Light and fluffy vegan omelette with deep, earthy chickpea flavour, stuffed to bursting with delicious sautéed vegetables & cashew cheese.
By now you have probably heard all about Aquafaba. If not, where have you been? ;o)
Basically it is the brine from a tin of chickpeas, or garbanzo beans as they are more commonly called here.
I must admit that I didn't like the sound of it at first but once I started seeing the amazing recipes that were being created by my fellow vegan food bloggers I was blown away. I mean just look at these macarons!
Seeing that macaron recipe by Amrita and Levan over at Crazy Vegan Kitchen was my turning point.
AQUAFABA MAGIC
I just had to try cooking with aquafaba!
I decided I wanted to go down the savoury route with my recipe creation and ended up coming up with a soufflé style vegan omelette which I stuffed with asparagus, spinach and my Cashew Cheese Sauce.
Aquafaba is magic stuff. I still can't quite believe that you can whip it up like meringue. Plus it gives the most amazing results in baked goods like my Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars.
VEGAN OMELETTE PERFECTION
My Vegan Omelette with Asparagus, Spinach and 'Cheese' is light and fluffy with a deep earthy chickpea flavour and is stuffed full of sautéed vegetables and oozy cheese
Yum!
Hungry for more?
As well as this Vegan Omelette recipe I have many other vegan recipes that are traditionally egg-based. Check them out and see the power of plants for yourself:
- Vegan Yorkshire Puddings
- Vegan Scrambled Eggs
- Vegan Banana Pancakes
- Vegan Shakshuka
- Vegan Lemon Curd
- Vegan French Toast
- Earl Grey Vegan Cake
- Vegan English Pancakes
- Vegan Coconut Macaroons
Vegan Omelette with Asparagus, Spinach & ‘Cheese’
Author:
Ingredients
- 6 asparagus spears
- 240mls | 1 cup aquafaba , liquid from canned chickpeas
- 92g | 1 cup garbanzo bean flour
- 2 large handfuls of fresh spinach
- 1 pinch chilli flakes , feel free to add more if you want an extra kick
- salt & pepper
- your choice of oil for sautéing & frying
- Cashew Cheese
INSTRUCTIONS
- Get a sauté pan warming over a medium heat.
- In a very clean bowl whisk the aquafaba until stiffish peaks form.
- While this is happening add a drop of oil to your sauté pan and sauté the asparagus gently with some salt and pepper.
- Warm a fry pan over a medium heat with a tiny drop of oil. The least you can get away with. You know your pan. If it's a really super-duper non-stick one you can get away with none. If it's pretty good use a tiny drop and if it's not great use a bit more.
- Gently and gradually fold the garbanzo bean flour into the aquafaba with a metal spoon until just combined.
- Pour a thick layer (about 1cm) of the batter into the frypan and smooth the top very gently with a spatula.
- Turn heat to low/medium and leave well alone until it starts to solidify a bit and the top isn't wet anymore.
- While the omelette is cooking move your asparagus to one side of the pan & add your spinach to the other side.
- Sprinkle with chilli flakes and salt and pepper. Cook until gently wilted then turn off the heat.
- Turn your omelette over very carefully (it will be pretty fragile and you might need to loosen it up around the edges a bit first) and continue cooking for another 3 - 4 minutes.
- Remove from pan and keep warm in the oven until you have cooked the other omelette.
- Once they are both cooked, stuff with spinach and asparagus and drizzle over plenty of cashew cheese.
NOTES
NUTRITION
Nutritional information is provided for convenience & as a courtesy. The data is a computer generated estimate so should be used as a guide only.
Miima says
Okay so I did this a few days ago. Batter was very fluffy, like meringue, and tasty. Pan ready. I poured in my batter, but got no time to smooth it out as it started boiling away, left a crisp bottom with a runny boiling surface. Pan too hot or? I'll try again another day...
A Virtual Vegan says
It certainly shouldn't have been boiling. It sounds like you had the pan too hot.
Ruth Andrade says
I had cooked some chickpeas for making tempeh and had lots of aquafaba left.
I absolutely loved this recipe! It's super easy. I whisked the aquafaba by hand, ok maybe that part is not so easy, until I had stiff peaks then gently whisked the chickpea flour in. I made one "omelette" with just the two ingredients, then another adding salt and dill, then a third adding caramelised onions to the dill and salt mix. The fluffiness stayed all the day. Amazing, fluffy, soufflé-like omelette. Tomorrow I'll try to make proper Spanish tortilla. Let's see how it goes. Thanks.
A Virtual Vegan says
They sound great Ruth. I'm so pleased you are enjoying the recipe. Whisking aquafaba by hand is hard work. Think of all those calories you burned! ;O) I really should revisit this recipe and make some different flavour variations. Adding to my list!
Lisa says
Mine turned out good except I didn't use enough oil and it did stick to the pan on parts of it. It kind of reminded me of a cross between a souffle and flatbread. I liked the crisp outside and soft inside. For those that talk about the bitter taste of chickpea flour, that happens when you don't cook it all the way through. I cook with chickpea flour all the time and I made that mistake twice and never again lol...it's disgusting! Thanks for the recipe!
A Virtual Vegan says
You're welcome. Glad you enjoyed it. And I totally get what you mean about raw chickpea flour! It's amazing how cooking transforms it so much!
Rachael says
Hi! Would it have to be chickpea flour? I have used it in the past, perhaps incorrectly, but it had an extremely bitter and terrible taste, and frankly I am a bit traumatized haha. Would brown rice flour be an appropriate substitute?
Thank you for your time!
A Virtual Vegan says
It does have a bit of an acquired taste. I haven't tried this recipe with anything else so I can't say whether rice flour would work I'm afraid. If you try it let me know how it goes!
Sarah Haynes says
First time I might have been too fast (and I used a metal spoon). This time I made sure the peaks were very stiff, was very slow and gentle, and used a wooden spoon. All good till about half way when it seemed like it collapsed under its own weight... Nice pancakes, but not even vaguely omelette-ish. Suggestions?
A Virtual Vegan says
Do you mean it collapsed when folding the chickpea flour into the whipped aquafaba or when it was cooking? If it was when folding it in that is normal to some extent and I mention it in the notes. You should never use a wooden spoon for aquafaba, in the same way as you shouldn't for whipped egg white. If any trace of oil is on the spoon it will cause the aquafaba to deflate and it is so easy for wooden spoons to soak up residue from whatever they have been used for in the past. They aren't scrupulously clean like a metal spoon is because they are porous. That could have been a factor in the collapsing.
If you fold the flour through (not stir) and treat it gently it will retain some puff and when cooked is kind of like a souffle omelette. It's a vegan 'omelette' alternative and wont taste or have a texture like an egg omelette. That isn't possible unless perhaps you use the vegan egg that you can buy. It is more of a fluffy pancake, cooked in a similar way to a souffle omelette. Hope that helps!
james says
I really like the asparagus and spinach! And the dash of chili flakes is high-quality, gives it a remarkable extra kick!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you so much!
Sophia says
Thanks for the recipe.
The aquafaba whipped up easily, but when I added the chickpea flour it all got lumpy. I had to strain it to get out the lumps and so lost all the air in it. I ended up with a flat pancacke in the end.
I think either it's good to sift the flour in, or mix it with water gradually to make a lump-free sauce before adding it into the aquafaba.
A Virtual Vegan says
Hi Sophia. Sorry you had trouble with it. Adding the flour gradually and slowly is really important when mixing with the aquafaba. If you just throw it all in at once it will go very lumpy. If you add it gradually, which is best for preserving the air in the aquafaba as well, lumps will be minimized. It is however normal for the mixture to be a little lumpy. You don't notice them when the omelette is cooked. It's not surprising it ended up very flat if you sieved it before cooking.
Aquafaba is pretty temperamental and I think that if you added water to the flour before mixing it in, you would probably cause the whole thing to deflate very quickly. I haven't personally tried it though so let me know if you do and it works!
marlymcb says
Looks like such a healthy start to the day!
A Virtual Vegan says
Yes it would make a great breakfast!
Ginny says
What an absolutely beautiful meal. This is going into my regular dinner rotation.
thelazyveganbaker says
Oh my oh my! I am eating this right now and it is so good. Unbelievably light and fluffy! I used a different filling - just odds & ends I had in the fridge and some Chao cheese. I halved the recipe because I'm just one person but I could totally eat two of these! Don't make my mistake - do the whole recipe.
Have you ever tried adding the black salt to make it eggy?
This is awesome and such a cool use for the aquafaba :-).
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you so much! I love it too. In fact I might just have one for lunch today now you've reminded me how delicious they are! It's that wonderful Aquafaba again. How did we throw it down the drain our whole lives until now. If only we'd known!
I must admit to eating two omelettes when I made them last.....You go for it next time. No one will know ;0)
I haven't tried adding black salt as I have yet to find some. I keep meaning to order it from Amazon but haven't gotten round to it yet. I really must soon though as I think it would make this recipe even better.
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment and I am so happy you enjoyed it!
Deborah says
Ate this, died, went to heaven :-D
It's fab although mine started off very fluffy but ended up quite flat but it still tasted awesome. I replaced the asparagus with mushrooms :-D
A Virtual Vegan says
Wow Deborah, thank you for taking the time to comment here! I am so happy that you enjoyed it! Sorry it went a bit flat though. You really need to be gentle when folding the flour through or you can deflate the air bubbles. I also found that if you cook it too high it can deflate a bit. Next time try it on a lower heat and be extra gentle when folding in the flour.
It tastes great though eh? And I love the idea of mushrooms in the filling!
Deborah says
It'll have been the high heat that did it coz it was very fluffy when it went in the pan. I might try it again tomorrow. I have heaps of cashew cheese left although I need to make something different with the chickpeas as I have a bowl full of curried houmous in the fridge with today's chickpeas :-D
A Virtual Vegan says
You've been a busy bee! The cashew cheese keeps well in the fridge for days. Enjoy the hummus! ?
Deborah says
I will. Tomorrow I'm making the peanut butter balls too :-D
A Virtual Vegan says
Ha ha! You'll have worked your way through the whole website by next week! Lol ?
Becky Skuse says
Hi there, I just tried out your recipe and it's great! I have to admit that I thought it wasn't going to work, but it did! The aquafaba whipped up wonderfully, and mixed well with the chickpea flour. I should've sieved the flour first (I ended up with a few lumps!), but it didn't matter. It cooked up really well and was so soft and fluffy. I think it tastes a bit like airy hummus! I made a different filling, but I think it would be lovely with any filling. Thanks so much for the recipe! Now I'm thinking about vegan soufflé - any ideas?? Becky
A Virtual Vegan says
Hi Becky! I must admit that when I was first thinking about this recipe I didn't think it would work either. But it does and it's great as you discovered!
Fillings are so flexible with this omelette. Just about anything would go.
Vegan soufflé is a great idea! I will see what I can come up with. I'm excited thinking about that one!
Thanks for taking the time to comment Becky and I am so pleased that you liked the recipe. I love to get feedback! Have a great day! ?
A Virtual Vegan says
I am so glad you enjoyed my omelette! It's great to get some feedback so thank you for taking the time to let me know :O)
Oh, and who likes to share anyway? ;o)
Cecily says
This omelette is awesome? I had no one to share with, so just made it thick, and cooked the top under the triller/broiler. I made up my own filling, thanks so much!
Ski says
You whip aquafaba without sugar right? Does it actually whip up into stiff peaks? I've been trying to do it without sugar and i didn't think it worked like that.
A Virtual Vegan says
Hi Ski. No sugar in this recipe. Just make sure your bowl and whisks are scrupulously clean and it will happen. I say 'stiffish' in the recipe as it doesn't have to be too stiff so don't worry too much if it doesn't quite get to the very stiff stage. As long as it is whipped up and you are able to kind of form mounds with it the recipe will work. I've made these a number of times now and I've never had a problem with the whisking of the aquafaba so you should be fine. Good luck!
sisterkyoya says
If the aquafaba isn't holding the peaks well enough, add either a small amount of vinegar or cream of tartar to help stabilize it. I did this with two recipes I was playing with yesterday (one was vegan Belgian waffles) and I was seriously skeptical that the aquafaba would work. I've made my grandmother's chiffon cake (similar to angel food) for many years with eggs that require the whites to be whipped and use cream of tartar to stabilize them. I'm currently a vegetarian who is trying to take the last few steps to be vegan again (I was for two years out of the last decade of being vegetarian.) I was beyond floored seeing the aquafaba whip up EXACTLY like egg whites, with a bonus: They can't seem to be over-whipped! Trust me, I tried by running my Kitchen Aid mixer on high for 15 minutes, something that would positively destroy regular egg whites. As for if they whip up into stiff peaks, I'd say yes because I was able to turn the bowl over that they were in, hold it over my head without making a mess or have it move at all. :D. So as a very long reply, it isn't the sugar that stabilizes the aquafaba and is easy to add if you need to. I'm still playing with how much of a difference reducing the aquafaba makes since I cook my own beans.