Created by Laura Wright
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5 from 1 vote
These golden split pea patties are wholesome, crisp, vegan and naturally gluten-free. With a base of split peas, potatoes, carrots & pantry staples, they couldn’t be simpler to make!
Veggie patty/burger recipes seem to be the most popular recipes here, but also the ones that give me the most trouble. I love making and eating them because they’re kind of old school and they satisfy all types of eaters in a big way. They generally freeze well for future lazy dinner endeavours, and they hold up that duality of wholesome-but-junk-y-seeming quite well. They can be enjoyed a bunch of different ways, too. A perfect food, really!
But there’s a lot of room for user error with these sort of recipes. I’m almost always hesitant to post them. If the patty has a grain, undercooking makes for too much moisture, while overcooking leads to a mushy center. Somebody might have fresher vegetables on hand than me, so when they include some shreds of those veg in the mix, their burger is way too wet. Sometimes people are hesitant to use as much oil as I do when frying them up, which results in a sticky, broken-apart mess in the pan. Even with the most cement-like mix, veggie patties can break if you don’t flip them over with equal measures of care and efficiency.
One combination that seems to guarantee optimum veggie patty results every time (for me), is the trifecta of slightly overcooked, mashed potatoes, some sort of cooked pulse, and shredded vegetables. The potato glues and holds everything together, while making for some crispy edges. The pulses (dry split peas in this case) provide texture and protein. The vegetables lighten everything up. It’s the International Year of the Pulses and I’m still committed to the Pulse Pledge all year (and every year for the rest of my life ‘cuz plant power is real—as evidenced by this Instagram shot of my weekly meal prep day with cooked lentils AND soaking white beans). This recipe is such an easy, accessible, and versatile way to hit that weekly quota.
I go in heavy with the warm spices and garlic because the lightly sweet, starchy quality of the potatoes and split peas needs some punctuation here. This is an extremely pantry-friendly recipe on the whole–only 9 core ingredients! I always have potatoes, onions, and carrots around and I suspect this is true for many people who cook at home regularly. Lemon and tamari add further flavour dimension here and the chickpea flour is our extra insurance policy to help the patties hold together.
Since these split pea patties are more on the (blissfully) starchy end, I like to serve them lettuce-wrapped or on top of cooked greens. It kind of gives them that light summer vibe that I’m after with my meals lately. Sending even more light summer vibes out to all of you too ;)
Golden Split Pea Patties
Golden split pea patties are vegan and gluten-free. With a base of split peas, potatoes, carrots & pantry staples, this couldn't be simpler.
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe
Prep Time: 25 minutes mins
Cook Time: 1 hour hr
Resting Time: 2 hours hrs
Total Time: 3 hours hrs 25 minutes mins
Servings 10 patties
Ingredients
- 3 medium new potatoes (about 440 grams)
- 1 cup dry split peas, rinsed
- 3 medium carrots, shredded (you want 2 cups of shredded carrot)
- 1 small onion, minced (about ¾ cup minced onion)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon ground fenugreek (optional)
- ¼ cup chickpea flour
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon gluten-free tamari soy sauce OR coconut aminos
- sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- coconut or avocado oil, for cooking
Notes
- You could use both yellow or green dry split peas in the recipe. I suspect the yellow ones might look prettier given the golden hue of everything else in the mix, but I had the green ones on hand and they worked out just fine.
- I recommend pan-frying for these because I honestly haven’t tried baking or grilling them yet.
- This recipe is totally oil-free if you decide to try the baking route though. I can’t guarantee they’ll stay intact if you try this though.
Instructions
Peel and chop the potatoes. Place them in a medium saucepan and cover them with cold water. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook the potatoes for 12 minutes, or until quite mushy and soft. Drain the potatoes and return them to the pot to dry out for a minute or so.
Place the potatoes in a large bowl and set aside.
Fill the same medium saucepan with 3 ¼ cups of water. Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the split peas and stir. Lower the heat to a simmer. Cook until the split peas have absorbed most of the liquid and are quite soft/mushy, about 35 minutes.
Take the split peas off the heat and mash them with a fork. Transfer the mashed split peas to the bowl with the potatoes.
Add the grated carrots to the bowl, along with the onion, garlic, cumin, coriander, turmeric, fenugreek (if using), chickpea flour, lemon juice, and tamari. Season everything liberally with salt and pepper. Taste the mixture and adjust seasoning if necessary.
Mix and mash all of the ingredients together with your hands. This part is messy! It should feel very pasty when you’re done with it, with only a few tiny pieces of whole potato in the mix.
Form the mixture into 10 split pea patties and place them on a baking sheet. Cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap and slide into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
Once you’re ready to cook the patties, heat a decent slick of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Set your oven to 300 degrees F, and place a large baking sheet inside.
Cook the patties in batches, browning the sides thoroughly. Each side should take about 2 full minutes. As you finish cooking the patties, transfer them to the baking sheet in the oven while you cook those that remain. Once you're done cooking all of the patties, it's advantageous to leave the patties in the oven for a good 10 minutes so that they can firm up even more so.
Serve the split pea patties hot with lettuce wraps, rolls, a salad, or any other accompaniment you like.
Author: Laura Wright
Course: Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian
Keyword: avocado oil, carrots, chickpea flour, coconut aminos, coriander, cumin, fall, fenugreek, garlic, lemon, onions, potatoes, split peas, spring, summer, tamari, turmeric, winter
*This post was created in partnership withUSA Pulses and Pulse Canada. Allopinions/endorsem*nts are my own. Thanks for supporting!
27/07/2016 (Last Updated 12/07/2023)
Posted in: autumn, carrots, earthy, gluten free, main course, nut free, oil free, refined sugar-free, salty, sandwich, spring, summer, vegan, winter
27 comments
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Teresa 
Very nice this was my first time making them, thoroughly enjoyed them even though it was stressful, and tht I worked hard preparing thisReply
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Stephen Sinclair Great recipe, Laura. After cooling ingredients in the fridge I formed the patties with a round cookie cutter then put them back in the fridge as you said. I actually then baked them for one hour at 350 degrees. They then only needed a quick fry to give the outside a nice crispy skin. Made a sauce with Just Mayo, red bell pepper, a bit of tomato, and some Tobacco. Delicious. Thanks again.
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Kristin Sjaarda Hi Laura,
Once again I turned to your site for a recipe that will give me a make-ahead meal. I put the uncooked patties in the freezer and will fry ’em up as I need to. I love that this is the onion/carrot/potato mixture that i have been eating since childhood. In dutch it’s called hutspot! The addition of the warm spices is a definite improvement over the traditional. Thanks again!Reply
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Olivia I’m planning on making these and bringing them to a family Easter dinner, any advice for reheating as their oven will be full.
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Laura Hi Olivia,
I would only recommend re-heating these in an oven (as opposed to re-cooking them on the stove in a frying pan or in a microwave), so I’m not sure what you can do here if the host’s oven is full. The dry heat of the oven is ideal for keeping the integrity of the patty intact. They are quite tasty at room temperature, but I know that’s not the most helpful piece of information. Crossing my fingers for you that the host can free up a bit of space in their oven!
-LReply
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Stephanie What is the sauce you serve with it?
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Laura I used Sir Kensington’s Fabanaise with a bit of lemon juice stirred in ;)
-LReply
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Anni Morgan These are my new addiction…soooo delish. Love the simple ingredients, they work really well together. I crumbled a few in a tomato and basil soup for a quick lunch today. 100% yum. :)
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Christine H Laura, I assume it’s fine to substitute regular flour for the chickpea flour (since I don’t have it on hand?) I have whole-wheat white, AP, and also spelt flour–which would you suggest, if any? Thanks!
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Laura All of those flours would work great!
-LReply
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lindsey cero i just made this recipe! pretty delicious. i think next time i will sauté the onions and the spices before adding them to the mix! thanks for the inspiration
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SHAENA These look amazing, cant wait to try!
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Rell I really liked these and though fragile on frying I made it through with a turner (after realizing that my tongs were too rough on them). I wonder if the time in the oven is meant to finish them to just to keep them warm?
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Laura The time in the oven definitely serves the structure of the patties, helping to dry them out just a touch more. I’ll update the recipe to communicate this more clearly.
Thanks!
-LReply
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Sarah | Well and Full I hear you on the hesitancy to post vegan patty/burger recipes!! There’s so much room for error that round after round of recipe testing can’t account for, like you said. But your way of writing recipes is so concise and understandable that I think that these will turn out to be amazing :) You can really see the care you put in to writing your recipes and it makes me feel appreciated, as a reader. Keep up the amazing work, girl!
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Julia @ Sprinkles & Saturdays These look so good!! And like the perfect summer meal. Also love that it’s a totally reasonable list of ingredients. Sometimes, with veggie patties, the ingredient list goes crazy haha
http://www.sprinklesandsaturdays.comReply
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Mandy Looking forward to making this weekend!
Yum!Reply
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Maya | Spice + Sprout These looks so perfect and cozy for the thunderstormy weather that’s been happening around Toronto lately! Totally want to cuddle up in some pjs and eat these :)
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Anise YUM! Such an easy summer recipe! Love the lettuce wrap :)
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Allyson I don’t tend to keep potatoes on hand during the summer because they feel like a cold weather veg, but I miss eating them. These look like a delicious way to utilize my favorite, longed for vegetable.
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Jessie Snyder I love how you use the potatoes in these, Laura, just brilliant the way it gives them those crispy/golden edges! Patties cause me so much anxiety to make for the blog too, there are so many variables. But I am super glad you shared these with us today ;) totally need to go spice shopping now! Hugs girl, hope you’re having a restful + happy week – xx
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Callie This looks delish! I can’t wait to try them. Can you share what the white sauce in the picture is?
Thanks!
CallieReply
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Laura Thanks Callie! It’s Sir Kensington’s Fabanaise. Vegan mayo made from chickpea soaking liquid :)
-LReply
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Cassie This looks delicious! I’d LOVE LOVE LOVE to make them!
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Abby @ Heart of a Baker Well, I’m going to pick up split peas after work now so I can get these made for dinner! Can you believe I hardly ever cook with them? Ah!
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Anya Agreed with Rachel above ;)
The addition of mashed potatoes to patties is genius! And that photo of the spices with a thin ray of light shooting through is so breathtaking. Have a nice day Laura.Reply
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Rachel I love it when I open my email, and there’s my dinner, waiting for me in my inbox! I have all of this in my cupboards; thank you for making my day easier ;)
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