Omelettes and eggs in general can be one of those foods that are highly missed when you begin a plant based diet. But you will be utterly surprised with the different ways around the “egg” dilemma when you realise that there are other foods out there that can replicate eggs and be just as satisfying.
This oil free, vegan Spanish omelette recipe (otherwise known as tortilla Espanola in Spanish) is going to satisfy you just as much as the traditional egg version. You’re going to be blown away by how much you will enjoy this recipe with the ingredients we have used, and it can only be tried and tested to be believed.
What To Use Instead Of Egg In An Omelette
Omelettes have a certain texture that you may think cannot be replicated, but we have come close with the use of chickpea flour (sometimes known as gram flour). Chickpea flour can be found in most major supermarkets or Asian style stores as it is used a lot in Indian cuisine.
When cooked in a certain way, chickpea flour (quite bizarrely) becomes a very similar texture to a traditional ‘eggy’ omelette. Don’t ask us why this is the case because it’s one of life’s mysteries, you just need to know that it works.
Other potential egg substitutes for your vegan omelette include:-
- Silken tofu
- Mung beans
- Red lentils
All of these can be used to make your vegan Spanish omelette, and all work well. You may wish to test out the others to see what your preferences are and find one that works well for you.
Nutritional Comparison Of Eggs And Chickpea flour
Everyone thinks they need eggs for protein, but the truth is, legumes (such as chickpeas) are loaded with protein, fibre, and antioxidants to boot. This makes them a much healthier alternative to regular eggs for your Spanish omelette, or anything else for that matter.
Here’s a nutritional breakdown of chickpea flour and eggs. Some of the different legumes that you can use for your omelettes such as tofu, mung beans, and red lentils may have slightly different profiles to the chickpea flour, but they all have the high protein, fibre, and antioxidants in common.
Chickpea Flour Versus Eggs Nutrition
Chickpea Flour Egg Per 100g
This breakdown is comprised from 1 part chickpea flour to 1 part water, so take this into consideration. This would be a total of 50g chickpea flour in these calculations.
- Protein: 11g
- Cholesterol: 0g
- Fat: -3.4g
- Fibre: 5.4g
- Omega 3 Fatty Acids: 38mg
- Omega 6 Fatty Acids: 1,314mg
- Calories: 194
- Carbohydrates: 29g
- Antioxidants, Vitamins and Minerals: Vitamin C, E, beta carotene, selenium, flavenoids, phenolic acid, folate, manganese, tryptophan, copper, zinc, calcium, iron.
Eggs Nutrition Per 100g
- Protein: 12.5g
- Cholesterol: 372mg
- Fat: 9.94g
- Fibre: 0g
- Omega 3 Fatty Acids: 0.1g
- Omega 6 Fatty Acids: 2g
- Calories: 143
- Carbohydrates: 1g
- Antioxidants, Vitamin and Minerals: Lutein, zeaxanthin, vitamin D, C and A, calcium, iron, potassium.
As you can see, chickpea flour has a better nutritional profile that eggs on most counts, or if not it’s very similar. Chickpea flour is superior in the respect that it has ZERO cholesterol, HALF the fat, is high fibre (eggs have no fibre), and has more vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
And, the best thing about chickpea flour is the fact it is shelf stable and very inexpensive, unlike good quality eggs. You will get at least 10X value for your money with chickpea flour, all for better nutrition and health benefits, so there’s really no reason not to give the vegan Spanish omelette recipe a whirl.
Other Benefits Of This Spanish Omelette
There are also some other great benefits to this delicious omelette. For instance, you can make this recipe completely OIL FREE to stay whole foods plant based compliant. You literally do not need to add fats to this vegan omelette if you use a good quality, non stick pan.
No added oils or fats makes this a perfect, low calorie, filling, yet FAT FREE dish that is still hugely satisfying when eaten either hot or cold. That’s right, this omelette is delicious cold too, straight out the fridge. That’s why we recommend making an extra big one as you will most definitely want to be eating this again the next day, either cold for lunch or as a main meal, TRUST US.
What To Serve With Vegan Spanish Omelette
This omelette is perfect as it is, on its own, because it’s a meal in itself with those hearty potatoes. Or you can serve IT with the following sides to jazz it up:
- Chips or fries
- A big green salad
- Sweet potato wedges
- Green peas
- Steamed veggies and greens
- Raw veggie crudites
- Homemade tomato sauce
- BBQ sauce
Variations Of Spanish Omelette
Of course, you can vary this dish to your own tastes. This is the classic version with simple potatoes and onions, but we have added some nutritional yeast to boost the taste of the chickpea flour and add a cheesy flavour (this is optional).
Other ingredients you can add to your Spanish omelette include:-
- Add some sliced, colouful bell peppers
- Green peas
- Spinach
- Courgettes (zucchini)
- Different spices such as cumin, paprika, garlic, taco spices etc.
How To Make Vegan Spanish Omelette
We’ve made this scrumptious omelette as traditionally as possible, except without eggs and the copious amounts of olive oil that’s usually involved.
1. Prepare your potatoes
For the potatoes we have pre-boiled until soft, then air fried until crispy. This may sound counter-productive as they are going to be dunked straight into your chickpea egg mix, but this is a step well worth doing as it adds texture to your potatoes that makes a difference to the finished recipe.
You can most definitely skip this step and just pre-boil your potatoes until tender if you want to save time too.
2. Caramelise your onions
Meanwhile, you will want to caramelise your thinly sliced onions in a non stick pan with splashes of hot water until nice and golden coloured. This will add heaps of flavour to them and help make sure that the finished omelette is fully cooked at the end too.
3. Make your chickpea flour egg
It’s then a simple case of making your eggy mix from a mix of chickpea flour and water. You will need to be sure to add the water to your flour slowly, whilst stirring the whole time to prevent lumps. This part is crucial to get right, as lumpy flour in your omelette is not going to go down well with anybody…
4. Cook your omelette
Next you simply mix all your ingredients together (including your boiled and air fried potatoes and fried onions) in a big bowl. You’ll want to mash a few of those potatoes into the mix to create texture too.
Add your omelette mix to a large, non-stick frying pan and cook on a medium heat for around 10 minutes or until golden brown underneath. Your top may not be cooked at all, but that’s fine because you will either need to turn your omelette (if you’re confident it won’t break) or finish under a pre-heated grill (easiest way).
Oil Free, Vegan Spanish Omelette Recipe (Tortilla Espanola)
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl
- Air-fryer (optional)
- Chopping board
- Chopping knife
- large, non stick pan
Ingredients
- 4 fist sized potatoes It's a good idea to keep skins on as this will make your omelette whole foods plant based.
- 1+1/3rd cup chickpea flour
- 1+2/3rds cup water
- 1 large onion
- 3 heaped tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1-2 tsp salt
- Black pepper
- 2 tsp garlic powder
Instructions
- Chop your potatoes with skins on into chunky style chips (around and inch thick). Bring to the boil in a pan of water and simmer until almost cooked or very tender). Don't completely cook them as they may break up, but get them almost there.
- Once cooked, add them to your air-fryer to crisp up whilst you get on with the next step. Crisping up the potatoes does make a better finished omelette but is not necessary if you are time restrained.
- Meanwhile, finely slice and fry your onions in a non-stick pan until caramelised. You can do this by dry frying for a while until slightly burning, then adding splashes of hot water to brown them up. No oil needed!
- Whilst your onions are cooking, begin making your chickpea 'eggy' mix. Add your chickpea flour to a large bowl and slowly add your water to form a paste to begin with. Keep adding more water a little at a time and keep stirring as you go until you're out of water. Now add your crisped up potatoes, onions, and all other ingredients to the eggy mix. Use a fork to mash a few of the potatoes into the mix, but don't go overboard with it.
- Pour your omelette mix into a large, non-stick pan and dry fry on a medium heat (not too high because you want to get the omelette cooked in the middle without burning). This process may take 10-12 minutes. Check carefully to see if your omelette is going golden underneath, and once it does you can either attempt to flip (only recommended for pros) or finish your top side off under a hot grill until golden.Cut by using the edge of a plastic or wooden fish slice so that you don't mess your non-stick pan up. Gently remove your Spanish omelette one slice at a time.Serve with a crispy green salad or some steamed veggies for a complete meal.
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