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Greek Chickpea Patties with Thick Tomato Sauce – Revithosoutzoukakia

ByElena Paravantes, MS, RD

As I have been mentioning, my son has been on a Greek fast leading up to the Greek Easter and so our kitchen has become quite vegan for the past few weeks. Of course the Greek cuisine and diet provides an abundance of vegan recipes, and this is one of them. Greek cuisine is known for all the vegetable patties and one of them are the chickpea patties which are very similar to the famous falafel, but a bit softer in texture. This recipe though is a bit different. It is inspired by a recipe from the famous Greek cook Tselementes. The chickpea patties are made with a combination of the beans along with fresh tomato and then drenched in a rich red sauce made with tomato paste and olive oil. I adjusted it, so it is basically a vegan version of the famous Soutzoukakia, which are meatballs (fried or baked) topped with garlicky tomato sauce. These are called revithosoutzoukakia from the Greek word revithi which mean chickpea.

I have to say these patties are rich and decadent and one of the most delicious dishes I have ever had. I literally ate a whole serving this morning, I couldn’t wait till lunchtime! These taste so good and satisfying that you do not miss the meat at all, and they are pretty healthy. You are getting a good serving of beans with their antioxidants, protein and fiber, plus the good fat from the olive oil and tons of the potent antioxidant, lycopene from that tomato paste.

Tomato paste may seem strange, but years ago it was used as a substitute for tomatoes when fresh ones were not available. Tomato paste was made at home as a way to preserve tomatoes to use during the winter.Heating tomato paste with olive oil and water provides a intense tomato sauce which makes this dish special. Also you are not just pouring tomato sauce on top of the patties, you cover them with sauce and heat a bit more so that the patties are actually softened by the sauce.

The sauce usually contains garlic as well, I chose to omit the garlic in the sauce for a “lighter” flavor.

*If you choose not to make the sauce, serve these with some squeezed lemon.

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Greek Chickpea Patties with Tomato Sauce – Revithosoutzoukakia

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
These chickpeas could be considered falafel's seductive cousin. Flavorful chickpea-tomato patties drenched in intense tomato sauce.
Course: Entree, Main Course
Cuisine: Greek, Mediterranean
Keyword: Chickpea patties
Servings: 20 patties
Author: Elena Paravantes, MS, RD
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Ingredients

For the Patties

  • 3 cups boiled chickpeas (canned or boiled from dry)
  • 1 medium tomato
  • ½ cup parsley
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil plus more for frying
  • ¼ cup water
  • ½ cup all purpose flour or more as needed plus more for coating
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • Pepper

For the sauce

Instructions

  • In a food processor mix the chickpeas and tomato, do not over mix, the mixture should be grainy.
  • Add the garlic, parsley, 1 tablespoon olive oil, water, salt, pepper and baking soda and blend. Again do not over mix.
  • Place the mixture in a bowl (dough will be very sticky) and add flour, 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time. Knead with your hands, the dough should be soft but firm enough to shape into patties.
  • Roll into balls , flattening them a bit, using about 2 teaspoons of the mixture for each patty. Coat with the flour.
  • Heat olive oil in a pan (oil should be about ¼ inch deep in the pan).
  • Fry the patties about 2 minutes on each side.
  • Remove and place on paper towels to absorb any oil and set aside.
  • Begin the sauce by heating the tomato paste, olive oil and water along with the sugar, salt and pepper in pan, let it come to a boil and then lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes until sauce thickens.
  • Add the chickpea patties to the sauce and spoon the sauce gently over the patties.
  • Heat for a 1-2 more minutes and serve.
Photos by Elena Paravantes© All Rights Reserved

Elena Paravantes, MS, RDN is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist by the U.S. Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR). She is an expert on the Mediterranean Diet. She has been active as a clinician, consultant, author and lecturer for 20 years, both in the U.S. and Greece. An expert on the Greek Mediterranean Diet, her interviews and articles have been published in many publications including CNN, U.S. News and World Report, Prevention, NPR, and Shape. Elena has collaborated with a number of organizations including Loyola University, Yale University, University of Missouri, Louisiana State University, and the American College of Greece. Elena earned her Bachelor of Science in Human Nutrition and Dietetics and her Bachelor of Liberal Arts and Sciences in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She holds has a Master’s Degree of Science in Health Management.

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64 Comments

  2. Can you substitute dry parsley for fresh or is it required for consistency or moisture? Herbs are expensive to buy in NZ and I don’t have any growing!

    Reply

  3. These were really good and very filling. I assumed that 20 small patties would serve 4 people. So I divided the chick pea mixture into 8 larger patties rather than 20 small ones and used 2 larger patties as one serving. Because the patties I made were bigger, I should have fried them just a bit longer to get a nice crust. I hope I got the serving size right???5 stars

    Reply

  5. Another outstanding dish. Followed your advice above about baking and used canned chickpeas. Turned out perfectly. Had them with gigantes plaki. Will definitely make them again.5 stars

    Reply

  6. You just don’t make bad recipes, do you? I have tried so many of your recipes over the years and they are all outstanding. This is shockingly good. Thank you again.5 stars

    Reply

  7. Made these lovely, lovely patties tonight. They are soooo good
    Already looking forward to my leftovers tomorrow

    Reply

  8. WOW!!! These were amazing! My husband is on a vegan diet for a few months (doctor’s orders) and I know even after the diet is over, I will continue making these. We both LOVED them! I even ate the leftovers cold for breakfast this morning, yum!

    Reply

  9. I’ll have to try these as they look easier for home cooking than falafel, which incorporate bits of raw chickpeas, small fava beans or both, and must be deep-fried.

    My all-purpose flour is organic and unbleached.

    Reply

  10. Another question Elena … could I have the green bean lathera as a main and the patties (minus the sauce) as a side dish?

    Thank you.

    Reply

  12. Hi Elena,

    Help!!! I want to make this recipe tomorrow. Can you please clarify — do I use 750 grams of canned chickpeas for this recipe (the recipe above states 3 cups of chickpeas canned or boiled)?

    Also as a main meal can I make larger patties at, say, 50 grams each? If so, how many can I serve as a main? and do I have a salad and feta with it?

    Sorry for all the questions 🙂

    Reply

  13. Thanks for the recipe Will try this recipe, but they must be tiny at 2 teaspoons mixture, how many of them make a serving?

    Reply

  14. I love this recipe. I’ve made it with canned and beans cooked fr0m dry, also with fresh tomato, or canned tomato. The basic recipe seems to have a lot of give to it, so don’t worry if you have minor substitutions. We always double the sauce (and assume that teaspoon means regular table spoon and not measuring teaspoon).

    Reply

  15. I have a question… traditionally, would Greeks have used all purpose flour? I’m not asking to disparage your recipe but I’m truly curious as I do not use all purpose flour at all if I can help it. Thanks!

    Reply

    1. I should clarify that… would it have been like the all purpose flour that has been processed to death as we have here in the US ?