Vegan Pita Sandwich with pesto and roasted chickpeas
These vegan BBQ roasted chickpea sandwiches feature a delicious luxe creamy and quick homemade walnut pesto, garlic flavors, and crunchy salad. Pile all the deliciousness inside fluffy warm pita bread and you’re ready to dig into a super tasty vegan sandwich that doubles as lunch and dinner.
Course Lunch, Vegan Dinner
Cuisine American
Keyword vegan
Prep Time 5 minutesminutes
Cook Time 15 minutesminutes
Servings 4sandwiches
Author Simone - Munchyesta.com
Ingredients
4Pitasor a pack of sandwich toast
4-6large tbspVegan Pesto
119oz canChickpeasrinsed and drained
1tbspOlive Oil
½tspGarlic Powder
½tspOnion Powder
2tspSmoked Paprika
½tspSalt
Homemade walnut pesto
1cupWalnuts
⅓cupPine Nuts
6-8Oil packed Sundried Tomato halves
1cloveGarlicminced
1bunchFresh Basilequal to 1 cup packed basil or 60 basil sprigs
¼cupOlive Oil
Juice from ½ Lemonor juice from 2 limes
½tspSaltmore if needed
Pinch of Pepper
Instructions
Making chickpeas in air fryer
Heat your air fryer to 390F (200 Celsius).
Add the drained and rinsed chickpeas to a bowl and season with olive oil and spices. Toss to coat the chickpeas in the seasoning.
Next, pour all the chickpeas into the air fryer basket. Cook for 12-15 minutes (shake the basket a couple of times throughout cooking for best results).
Once the chickpeas are golden and crispy on the outside, remove them from the air fryer. Let them cool a little before eating.Season with extra salt if needed and enjoy.
How to make chickpeas in a frying pan
Heat olive oil in a frying pan and transfer the drained chickpeas to the hot pan. Season with salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and smoked paprika.
Mix everything so the chickpeas are completely coated in spices and let them cook at medium-high heat while stirring occasionally for 7-10 minutes or until the chickpeas are golden and lightly crispy on the outside in places. Remove from the heat and set aside.
How to make homemade vegan red pesto
Heat a small non-stick frying pan and add the walnuts and pine nuts. Toast the nuts for a few minutes while stirring occasionally. When the nuts are golden brown, remove them from the heat.
Pour the toasted nuts into a blender along with the sun-dried tomatoes, basil, parsley, olive oil, minced garlic, lemon juice, and seasoning. Blend until everything is combined into a pesto. You may need to scrape the sides down a few times to make sure everything is blended.
Pour the pesto into a clean jar with a lid and store any leftovers in the refrigerator.
Making the pita sandwich
Cut open the fluffy warm pita and spread a generous spoonful of pesto inside it. Fill the pita with all your favorite sandwich fillings (crunchy salad, juicy tomato slices, fresh cucumber slices etc.)
Use a spoon to generously stuff your pita sandwich with roasted BBQ chickpeas and finish with a little extra pesto. Enjoy.