Veggie Chickpea Sticks - Chickpeas, veggies, chia seeds and cheese made into a delicious finger food that is great for kids of all ages.
Earlier this week I shared the recipe for my Fruity Chickpea Cookies and it was actually those cookies that were the inspiration behind these Veggie Chickpea Sticks. While I was developing the recipe for the former, I just knew that they could also be developed into a savoury version. After developing this recipe I realised that I actually use chickpeas a lot in baby friendly finger foods. Such as these sweet potato and chickpea patties or this baked falafel.
It is hard to decide which I prefer, the sweet or savoury variant. I guess it depends on what mood I am in. I'd say the boys like the sweet version better but are more than happy to munch down several of these veggie chickpea sticks in one sitting. I even popped a few in Finn's lunch box this week, I took them out of the freezer the night before and he was happy to eat them cold, along with a yoghurt dip.
They are very soft in texture and would make a great finger food for toddlers and babies. If you wanted to reduce the sodium level, for younger babies, you could reduce the cheese. You could even add some oats (like in the fruity cookies) before blending.
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Veggie Chickpea Sticks
Ingredients
- 55 g (½ cup) grated carrots
- 2 tablespoon Chia Seeds
- 400 g can Chickpeas (drained and washed)
- ½ red pepper (finely chopped)
- 1 tablespoon cream cheese
- 60 g (½ cup) grated cheddar cheese
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 handful of spinach leaves (chopped)
- 60 g (½ cup) frozen peas
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon mixed dried herbs
Instructions
- Pre heat oven to 180c / 350F / Gas 4 and prepare two baking trays with baking paper / reusable baking sheets.
- Squeeze as much liquid out of the carrots as possible. Reserve the carrot juice and add water to it to make it up to 80ml (⅓ cup) of liquid in total.
- Mix the chia seeds and carrot juice mixture together and set aside.
- Add all other ingredients to a food processor and blend until smooth. Add the chia seed mixture and pulse until mixed together.
- Take approx a ¾ tablespoon of the mixture and form into a finger shape (alternatively you could make cookie shape or nuggets) Repeat until the mixture has finished.
- Bake in the oven for 15 mins.
Angela
Made this today, also quite moist and crumbled apart despite drying all with a paper-towel - I think next time maybe add some thickener (flour?) and put the mixture in a baking pan and cut into strips or squares once cool. Tasty though!
Amy
Hi Angela, thank you for the feedback as it really helps me. I am slowly working through my old recipes and this is on my list to update. Feedback like this really helps 🙂
Lauren
I made these and they were SO wet. I followed the recipe to a T and made sure everything was dry (including the pepper). Had to throw the whole thing out ...
Amy
Hi Lauren, I'm so sorry you didn't have success with the recipe. I'm not sure what could have gone wrong. Were they wet after cooking, maybe they needed a little longer in the oven?
Amanda
Hi, I just made these today, and like another person, the mixture was incredibly wet, and very hard forming little logs on trays. However, I cooked for about 30 minutes until they were firm enough to hold up. And they taste great. 10 month old not keen but my 4 year old loved then. So a big win in my books. Any idea what I need to change, I followed the recipe perfectly. Cheers!!
Amy
Hi Amanda, I will have another look at the recipe this weekend and get back to you, maybe it needs a little more chickpeas to hold the mixture together better. Glad your 4 yr old enjoyed them, thanks for your feedback 🙂
Amrutha
Hi , can i replace canned chick pea with overnights soaked dried ones?
Amy
Hi Amrutha, I haven't tried but I am sure you could. Just make sure they are drained well 🙂
Sarah
I've tried these with canned chickpeas and soaked now and for those asking the question about soaked chickpeas if anything it worked even better than canned! Great recipe, my kids are loving these in their lunchbox. X
Amy
Thank, Sarah. I will have to try them with soaked chickpeas next time. Thanks for the feedback, glad the kids like them 🙂
Nikki
Adding-I baked 3 minutes longer, they got thin and crumbly like. Crumbly because of how thin they are. They taste great but I'm wondering what happened.
Amy
Hi Nikki, sorry you didn't have much luck with the texture. Did you really squeeze the liquid out of the carrots? Were your chickpeas dry enough? I should perhaps put in the instructions to drain, rise and make sure the chickpeas are not too wet when adding to the mixture. I usually pop them on a bit of kitchen towel to soak up any excess moisture. Glad you enjoyed the flavour though!
Nikki
hmmm my mixture was very moist. I baked a sheet of them anyhow and they don't seem to be baking well/right. Very soft to touch. Any suggestions? I followed the recipe exactly.
Shirleen
Can this be used as a BLW for 6.5 month old? Thank you.
Amy
Hi Shirleen, You might want to reduce the amount of cheese used to lower the sodium level a bit. They would be great for little hands to pick up though and have a nice soft texture.
anna
Hi Amy,
I've made some of these and they have turned out really well, thanks for the recipe! Do they freeze ok?
Thanks Anna
Amy
Excellent! So glad you liked them. Yes, they freeze well. I freeze them and then pop them in my son's lunch box.
Rawiah
How can I replace the cheese? What's your opinion?
Because my son has a dairy allergy
Thanks
Amy
Hi Rawiah, I am so sorry I missed this comment. As I haven't tried this with replacements I can't say for sure. The chia seeds are there to act as a binder so you might not even need the cheese. They may form without it..
Christie
My child has a dairy allergy, I used Daiya dairy free shredded cheese and Sheese dairy free cream cheese and it worked out perfectly. Thank you so much for this recipe, with some of her other food allergies, it can be a challenge to find foods that are high in fibre, protein and get her to eat her peas!
Amy
Thanks Christie! So glad it worked with the dairy-free alternatives