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    Home » Family Style Dinners

    BBQ Chickpea Sandwich

    Published: Jun 10, 2020 » Modified: Jan 13, 2022 » By: Kylie » This post may contain affiliate links. » 4 Comments

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    This vegan BBQ Chickpea Sandwich is a delicious, quick, and easy weeknight dinner. A simple homemade barbecue sauce gets a quick simmer with mashed and whole chickpeas. Then it's piled high on a sesame seed bun and topped with your favorite cool, creamy coleslaw.

    Close up shot of a BBQ chickpea sandwich dripping with barbecue sauce
    Table of Contents show
    You Will Love These
    Instructions
    Tips
    More Vegan Dishes
    BBQ Chickpea Sandwich

    You Will Love These

    • They're freaking amazing! Even if you're not vegan - you're going to LOVE these sandwiches! I was trying to mimic a BBQ chicken/pork sandwich with this recipe and my meat-eating husband will tell you that these totally hit the mark. The texture and the finger-licking flavor of the homemade barbecue sauce will leave your tastebuds wanting more!
    • If you're trying to incorporate more meat-free meals into your family's weekly rotation - these BBQ chickpea sandwiches are perfect because they have familiar flavors that your family already knows and loves. The easiest way to get your kids to eat new foods is to serve them in a format that is similar to other foods they enjoy. Try these in place of sloppy joes or shredded chicken sandwiches. You might be surprised how much your family loves them!
    • They're super quick and easy to make! Just 15 minutes and about 10 ingredients is all it takes to get this tasty vegetarian dinner on the table! Even on the busiest of weeknights, you can easily throw this meal together. Serve with my Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad or Roasted Bacon Potato Salad for a delicious summer dinner!
    Overhead shot of a plate with a vegan BBQ chickpea sandwich served with potato chips

    Instructions

    Add ketchup, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, and a couple large pinches of salt to a medium-sized saucepan.

    Sauce pan filled with ingredients for homemade barbecue sauce

    Stir to combine and heat over medium-low heat.

    Sauce pan filled with ingredients for homemade barbecue sauce

    Add chickpeas to a large bowl. Smash half of the chickpeas using the back of a fork.

    Large white bowl filled with chickpeas half of which are mashed

    Add chickpeas to the saucepan.

    Saucepan with smashed and whole chickpeas in it

    Stir to combine. Gently simmer for 8-10 minutes.

    Saucepan filled with barbecue chickpeas

    Serve barbecue chickpeas on sesame seed buns, top with coleslaw, and enjoy!

    Close up shot of a BBQ chickpea sandwich dripping with barbecue sauce

    Tips

    • You can totally skip the homemade barbecue sauce and just use store-bought if you're in a rush. Although, if you have a few extra minutes, the flavor of this homemade barbecue sauce is AMAZING. But your favorite store-bought brand will work in a pinch also! Just follow the directions below, heating it on the stove with the chickpeas.
    • Feel free to play around with the barbecue sauce ingredients also! Add more sugar for a sweeter sauce or add more mustard for a vinegar-forward Carolina inspired sauce! Everyone likes something a little different. This sauce is our family's favorite flavor combination, but feel free to use it as a blueprint and make it your own!
    • You could switch out the garbanzo beans for beans of your choice. I like to use chickpeas for this recipe because of their soft, yet toothsome texture. The combination of the smashed chickpeas and the whole chickpeas gives a mouthfeel that is reminiscent of a sloppy joe or pulled chicken/pork sandwich. However other beans that would work well in this recipe include:
      • lima beans
      • pinto beans
      • Great Northern beans
      • Cannellini beans
    • If you choose to use a different type of bean, I'd recommend only mashing about ¼ - ⅓ of the beans as they will get a bit mushier than the garbanzo beans do and you don't want the entire mixture to be too mushy.
    • You could also use lentils in place of the garbanzo beans for this BBQ chickpea sandwich. I would recommend cooked green lentils for this recipe as red lentils will not stand up to the sauce and will get too soft, giving it a less than ideal texture.
    • Toast your buns! I like to give each bun a schmear of butter (use vegan butter if you'd like) or oil on each side and then cook them - cut side down - in a saute pan (or on the grill) over medium-high heat just until they start to get golden brown. This prevents the bun from getting soggy and adds a little extra layer of flavor.

    More Vegan Dishes

    • 15 Best Vegan Pasta Recipes
    • The Best Air Fryer Asparagus Recipe
    • Air Fryer Potato Wedges
    • The Easiest Baked Fajita Veggies

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    BBQ Chickpea Sandwich

    Print Recipe
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    ★★★★★

    4.7 from 3 reviews

    This vegan BBQ Chickpea Sandwich is a delicious, quick, and easy weeknight dinner. A simple homemade barbecue sauce gets a quick simmer with mashed and whole chickpeas. Then it's piled high on a sesame seed bun and topped with your favorite cool, creamy coleslaw.

    • Author: Kylie
    • Prep Time: 5 minutes
    • Cook Time: 10 minutes
    • Total Time: 15 minutes
    • Yield: 4 servings 1x
    • Category: Main Dish
    • Method: Stove Top
    • Cuisine: American
    • Diet: Vegan

    Ingredients

    Scale
    • ⅔ cup ketchup
    • 3-5 tablespoons brown sugar
    • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
    • 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
    • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire
    • 1 teaspoon paprika
    • 1 teaspoon cumin
    • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
    • 2 (15 oz.) can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
    • a couple large pinches of Kosher salt

    Serve with:

    • coleslaw
    • 4 sesame seed buns
    • potato chips

    Instructions

    1. Add ketchup, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, and a couple large pinches of salt to a medium-sized saucepan.
    2. Stir to combine and heat over medium-low heat.
    3. Add chickpeas to a large bowl. Smash half of the chickpeas using the back of a fork.
    4. Add chickpeas to the saucepan and stir to combine.
    5. Gently simmer for 8-10 minutes.
    6. Serve barbecue chickpeas on sesame seed buns, top with coleslaw, and enjoy!

    Notes

    You can totally skip the homemade barbecue sauce and just use store-bought if you're in a rush. Although, if you have a few extra minutes, the flavor of this homemade barbecue sauce is AMAZING. But your favorite store-bought brand will work in a pinch also! Just follow the directions below, heating it on the stove with the chickpeas.

    Feel free to play around with the barbecue sauce ingredients also! Add more sugar for a sweeter sauce or add more mustard for a vinegar-forward Carolina inspired sauce! Everyone likes something a little different. This sauce is our family's favorite flavor combination, but feel free to use it as a blueprint and make it your own!

    You could switch out the garbanzo beans for beans of your choice. I like to use chickpeas for this recipe because of their soft, yet toothsome texture. The combination of the smashed chickpeas and the whole chickpeas gives a mouthfeel that is reminiscent of a sloppy joe or pulled chicken/pork sandwich. However other beans that would work well in this recipe include: lima beans, pinto beans, Great Northern beans, Cannellini beans

    If you choose to use a different type of bean, I'd recommend only mashing about ¼ - ⅓ of the beans as they will get a bit mushier than the garbanzo beans do and you don't want the entire mixture to be too mushy.

    You could also use lentils in place of the garbanzo beans for this BBQ chickpea sandwich. I would recommend cooked green lentils for this recipe as red lentils will not stand up to the sauce and will get too soft, giving it a less than ideal texture.

    Toast your buns! I like to give each bun a schmear of butter (use vegan butter if you'd like) or oil on each side and then cook them - cut side down - in a saute pan (or on the grill) over medium-high heat just until they start to get golden brown. This prevents the bun from getting soggy and adds a little extra layer of flavor.

    Nutrition

    • Serving Size:
    • Calories: 288
    • Sugar: 17.8 g
    • Sodium: 1136.1 mg
    • Fat: 4.7 g
    • Saturated Fat: 0.5 g
    • Trans Fat: 0 g
    • Carbohydrates: 52 g
    • Fiber: 10.3 g
    • Protein: 11.4 g
    • Cholesterol: 0 mg

    Keywords: barbecue chickpea sandwich, vegan BBQ sandwich, vegan barbecue

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Laurie

      July 07, 2022 at 9:33 am

      This was really good! I don't know if I cooked it too long or if I'd like there to be more sauce...but I would make it again!

      ★★★★

      Reply
    2. Kathleen J

      September 07, 2021 at 5:36 am

      I made this a while ago and it was a huge hit with me and my omnivore son! I’m making it again tonight and wanted to let you know how much we loved it!

      ★★★★★

      Reply
    3. Mary

      June 13, 2020 at 9:18 pm

      Hi! Yummy recipe! I just wanted to point out that Worcestershire sauce is not vegan. It has anchovies in it.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Kylie Lato

        June 14, 2020 at 11:04 am

        Mary - Thanks so much for your concern... There are actually MANY vegan Worcestershire sauce options out there! As with many ingredients, there are vegan and non-vegan versions. Those who follow a vegan diet are aware of this and will do their own research to find products that are suitable for their lifestyle. Thanks again!

        Reply

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    HELLO FROM THE MIDWEST - I'm Kylie and as a mom and blogger, I understand how hard it can be to get a wholesome dinner on the table at the end of a long day. Here at Midwest Foodie, I focus on sharing simple recipes that make it easy to feed your family real food.

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