Vegan "Chicken" Parmesan

In today's recipe, we'll show you how to prepare delicious vegan "chicken" parmesan, a healthy plant-based alternative to this beloved comfort food. It's so tasty and flavourful you won't believe it's made without meat and cheese. Sounds good? Let's do it!

Chicken parmesan, also known as chicken parm, is a fusion between two traditional Italian recipes: the cotoletta (pounded meat, breaded and fried) and the parmigiana (a dish of layered aubergines cooked with tomato sauce, parmesan, and mozzarella). Chicken parm is very popular in the United States, where it's often served on a bed of spaghetti or stuffed in sandwiches.

The classic recipe consists of chicken breast coated with flour, egg wash, breadcrumbs, and then fried until crispy. The chicken is then topped with tomato sauce, parmesan, mozzarella and baked until the cheese melts. It's a tasty and satisfying dish but unsuitable for those on a vegan diet, with dairy and egg allergy or gluten sensitivity.

But worry not, here at Foodaciously, we work hard to design healthy, plant-based recipes without allergens. So, we made this one meat-free, dairy-free, egg-free, and gluten-free. And we guarantee it's so tasty you won't feel like you're missing anything!

How did we do it? With a few simple tweaks! First, we made a plant-based "chicken" substitute with mashed chickpeas, oat flour, and an aromatic spice blend. Then we coated it with vegan "flax egg", gluten-free breadcrumbs, and oven-baked it instead of frying it. To finish, we swapped parmesan and mozzarella with nutritional yeast and vegan cheese, respectively.

The result is a nutritionally sound dish that packs plenty of proteins and fibres, with fewer fats than the classic chicken parmesan. Each serving provides 26% of your RDI of proteins and 30% RDI of fibres, all within your recommended intake of fats per meal. Awesome!

Step 1

Let's start with the vegan "chicken".

Drain the chickpeas and add them to a blender along with 30 mL of water and olive oil.

Bitz all until smooth, scraping down the edges of the blender a few times in between pulses.

Then, mix the chickpea mash with oat flour, garlic powder, onion powder, ground sage and thyme in a bowl.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Step 2

You should have a compact and pliable "dough", which stays together when pressed. If it's too crumbly, add in a splash of water.

Now, divide the dough into as many pieces as the number of servings, weighing about 85g (3 oz) each.

Shape each portion into an oval patty, about 1 cm (1/2 inch) thick; it should look like a pounded chicken breast.

Step 3

For the coating, make a vegan "flax egg" by mixing ground flax seeds with 100 mL of water in a bowl and letting them soak for 5 minutes.

Then, prepare three bowls: one with starch, one with the flax egg, and one with breadcrumbs.

Coat each "chicken" patty first with the starch and then with the flax egg, rubbing off any excess (1).

Then, press it over breadcrumbs until it's completely coated (2).

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Step 4

Place the breaded vegan "chicken" over a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

Bake it for 15-20 minutes at 220°C (430°F) until it's crispy.

Step 5

Meanwhile, combine the tomato sauce with finely chopped basil in a bowl.

Then, season it with salt and pepper to taste.

Step 6

Now, top each baked "chicken" patty with four tablespoons of the tomato sauce, spreading it with the back of a spoon.

Then, sprinkle it with nutritional yeast flakes or vegan parmesan and top it with vegan mozzarella slices.

Step 7

Finally, bake the "chicken" parmesan for 10 more minutes or until the cheese has melted.

Serve it warm on a bed of cooked spaghetti or with a side green salad.

Tips

• We used sage, thyme, garlic, and onion to give more flavour to the vegan "chicken" dough. However, feel free to omit the spices if you don't have them or use ready-made chicken seasoning.

• While you bread the patties in step 3, keep any uncoated "chicken" wrapped in cling film to prevent it from drying out. If the patties crack when you handle them, pinch the dough together to seal the crack or briefly re-knead the dough.