Chickpea Pancakes Appetizer with Rosemary and Pomegranate

These savory chickpea pancakes are so pretty topped with colorful mint and pomegranate. Perfect for a fun dinner side dish or holiday party appetizer.

SAVORY CHICKPEA PANCAKES

Its hard to wrap my head around pancakes being savory.  Images of maple syrup drizzled over warm butter and flapjacks make my mouth water.  

But one bite of these chickpea pancakes, and your imagination will send you to the streets of Istanbul. You’ll enjoy a tasty appetizer as the sun sets over a warm Mediterranean landscape.

These tasty little chickpea pancakes are super simple to whip up. They make the perfect side dish to your dinner entree, or colorful appetizer at a party.  

Savory instead of sweet, they’ll wow your guests.

The best part? Even my kids loved them!  I didn’t tell the kids that the chickpea pancakes were loaded with nutrition packed garbanzo beans.  But they gobbled them up.  That’s a win for mom.

There’s just something about the rich Mediterranean flavors melding together that make these bite-sized chickpea pancakes a must try.

HOW TO MAKE CHICKPEA PANCAKES

1. Start by blending garbanzo beans, garlic, and rosemary in a food processor.
2. Mix in eggs, water, and olive oil until smooth.
3. Now mix in flour, cumin, salt, pepper, and baking powder until just combined. This is your chickpea pancakes batter.
4. Heat some oil in a large skillet on medium high.
5. Drop heaping tablespoons of batter into the skillet.
6. Cook about one minute per side, until golden. 
7. Work in batches of 4-6 chickpea pancakes. Add more oil as needed, but let it heat up before adding the batter.
8. Top the pancakes with dollops of sour cream, pomegranate seeds, and fresh mint leaves.

ADAPTING CHICKPEA PANCAKES FOR GLUTEN FREE OR DAIRY FREE

If you plan to make your chickepea pancakes with with gluten-free flour, I highly recommend using a gum-free blend as it will stay more true to the liquid consistency you want in a pancake batter.  The best part is, no one will know the difference in flavor or texture.

You can also easily make this recipe dairy-free by swapping out the sour cream with a dairy-free version.

We hope you love these little savory pancakes as much as we do. Make sure to leave a rating in the comments below, and let us know any adaptations you try. We love reading your changes!

PIN TO SAVE SAVORY CHICKPEA PANCAKES FOR LATER

Don’t lose this recipe! Pin to save, and then leave a photo on the pin when you give the recipe a try.

MORE MEDITERRANEAN RECIPES

Here are a few more delicious Mediterranean recipes hand picked from Eating Richly and our blogging friends.

Baba Ganoush

Tzatziki Sauce Recipe

Ground Lamb Kofta

Oven Lamb Chops Recipe

Mediterranean Olive Chicken

Greek Lemon Orzo Salad

PRINTABLE RECIPE FOR CHICKPEA PANCAKES TOPPED WITH POMEGRANATE AND MINT

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Yield: 24 pancakes

Chickpea Pancakes Appetizer with Pomegranate and Mint

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You can easily make these delicious pancakes gluten-free by swapping out the wheat flour with your favorite all-purpose gluten-free flour blend.  (For best results use a gum-free blend.)  To make this dairy-free, simply omit the sour cream, or substitute with a dairy-free version. Used with permission from Genius Kitchen.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 15 ounces can of garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained (chickpeas)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
• 3 large eggs
• 6 tablespoons water
• 8 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1.5 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• .5 teaspoon ground black pepper
• .5 teaspoon baking powder

Toppings

• sour cream
• pomegranate seeds
• fresh mint

Instructions

1. Put garbanzo beans, garlic, and rosemary in a processor and blend to a coarse paste.
2. Add eggs, 6 tablespoons water, and 2 tablespoons EVOO, then puree until smooth.
3. Mix in flour, cumin, salt, pepper, and baking powder and blend until combined, then pour batter into a bowl.
4. Heat 6 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat.  You want the oil hot but not smoking.
5. Drop batter by heaping tablespoonfuls into hot oil.  Do batches of 4-6 at a time.
6. Cook the chickpea pancakes until golden, about 1 minute per side.
7. Use a slotted spatula to transfer pancakes to paper towels.
8. You may need to add more oil to skillet.  Just make sure to allow it to get hot before adding more batter.
9. Transfer pancakes to plates.
10. Top with a dollop of sour cream.  Then sprinkle with pomegranate seeds, and garnish with fresh mint leaves.

Notes

Nutrition facts are estimates only. The values are for the chickpea pancakes alone, and do not include the sour cream, pomegranate seeds, or mint.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

24

Serving Size:

24 pancakes
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 69Cholesterol: 20mgSodium: 154mgCarbohydrates: 3gProtein: 1g