Vegan Broccoli Fritters (Low Carb, GF)

These broccoli fritters are held together with chickpea flour and ground flaxseed rather than wheat, so they are gluten free, and the batch of ten works out at roughly 3g of net carbs a fritter. Blitz the broccoli with onion, garlic and coriander, mix in the dry ingredients, then shallow fry for about ten minutes. Crisp outside, soft in the middle.

Chickpea flour is naturally gluten free, but it is often milled in the same mills as wheat, so buy one labelled gluten free if you are cooking for coeliac disease. It is also not a strict keto ingredient. Two or three fritters will sit comfortably inside most low-carb daily limits, but a plate of ten will not.

Goodness of broccoli

Broccoli is rich in Vitamin C, along with other vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that contribute to a normal immune system.
Sulforaphane, a compound broccoli produces during digestion, is an active area of research, with early work looking at blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
Broccoli also contains a useful amount of Vitamin K, which the body uses in blood clotting.

Benefits of flaxseeds

Flaxseeds carry a reasonable amount of protein, fibre and omega-3 fatty acids in the form of alpha-linolenic acid. Diets that include them are associated with better cholesterol and blood pressure numbers.

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Flaxseeds contain good amounts of soluble and non-soluble dietary fibre, which is useful for gut health, and in this recipe the ground seed is what binds the mixture in place of egg.

Benefits of chickpeas

Chickpea flour, or besan, is what makes this recipe work without wheat. Chickpeas do contain carbohydrate, but half a cup of flour spread across ten fritters keeps the amount per serve low, and most of the bulk here is broccoli.

The protein and fibre in chickpeas helps keep you full for longer, which is part of why a couple of these fritters go further than they look.

Chickpeas also have a low glycemic index (GI), so they raise blood sugar more slowly than refined flour does.

Now, let us see a tasty dish that combines all three ingredients. The result is a good-looking snack that happens to be low in carbohydrate and free of gluten.

How to make vegan broccoli fritters

Ingredients needed (makes about 10 fritters)

Broccoli florets - about 3.5 cups (300g)
Medium-sized onion – ½ (chopped roughly)
Coriander – ¼ cup (about 10g)
Garlic cloves – 2
Chickpea Flour – ½ cup (60g) (readymade, store-bought besan will do, labelled gluten free if you need it to be)
Ground Flaxseeds – 2 tablespoons
Cumin – ½ teaspoon (freshly ground)
Cayenne Pepper – ¼ teaspoon
Salt – 1 teaspoon
Oil – needed for shallow frying the fritters (use any oil of your choice)

Process of making the vegan broccoli fritters

Blend the broccoli florets, chopped onion, coriander and garlic cloves in a food processor or blender. Blend them nicely without adding water, so that the final mixture has a crumbly texture.
Once you get the mixture in this consistency, transfer these contents into a big bowl. In this broccoli mixture, it is now time to add the other dry ingredients. These include chickpea flour, ground flaxseeds, ground cumin, cayenne pepper and salt.
Mix the contents very well and make a thick dough out of it.
Light the stove and place a skillet on it. Pour a few drops of oil that you would need for shallow frying on the skillet.
As the oil gets hot, make small patties from the dough. Roll the patties nicely with your hands to get even shapes on the sides.
When the oil is hot, place the fritters (or patties) on the skillet and fry them on low flame for about 4 to 5 minutes. After 4 to 5 minutes, turn the fritters, so that they get cooked on the other side as well.
Fry about 5 fritters at a time so the pan stays hot and each one has room to crisp. Don’t overcrowd the skillet with too many fritters at a time.
You can also cover the skillet while cooking the fritters on one side, before flipping them over.
Switch off the stove when the fritters have turned a nice golden brown shade on both sides.
You can serve these with any vegan dressing or dips of your choice.

Some variations you can try

Instead of shallow-frying the patties on a skillet, you can bake them. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200°C) and line the baking tray with baking paper. Spray some cooking oil on the paper so the patties cook evenly. Bake the patties for about 30 minutes, turning them halfway, for a version that uses far less oil.
You can steam the broccoli florets for about 5 minutes before adding them to the blender.
If you do not need the recipe to be gluten free, plain flour works in place of the chickpea flour. Almond meal or a gluten free plain flour blend will keep it suitable for coeliacs.
You can use about ½ a cup (125ml) of plant milk as well when you are blending the contents to get softer fritters.
While brown flaxseeds are the best, you can also use golden flaxseeds if you like mild flavours in your dish.

FAQs

Are these broccoli fritters really gluten free?

Yes, as written. The only flour in them is chickpea flour, also sold as besan or gram flour, which comes from ground chickpeas and contains no gluten. The catch is milling. Besan is frequently produced in facilities that also handle wheat, so if you are cooking for someone with coeliac disease, choose a packet that carries a gluten free label.

Are they low carb enough for keto?

They are low carb, not strictly keto. Half a cup of chickpea flour across ten fritters works out at roughly 3g of net carbs each, so two or three fit inside most low-carb daily targets. Chickpea flour is a legume flour, though, so people following a strict ketogenic diet usually swap it for almond meal, which brings the carbs down further.

Why are my fritters falling apart?

Almost always too much moisture. Blend the broccoli without adding water, and if you steamed it first, let it cool and pat it dry before it goes in. If the mixture still feels loose, add another tablespoon of chickpea flour and let it sit for ten minutes so the ground flaxseed can hydrate and do its binding job.

How long do they keep?

Three to four days in an airtight container in the fridge. Reheat them in a dry frying pan or a hot oven rather than the microwave, which turns them soft. They also freeze well for up to two months, laid flat on a tray first so they do not stick together.

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