This vegan chickpea meatloaf is wonderfully hearty, wholesome, and packed with satisfying texture and flavor. Made with mushrooms, kale, walnuts, and wild rice, this festive chickpea loaf is a beautiful centerpiece for your holiday table and a healthy dinner any time of year!
This healthy chickpea loaf is gluten-free and oil-free, whole-food plant-based (WFPB) and can even be made without nuts!
Why You'll Love It
This chickpea meatloaf is exactly the kind of main course I think of when I'm craving a home-cooked, whole-food, plant-based recipe for a special occasion.
It's packed with umami thanks to mushrooms, walnuts, and tamari, and it's not a mushy loaf, either! The chickpeas, wild rice, nuts, and mushrooms contribute varying textures and make it so satisfying.
This chickpea loaf is also gluten-free, depending on your choice of flour, made with nutritious ingredients, and easy to prepare.
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Ingredients
Here's a quick overview of the ingredients you'll need.
- Chickpeas - for simplicity, the recipe is written to use 2 (15 oz) cans of chickpeas, approximately 3 ¼ cups cooked chickpeas.
- Wild Rice - you'll need 1 ½ cups of cooked wild rice. Prepare it in advance to save time.
- Mushrooms - cremini, white button, or shiitake mushrooms are all great in this loaf.
- Kale - I prefer regular curly kale in this recipe, but lacinato (Tuscan) kale is also an option.
- Poultry Seasoning - this herb blend usually contains a combination of sage, thyme, onion, black pepper, marjoram, and celery seed. Make your own with this recipe for poultry seasoning.
- Smoked Paprika - if you don't have smoked paprika feel free to omit it, or use regular, sweet paprika instead.
- Walnuts - they add nice crunch and texture. For a nut-free option, raw sunflower seeds are great, or for a lower fat option, substitute ⅓ cup rolled oats.
- Thyme - either fresh or dried.
- Flour - this helps with binding. For WFPB diets, spelt or whole wheat are good choices. For gluten-free, use chickpea flour, rice flour, or a gluten-free flour blend.
See the recipe card below for amounts and full instructions.
How To Make Chickpea Meatloaf
Though this isn't a quick recipe, it's actually very easy to prepare! It breaks down into 4 basic steps: saute the veggies, process/chop the ingredients, combine, and bake the loaf.
- Sauté the onion and mushrooms until soft, about 10 min. Add the garlic, thyme, poultry seasoning, and paprika, and cook for 1 minute. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Add the chopped kale to the pan, and cook until dark green and wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
- In a large food processor pulse the chickpeas, walnuts, vinegar, tamari, salt, pepper, and flour until chunky (about 8 pulses). Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Now add the sautéed vegetables to the food processor, and pulse 5 or 6 times so the kale is shredded.
- Add the veggies to the mixing bowl, and stir to combine with the chickpea mixture. Fold in the cooked wild rice.
- Transfer the mixture to a parchment lined loaf pan (see Equipment Notes below), and press down firmly so that it's very compact. Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or if you'd like to add a glaze on top, see below.
Optional Glaze
If you plan to serve the chickpea loaf with vegan mushroom gravy , vegan GF gravy, or some cranberry sauce you may prefer to skip the glaze, but it's very easy to prepare and does look nice!
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To add a glaze: At the 30-minute mark, remove the loaf from the oven and brush the top with your choice of vegan worcestershire (not gluten-free), balsamic glaze, or a combination of tamari and maple syrup.
Again, the glaze is totally optional and mostly for appearance. If you're a fan of balsamic vinegar, try the raisin-balsamic reduction in this Brussels sprouts recipe. It only takes a few minutes to prepare and the flavors pair really well with the chickpea loaf.
Rest Before Slicing
This recipe is made with all gluten-free, whole-food ingredients (unless you use wheat flour). This means that it is naturally more fragile when you first remove it from the oven.
So it's important to let the loaf rest and cool for about 20 minutes before lifting it from the pan. Then let it cool for another 15 minutes before slicing.
Serving Suggestions
Chickpea meatloaf is delicious anytime, though it also makes a lovely main course for special occasions and holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Pair it with your favorite vegan appetizers, sides, and desserts. Here are some of our favorites:
- Creamy Vegan Wild Rice Soup
- Broccolini Salad
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts With Balsamic Reduction
- Vegan Cranberry Sauce
- Vegan Mashed Potatoes
- Easy Mushroom Gravy
- Instant Pot Acorn Squash
- Healthy Vegan Pecan Pie and Pumpkin Pie
Equipment Needed
A large food processor is important for the recipe. It's the easiest way to chop the ingredients uniformly. I use this 14 cup model by Cuisinart.
I used an 8.5-inch by 5-inch glass loaf pan (1.5 quart) during recipe testing. Glass, ceramic, or metal are all fine. If using a metal pan cook time will be reduced by a few minutes.
Note: If you use a 9x5 inch pan the loaf will be shorter and cook more quickly. So keep an eye on it during the last 5 to 10 minutes.
How to Store Chickpea Meatloaf
Store leftover chickpea meatloaf in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat individual servings in a microwave or in a non-stick pan on the stovetop.
I haven't tried freezing the loaf yet, but all of these ingredients are freezer-friendly, so I suspect it will freeze well. We can't help but finish up the leftovers over the course of a few days!
Top Tip
It's important not to over-process the ingredients in the food processor, since the varying textures and chunky pieces of walnuts and chickpeas are part of what makes the loaf so enjoyable. BUT it's also important that the pieces not be too large because this can cause the loaf to be more crumbly. Refer to the process photos above.
I hope you enjoy the chickpea meatloaf as much as we do! If you try the recipe be sure to comment below and give it a star rating to let us know how it turned out!
Recipe
Vegan Chickpea Meatloaf (Gluten-Free Option)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups cooked wild rice
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 8 ounces baby bella or white button mushrooms, roughly chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 small bunch green kale, stems removed, chopped
- 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning blend
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme - or 2 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 (15 oz) cans chickpeas, rinsed, drained and patted dry - or 3 ¼ cups cooked chickpeas
- ¾ cup raw walnut halves - or ⅔ cup raw sunflower seeds for nut-free.
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar - or 1 ½ tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons tamari - or soy sauce if not GF
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ to 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ cup flour such as spelt or whole wheat or chickpea or rice flour (for GF)
Optional Glaze (select 1 of the following):
- 1 to 2 tablespoons vegan worcestershire - (not GF)
- 1 to 2 tablespoons reduced, good quality balsamic vinegar - tap for recipe
- equal parts tamari and maple syrup
Instructions
- If you haven't already, cook wild rice according to package instructions, then set aside. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F, and line a 1.5 Qt. loaf pan with parchment paper (this makes it easy to lift the loaf out of the pan after cooking).
- Preheat a large saute pan over medium heat. Dry sauté the onion and mushrooms until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, poultry seasoning, thyme, and paprika, and cook for another minute, stirring frequently. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Add the chopped kale to the pan, and cook until dark green and wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
- In a large food processor pulse the chickpeas, walnuts, vinegar, tamari, salt, pepper, and flour until chunky (about 8 pulses). Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Now add the sautéed vegetables to the food processor, and pulse 5 or 6 times or until the kale is shredded. Transfer the veggies to the mixing bowl.
- Stir to combine the chickpea mixture and vegetables, then stir in the cooked wild rice.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan, and use a large spoon or spatula to firmly and evenly pack it down into the pan. Bake for 30 minutes. If adding a glaze on top, brush that on now. Return the loaf to the oven and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes or until the top edges are golden and the center of the loaf is hot and only slightly soft when pressed. *Total bake time is about 45 minutes.*
- Let the loaf rest in the pan for 15-20 minutes, then lift out by the parchment paper onto a cutting board or platter. Allow to cool for another 15 to 20 minutes, then slice and serve.
Notes
Estimated Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition information is an estimate and will vary depending on the exact amounts and specific products and ingredients used.
jason says
Delicious, made the raisin balsamic glaze for it. Surprisingly kid approved!
EJ says
A big hit with great flavor. Bonus that we had all the ingredients on hand. Served with a simple vinegar reduction glaze.
Meg says
This was great….will be doing this regularly. Loved it. Thank you.