This recipe for easy vegan crepes will amaze you! They are light, lacy, and delicate and even though they are egg-free, they have an authentic taste and texture. Whether you want savory or sweet crepes, this is the recipe that you've been looking for. Made with chickpea flour as an egg replacement, these chickpea crepes have an authuntic tastes that you just don't get in other vegan crepe recipes!
If you've never had a crepe before, they are kind of like a cross between a pancake and a tortilla. They can be served sweet with berries, jam, or chocolate or served savory with vegan ricotta cheese, spinach, mushrooms, or anything that you would put in a wrap.
I know that you may be thinking that crepes sound too fancy and difficult, but honestly, they're easier than pancakes and I think more fun as well. There are endless ways to serve them and it's fun to just make up a toppings bar and let everyone create their own crepe masterpiece.
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🌟 Egg replacer
Traditional crepe recipes have anywhere between 2-4 eggs in the batter to give them protein and structure. When cooked, the eggs bind them together allowing the crepe to be thin, soft, and pliable yet strong enough to roll and fill. So, to make a great vegan crepe with an authentic taste and texture, I use a chickpea "egg". Just like in my popular vegan French toast and chickpea omelets recipes, the chickpea flour has an unmatched egg-like taste and texture when fried. Many vegan crepe recipes use cornstarch to replace the eggs. This helps to bind and keeps it soft, but it doesn't give you the authentic taste or satisfying protein that chickpea flour does.
🧾 Ingredients and substitutions
- White Flour - all-purpose white flour or a grain-based gluten-free flour mix.
- Chickpea Flour aka Garbanzo Bean Flour - this is a key ingredient in this recipe and replaces the eggs in traditional crepe recipes. If you can't find it, you can swap it out for cornstarch, but it will not be as authentic tasting.
- Plant-Based Milk - you can use any type of vegan milk that you want like almond milk, oat milk, or soy milk. Be sure to use the plain unsweetened variety if you are making savory creps.
- Salt - for flavor.
- Sugar - optional for sweet crepes.
- Vanilla - optional for sweet crepes.
- Vegan Butter - optional for helping the crepes not stick to the pan. You can also use a small amount of any cooking oil.
Tools:
- Blender - this helps get a very smooth vegan crepe batter. If you don't have a blender, you can use a bowl and a whisk.
- Crepe Pan - or a 10-inch nonstick skillet.
- Crepe Spreader - this is a T shaped tool that helps smooth and flatten the crepe batter. It's fun to use, but I find that just swirling the pan gives you the same result.
- Crepe Spatula - this is just a long thin wooden spatula that helps to get all the way under the crepe for flipping. You can just use a regular spatula as well.
Note - You can buy a crepe set that comes with the pan, spreader, and spatula if you would like. It makes a great gift for yourself or your foodie friends and it is fun to use traditional equipment. (You can click the print button on the recipe card and give them the recipe along with it.) However, you can make them with nothing more than a 10-inch non-stick skillet and a regular spatula.
🥄 Instructions
- Pour 3/4 cup of water into a blender, then pour in 1/3 cup garbanzo bean flour and blend until smooth. Be sure to pour the liquid in first so it doesn't stick to your blender.
- Add 1 cup of vegan milk to the mixture with 3/4 cup of flour, 1/2 tsp salt, (and sugar and vanilla if you choose) then blend until you have a very smooth batter. You can use the batter immediately or place it in the fridge for up to 48 hours until you're ready to make the crepes.
- Set the heat to medium-low and allow your pan to warm up for about 2 minutes. Melt about 1/2 tsp of butter on the pan and then pour 1/3 cup of the crepe batter in circles in the pan and immediately swirl the pan around until the batter is evenly covering the bottom of the pan.
- Allow the crepe to cook for about 2-3 minutes until it appears dry, losses its shine, and the edges start to lift up from the side of the pan a little. Then loosen the edges completely with a spatula and quickly flip it over.
- Cook the crepe for another 2 minutes on the other side until slightly golden and all of the batter is fully cooked.
- Stack on a plate until all of the crepes are finished and then serve with your choice of fillings.
👩🏻🍳 Pro tips
- Measure the ingredients carefully. Slight changes in measurements will change the thickness of the batter.
- Your batter should be very thin and watery. If it is too thick add a small amount of water until it spreads out evenly by just swirling the pan. If it's too thin add a small amount of flour until the desired consistency is achieved.
- Don't taste-test the batter and be sure to cook the batter completely. Garbanzo bean flour tastes terrible before it is fully cooked!
🍚 Serving suggestions
You can stack the crepes as you make them. The heat on the top crepe keeps the others warm and soft. If you are serving them for a party, you can fold them in half and then in half again to make triangles. Arrange the triangles on a platter and dust with powdered sugar if you are using them with sweet toppings. You can set up a little toppings bar and let everyone create their own masterpieces.
You can spread things like jams or jellies over top of your crepes or roll your crepes up with fillings like vegan ricotta cheese. If you make sweet crepes, you will probably want to use sweet fillings or topping, if you make savory crepes, you may want savory toppings.
🍫 Sweet toppings and fillings
- Powdered Sugar
- Berries, Peaches, or Bananas
- Berry Compote aka Berry Sauce
- Vegan Nutella
- Lemon Curd - use the filling from my vegan lemon bars
- Vegan Caramel
- Vegan Butterscotch Sauce
- Peanut butter
- Peanut butter Caramel
- Vegan Whipped Cream
- Maple Syrup
- Agave Nectar
- Chocolate Syrup
- Soy Yogurt
- Vegan Ricotta Cheese
🧀 Savory toppings and filling
- Spinach Tofu Ricotta
- Vegan Scrambled Eggs
- Vegetarian Fajitas
- Vegan Pesto
- Sauteed Mushrooms and Spinach
- Vegan Mozzarella
- Vegan Alfredo Sauce
You can even use these savory vegan crepes to make homemade manicotti, or layer them and use them instead of noodles for a vegan lasagna. This is a great alternative to noodles, especially if you are gluten-free and have limited options.
🍞 Can I make it gluten-free?
To make these crepes gluten-free simply swap out the flour for an all-purpose gluten-free flour mix. Make sure to use a grain-based mix and not almond flour or any other grain-free flours.
🥡 Storing and reheating
Yes, crepes make great meal prep and even party food because you can make up the batter the night before and keep it in the fridge for up to 48 hours. You can also cook up a bunch of crepes, keep them in an air-tight container in the fridge until you are ready to serve. These vegan crepes also freeze perfectly. Simply place a piece of parchment paper between each crepe and store them in an airtight freezer bag for up to 2 months.
To warm your crepes, place a stack of them in a baking dish in the oven at 250° F for about 15 minutes. You can also reheat them individually by tossing them in a hot frying pan for about 30 seconds on each side.
Note - For more in-depth information, check out the article about storing and reheating crepes by Garlic Delight.
📌 Be sure to follow me on Pinterest for new vegan recipes!
Traditional tasting crepes made without dairy or eggs.
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/3 cup garbanzo bean flour aka chickpea flour
- 1 cup vegan milk (like soy, oat, cashew, or almond milk) use plain -flavored unsweetened for savory crepes.
- 3/4 cup flour (or any grain-based gluten-free flour mix)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar optional for sweet crepes
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract optional for sweet crepes
- 3 teaspoons vegan butter to spread on the pan before frying each crepe (optional)
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Pour 3/4 cup of water into a blender, then pour in 1/3 cup garbanzo bean flour and blend until smooth. Be sure to pour the liquid in first so it doesn't stick to your blender.
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Add 1 cup of vegan milk to the mixture with 3/4 cup of flour, 1/2 tsp salt, (and sugar and vanilla if you choose) then blend until you have a very smooth batter. You can use the batter immediately or place the batter in the fridge for up to 48 hours until you're ready to make the crepes.
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Set the heat to medium-low and allow your pan to warm up for about 2 minutes. Melt about 1/2 tsp of butter on the pan and then pour 1/3 cup of the crepe batter in circles in the pan and immediately swirl the pan around until the batter is evenly covering the bottom of the pan.
-
Allow the crepe to cook for about 2-3 minutes until it appears dry, losses its shine, and the edges start to lift up from the side of the pan a little. Then loosen the edges completely with a spatula and quickly flip it over.
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Cook the crepe for another 2 minutes on the other side until slightly golden and all of the batter is fully cooked.
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Stack on a plate until all of the crepes are finished and then serve with your choice of fillings.
- Measure the ingredients carefully. Slight changes in measurements will change the thickness of the batter.
- Your batter should be very thin and watery. If it is too thick add a small amount of water until it spreads out evenly by just swirling the pan. If it's too thin add a small amount of flour until the desired consistency is achieved.
- Don't taste-test the batter and be sure to cook the batter completely. Garbanzo bean flour tastes terrible before it is fully cooked!
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