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Once upon a time in a life that was mine but looked very different than mine does now, I was no stranger to diner booths.
I was there for after-hours with theatre buddies.
It was my go-to place for Thanksgiving pie.
After a night of dancing, that was where I grabbed some appetizers.
And when it came to their menu, if it was fried and battered, I probably had it and I probably liked it.
If it included buffalo sauce generously co-mingling with ranch dressing, I definitely did.
Nowadays, diners don’t hold much of a draw for me for obvious reasons. I could probably scrape by at most places with a plain baked potato or iceberg lettuce dinner salad, but why bother?
Plus, the scent of fried chickens’ eggs and old grease smells nauseating instead of appetizing. So what’s a buffalo sauce and ranch loving person to do?
Luckily, buffalo sauce need not be relegated to the proverbial closet to sit with three-inch high hair styles, stone-washed jeans, and re-runs of Doogie Howser, M.D.
It may come as a surprise, but it seems almost every vegan food blog has a buffalo recipe, while letting the chickens keep the wings for themselves.
Cara at Fork and Beans has mouthwatering Baked Buffalo Tempeh Tenders. Kristy at Keepin’ It Kind has Buffalo Cauliflower Pizza, which has piqued my interest for months.
(When I was in Los Angeles recently I was able to try out the buffalo cauliflower from Mohawk Bend. Fantastic.)
The vegan world is overflowing in buffalo sauce!
My contribution into the world of buffalo-spiked goodness are these Buffalo Chickpea Salad Sandwiches. The sandwiches are a combination of buffalo chickpeas and classic (eggless) mayo-based salad sandwiches.
In this sandwich Frank’s Red Hot Sauce, my preferred hot sauce when it comes to all things buffalo, mixes with the elements of ranch dressing for one messy conglomeration.
This sandwich can be made two ways.
One option is the lazy person’s method, which takes just 5 minutes to put together.
The other option is only slightly more involved, delivering a hot sandwich with roasted chickpeas, and still only clocking in at 25 minutes.
This sandwich would be a terrific option for a Saturday afternoon, a cold packed lunch, a picnic possibility, or really anytime when you need something hot and spicy in your life.
Buffalo Chickpea Salad Sandwiches
Ingredients
- ¼ cup eggless mayonnaise
- 3 Tablespoons Frank's red hot sauce
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon celery seed
- ¼ teaspoon dried dill
- 1 stalk celery chopped small
- 1 ½ cups chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil Omit for 5 minute version
- 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast flakes Omit for 5 minute version
- Suggested bread options: Buns, tortillas, or forgo the bread altogether and stuff the buffalo chickpea salad into endive cups or romaine lettuce leaves
- Suggested condiments: Pickles, mustard, onions, lettuce
Instructions
- In a medium-sized bowl, stir the eggless mayonnaise, hot sauce, onion powder, celery seed, and dried dill until fully combined. Stir in the chopped celery.
- Heat oven to 400 degrees. Put the chickpeas onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Drizzle the extra virgin olive oil and nutritional yeast flakes onto the chickpeas and combine. Spread the chickpeas across the parchment paper for even roasting. Roast for 15 minutes, stopping once half way through to shake the pan and move the chickpeas for even roasting.
- Add the warm chickpeas to the bowl with the buffalo sauce and fully combine. Put the buffalo chickpea salad on any of the suggested bread options & top it with any of the suggested condiments.
Notes
Nutrition
Abby says
May 8, 2013 at 7:52 amSounds good! Although I think I would have to smash the chickpeas first, as one can’t have them rolling out of the bread. Man down! Man down!
Cadry says
May 8, 2013 at 8:21 amHa! Yes, a chickpea is a terrible thing to waste. I always break my chickpeas down quickly in the food processor when I’m making traditional chickpea salad sandwiches. However, for this buffalo version, I liked the texture of the whole chickpeas. Still, only you know your chickpea-suicide tendencies! 😉
Caitlin says
May 8, 2013 at 9:10 ami’ve been wanting to make something with buffalo sauce, too, and what could be better than chickpeas?! i love that you roast the chickpeas in nooch, too. SO YUM.
Cadry says
May 9, 2013 at 8:18 amYes, I love chickpeas roasted in nutritional yeast! They’re great as a snack, on salads, in pasta… I hope you make all of your buffalo dreams come true! 🙂
Andrea says
May 8, 2013 at 11:58 amBelieve it or not, I learned about buffalo things on vegan blogs! I’ve made similar sauces — just never knew they were “buffalo” mixes. I’ve made Kittee’s buffalo soy curl rolls and can vouch for their deliciousness. I make a chickpea salad with mayo and sriracha that’s really good, but Franks is my favorite hot sauce so I guess it’s time to try your recipe and buffalo some chickpeas!
Cadry says
May 9, 2013 at 8:20 amThat’s awesome that you were introduced to buffalo sauce through the vegan blogosphere! I don’t imagine most people can say that. I’m not surprised that Kittee’s buffalo Soy Curl rolls are delicious. Someone needs to do a whole month of buffalo sauce-covered items for VeganMoFo this year! 🙂
Barb@ThatWasVegan? says
May 8, 2013 at 12:33 pmI love Franks, but I use their wing sauce instead of their regular hot sauce… It’s vegan and has zero calories! So, yes, there is a whole bunch of artificial nonsense in there that’s probably eating away at my insides but it’s. just. so. good.
Can’t wait to try this sandwich, it looks wonderful!
Cadry says
May 9, 2013 at 8:40 amThanks, Barb! I hope you enjoy it!
An Unrefined Vegan says
May 8, 2013 at 1:13 pmDefinitely something magical about buffalo sauce together with ranch dressing! This is looking like one of my lunches this week ;-)!
Cadry says
May 9, 2013 at 8:35 amYes, the mixture of hot & spicy with cool & creamy were meant to be together! I hope you enjoy it!
Cara says
May 8, 2013 at 6:07 pmLoving the usage of chickpeas for this–how stinkin’ creative! xo
Cadry says
May 9, 2013 at 8:36 amThanks, Cara! Chickpeas are welcome anytime as far as I’m concerned! 🙂
luminousvegans says
May 8, 2013 at 7:01 pmI love the simplicity of this. It looks delicious. I have never roasted chickpeas before. I will be trying this soon.
Cadry says
May 9, 2013 at 8:38 amYou’ve never roasted chickpeas before? Oh, you should, even if it’s not for this particular recipe! When I’m roasting them for salads or a snack, I roast them a bit longer than for this recipe (usually about 20 minutes instead of 15). Add a pinch of salt, and they are so addictive as a snack to munch on while watching TV or whatnot. When I first went vegan, I ate roasted chickpeas all the time, as if garbanzos were going out of style!
Somer says
May 9, 2013 at 9:58 amI think it was you who got me into roasted chickpeas, I’ll have to try this one! I adore anything that’s vegan buffalo!
Cadry says
May 10, 2013 at 8:35 amYes, there’s everything to love about buffalo sauce! 🙂
Maggie Muggins says
May 9, 2013 at 10:10 amI weirdly have never had anything buffalo related until I went vegan, but now I can’t get enough of the bloody stuff! It’s all in the hot sauce 😉 I have all of this stuff right now! Totally having me some buffalo chickys on bread tonight.
Cadry says
May 10, 2013 at 9:11 amHot sauce is the best. It’s officially my favorite condiment. If you try this out, I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Richa says
May 9, 2013 at 12:03 pmi love the idea of buffalo ranch.. i was thinking of doing something with chickpeas and buffalo as well.. then saw erins then your post.. something different with buffalo then:))
this sandwich much taste heavenly!
Cadry says
May 10, 2013 at 9:13 amChickpeas and buffalo sauce are apparently in the air! Luckily, you have lots of other options where buffalo sauce is concerned! I look forward to seeing what you make!
Kelly @ Vegan Iowan says
May 9, 2013 at 12:59 pmYum! When we go to Jethro’s I desperately want to ask them to just toss whatever vegetables they have lying around in buffalo sauce, but I feel like that wouldn’t go over well/be very well understood.
Cadry says
May 10, 2013 at 9:21 amI can only imagine their faces if you brought them a tub of vegan butter along with hot sauce and cauliflower and told them to make some magic happen! 🙂
Joey says
May 9, 2013 at 2:47 pmI’m a newbie to the whole ranch and buffalo thing (what have I been doing with my life)? I’m grateful I don’t have to dust down my time machine to give them both a go!
Cadry says
May 10, 2013 at 9:24 amWait a second. You have a time machine? I’d heard that they are more common in England than they are here, but I’d assumed that people were just exaggerating. Do all of the men there look like David Tennant too? Now I’m really envious! 😉
Becky says
May 10, 2013 at 7:20 amThis looks awesome, and I love that there’s a 5 minute version!
Cadry says
May 10, 2013 at 9:27 amThanks, Becky! You can’t get much quicker than a five minute lunch! 🙂
Kristy says
May 21, 2013 at 5:28 pmAw! Thank you for mentioning my pizza! 🙂 I have a love/hate relationship with buffalo sauce because as much as I love the taste of it, it generally destroys my stomach. Your version, however, seems mild enough for my stomach to handle but tasty enough to satisfy my taste buds. And you know me and chickpeas… 😉
Cadry says
June 4, 2013 at 8:18 amYes, I hope my mention of chickpeas wasn’t too hard for you. I know the both of you had quite the dramatic love affair. 😉
Tracie says
March 16, 2014 at 10:03 amI just made this for lunch (the roasted version)- delicious!
Cadry says
March 16, 2014 at 10:04 amI’m so glad to hear that, Tracie! Thank you for letting me know!
Katie says
December 15, 2015 at 10:26 pmI made this tonight with Just Mayo’s Chipotle flavor stuff, and it’s delicious!! I was doing the happy dance all night after that. Ha ha! Thanks for the awesome recipes!
Cadry says
December 16, 2015 at 9:58 amI’m so glad to hear that, Katie! Thanks for letting me know!