Sweet and Sour Chickpeas (Vegan, Gluten-Free)

Sweet and Sour Chickpeas is an easy vegan recipe for your favorite Chinese takeout! Gluten-free, allergy-free, and made without chicken! This quick weeknight meal is made in one pot with a simple sticky, sweet, and tangy sauce, tossed with chickpeas and veggies! It's a healthier way to enjoy sweet and sour without any deep-frying!

We all love some sweet and sour chicken, but why not make it vegan and plant-based? Let's skip the gluten, soy, and sesame while we're at it and now we're talking! Vegan sweet and sour chickpeas is the best way to enjoy your favorite Chinese takeout without the meat, allergens, and in a much healthier way! No skimping on saucy, sweet, and tangy flavors, this one-pot weeknight meal is going right to the top of your weekly dinner rotation!

Why You'll Love This Vegan Sweet and Sour Chicken

Grab your meatless and vegetarian friends, because everyone is invited to this sweet and sour party! While the sauce is the highlight of this recipe, all the components together make this one of the most mouthwatering memorable copycat takeout dishes you will ever make! Made with an easy soy-free sauce that's just 4 ingredients, a can of chickpeas, and your choice of veggies (and fruit) like bell pepper, onion, garlic, and pineapple pieces! You can make this dish in 15 minutes from start to finish, serve it with some white rice and you're ready to go! This homemade recipe is:

• Gluten-Free
• Vegan & Vegetarian
• Allergy-free (Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Egg-Free, Nut-Free, Peanut-Free, Wheat-Free, Sesame-Free, Corn-Free)
• Grain-Free
• Healthy & Budget-Friendly
• Packed with 100% Plant-Based Protein
• Quick & Easy Lunch or Dinner
• Great for Meal Prep & Leftovers

Ingredients For Sweet and Sour Chickpeas

• Chickpeas: Just pop open a can of chickpeas, drain, and rinse! Chickpeas replace the chicken in this vegan recipe and provide a hearty plant-based protein that holds up to the sweet sticky sauce!
• Starch: Use a tablespoon of cornstarch or arrowroot starch to coat the chickpeas before adding them to the pan which helps thicken everything up and allows the sauce to cling to the chickpeas.
• Onion, Garlic, Bell Pepper, Pineapple: I love adding veggies to this dish since they help amplify the sweet and tangy flavors! Onion and garlic are a must, chopped red bell pepper and diced pineapple pieces are optional but you'll be missing out if you don't include them!
• Pineapple Juice: By using a can of pineapple chunks or tidbits in 100% pineapple juice, you can utilize the pineapple juice as well as the fruit!
• Ketchup: Homemade ketchup or your favorite store-bought, this adds the sweet and tangy tomato-y flavor to your sweet and sour.
• Coconut Aminos: Everyone's favorite soy-free and gluten-free "soy sauce" substitute! It adds just the right amount of salty umami flavor.
• Rice Vinegar: Rice vinegar adds that tangy acidic flavor to your sour sauce!
• Scallions: Every dish looks prettier with a sprinkle of green!

Ingredient Substitutions and Add-Ins

• Swap Out The Veggies: Other delicious veggies to include are broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, snowpeas, water chestnuts, or other colors of bell pepper!
• Make It Spicy: Add a a teaspoon or two of your favorite chili paste or sriracha to make this a spicy sweet and sour recipe!
• No Ketchup: You can swap in my nightshade-free ketchup or use 2 tablespoons of tomato paste. You may need to ass a teaspoon of sweetener to compensate.
• Make It Oil-Free: This recipe uses 2 teaspoons of oil to saute the veggies, but you can use veggie broth or water to lightly steam or dry saute the veggies instead.

How To Make Sweet and Sour Chickpeas

1. Dice your veggies and add them to a large saute pan with two teaspoons of oil to saute until slightly softened and fragrant.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the pineapple juice, ketchup, rice vinegar, and coconut aminos.

3. Toss the chickpeas in the starch to fully coat them.
4. Add the coasted chickpeas to the pan of sauteing veggies.

5. Add the sweet and sour sauce to the pan and allow it to thicken for a few minutes.
6. Finally, add the optional pineapple pieces and mix everything together until the sauce is thick and everything is coated.

Recipe Tips and Tricks

• If your sauce happens to get too thick, add an extra splash of pineapple juice to loosen it up. If the sauce is too thin, allow it to cook longer, but remember that the sauce will naturally thicken as the dish cools.
• Saute the veggies for just a few minutes so they soften but are still tender. You don't want the veggies to be mushy. Also note that the pineapple pieces should be added at the end, not when sauteing the other veggies at the beginning of the recipe.
• Keep the pan over a low to medium heat. After the veggies are sauteed, you're just heating the rest of the dish and thickening the sauce, nothing else has to be "cooked".
• If using pineapple chunks, I like to cut them in half one more time. If using pineapple tidbits, they should be the perfect size already.
• You can double or triple this recipe easily if you want to meal prep and make extra batches ahead of time for the week or if serving a crowd!
• You can garnish the dish with chopped scallions and sesame seeds (if you are not allergic to sesame). Add these after the chickpeas are plated to serve.

How To Serve Sweet and Sour Chickpeas

Garnish your takeout chickpeas with some chopped scallions (green onion) and/or sesame seeds! Remember that toasted sesame seeds have more flavor than raw! Serve your vegan sweet and sour chicken with some white rice, vegetable fried rice, or this pineapple fried rice if you really want to go all out with the tangy pineapple! You can always serve your dish with other gluten-free whole grains like quinoa or buckwheat. Serve it grain-free with some delicious cauliflower rice or in lettuce cups!

How To Store Leftovers

Whether you're meal prepping or need to store leftovers, allow the chickpeas to cool to room temperature before transferring to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 5-7 days. You can freeze the sweet and sour chickpeas by adding them to a freezer-safe bag and laying the bag flat in the freezer until solid. You can also freeze them in a container if you prefer. They'll be best if used within 5-6 months, just thaw them overnight in the fridge.

How To Reheat

Toss your leftover chickpeas into a pan on the stove over low heat to warm them back up! Add a tablespoon or two of pineapple juice, if needed, to get the sauce moving again. You can also add leftovers to a bowl and microwave for a minute or two for a quick and easy heating solution. Chinese takeout always makes the best leftovers!

More Vegan Takeout Recipes:

• Vegan Orange Chicken (Orange Chickpeas)
• Vegan Butter Chicken (Indian Butter Chickpeas)
• General Tso's Chickpeas
• Teriyaki Chickpeas
• Mongolian Chickpeas
• Classic Vegetable Fried Rice
• Easy Vegan Pad Thai
• 10-Minute Vegetable Lo Mein
• Cold Sesame Peanut Noodles

Print

Skip the deep-frying, skip the chicken, skip the soy and gluten. This healthy sweet and sour chickpea recipe is going to be your fakeout takeout of choice and you're going to feel good about eating it and you'll feel good eating it too!

So tell me:

+ What's your favorite takeout sauce? Orange, sweet and sour, teriyaki, etc?

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