Not going to lie, I did love a good crab cake.
Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside.
With a nice savory sauce to finish everything off.
This recipe isn’t exactly like real deal crab cakes, but it is similar and it is tasty.
Not to mention healthier and cheaper.
Sooo can we complain that much now?
I’ve been eyeing vegan crab cake recipes for a while and finally set aside some time to roll up my sweatshirt sleeves and get to work.
Not that they’re difficult to make or anything.
My food processor did most of the actual chopping.
You could slice up everything by hand if you don’t have one of those handy dandy kitchen appliances, but that strategy will require a little knife skill action and elbow grease.
Any who.
All you have to do is whip up a remoulade, aka savory sauce, composed of vegan mayo, stoneground mustard, fresh lemon juice, flavorful Old Bay seasoning, liquid aminos (vegan Worcestershire or less sodium tamari will work too), hot sauce for a little kick, and Italian parsley.
Set that bowl of deliciousness aside then tackle the cakes.
We’re talking a colorful mixture of protein-packed chickpeas, tender artichoke hearts, crisp red bell pepper, crunchy celery, vegetal green onion, more parsley, zesty lemon, vegan mayo, stoneground mustard, and dependable Old Bay, plus panko bread crumbs (use gluten-free crumbs for a gluten-free recipe) as well as chickpea flour.
Form your cute little cakes, coat them in more panko, then fry away until beautifully golden brown.
Sauce those bad boys up then it’s time to dig in!
Want extra credit?
Add a little bell pepper + green onion + parsley garnish for a real gourmet experience.
P.S. I gently tweaked Traci’s Artichoke Chickpea Vegan “Crab Cakes” recipe from Vanilla and Bean. Thanks Traci! 🙂
P.P.S. As always, taste and adjust to suit your needs! I don’t care for green bell pepper so I just used red, and the first batch of cakes came out a little sodium-heavy for my liking, so I omitted the salt. Old Bay is plenty salty babes.
P.P.P.S. Store extra cooked cakes in the fridge for up to a week. Reheat in a 350°F oven or in a dry nonstick skillet. I froze leftover uncooked cakes and am planning on thawing those guys out in the fridge overnight before frying them up here soon!
Vegan Chickpea Artichoke Crab Cakes with Remoulade
Ingredients
Remoulade
- 1/2 cup vegan mayo (I used Follow Your Heart brand)
- 1 tablespoon stoneground mustard
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon liquid aminos (vegan Worcestershire if you have it, less sodium tamari works too)
- Hot sauce, to taste (I used Melinda's extra hot sauce)
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
Chickpea Artichoke Cakes
- 1 15-ounce can chickpeas (about 2 cups), drain, rinse and pat dry with clean kitchen towel
- 1 14-ounce can quartered artichoke hearts in water (about 2 cups), drain, rinse and gently squeeze excess moisture out with clean kitchen towel
- 1 cup large dice red bell pepper
- 1 stalk celery, large dice
- 1 green onion (white and green parts), large dice
- 1/3 cup fresh Italian parsley leaves
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons vegan mayo
- 2 tablespoons stoneground mustard
- 1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs (use gluten-free bread crumbs for a gluten-free recipe), divided
- 2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
- 3 tablespoons chickpea flour
- Vegan butter (Miyokos) or avocado oil, for frying
Instructions
- Whisk the sauce ingredients together until combined. Taste, and adjust ingredients if you'd like. Keep in the fridge until ready to use.
- For the cakes, briefly pulse the *dry* chickpeas and artichokes in a food processor 5 times, or until the mixture becomes chunky. Think crab cake texture. Spoon the mixture into a large bowl.
- Add the chopped bell pepper, celery, green onion, and parsley to the food processor. Pulse until minced. Scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice between pulsing. Scoop the minced veggies into the chickpea artichoke mixture.
- Gently fold in the lemon juice, mayo, mustard, 1 cup of the breadcrumbs, Old Bay, and chickpea flour. Taste the mixture, and adjust seasonings if you wish. (Old Bay is salty enough for me, so I do not add additional salt. Keep in mind the Remoulade has spice and salt as well.)
- Form 12 cakes with a 1/4 cup measuring utensil. Gently flatten then coat in remaining breadcrumbs. (You can store prepped, uncooked cakes in the fridge for up to 24 hours if you'd like to cook them later.)
- In a large nonstick pan or cast iron, melt the butter or oil over medium heat. Use enough to lightly coat the pan. A well-seasoned cast iron should be nonstick.
- Once the butter or oil is hot, carefully place as many cakes as will fit in the hot pan without them touching. Cook until deep golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. If you're making a large batch, you can keep finished cakes warm in a 200°F oven until ready to serve.
- Serve with Remoulade and lemon wedges. I used minced bell pepper, green onion, and parsley as garnish.