Chickpea pancakes, also called Socca, are naturally gluten-free, easy to make, and 3 ingredient-only. They are crispy and golden brown on the bottom but soft and packed with flavor on the inside. These socca pancakes are especially good because you can add various toppings and have a delicious meal with only a few simple ingredients.
Gluten-Free Chickpea Pancakes
These chickpea pancakes also called Socca or Farinata, are famous chickpea pancake in France and Italy. They are popular street food in Nice, France, and Genoa, Italy. They are usually served in a cone and sprinkled with salt and pepper.
The traditional version is baking these pancakes is in an open wood oven, but people have developed different ways of cooking them over the years. Unlike the baking process, the batter always remains the same. It has only three ingredients: chickpea (gram/besan), flour, water, and olive oil.
The open wood oven gives a great result, but not everyone has this type of oven at home. That’s why I am sharing my simple method for making these vegan socca pancakes in the comfort of your home. And without turning your oven ON, only by pan-frying the pancakes to get the closest result possible.
What goes into chickpea pancakes?
- batter: chickpea (gram/besan) flour – can be found in large grocery stores or health food stores, and it is made from dry garbanzo chickpeas;
- water – room temperature,
- olive oil for frying the pancakes;
- spices: salt and pepper, dried thyme, and rosemary;
- optional toppings: fetta, greek yogurt or hummus, tomatoes, arugula balsamic vinegar.
How to make chickpea pancakes?
Add the chickpea flour to a bowl and slowly start pouring room temperature water while whisking until all the water is incorporated with the flour and you get a smooth batter. Leave the batter to rest for at least 15 minutes to 1h.
On a pancake pan or cast iron pan, add olive oil and turn the heat on medium-high. Once the oil gets hot, swirl the pan a little bit so the oil can get on all sides of the pan.
Add the batter, then quickly add the spices on top. Fry for 2-3 minutes. Flip the pancake on the other side and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
What to serve with chickpea pancakes?
Although these chickpea flour pancakes taste delicious with a pinch of salt and pepper, I like to add different toppings and turn them into a full meal. For breakfast, they go great with a big glass of yogurt, homemade hummus, or guacamole for dipping.
Different toppings:
- Guacamole sauce would be a perfect topping or dip to add to the chickpea pancakes. Plus, some nicely chopped tomatoes and arugula would perfectly complement this flatbread with a little bit of salt and olive oil.
- Making a gluten-free chickpea pancake pizza using the pancake as the base is a delicious option when you crave something healthy but quick and simple. You can cook the pancake as shown in the recipe, add the pizza toppings: sauce, mozzarella, and olive oil, and bake for 5 minutes.
- Something slightly different from these two flavors above is these tandoori sweet potato socca pizzas.
Quick Notes:
- Often there’s confusion between different types of chickpea flour. There is besan flour (split chickpea flour) and gram(yellow gram chickpeas). They are referred to as chickpea flour, so whatever you choose for this recipe would work.
- The one thing that may vary is the amount of water you need to use. Again, it depends from flour to flour and brand to brand. Sometimes it’s possible that you need to add a little bit more water.
- I recommend using a pancake pan or cast-iron skillet to get the closest result to the wood oven baking. But as a replacement, you can use any other nonstick pan.
- Preheat and fry somewhere between medium to high temperature. This way, we can achieve the same result as baking and get golden brown and crunchy pancakes in no time.
- Also, flipping the pancake on the other side is necessary to get a fully cooked pancake on both sides.
You’ll also love to try:
Chickpea Toast With Avocado
Mediterranean Crispy Chickpea Salad
Greek Zucchini Fritters
Lentils And Rice – aka. Fakorizo
Gluten-Free 3 Ingredient Chickpea Pancakes
Ingredients
batter:
- 200 g chickpea flour
- 200 g water
- 20 g / 4tbsp olive oil for frying
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
toppings:
- 100 g whipped fetta you can substitute with whipped ricotta
- handful of arugula
- 100 g cherry tomatoes cut in half or into quarters
- salt, pepper to taste
- olive oil and balsamic reduction to drizzle on top
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add the flour, then slowly start pouring the room temperature water to the flour while continually whisking until the batter is smooth and all the flour is hydrated.
- Leave the batter to rest anywhere from 15minutes to 1h.
- Once the batter has rested add the salt and mix again, preheat a pancake pan or cast-iron skillet with around 2-3tbsp of olive oil over high heat.
- When the olive oil is hot, swirl the pan a little bit so the oil can cover the bottom of the pan.
- Add the 100g (around 1/2 cup) of the batter to the pan, then quickly sprinkle dried thyme and rosemary on top. Fry for 3-4 minutes on each side or until golden brown and crunchy on the outside. Continue until you use all the butter.
- Take it out of the heat. Enjoy it as it is or add toppings.
- Add feta cheese to a food processor and whip until smooth.
- Spread the cheese on the pancak. Optionally add arugula and cherry tomatoes.
- Season with olive oil, salt, and balsamic reduction.
Notes
- I believe that the ideal thickness for these pancakes is 100g of the batter to 24cm (9inch) pancake or cast iron. You can add more or less butter depending on your past iron or pancake pan.S
- Depending on the flour, you may need to add 10-15% more water because some flour needs more moisture than others
- Having your heat somewhere between medium and high temperature would be crucial to get the same result as baking.
- Flipping the pancake on the other side is necessary to get even baking on both sides
- Make sure you preheat the olive oil well, and that the oil is spread on all sides of the pan to get even baking.
This was a super simple and very rewarding dish to make. I already had everything I needed and whipped it up in seconds. Thank you!
Thanks, Rachel! I am glad you enjoyed it