why there is confusion to using Aquafaba:-
Ha thanks Rae! I find the trick is to slowly fold in the mixture into the aquafaba so that all the volume isn’t lost and to pre-heat the oven to bake as soon as its folded. I don’t worry too much about folding all the mixture perfectly just to keep as much air in as possible. Hope that helps ?
It must be meant for a different recipe. This recipe does not use an oven.
Aquafaba in the chickpea flour scramble??
Yeast extract spread …. how to prepare this ?
Is a spread otherwise known as marmite or vegiemite, you can just use salt in its place or veggie broth 🙂
How far ahead of time can you prepare the ‘chickpea tofu’, and do you think it would freeze ok?
I haven’t tried freezing it but think it would work. 2-3 days ahead and kept chilled you can prepare the chickpea tofu. Let me know how you get on 🙂
I just went plantbased Jan 2018 and surprisingly wasn’t hard to give up eggs after doing extensive research. This looks like a fun tasty recipe to try. Thank you for sharing! I do have a question though. Tofu freaks me out. Is there anything esle the chickpea tofu could be used for? Have you used it in any other recipes? Thank you
Hi Virginia, Glad you liked this recipe. The chickpea tofu can be used in so many different recipes cooked again like you do with tofu – in curries for instance. Here is some chickpea kebabs – https://www.nestandglow.com/healthy-recipes/chickpea-tofu-mediterranean-vegetable-kebabs
Hello! This recipe looks amazing and I’m looking forward to making it. Bit of a silly question perhaps but chickpea flour? Is this bought directly as flour or chickpeas that should be dried and ground?
Thank you, Liz.
Hi Liz, there is no such thing as a silly question! It’s bought pre-done as a flour. I think I’ve seen people in India make their own chickpea flour – but with a huge mill type machine! It’s something I’ve never tried to make myself as its so cheap to buy from an Asian shop. Hope that helps!
Amazing and easy. The video helped a lot. As I’m from the Caribbean I found a touch of pepper sauce (not Tabasco!) but something like Berties helped a lot to bring it forward.
But this made a batch that worked well for two days. I can simply take the other half out tmw and go!
Yum! A bit of hot sauce works great in this. Glad you liked it
You have no idea how happy this has made me!
I can’t eat regular tofu, so finding this recipe has given me another meat replacement. Not to mention the egg salt! I’m so thrilled! I love the flavour in this recipe, my new ‘go-to’ breakfast.
Thank you x
That’s amazing to hear Mary so glad you like this recipe. I love the eggy salt too – even though I never liked eggs. Thanks for sharing
Did you use Aquafaba in the chickpea batter?
Not in this one, as I’m using chickpea flour there was no Aquafaba.
Love, love, love your recipes and videos!! Have you tried to add nutritional yeast to this recipe or would that be a little overkill? Much thanks!!
Thanks so much! I think that would work great, although when I have nutritional yeast I tend to add it to everything! The price has sadly shot right up in the UK so haven’t had any for quite a while
what if you cannot find black salt?
You can leave it out, but it gives it that eggy taste with it’s high sulphur content
That looks fantastic thanx for sharing your recipe!! How do I follow your blog Bastian I can’t see a link? Cheers from Germany!
Hi there, thanks glad you like my site. I’m on all social media @nestandglow . Did you mean a mailing list?
I tried for the first time today I like the flavor and makes for a great breakfast substitute to my daily oatmeal but mines didn’t look anything like yours still too pasty and a little dark from the smoked paprika I might use a little less next time
That’s great that you liked the taste. If it’s a bit pasty might want to cook for a bit longer. I probably overdo the smoked paprika as I add it to everything!
Could I use Hawaiian Black Salt?
From a quick google that looks like sold mixed with activated charcoal? The reason why the recipe has black salt is it has an eggy / sulphur taste that makes this recipe. Does Hawaiian Black Salt have that taste?
Hawaiian Black Salt is Kala Namak.
Darn, I had Hawaiian black salt but didn’t use it…the black salt that is sold as Kaya Nayak is actually pink so I thought it was as a different thing.
It is confusing but yes black salt once ground is pink / purple. In a big block it does look black though
No, they’re not the same thing actually. Hawaiian Black Salt is regular salt with extra minerals. Kala Namak is smelly and eggy… A totally different thing. I usually use sea salt to season while cooking and add Kala Namak at the end for a little eggy flavor.
There is NO aquafaba listed in the ingredients or instructions! Does this recipe need to be corrected?
No, this isn’t an aquafaba recipe. I find the chickpea flour gives off the similar bean water 🙂
and what about baking? He told someone to bake it…but that is not in the recipe. What temp and how long?….and also why, I guess.
I didn’t realise I missed eggs until I made this recipe. Wow, it’s absolutely amazing. And pretty easy, too! It’s definitely going to be a regular on our menu from now on. 🙂
Hi, I have a question. I see some recipes use baking powder. Is there a benefit to adding that I’m this recipe? Would it make a lighter, fluffier egg? Also, do you have an opinion as to when the black salt should be added? I see some recipes say to put it in the batter whereas others say to use it at the very end. Do you think it matters one way or another? I like the idea of creating the chickpea tofu before scrambling it as I do not use oil and it’s very difficult to scramble in the pan without it getting too sticky and sticking to the pan. Is that why you do it this way? This is the only recipe I found where it is made this way. Sorry for all the questions. I appreciate your help and expertise. Wonderful recipe!
Thanks,
Jennafer
Hi there, I don’t use baking powder for this as I think it makes minimal difference. As for the black salt it’s hard – adding to the batter makes it more infused and at the end gives you more bursts. So it’s apples and oranges. For what it’s worth depending on my mood sometimes I salt while cooking and others at the end!
Recipe doesn’t work. Followed it exactly and it came out as mush. Very annoying. Come on, get the damn recipe right before publishing it!
Hi there, sorry to hear that. As my recipes are all from natural produce there is a lot of variation. What kind of chickpea flour did you use? I always test my recipes 3 times before publishing. But natural produce varies so much it can be difficult.