With Panko Breadcrumbs, fresh herbs, & lemon, my Plant-Based Chickpea scampi is a vegan, vegetarian, or gluten-free spin on this classic Italian dish!

April 6, 2021 Updated May 15, 2021 Jump to Recipe
With Panko Breadcrumbs, fresh herbs, & lemon, my Plant-Based Chickpea scampi is a vegan, vegetarian, or gluten-free spin on this classic Italian dish!
I’ve never had shrimp scampi.
But I love the idea of it.
Or rather, I love the ideas of it.
For being a classic Italian dish, shrimp scampi has about a billion variations. Breadcrumbs, no breadcrumbs, serve with pasta, or not, use lemon, add tomatoes, don’t do either…!
When a dish is that open to interpretation, for me, it’s really just an invitation to get super creative.
And since usually, here in the US, shrimp scampi doesn’t even have scampi in it—something I just learned, scampi is actually the crustacean Italian cooks traditionally used in this dish, but immigrants to the US adapted the recipe to use shrimp instead—well that just means that for my variation on shrimp scampi, I can use “scampi” in my recipe title, and completely take the meat out.
So that’s what I did.
Fried chickpeas take the place of the shrimp or scampi in my dish. For a touch of tradition, the chickpeas are cooked with lemon juice.
And then I use breadcrumbs.
Decadent Panko Breadcrumbs with butter, garlic, (there’s that hint of tradition again!), and fresh herbs.
Use Earth Balance Buttery sticks in place of the butter to keep my plant-based scampi vegan, or use gluten-free Panko to keep it gluten-free.
Make my plant-based scampi as an appetizer, or serve it over or alongside a light pasta dish, like my Lemon Garlic Pasta with Spinach, for a delicious spring or summer meal.
My chickpea scampi may not be super traditional, but then again, how many scampi dishes are? 😃
To add a bit more nutrition and decadence to my chickpea scampi, I use nutritional yeast.
Packed with cheesy, nutty flavor and protein (1/4 cup has 8 grams of protein!), the nutritional yeast in these chickpeas adds great flavor, texture, and complements the lemon beautifully.
You can find my favorite nutritional yeast here on Amazon [aff. link].
This Post Has 6 Comments
Lately, I’ve been almost obsessed with crispy chickpeas (They turn awesome in an air-fryer) – for their nutty flavour and beautiful chewy/crisp texture. This is another great way to add some extra texture!
Thanks Ben! Aren’t fried chickpeas the best?? I share the crispy chickpea obsession haha 😄
I’ve certainly never had a dish like this! I have friends who are gluten-free and vegetarian, so it’s always so good to have a couple recipes to try out for them.
Thanks Jeff! This dish would definitely be a great appetizer or protein for a vegetarian meal. 😋
This looks really good to me Shannon. I love chickpeas and am always looking for interesting recipes to make with them ..
Thanks Judee! Oh I completely agree, chickpeas are amazing and so versatile.