Spicy, sticky, sweet and crispy. These vegan chickpea wings are amazing. Jerk sauce, sweet mango dip. Need I say more?!
I actually can not think of anything more delicious than these vegan jerk chickpea wings. They literally have the most amazing flavor and dipping them in sweet mango dip makes them an out of control masterpiece! It is a flavor explosion. I know that sounds cheesy, but it is the only way to describe what will happen.
The jerk sauce is spicy, but gloriously spicy. The sauce also has orange juice and agave, cutting through some of the heat and then creating a perfect sweetness and stickiness to the wings once they are coated in the jerk sauce! It is a super quick process, just throw everything in a food processor and puree!
You then use the food processor to make the chickpea “chicken” wings. Just chickpeas, vital wheat gluten and spices. They taste amazing on their own and would be super hard to mess up! You can definitely just eat the chickpea wings plain, but I promise, this jerk sauce is one not to be ignored!
Tossing these super crispy wings in the jerk sauce is the greatest idea I have ever had! This sweet mango dip is also outrageously delicious. All three of these recipes can stand on their own, but they really like being together! Jerk sauce, chickpea wing, sweet mango dip, a menage a trois if you will.
You can bake or fry these wings, I like to fry them, because frankly, I like fried food, but if you want to go a little healthier, by all means, bake them until crispy and firm. I love all things jerk spiced in the summer time, and this is absolutely perfect for any summer cookouts. Impress all the naysayers, you know the ones. The ones who say you must eat meat. I promise this recipe will prove them wrong!
Vegan Jerk Chickpea Wings with Sweet Mango Dip
Ingredients
Sweet Mango Dip
- 1 Mango, peeled and chopped
- 1/4 C. Coconut milk
- 1 Tbsp. Agave nectar
- 1 Tbsp. Lime juice
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp. Black pepper
Jerk Sauce
- 5 Cloves Garlic, peeled
- 1 Scotch bonnet pepper, seeded
- 4 Scallions, ends removed
- 1 tsp. Thyme
- 1/2 tsp. Allspice
- 1 Tbsp. Agave
- 1/4 C. Orange juice
- 1 Tbsp. Red wine vinegar
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Chickpea Wings
- 1 Can (15oz) Chickpeas, drained
- 1/2 C. Vital wheat gluten
- 2 tsp. Poultry seasoning
- 1/4 C. Vegetable broth
- 3/4 C. Corn starch, for dredging
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- If you want to make the mango dip, make that first. Put all the ingredients into a blender and blend on high until nice and smooth and creamy, scraping down the blender as needed. Taste and adjust flavor. Place in fridge while you make the wings.
- Now make the jerk sauce. in a food processor, add all the ingredients for the sauce and process until the sauce is smooth and all the ingredients are very fine and paste/sauce like. It make take a few minutes, scrapping down as need. Pour into a bowl and set aside.
- Wipe out processor, make the wings . Add the chickpeas, vital wheat gluten, veggie broth and seasonings to the food processor (DON'T add the cornstarch, this is for coating the wings later).
- Process until the mixture comes together and is dough like but still has a bit of texture, it will take a minute or so to break down the chickpeas. It should hold together very easily if you squeeze it together with your hands. If it is not holding together add another 1-2 Tbsp. of veggie broth, and pulse to combine, but 1/4 cup should be enough.
- Form the chickpea "dough" into wing shapes by taking about 1-2 Tbsp. dough and rolling into a ball, flatten out a bit and shape into a "wing". Repeat until all of it chickpea mixture has been used. Make sure the wings are not too thick.
- Heat about an inch of oil in a cast iron skillet on medium high and while the oil is heating, place the cornstarch in a bowl, and toss the wings in the cornstarch lightly coating them. Shake off excess.
- Once oil is hot, add the chickpea wings. Fry on each side for 2-4 minutes until nice and crispy and brown and cooked through. Reducing heat as needed. Remove from oil and set aside.
- Now, in another skillet pour the jerk sauce in. Heat on medium for a minute or 2 stirring until it starts to bubble a little. Now add the wings into the skillet and toss in the sauce until they are all completely coated.
- Serve immediately with the mango dip!
Notes
Mine were not as pretty, but wickedly good????????thank you for what will now be a staple recipe for my kitchen
Yay! I am so glad you liked them! That makes me so happy!
How many calories are in this
There are about 700 calories in the entire batch, and it makes a lot!
Why the wheat gluten? Can I sub for something else so it’s gluten free?
The vital wheat gluten gives it a “meaty” texture. Like seitan, seitan is made entirely from vital wheat gluten. It also helps hold the wings together as it makes it kind of stretchy. There isn’t really anything you can replace it with to get that texture. However, you could kind of change it up and make the mixture in to balls(or whatever shape) by using some gluten free flour or gluten free bread crumbs and a flax egg to hold it together. Shape them and then cook them in a pan and add the jerk sauce like you would with the wings. I hope that is helpful! Let me know if you aren’t a fan of that idea and I can try to come up with a different way to do it!
I had to use Tvp. For some odd reason vital wheat gluten makes me really sick. If you use tvp you have to add a binder the mixture. So I added two flaxseed eggs and flour. Oh and for an awesome extra crunch I coated my “chicken” in panko and eliminated the cornstarch. Mine came out looking more like chicken fingers, but they tasted really good. Thanks for the recipe.
Wonderful! I’m so glad it worked out!????
Hoping mine will still come out ok…because I mixed the cornstarch into the mixture…the recipe didn’t specify that it was to be used for coating…????
The recipe doesn’t say to put the cornstarch into the food processor, and the next step is to add the cornstarch to a bowl to coat the wings. Sorry if it was confusing, I think I will just add a “don’t add the cornstarch to the food processor” so it isn’t confusing. I think they will still turn out fine, but I’m not sure! I hope they are still good, and thanks for letting me know it was hard to understand!
Is there something I’m missing? Mine didn’t come out like a dough.. it was very grainy and it held together just enough for the starch but as soon as I fried they fell apart into little pieces and I ended up with crispy bits 🙁 was I supposed to add water to the wheat gluten to make a Seiten type consistency first?
I’m so sorry this happened! Did you make sure to add the veggie broth? It is supposed to be a seitan like consistency. The mixture that goes in the food processor is the chickpeas, vital wheat gluten and veggie broth. Then just the seasonings. It should be wet enough to form a nice dough, and be shaped. Then dredged into the corn starch. Let me know if that is what you did, but it still didn’t work out, so I know if I need to retest this recipe. Thank you for letting me know!
Hmm, yep that’s what I did. only 1/4c. Liquid? but for some strange reason it didn’t come out like Seitan..maybe it was because I used water and a veggie boullion.. I will try again
Well darn. I have tested this recipe a number of times, but I will check again and make sure that it is right! I would try just adding a little more liquid at a time until you get the right consistency! So sorry again! I have been thinking about why it wouldn’t work out , but I am not sure. Using water and boullion should work out fine. I am going to test them again today, and I will let you know!
No problem, thanks for getting back so quickly! I look forward to getting these right ????
So, I was already recipe testing in the kitchen today, so I quickly whipped up some chickpea wings. It worked well for me, but my suggestions would be make sure to run the food processor long enough to break up the chickpeas and it to turn into dough. That may take longer depending on the processor. Then if they don’t hold together really easily, add another tablespoon or 2 of veggie broth,then pulse together until they hold together. 1/4 cup of veggie broth worked for me, but I would add a little more if you need it. I hope that is helpful, and I updated the recipe to reflect my suggestions! Thank you again for letting me know ????
I gave these another go with better success! I must not have been patient enough last time and didn’t mix enough. Got the dough consistency this time! Thank you so much ????
Yay! That makes me super happy!
do you use canned coconut milk or regular coconut milk?
I used canned, I like the thickness of it! It makes the dip nice and thick and creamy.
How do leftovers hold up to reheating?
I have reheated, and they still taste delicious, just not as crispy. However, I did reheat them in the oven once, and it helped crisp them back up a bit!
Hi. I want to bake them instead of frying. Do you have a suggestion for temp & timing?
I actually bake them often. My suggestion would be at 375 degrees. Spray with cooking spray to brown them a bit. Bake for about 15 minutes, flipping them over half way through!
Hi I want to make these but am a little confused because in the written part of the directions it says the mango sauce has orange juice in it, but then then in the listed instructions it says the orange juice goes in the jerk sauce? Which one is it?
Hi! I looked over the recipe, and I can’t find exactly what you are talking about. I read over the entire blog post and the recipe, and it is only referenced in the jerk sauce. The orange juice definitely goes in the jerk sauce. I hope that helps. Sorry about the confusion.
I used to get gardein jerk wings at what used to be my fav restaurant before I went vegan but they use honey in the sauce so I’m glad to find a vegan recipe for jerk sauce! YUMMMMMM😋
I am not sure if someone already asked this, but are you able to bake the wings rather than frying??
Yes, I have had people tell me they are doing that! I would just bake at a pretty high temperature, maybe 400 or 450 and bake until firm and crisp. Maybe 20-30 minutes. Flip halfway through.
Hi, thank you for sharing…This will be my first time cooking with wheat gluten… I’m not really sure if my wings are done, what should the texture be like inside if cooked properly?
It’s really your preference. You can cook them a bit longer if you want them to be firmer on the inside. You can’t really under cook them, but I prefer them to be firm in the center. So, it’s really up to you. You can cut one open and see if it is where you want it to be.
I wad wondering if they can be frozen before frying and fry them at a later time?
Hi! Can I use the air fryer fir crispness? Thanks!!
Yes, a few people have said they used air fryers and it has worked out!😊
Since this is a vegan recipe, may I know what ‘poultry seasoning’ means?
It is a spice you can usually get anywhere. It usually has thyme and sage and rosemary. However you can skip it or just add a bit of thyme, sage and rosemary if you want.
Hey Lauren,
So I did want to ask if you’ve had experience with less oil and an electric stove-top? I used to make something like this in a cast iron (about half full of oil) with a gas stove-top and they turned out beautifully crispy and much like chicken fried steak (I do patties more often than something like wings), and that’s without the starch and using just regular flour instead of wheat gluten — more for the bind than the seitan consistency (wheat gluten by itself is no good on the digestive system). But I do the same thing on an electric stove top and it doesn’t cook all the way through, nor does it end up nice and crispy. This has been tried on a variety of stoves as I’ve made this at other peoples’ houses, different houses I’ve lived in, etc… been making them for the better part of 4 or 5 years. And it always ends up the same.
I am curious about your baking experience — again, electric or gas? I’ve noticed when I’ve baked them, they get dried-out and crumbly, so some tips would be appreciated. Unless I’m just condemned until I either get a gas line and stove installed or move again.
Thanks
Sorry it took me a bit to get back to you! I have a gas stove, and have not made anything like this in an electric stove in quite a while. They always turn out perfect for me in the oven or stove top, but I do love my gas stove! I will have to ask anyone what their experiences are with electric stoves.
Hi Lauren, thank you for your wonderful recipe. I baked mine and they came out great. Baked at 375 on parchment paper for 17 minutes total, turning after 10 minutes. I also initially sprayed them lightly with some butter flavoured Pam. Also left off dredging in the corn starch but did add one tsp of corn starch to the jerk sauce so it would thicken. I’ve been searching for flavorful, mostly fat free recipes for my mom (she has cancer and as a result cannot have her gallbladder removed so she has to have a mostly fat free diet). She was super excited when we found out these could be baked.
Hey Lauren!
I had tried to make this incredible recipe but had a few issues and was wondering if you could clear them up for me! I made everything according to the directions but when I tried to cook them, they didn’t seem to firm up at all. The outside would get crispy but the inside remained pretty doughy. I tried reducing the size of the wings, cooking them for longer, baking them for about 20 minutes and then frying them, but they still were pretty squishy on the inside. I don’t know if this is the correct consistency for these or if you have any suggestions to remedy them? Currently they are in the freezer. Thank you so much!
Hi there! I’m sorry to hear that. I can’t tell you exactly what is going on since I can’t see the mixture you had. However, they don’t get insanely firm in the middle, but shouldn’t be too squishy. Things I would suggest, 1. kneading the mixture for a few minutes, vital wheat gluten gets firmer the longer it is kneaded. 2. add a little more vital wheat gluten if the mixture seems too moist. 3. Baking at a high temperature like 375-400 degrees for a little longer than you said you did. Flipping them halfway through baking. Until they seem firm. I hope that helps!
Hi, could you make the chicken wings in advance and keep them before frying? I just wondered how long they would last? I’m thinking of preparing some bits for a gathering and wondered how long they keep. Thanks x
I have totally made the chickpea mixture before hand. As long as you keep the mixture in the fridge, it should keep for several days!
Hey Lauren! So how many wings should a batch with the given measurements make?
I usually get about 12-15 wings of of it.
Omg I just made these and they blew me out of the water!!They are outstanding! It really was pretty easy to put them together and they are just so delicious and crispy! You really hit the nail on the head with this recipe, from the wings to the wing sauce to the dipping sauce! They are all fantastic! Thank you so much! This is going to be a staple in our recipe repertoire now!
These are so amazing the best chicken substitute I have made at home of all the recipes I’ve tried! One question though- can these be frozen and then pan fried or baked later on? I was reading through the comments and couldn’t find any answers to this question.
I have not personally frozen them, but others have told me they have and that it worked out great!
I made just the wings, not the sauces (lazy dinner called for premade sauces but I will try the recipe here soon!) but it will definitely be a new quick, easy and delicious food we’ll be making again and again! I made them just under 1/2″ and they were still a little too doughy so I’ll try 1/4″ next time 🥰 I’d like to try adding jackfruit too for that stringiness and see how it goes.
Just made this recipe for Veganuary and it’s so good! I did make one adjustment because I was concerned that the seitan might be too doughy/spongy, so I wrapped the wings individually in foil and steamed for 20 minutes before dredging in cornstarch and frying. They came out exactly like I wanted, firm and chewy. The mango dipping sauce is so good I honestly wanted to drink it by the glassful, but I resisted the impulse. Really lovely recipe. Highly recommend.