Vegan Breakfast Sandwich with Chickpea Flour Eggs

This vegan breakfast sandwich is packed with healthy, nourishing ingredients. Made with chickpea flour “eggs,” vegan cheese, spinach, sprouted grain bread, and more, this is an amazing savory plant-based breakfast. It’s quick and easy to make too — you just need 20 minutes!

One of the only things I missed about giving up my egg + cheese ways was the coffee shop breakfast sandwich. I LOVE a savoury breakfast. And as a registered dietitian, I also know the importance of feeling full (and satisfied!) for more than 30 minutes. (Which, if we’re honest, the coffee shop varieties don’t always deliver.)

So, as cookbook author, I felt confident that it was time to roll up my sleeves and create my own: a healthy vegan breakfast sandwich that was high in protein AND high fibre, plus veggies. Because, of course veggies!

I immediately added it to my plant-based breakfast recipes because holy heck, if this is not the BEST vegan breakfast sandwich you’ve ever had, then we have very different taste buds my friend. I still love you though – no matter what!

I’ve been eating some variation of this sandwich for well over a year now, so I’m excited to partner with Silver Hills Bakery — maker of my favourite sliced bread ever — to finally share this flavourful, filling and yes, HEALTHY vegan breakfast sandwich that will change the way you do mornings. Here’s to breakfasts worth waking up for.

What’s a vegan substitute for eggs?

Chickpea flour eggs? Easy, fibre-packed, and delicious! There are definitely more processed or ready-made egg replacements for vegan and plant-based diets (usually cellulose based), but as a gut health nutrition expert, I’m keen on getting in the legumes wherever possible. Why? Beans are nutrition powerhouses full of vitamins, minerals, and nourishing nutrients for your body. Using chickpea flour makes getting an egg-like texture a breeze—and their neutral flavour makes them super amenable: toss on some kala namak, and they taste just like eggs!

Chickpea flour nutrition

Legumes like chickpeas help support digestive health in a world where digestion has gone seriously awry by feeding the trillions of important gut microbiota we need for digestive and nervous system health. One cup of chickpea flour contains 10 grams of fibre, over 100% of your daily folate intake, 75% of your manganese, and 25% of your RDI of iron.

Chickpea flour also contains soluble fiber, which plays a crucial role in regulating your body’s blood cholesterol levels. So chickpea “eggs” for breakfast? There isn’t a better way to start your day!

But is chickpea flour gluten free?

It is! Because chickpea flour is essentially just dried and ground chickpeas, it contains no wheat or gluten on its own. It also goes by the name of garbanzo flour, gram flour, and besan, but is usually just the pulverized bean. However, it can be cross-contaminated with gluten during manufacturing, so if you live with celiac disease, just be sure to check whether or not it was produced and packaged in a gluten-free facility (usually a “GF” stamp of approval on the package).

How to make chickpea flour

You can actually make your own chickpea flour by grinding organic chickpeas in a coffee grinder (or a spice grinder), sifting the flour, then grinding that mixture again. It takes a bit of work, but it’s really simple.

How to make your breakfast more filling

Our bodies are pretty cool. There are all sorts of physical triggers and biochemical feedback loops to help us regulate our appetite so that we get all the nutrition we need. The catch? We need to be eating the type of food that these triggers were designed for. And that isn’t potato chips. Now, you know I love me some ripple chips, but if that’s ALL we are eating, we’re never going to feel full. Why?

Hyper-processed foods don’t take up a lot of space in the stomach, so they don’t activate the stretch receptors that tell our brain we’ve eaten enough. That’s why we can eat a whole ‘family size’ bag of potato chips without feeling full. Kinda nauseous maybe, but not full. Plus, these foods are sort of “pre-digested” by processing, making them really easy to break down and absorb into our bloodstream, causing blood sugar spikes.

Want to feel full? Feast on PLANTS. Whole, or minimally processed, plant foods contain plenty of fibre and water to help fill up your stomach.

Dense plant cells like whole grains, legumes, and vegetables take time to digest, leading to a slower and more moderate blood sugar rise. Of course, feeling full and satisfied for hours on a plant-based diet also means knowing how to create a balanced plate. If you want to build a meal that really sticks with you, you need to look for these four factors to help slow stomach emptying and trigger gut-derived hormones that help you feel full:

• protein: soy foods like tofu and tempeh, legumes such as chickpeas and lentils as well as nuts and seeds
• healthy fats: avocado, olives, nuts, seeds and nut butters
• fibre: whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, fruits + vegetables
• acid: citrus fruit, vinegars and acid-based condiments

This breakfast sandwich has it all: sprouted whole grains and chickpea flour that are packed with plant-based protein and fibre; healthy fats from the avocado as well as a little bit of acid from the vinegar-based hot sauce.

Why sprouted grain breads are different from whole wheat bread

One of the most common questions I get about choosing a sliced bread for the family is how 100% sprouted grain breads are different from 100% whole wheat breads. The short answer? No flour!

Silver Hills Bakery sprouts whole wheat kernels and then grinds them into the bread dough. The grains are never milled into flour. 100% whole wheat breads are made from whole grain flour, which is very rapidly digested versus the whole wheat kernel. This is why whole wheat bread and white bread have very similar glycemic indexes.

Sprouted grain breads typically have much more fibre (5g per slice vs 2g) than whole wheat flour breads and sometimes more protein too. Just two slices of Silver Hills Bakery Squirrelly bread contains a whopping 10g of fibre and 12g of plant-based protein. That is an absolute game changer when it comes to feeling full and satisfied. We all need more fibre – the average American eats just 16 grams a day – and fibre is critical for fighting inflammation.

How to make a vegan breakfast sandwich

There are so many ways to make a healthy breakfast sandwich! You could use tofu or chickpea flour to make an ‘egg’. I love chickpea eggs because they take literally 2 minutes to mix up and have a great texture. You could even add a slice of smoked tofu or tempeh bacon for a more ‘meaty’ approach.

In just a few simple steps, you can make a filling and hearty breakfast sandwich:

• toast a couple of slices of sprouted grain bread or a bagel
• mix up chickpea flour with salt, pepper, turmeric, baking powder and water
• cook the chickpea egg, wilting some greens on the side and add a slice of vegan cheeze
• spread bread with vegan butter or mayo, layer on the egg, cheese and greens and top as desired! I love a bit of hot sauce and avocado but guac is fun too 

More easy and healthy vegan breakfast ideas:

• Easy Protein-Packed Chickpea Scramble
• Easy Vegan French Toast with Caramelized Bananas and Walnuts
• 15-Minute Vegan Apple Pie Oatmeal
• Healthy Homemade Cinnamon Sugar Nut Butter