We feel as though we are experts on the best vegan chicken patties! We’ve tested and tasted all the brands and even created our own DIY recipe!
Craving a crispy and juicy chicken patty—but sticking to a vegan lifestyle? No problem, you’ve got plenty of options.
In this blog post, we’ll share how to make homemade breaded vegan chicken patties the easy way. With tender “chicken” on the inside and crunchy breading on the outside, these chicken patties will become your new favorite meal!
And if you’re not in the mood to cook, we’ve got you covered with some of the best vegan chicken brands. So, let’s get started.
How to Make the Best Vegan Chicken Patties- DIY
Making your own vegan chicken patties lets you control the ingredients as well as the flavor. Below, we’ll share an easy recipe for the best vegan chicken patties—they will be super yummy!
Ingredients
Begin with collecting the following ingredients for your vegan chicken patties (most of them are pantry staples):
- 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas (or garbanzo beans)
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional for a cheesy flavor, but we love our Nooch!)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1.5 tsp poultry seasoning (it is vegan, by the way!)
- 1.25 tsp salt
- 0.5 tsp onion powder
- Breadcrumbs or panko for coating
Note that the amounts are our recommendations, and you can adjust them as per your needs.
Instructions
Once you’ve got all the ingredients at hand, whip up your vegan chicken patties in the following steps—
- Mash the chickpeas (or beans) in a bowl. You can leave some texture for a chunkier patty.
- Add the vegetable broth, nutritional yeast, olive oil, and spices. Mix well. We use a food processor.
- Once you have a nice, sticky mixture, form it into patties—big or small, it’s up to you.
- Coat the patties in breadcrumbs.
- Pan-fry the patties in a bit of oil until they’re golden brown and cooked through.
Your vegan patties are ready to devour! We like ours as a pool day snack, like sliders. If we have them for dinner, we make these like vegan chicken parmesan, and it is delish! Mhm!
We have tried these on a baking sheet and air-fried, but they didn’t turn out as good. You can try it and let us know if you have a different take.
Best Vegan Chicken Patty Brands
If you want to save time in the kitchen, there are plenty of vegan chicken patty brands available. We have tasted all of these and ranked them as they are best. We will tell you why each is our fave!
Gardein
Gardein offers so many different vegan chicken products, and their patties are one of my favorites. Their Ultimate Plant-Based Chick’n Filets have a satisfying meaty texture, while their ‘Crispy Chicken Patties’ make a great topping for air-fried French fries when sliced.
We often make the Ultimate Plant-based Chick’n as the main course and sautee some veggies to go along with it. We also love the Gardein Seven Grain Crispy Tenders. They are usually less expensive than their Ultimate Filet brother, but you will see why when you compare the two.
365 Whole Foods
The 365 brand’s chicken-style plant-based breaded patties are super yummy for vegan chicken burgers. Toss in a tomato slice, some lettuce, and jalapenos—and a mouthwatering dinner will be ready.
Of course, you cannot get these at your local grocery store. They are only available at Whole Foods. If you are like us, when we are near one, we stock up with all of our Whole Foods faves to bring back home with us.
Beyond Meat
Their ‘Beyond Chicken’ line offers so many options, including breaded tenders and crispy nuggets. Their realistic, meaty texture is so satisfying to bite!
Impossible Foods Chicken Patties
Do not sleep on the Impossible brand when it comes to chicken. We repeat, do not look them over! If you have ever had a Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Sandwich and you want to recreate that same taste, do it with the Impossible patty!
The consistency is very much like the Wendy’s patty. Use your favorite spicy sauce to toss it in before throwing it into the air fryer and you will never want to go back to eating the real bird.
Quorn
If you’re looking for spicy patties, Quorn’s meatless spicy patties will do the trick. They’re delicious to use for dinners when hosting friends.
The only issue is that we have trouble finding them. When we do, we stock up!
MorningStar Farms
MorningStar has gotten us through many Mexican dinners by not eating meat. We absolutely adore their Veggie Grillers Crumbles. However, the only thing we are consistent with regarding the brand is their version of chicken nuggets.
They have a really great original flavor of chicken. For some reason, they didn’t win us over when we tried their chicken patties. We do recommend if you want to use MorningStar, pop some of their nuggets in the microwave and throw them in a salad or even make a sandwich with them,
Vegan Chik’n is Tasty!
You may not think so if you haven’t ever tried it, but faux chicken, vegan chicken, or whatever you want to call it, tastes as good if not better than the real thing! What better way to dive into the vegan world than with vegan chicken patties!
We have put them in foods and done a taste test with guests, asking them if they notice the difference. No one has noticed that we have included vegan chicken options in our recipes that call for real chicken.
We hope you will consider plant-based chicken tenders, an Ultimate Plant-Based Chick’n Filet or even create your own version. It is not only wonderful for the environment, but it is also better for your health, and of course, the chickens will thank you!
Try Plant-Based Meats
Are you interested in trying some other plant-based options? Take a gander at our blog post on Beyond Burgers vs. Impossible Burgers. We don’t know a meat eater in our lives who have actually tasted an Impossible Burger and been disappointed. Just saying!
If you are considering leaving the animal-eating way of life, please give it a try. Anytime we find something that uses animal products, we ask ourselves if there is a better way to make it. Plants take up less land and less water and are not being harmed in the growing and processing of plant-based products.
FAQs | Frequently Asked Questions
It truly depends on what you are eating it with. We use vegan mayo for our plant-based chicken sandwiches and faux chicken salad, and we don’t notice a difference. If you were to try it plain, back-to-back, you would notice a difference, but we wouldn’t say one is better than the other.
Cook for yourself. If your family cooks meat and then has veggies as a side, consider having some easy, frozen, plant-based items on hand to toss into the air fryer or the microwave to include with your meal. No one is going to force you to eat something if you are over the age of 5.
We recommend educating yourself on what it is like on factory farms and what goes into creating animal-based products that are consumed by humans. If that doesn’t work for you, consider the health implications. We get it, though; we went from being heavy meat eaters to only plant-based dining. Try adding your favorite sauce to faux meats. Almost anything can take on a chicken flavor when substituting faux chicken into recipes. We also recommend getting creative with your spice cabinet. Lemon & herb faux chicken is delish! Get creative with it!
