Vegan Chilli Omelette
This vegan chilli omelette is tasty, filling and protein packed. Add your favourite ingredients and create a brilliant, egg-free breakfast!
Creating an alternative to the traditional egg-based omelette
I accepted that omelettes were a thing of the past for me. What changed my mind was a recent hotel stay. Surprisingly, besides toast and fruit, there were two vegan options you could order from the kitchen; one being a vegan omelette. It was pretty good but more like a potato cake than omelette so when I got home, I got to work with my bag of gram flour to make a vegan chilli omelette.
Did you know that 100g of gram flour, the main ingredient in our vegan breakfast omelette, contains around 22 grams of protein and around 11 grams of dietary fibre? That’s pretty good going!
Recipe highlights
- Gram flour, the main ingredient, is incredibly protein packed which means you’re fuller for longer
- Pure gram flour is gluten free (double check packaging)
- Load with your favourite veggies, herbs and spices for a tasty, satisfying breakfast (or a quick lunch or dinner)
- Add a sprinkling of plant-based cheese for a melty centre
- Mop it up with some sweet chilli sauce!
Ingredients you’ll need to make your vegan chilli omelette
Gram flour – this is chickpea flour and used a lot in South Asian cooking. You can make so many sweet and savoury dishes with it and the best part; in its pure form, it’s gluten free as well as being high in both protein and fibre.
Some grocery stores stock it but your best bet is to head to an independent Asian food shop. It’s sold in paper bags, just like regular flour is. If it needs to be gluten free for you, just double check the pack to make sure nothing has been added.
In this recipe, gram flour is mixed with water to create the replacement for eggs.
Olive oil – you’ll need a tablespoon of olive, or another oil of your choice, to cook your chilli omelette.
Veggies – use your favourite ingredients here to create a vegan chilli omelette to your individual taste. My current favourites are mushroom, sweet chilli peppers and chives.
Seasoning – I use salt, black pepper, chilli powder and, importantly, black salt in this recipe. See the ingredients list for the quantities I use but these can easily be adapted to suit your personal taste.
Black salt looks like powdered black pepper but has a distinctively eggy smell. It’s used quite widely in India and Pakistan to sprinkle on snacks and fruit (not my favourite ways to eat it!). However, it’s great for vegan cooking to resemble eggs as it gives a subtle eggy smell and taste.
Herbs – little specs of herby green colour really add something lovely to a dish. At the moment, I’m loving chives to create my favourite vegan breakfast omelette.
Vegan cheese – this is optional, but if you have a vegan cheese you like, and you want that more comforting omelette hug, it’s worth adding just a couple of tablespoons of grated vegan cheese to the omelette once it’s cooked, and then folding it over.
How to make it
- Thinly slice the veggies you’re going to use. You really don’t need that many.
- In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients (the gram flour and seasoning). Use a whisk to distribute the spices evenly.
- Start by adding a third of the 80 grams of water into the dry ingredients, then the next third to create a thick paste. If you add all the water in at once, lumps will form and it takes unnecessary work to try and catch them and whisk them out.
- Finally whisk in the last bit of the water until you get a smooth paste with a consistency similar to what you would get with eggs. If the mixture feels too thick, add additional tablespoons water until it loosens up.
- Mix in your thinly sliced veggies and herbs.
- In a large (ideally non-stick) frying plan heat the oil on medium heat. Gently spread the oil around the pan by holding the pan by the handle and slightly tilting it in different directions.
- Once the pan is well heated (it only takes about a minute), carefully tip in your vegan breakfast omelette mix. Use the back of a spoon to spread it out around the pan to create a circle.
- Remember… While it looks like an omelette and even smells like an omelette… There are no eggs here and gram flour will take longer to cook than eggs. Cook on medium heat for four to five minutes on each side. You’ll know when it’s ready to turn over: When there’s no sticking and some lovely browning.
- Once both sides are cooked through and browned, if using, now’s the time to sprinkle vegan cheese on one half of your omelette, then fold it over. Cook for a further two minutes until the cheese is lovely and melty.
How to serve your vegan chilli omelette
Simply cut in half and serve hot. It pairs deliciously with our Punjabi curried baked beans and, if you’re going all out, your favourite vegan sausages for a “full English” style vegan breakfast. See our idea for a vegan full English breakfast plate.
Can leftovers be stored?
Just like the egg-based version, a vegan chilli omelette is best eaten when it’s freshly cooked. However, it does keep reasonably well in the fridge. Simply wrap any leftovers in foil and refrigerate for up to 48 hours.
Reheat in the air fryer and sandwich between two toast and your favourite sauce for a quick and tasty breakfast the next day. Or stuff in pitta with some salad for a yummy lunch.
Vegan Chilli Omelette
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil (or any other neutral tasting cooking oil)
- 4 tbsp gram flour
- 80g cold water
- 3 medium mushrooms finely sliced
- 1 red chilli finely sliced
- 1 tbsp freshly chopped chives
- Pinch salt
- Pinch black pepper
- 1/4 tsp red chilli powder
- 1/4 tsp black salt
- 2 tbsp grated vegan cheese (optional)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the gram flour and dry seasoning.
- Start by adding a third of the water into the dry ingredients, then the next third to create a thick paste.
- Finally whisk in the last bit of the water until you get a smooth, thin, paste with a consistently similar to what you would get with eggs. If the mixture feels too thick, add additional tablespoons water until it loosens up.
- Mix in your thinly sliced veggies and herbs.
- In a large frying pan heat the oil on medium heat.
- Carefully tip in your vegan breakfast omelette mix. Use the back of a spoon to spread it out around the pan to create a circle.
- Cook on medium heat for four to five minutes on each side. You’ll know when it’s ready to turn over when there’s no sticking and some lovely browning.
- Once both sides are cooked through and browned, if using, now’s the time to sprinkle vegan cheese on one half of your omelette, then fold it over. Cook for a further two minutes to allow the cheese to melt.
Zahida
September 27, 2024 @ 10:41 pm
Sounds fab the vegan omelette
Will try making it