Serve these simple and savory chickpea balls over pasta or as a meatball sub in a roll. You can also make them into crumbles to use on grain bowls or in burritos in place of ground meat. However you make them, they’re versatile and will freeze well.
2 cups chickpeas, drained, and liquid reserved
4 tablespoons aquafaba (chickpea liquid)
1 clove garlic, minced
1⁄2 cup panko bread crumbs, plus more if needed
1⁄2 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1⁄2 teaspoon dried basil
1⁄4 teaspoon pepper
1⁄2 teaspoon cumin
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Mash chickpeas with a potato masher in a large bowl until mostly crushed.
Stir in the remaining ingredients until combined; add more bread crumbs if mixture feels too wet and sticky.
If it seems too dry, add an additional teaspoon of aquafaba at a time.
Form the chickpea mixture into balls and place onto an oiled or parchment-lined baking pan.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, turning over halfway.
Serve over whole-wheat noodles with tomato sauce.
The Blue Zones Kitchen fuses scientific reporting, National Geographic photography and 100 recipes that may help you live to 100. The Blue Zones’ food tradition is going the way of the dodo bird, thanks to the encroachment of the American Food Culture.
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