Vegan Crispy “Chicken” Caesar Sandwiches

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Next, drain the chickpeas and add them to a large mixing bowl. Smash all of the chickpeas with a fork or potato masher. Make sure they are all mashed. 

Now add the olive oil, veggie broth, soy sauce, vital wheat gluten, panko, and seasonings to the mixing bowl with the smashed chickpeas. Leave the extra bread crumbs out, this will be used for coating. 

Mix everything together with a spoon, and then once everything starts to come together, begin to mix with your hands and then knead the mixture for about 2 minutes. It should become firm and hold together very well. 

Now place the 1 cup of bread crumbs into a bowl. You can use whatever kind of bread crumbs you want, I used half panko and half regular. 

Then, divide the chickpea mixture into 3-4 parts, depending on how large you want your patties. Roll each part into a ball, then press out flat. 

Next, press the patties down into the bread crumbs on each side, coating the patties in the bread crumbs. You may need to press down hard to get them to stick. 

Place each patty on a baking sheet sprayed with non stick spray. Then spray the tops of the chickpea patties with non stick spray as well. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Flipping the patties after 15 minutes. Bake until the patties are firm, crispy and brown. 

While the patties are baking, make the dressing. Add all the ingredients to a blender and pulse for a minute, scraping down sides as needed. Until it is creamy and smooth. Set aside. 

When the chickpea patties are done, take a bun, spread with Caesar dressing, then place a patty on that, then lettuce, then spread the top bun with more Caesar dressing. Serve!