Do you have a vegan or vegetarian coming for Thanksgiving dinner!?! Don’t panic.
You don’t have to sit them in the corner with a dish of green beans and a dinner roll. Here’s a delicious savory loaf you can serve to your vegan dinner guest. Keep an eye on it though … you may just find all the turkey-eaters sneaking seconds of this loaf too.
One Recipe – Three Ways
This recipe also can be made into a “hash”. In fact, we like it even more that way! We simply mixed all the ingredients together and instead of packing into a loaf pan, we cooked it in a skillet over medium heat until it started to lightly brown (about 10 minutes). Yum!
Leftovers?
If you have any leftovers, mix in some of this low-fat Creamy Italian Dressing and you have a great sandwich filling.
Healthy Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is typically a time of gratitude, good-will and . . . well, unhealthy eating. The average American consumes about 4,500 calories and 229 grams of fat throughout Thanksgiving Day, and the results of this indulgence may surprise you.
Processing all that unhealthy food causes your body to experience a spike in blood sugar, increased cholesterol, increased blood pressure, general stress and irritation on the entire digestive system, and decreased blood flow to the brain.
Why treat your body that way when you can replace some of those high-fat and/or high-sugar options with some healthier ones (like this Vegan and Gluten-Free Chickpea Loaf with Healthy Herb Gravy)? The Thanksgiving meal will be just as tasty and you will feel so much better!
Chickpea Loaf
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 1 loaf
This flavorful vegan loaf is super high in fiber and other essential nutrients. It presents itself beautifully as a Thanksgiving main dish served alongside mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and pumpkin pie.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups finely diced onions
- 2 stalks celery, finely diced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (Or use this method to make this dish oil-free)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoons + 1/2 teaspoon granulated onion
- 3/4 teaspoon salt (See note.)
- 3/4 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
- 1/2 teaspoon dried ground savory
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon dried celery salt
- 1/4 teaspoon dried ground rosemary
- 2 15-ounce cans chickpeas (garbanzos), well-drained, but not rinsed
- 1/4 cup Cashew Creamy Italian Salad Dressing or 2 tablespoons tahini
- 1/2 cup quick oats (gluten-free oats if desired) or breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons water or broth
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Finely dice onions and celery. I use my veggie chopper to get this done quickly.
- In a large pan, sauté celery and onion in oil over medium-high heat for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add garlic and sauté for 1 additional minute.
- Mince parsley. (I mince mine in my food processor.) Stir minced parsley into garlic and onions and remove from heat.
- Stir in seasonings.
- Chop chickpeas in a food processor. (If you don't have a food processor, you can do this by hand using a pastry cutter). Stir chickpeas into sautéed vegetables.
- Stir in salad dressing or tahini.
- Add oats or breadcrumbs, and mix well. Mix with hands for a few seconds. (This prevents loaf from being crumbly.)
- Line an 7-inch x 3-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. Spray with non-stick cooking spray and pack mixture firmly into pan. (Or see note below about making this into hash.)
- Bake uncovered at 350°F for 55 to 60 minutes.
- Serve hot with this delicious Vegan Herb Gravy.
Notes
The amount of salt needed will depend on the amount in your chickpeas.
If you use regular, canned chickpeas, you may want to reduce the salt to 3/4 teaspoon. If you use low-salt canned chickpeas, I suggest a scant teaspoon. If you use salt-free chickpeas, I suggest using one teaspoon of salt.
This was really good! I almost messed it up by adding more salt then it became too salty so I added more oats and some some flour and it was fixed. I eyeballed the spices to my liking. I liked it even better the next day in a sandwich (reheated in a frypan with sone oil) along with tomatoes, vegan mayo and ketchup. I even got some more garbanzo beans today to make more this week! Thanks for sending it out!
I agree, this does make great sandwiches!
So happy to hear that you liked it! Thank you for your comment.
This is absolutely delicious. I love it. I didn’t have any sage, savory or rosemary. I substituted cumin and thyme and it came out just totally yummy. The only problem I have is that it is very crumbly. Is this the way it usually is? Is there something I can do to make it hold together better?
Hi Laura,
The key to getting this loaf to hold together is to very finely chop the vegetables and garbanzos and then to pack the mixture into the loaf pan very well.
I’m happy to hear you liked the loaf!
Jennifer
Alternatives to oats? I can’t tolerate them at all.
Hi Stacie,
You should be able to use bread crumbs in place of oats.
Hope you enjoy!
Jennifer
I’ve been making this recipe for almost 5 years now and I love it!
That’s wonderful, Bekah. Thanks for the sweet comment!
Can I use some other beans instead of chickpeas for this recipe and still tastes great you think?
I don’t think I would. Chickpeas have a distinct flavor that, in my opinion, is necessary for making this loaf taste right.