Chickpea Pumpkin Fritters
Chickpea pumpkin fritters are a delicious and healthy fall recipe. They're made easily with canned pumpkin and chickpeas, a little kale, toasted sesame seeds, garlic, and some smoked paprika. Then the pumpkin patties are coated in panko and cooked in a pan until nice and crispy.
If you love pumpkin as much as we do, also try our pumpkin spinach salad and our creamy pumpkin hummus.

This recipe was originally published in 2011. We've updated the post with some new photos, more information, and an easier-to-follow recipe. But the fritters are as delicious as always!
Chickpea Pumpkin Fritters
These chickpea pumpkin fritters are one of our favorite fall recipes. They're super soft, sweet from the pumpkin, crispy from the panko, and mildly spicy from the cayenne. The smoked paprika adds a wintery warmth while the kale adds delicate flecks of vibrant green.
They're pan-fried (which is NOT the same as deep-frying!) so that the panko coating becomes super crispy. The combination of the soft inside and crispy exterior is heavenly.
We love to eat these as a simple, healthy vegetarian dinner during pumpkin season. But they are also delicious made into tiny fritters, topped with a little lemon mayo, and served as a pretty appetizer.
How to make chickpea pumpkin fritters
These chickpea pumpkin fritters are very easy to make. Here's what you're going to do:
- Put all the ingredients except the panko into your food processor.
- Blend until mostly smooth. It should look like thick, chunky hummus.
- Now use a ¼ cup measuring cup to scoop them into equal portions then coat the fritters in panko.
- Pan fry the pumpkin fritters in a little oil until they are nice and crispy on both sides.
Full recipe in the recipe card below.

Recipe FAQs
These fritters taste best if pan-fried right after they're coated in panko. But the pumpkin chickpea mixture can be blended a few days ahead of time and kept in your fridge until you're ready to make them into fritters.
The best way to reheat leftover pumpkin fritters is in your oven.
You can bake these fritters in a 350-degree Fahrenheit oven for about 20 minutes. Make sure to spray the pan and the top of the fritters with oil. And know that they won't be as crispy as they are when you cook them in a pan.
Yes! Cannelini beans also work well.
Canned pumpkin tends to be a lot thinner than roasted, pureed pumpkin. You can use roasted pumpkin in this recipe, but the fritters will be a little denser. They'll still be delicious!
What to serve with chickpea pumpkin fritters
We love these crispy pumpkin patties served with a simple green salad tossed with our lifesaving lemony salad dressing. But they're also delicious served as a side dish. Here are a few of our favorite mains that go well with these fritters:
- Lemon Garlic Chicken
- Herbs de Provence Chicken
- Baked Fish with Lemon Garlic Butter
- Baked Pork Tenderloin

Popular pumpkin recipes
- Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins
- Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
- Creamy Pumpkin Hummus
- Pumpkin Soup with Maple Bacon Onions
- Chipotle Bourbon Pumpkin Chili

Chickpea Pumpkin Fritters Recipe
If you love this recipe as much as we do, let us know with a 5-star rating!
Ingredients
- 14 ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup minced kale
- ½ cup canned pumpkin puree
- ā cup toasted sesame seeds
- 2 tablespoons almond flour
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- 1 large egg
- 1 ¼ cups panko, gluten-free, if needed
- ¼ cup olive oil
Lemon Mayo
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- Zest from 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Start by making the mayonnaise. In a small bowl, mix together the mayo, lemon zest, and lemon juice.¼ cup mayonnaise, Zest from 1 lemon, 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Add the chickpeas, kale, pumpkin puree, sesame seeds, almond flour, salt, paprika, garlic, and egg to your food processor and blend on high until mostly smooth.14 ounce can chickpeas, 1 cup minced kale, ½ cup canned pumpkin puree, ā cup toasted sesame seeds, 2 tablespoons almond flour, 2 teaspoons sea salt, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, 2 large garlic cloves, 1 large egg
- Place the panko into a shallow bowl. Use a ¼ cup measuring cup to scoop the fritters and place them (one at a time) into the panko. Coat them well on all sides and form them into the shape of patties. They will be quite soft.1 ¼ cups panko
- Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the pumpkin fritters and pan fry until golden, about 3-4 minutes per side, working in batches if needed. Lower the heat if the fritters are browning too quickly.¼ cup olive oil
- Serve the crispy pumpkin fritters with the lemon mayo for dipping.
Try one of these recipes to use the rest of the can of pureed pumpkin:
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Love collecting chickpea recipes for my meatless days. Will make this pumpkin addition again next week. And that aioli was so yummy and delicious!
These Fritters tasted fabulous! Love the addition of pumpkin for a bit of Fall flare.
Oh my gosh – two of my favorites – pumpkins and chickpeas – in one great dish! This was amazing and I am definitely going to make it again this weekend.
These fritters were such a fun and delicious snack to make with my kids!! They loved how crispy the fritters got, and I loved that I was sneaking in some extra veggies into their diet! Win win!
These look great. I am always looking for a vegetarian alternative for burgers and this sounds nice.
Your recipe says: “Breadcrumbs or panko2 egg yolks” , and the Aioli has no egg yoke listed in the ingredients… I’m guessing the 2 egg yolks got stuck in the wrong place? I hope so, because that’s what I plan to do…:-)
Thanks for the recipe, it looks great!
~Red~
Typo! Yes, there’s supposed to be one egg in the fritters and the other for the aioli. Thanks for pointing that out!
Is it just me or does anybody else notice that the ingredients call for 2 TBS of apple cider vinegar, yet the vinegar is not mentioned anywhere in the recipe? Does the recipe actually call for ACV or should that be an outright omission? I wish I had noticed this before I started cooking these tonight! Hope no ACV isn’t a huge issue. Eek!
Hi Jess,
Thank you so much for pointing that out! Iāve just corrected it. I hope they turned out great even without the vinegar in them.
I can not wait to make these! So simple and tasty sounding and yes I think you could call them “healthy”!
Let me know how you like them when you make them! I made some tiny ones, took a little piece of kale, put aioli on it and then the fritter on top. Then I ate the whole thing, kale and all. It was really good that way!
They turned out great. Had to add some bread crumbs because they were a bit too wet but they turned out amazing (the lemon ailoi I ate by the spoonfull on top)! I also made the cherry tomatoes with basil and garlic and had them on the side for dinner and they were also so amazing I wish I had made more!
That is so great! So happy they turned out so well!! Going to make a note about the breadcrumbs in the post just in case anyone else has the same problem š