If you used to like fish and crab cakes, you will love these vegan crab cakes with chickpeas and artichokes. They’re super delicious, packed with flavor, and very easy to make. The recipe comes together in only 20 minutes!
Why This Recipe Works
If you used to like fish but you’re avoiding it because you’re vegan, this is the perfect recipe for you!
Before I became vegan, I really liked fish and fortunately there are some great and easy ways to make vegan fish alternatives at home. These crab cakes are the perfect example!
The hardest part is achieving the “fish-like” taste. You can, however, get your vegan fish to taste like the ocean by adding seaweed. Also use seasonings and sauces that are usually used for seafood dishes like dill, fish seasoning, and lemon.
I experimented quite a bit with this recipe until I was 100 percent satisfied. The most popular bases for vegan crab cakes are artichokes, hearts of palm, chickpeas, and jackfruit. I think the combination of canned artichoke hearts and chickpeas really does the trick!
I’ve also tried vegan crab cakes with hearts of palms, but I preferred the vegan crab cakes with artichokes. The artichokes make an amazing texture!
To provide them with a bit more texture I also added diced celery and bread crumbs. The chickpeas and the bread crumbs make them hold together really well.
To give them the perfect ocean-like taste, I seasoned them with chopped dill, parsley, lemon juice, fish seasoning, and vegan Worcestershire sauce.
And the best thing is that you don’t need any fancy or hard-to-find ingredients for this recipe. You can find all of the ingredients in any regular supermarket.
The plant-based crab cakes are ready in only 20 minutes! So it’s a great recipe for busy weekdays and it’s also perfect for a special occasion.
I served them with homemade vegan remoulade sauce with lots of fresh dill and lemon juice. We enjoyed them with a green salad but they’re also great with a potato salad or even on a sandwich.
What Goes Into This Recipe
- Chickpeas – either canned or you can cook them yourself. I usually use my Instant Pot to cook them.
- Artichokes – use canned artichoke hearts.
- Mustard – use Dijon mustard.
- Bread Crumbs – use gluten-free ones if necessary.
- Worcestershire Sauce – Worcestershire sauce is not always vegan as it often contains anchovies or fish sauce. Check the labels and make sure to use a vegan version.
- Fish Seasoning – I used Old Bay fish seasoning.
- Vegan Mayonnaise – either use store-bought vegan mayonnaise or make your own vegan mayo.
How To Make This Recipe
1. Step: In a pan, heat some oil and sauté the chopped onion for 2 minutes. Then add the garlic and cook for another minute. Set aside. Then add the garlic and cook for another minute. Set aside.
2./3. Step: Mash the chickpeas in a large bowl with a fork. Leave them partially intact for more texture.
4. Step: Squeeze the lemon.
5. Step: Add the remaining ingredients (including the cooked onion and the garlic) to the mashed chickpeas and season with salt and pepper.
6. Step: Form eight crab cakes.
7. Step: Heat some oil in a large pan and cook them on each side on medium heat for about 2-3 minutes or until they’re lightly browned.
8. Step: Serve them with a green salad and top them off with vegan mayonnaise or remoulade. Either use store-bought vegan mayonnaise or make your own.
Recipes Notes:
- This recipe yields 6-8 cakes depending on your preferred size.
- The fresh herbs (dill and parsley) are important for the taste. Don’t leave them out!
- If you have problems finding vegan Worcestershire sauce, you could replace it with soy sauce or tamari.
- I served the vegan crab cakes on a bed of green salad with vegan remoulade and lemon slices. For the remoulade I combined vegan mayonnaise with salt, pepper, fresh lemon juice, and dill. You could also add dill pickles if you like.
FAQs:
How Long Do The Crab Cakes Last?
You can keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Can I Freeze Them?
Yes, they freeze really well. Let them cool down completely before freezing them for up to 3 months.
You could also freeze the patties before pan-frying them. Simply let them thaw in the fridge overnight or for a few hours at room temperature before you pan-fry them.
Can I Make Them Gluten-Free?
Yes, you can easily make them gluten-free by using gluten-free bread crumbs. Worcestershire sauce is usually gluten-free. If you have trouble finding it you could replace it with tamari as soy sauce is not gluten-free.
Related Recipes
- Vegan Salmon
- 12 Amazing Vegan Fish Recipes
- Vegan Tuna Sandwich with Chickpeas
- Easy Vegan Poke Bowl with Watermelon “Tuna”
- Corn Fritters
- Vegetable Potato Fritters
I Love To Hear From You!
I hope you like these vegan crab cakes as much as we do around here.
If you give them a try, I’d love to know what you think about them. Just leave me a comment and a star rating below. Your comments really make my day!
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Sina
Vegan Crab Cakes
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked chickpeas
- 2 cans artichoke hearts in brine, drained and roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped red onion
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 stalk of celery, chopped
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 3 tablespoons chopped dill
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 2 teaspoons vegan Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons fish seasoning (for example Old Bay)
- salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a pan, heat some oil and sauté the chopped onion for 2 minutes. Then add the garlic and cook for another minute. Set aside.
- Mash the chickpeas in a large bowl with a fork. Leave them partially intact for more texture. Add the remaining ingredients (including the cooked onion and the garlic) and season with salt and pepper.
- Form eight vegan crab cakes.
- Heat some oil in a large pan and cook them on each side on medium heat for about 2-3 minutes or until they're lightly browned.
- I served them on a bed of green salad with vegan remoulade and lemon slices. For the remoulade I whisked together vegan mayonnaise with chopped dill, fresh lemon juice and seasoned it with salt and pepper.
Notes
- This recipe yields 6-8 cakes depending on your preferred size.
- The fresh herbs (dill and parsley) are important for the taste. Don't leave them out!
- If you have problems finding vegan Worcestershire sauce, you could replace it with soy sauce or tamari.
- I served the vegan crab cakes on a bed of green salad with vegan remoulade and lemon slices. For the remoulade I combined vegan mayonnaise with salt, pepper, fresh lemon juice, and dill. You could also add dill pickles if you like.
- You can keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
John Moslin
What size of cans of artichoke hearts do you recommend?
They were delicious.
Alicia
These were good . I added seaweed powder I made from nori because I wanted a little more ocean taste ! Definitely going into rotation!!!
Carol
I’ve always loved the vegan crabcakes at whole foods but this is the first time I’ve ever made them. The recipe was very easy to follow and they were far superior to whole foods. Thank you for the amazing recipe!
Hannah Flack
Wow – this sounds wonderful! I’ve been wanting to try making spaghetti squash at home for a while, and this sounds like the perfect way to try it. Thanks for the cutting tip as well! 🙂
Regards Hannah Flack
Hannah Flack
“Oh mmmyyyy, i love that recipe! Perhaps one of the best chicken breast recipes I came across to. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I’d love to try that this coming weekend.
“
Alisha Ross
Cheese has always been a part of my food plan. Versatile, low cost, this protein source lends itself to endless dishes, hot or cold. I would love to win the Cabot cheeses.
Melissa
Fantastic recipe. I didn’t find them “fishy” tasting but they were super flavourful and the mayo sauce really took them over the top. I rated the recipe as a four because they fell apart when cooked. Next time, I’ll add a vegan egg substitute to try to help them keep their patty shape.
Elizabeth
I made these last night and used a combination of hearts of palm and artichoke hearts. No Worcestershire on hand, so left it out. I only had dried herbs, so sub that in for the fresh parsley and dill. Also, used chopped green onions instead of the red and just put that directly into the mixture along with a teaspoon of garlic powder. Therefore no pre cook prepping was necessary, which made this a one bowl meal. My husband and I agreed that the result was outstanding! This recipe is a keeper. Thank you!!
Laurel
We made these tonight and the taste was good– a little bland but I didn’t have fresh dill, only dried. I had a lot of difficulty getting them to stick together but we ended up just making a scramble and scooping the mix onto buns with almond pepper jack cheese and spinach and grilling them panini-style on the George Foreman griller. The extra mayo stuff was great to dip it in. I added a pinch of seaweed but basically made it as written with sourdough bread crumbs. Thanks for the recipe!
Catherine
Outstanding! Taste is so close to the real thing I didn’t miss the crab meat at all! Thank you!
Sasha
I absolutely loved this recipe! It yielded 8 large cakes; thought I’d eat them over a few days but they were gone in two. The artichoke really does give it an amazing texture. I didn’t have panko so I used regular breadcrumbs and they turned out just fine. I also baked them instead; 10-15 min on each side at 375 degrees. They did lack a certain “fishy” taste, so I’ll be adding seaweed flakes next time. Will be making this again in the future!
Kathy
These were really amazing! Thank you so much for sharing.