$7 Vegan Meal For 4: Delicious Vegan Chickpea Fritter Wraps
Being vegan doesn’t have to be expensive! In fact, if you do it right, it can actually be cheaper than eating an omnivorous diet.
I’ve created content like this before, such as my $6 Day of Vegan Meals video. I believe content like this has an important place, especially with the current economy the way it is.
If you happen to have a little more time on your hands for preparing a meal, today’s recipe is going to be great for you. And coming in at just $1.75 a serving, it’s super convenient for those of us on a tighter budget but at the same time might be looking for some variety.
The Haul
The total for this haul was $7.24. I did want to include every needed ingredient, including spices. If you happen to have seasonings in your pantry already, that would bring your total down to about $5.75. I did end up using a touch of hot sauce on my finished wrap, but this is totally optional.
Another thing is that they didn’t have the Shoprite brand of canned chickpeas, which would’ve been 99 cents rather than $1.29.
So the prices of this will vary based on what you already have/what you find in your grocery store. Any way you slice it, this is an inexpensive delicious vegan meal.
Another note about spices is that you can use whatever spices you like in these chickpea fritters. Literally whatever you like and whatever you think tastes good.
I wanted to go more of an Indian-inspired route with the spices, and this Garam Masala blend could be found at my ShopRite for just $1.49.
If you wanted to use parsley, cilantro, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, or anything else you happen to have on hand, use that!
I feel like just about everyone may have salt and pepper in their house which is why they’re the only items I didn’t purchase with everything else.
The Prep
There are three components to prepare for this meal, involving an overlap in ingredients used to maximize cost efficiency. The first component is the tortillas, which we will be making from scratch.
The tortilla recipe that I’m referencing is this one on TikTok, it is extremely simple and only uses four ingredients. I will heat them in a pan for a minute or two on both sides until they are golden brown.
The next component is the chickpea fritters, which we will air-fry (or bake, if you don’t have an air fryer) to save on our oil usage. Drain the chickpeas (but save the liquid from the can!! we will need it later) and put them in a medium bowl.
Mash them with a fork until they are basically a paste, then add your spices and two to three tablespoons of flour. You want it to be moldable, but not too dry.
We will brush these patties with some of our oil (on both sides) and air-fry them at 375F for about 15 minutes, flipping halfway.
The final component, and possibly the most skill-required, is a very loose idea of a tzatziki sauce (lightly referencing this vegan mayo recipe).
We will use 1/4 cup of the aquafaba (chickpea liquid) we saved, along with a pinch of salt, a tiny squeeze of lemon juice, and 3/4 cup of our vegetable oil.
We are basically making a vegan “mayo” using an immersion blender. Please note you need to add the oil slowly for it to emulsify properly.
Once it’s “mayo”, we’ll add a couple tablespoons (up to 1/4 cup) of shredded cucumber (the rest of the cucumber will go on our wraps) and another good squeeze of lemon juice.
The Meal
And here is the final product! I love falafel, and while this isn’t exactly “falafel,” it definitely did satisfy a craving I had for it.
The creaminess from the vegan “tzatziki,” the crunch and spice of the chickpea fritters, the freshness of the homemade tortillas, all of it was so enjoyable.
I will say this: I love my chickpea fritters with a little spice, so I did put a drizzle of sriracha on top as well. If you can swing it, it’s so worth it for flavor. You could use any hot sauce you might have on hand however, or leave it out entirely.
This made 4 servings (meaning four wraps with 2 fritters on each one), coming in at just $1.75 a serving! Not a bad deal.
Leftover Ingredients
If you had another cucumber, lemon, and another can of chickpeas, you could probably make another round of these with the ingredients we had leftover.
There was more than half the bag of flour, half the thing of oil, 1/4 cup of aquafaba, and basically the whole thing of seasoning since I only used a tablespoon!
So if you add that to the cost-effectiveness of this meal, you really can’t lose. If you try this, please leave a comment letting me know what you think!
Anyhow, I hope you enjoy this cheap vegan meal! I certainly did. I hope this post also equipped you with some kitchen skills, which can be very useful for a vegan lifestyle.
Thanks for reading! Until next time, peace 🙂