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    Home » gluten free

    Vegan Socca Recipe – Chickpea Flatbread Gluten-free

    Published: Jul 5, 2019 by Richa 24 Comments

    Jump to Recipe   Print Recipe

    Easy Vegan Socca Recipe – Chickpea Flatbread. Savory Gluten free Vegan Chickpea flour flatbread. 1 Bowl 5 Ingredients. Vegan Grain-free Soyfree Nutfree Recipe. Jump to Recipe

    Vegan Socca in a white plate

    What is Socca?

    Socca is a type of thin unleavened pancake, flatbread or crepe made with chickpea flour. It has other names in various regions of France and Italy (farinata, Panisse) and can be made thin or thick with various flavor additions. It is naturally gluten-free and grain-free and can easily be used as flatbread or pizza base. Similar preparations are also found in other cuisines with variations in methods of cooking and forms. Chickpea flour is an amazingly versatile and worldy ingredient!

    Socca Bread needs just 2 main ingredients, chickpea flour and water. I add salt, rosemary, pepper flakes for flavor and cook it on a skillet or bake. I prefer the skillet version. It is easier, and quicker and you can adjust the thickness and crispyness as you prefer.

    Slice up the socca and serve with dips or just olive oil. Or top with pesto or chimichurri and veggies and bake for a pesto pizza. Chickpea flour is generally available in grocery stores.

    Vegan Socca Pizza with pesto and mushrooms Ingredients for Socca Bread

    • Chickpea flour or garbanzo bean flour is the main ingredient in socca. Chickpea flour is now easily available in grocery stores, or you can buy it online on amazon
    • Salt, herbs and pepper flakes add flavor. You can change up the herbs and spices for variation.
    • a tsp of oil is added to the batter for crispier result. You can omit it.
    • water is used to make the batter. You might need more or less depending on the flour and your preferred consistency. Chickpea flour can sometimes be too packed or too fluffy and you might need to adjust the water accordingly. Make a Thick batter for thicker pancakes and thin batter for crispy crepe like result.
    • Besan and chickpea flour are not the same. Indian Besan, sometimes labeled as chickpea flour, is the flour of brown chickpeas or chana dal(split brown chickpeas), or sometimes a mix of split chickpeas and split peas. It is usually much finer ground and needs much less water than chickpea flour. They also taste slightly different. Sometimes, you have to take these differences into account, when substituting one for the other in a recipe. You can easily use besan in this recipe, just add less water, 3/4 cup water and add more only if the batter is thick.

    How to Make Socca on a skillet and Step pictures

    Measure out the chickpea flour. Chickpea flour can sometimes be too packed or too fluffy. Depending on the measurement, you will need all of the 1 cup of water or a bit less to make the batter. You can adjust the batter later by adding more water or more chickpea flour.

    Ingredients for Vegan Socca in measuring cups and bowls

    Chickpea flour and oil in a glass bowl for our Vegan Socca

    Let the batter sit for atleast half an hour. This helps the flour absorb moisture evenly for a smoother batter and an even bread result.


    Chickpea Flour Batter in a glass bowl for our Vegan Socca

    Pour the batter on a well heated cast iron or other skillet and cook until the top is dry. Then use a spatula to loosen the flatbread. If it is still sticking, then the batter has not fully cooked yet, let the bread cook longer and then try again. Flip and cook for another 2 to 3 mins.

    Socca cooking in cast iron skillet

    Skillets to use for Chickpea flour flatbread, pancake, crepe or Socca

    • Chickpea flour batter is a flour batter and will stick to most pans and skillets.
    • Seasoned cast iron when heated well is the best option for cooking chickpea flour based batter or other flour based batter for pancake or crepe like result.
    • Good non stick skillets with thick bottom also work well. If you use the non-stick pan for anything else that is not of the same format, like stir fry, frying, or other cooking that uses veggies, has stirring etc, then the non-stick coating of the pan gets affected. Even if it feels non-stick while cooking, it wont be a sufficient enough non-stick for the chickpea flour batter. For best results, Keep a dedicated non stick skillet for batter based pancake and crepe cooking., i.e, that pan will always be used for pancakes and crepes and nothing else. If you get a sticky mess, you know you need a new pan 🙂

    Socca cooking in cast iron skillet

    How to Store Socca Bread

    Store covered with a towel or in a container on the counter for the day. You can also refrigerate the cooked Socca bread for upto 3-4 days. Reheat on the skillet to serve.

    Freshly made socca has the best flavor and texture. So I prefer  to store the batter instead of the made socca,(refrigerate the batter for upto 2 days) and make the socca as needed fresh.

    More Chickpea flour recipes , all glutenfree

    • Gluten free Naan 
    • Indian Chickpea Flour pancakes – Chilla
    • Chickpea Flour Frittata
    • Cauliflower flatbread
    • Chickpea flour “egg” scramble
    • Chickpea Flour Tofu – Soyfree Tofu
    • Chickpea flour fluffy omelet

    Vegan Socca in a white plate

    Recipe Card

    Vegan Socca in a white plate
    Print Recipe
    5 from 10 votes

    Socca Recipe (Chickpea Flatbread)

    Easy Vegan Socca Recipe - Chickpea Flatbread. Savory Gluten free Vegan Chickpea flour flatbread. 1 Bowl 5 Ingredients. Vegan Grain-free Soyfree Nutfree Recipe.

    Prep Time10 minutes mins
    Cook Time25 minutes mins
    Rest Time30 minutes mins
    Total Time35 minutes mins
    Course: Side
    Cuisine: Gluten-free, Mediterranean, Vegan
    Keyword: chickpea flatbread, chickpea flour flatbread, farinata recipe, socca bread, vegan socca
    Servings: 3
    Calories: 169kcal
    Author: Vegan Richa

    Ingredients

    • 1 cup (120 g) chickpea flour (garbanzo bean flour)
    • 1/2 tsp salt
    • 1/4 tsp pepper flakes or to taste
    • 1/2 tsp rosemary
    • 1 tsp oil , plus more for cooking.(I use olive oil in the batter and a neutral oil for cooking)
    • 1 cup (236.59 ml) water

    Equipment

    • Cast iron skillet
    • spatula

    Instructions

    • Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl until well mixed.
    • Add the oil and 3/4 cup water and mix(use a whisk for faster mixing), add more water to make a thick smooth batter. (Depending on measuring and how packed the flour was, you will need 1 tbsp less than a cup or whole 1 cup. Make a Thick batter for thicker pancakes and thin batter for crispy crepe like result.**). Cover and let it rest for at least half an hour to overnight. If keeping overnight, cover the bowl and refrigerate.
    • Stove top: Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat. When hot add a few drops of oil and spread well. Add a ladle-full of the batter. Cook for 4 to 6 minutes then use a spatula to loosen the flatbread. If it is still sticking, let the bread cook longer and then try again. Flip and cook for another 2 to 3 mins. Cooking time will depend on the pan, stove and thickness of the batter.
    • Bake: Preheat the oven to 450 deg F(230 C). Place the cast iron skillet in the oven for 20 mins. Remove the skillet carefully, drizzle oil and spread the batter on it. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes depending on the batter thickness. You can add some toppings now and bake for another 3-5 mins, Or flip the socca carefully and continue to bake for another 3 to 5 mins depending on preferred crispyness.
    • Store on the counter covered lightly with a towel before serving. You can serve the socca as is or sliced as a flatbread with dips, or with soups.
      Refrigerate cooked socca for upto 3 days. Refrigerate the batter for upto 2 days and make socca as needed.

    Notes

    Chickpea flour or garbanzo bean flour is the flour of white chickpeas, garbanzo beans. 
    It is not the same as besan. Indian Besan is the flour of brown chickpeas or chana dal(split brown chickpeas), or sometimes a mix of split chickpeas and split peas. It is usually much finer ground and needs much less water than chickpea flour. Most times they can be used interchangeably. You can use besan in this recipe, just add 3/4 cup water and add more only if the batter is too thick.
    ** You can adjust the batter at any time with extra flour(add 1 tbsp at a time and whisk in) or extra water, add 1 tbsp at a time, for preferred consistency.
    Nutrition is for 1 Socca

    Nutrition

    Nutrition Facts
    Socca Recipe (Chickpea Flatbread)
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 169 Calories from Fat 36
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 4g6%
    Saturated Fat 1g6%
    Sodium 420mg18%
    Potassium 338mg10%
    Carbohydrates 23g8%
    Fiber 4g17%
    Sugar 4g4%
    Protein 9g18%
    Vitamin A 50IU1%
    Calcium 18mg2%
    Iron 1.9mg11%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

     

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    1. Amro

      August 13, 2022 at 6:28 am

      Thank you…always had trouble using chickpea flour as recipes usually mean besan flour which has different properties so good to have this clarified here.

      Reply
      • Vegan Richa Support

        August 14, 2022 at 8:33 pm

        glad you found my post

        Reply
    2. Ellen

      April 01, 2022 at 2:55 pm

      5 stars
      Great Flatbread for pizza or with soup.

      Reply
      • Richa

        April 01, 2022 at 6:26 pm

        Thanks!

        Reply
    3. Greta

      January 23, 2022 at 6:35 am

      5 stars
      I’m new to the Mediterranean diet and looking for more ways to get protien into my diet instead of using animal products. So had to try this socca. I had everything but a cast iron pan so used my small steel pan. Made them like crepes, man they turned out so good. Since I made the batter a bit thinner I got 4.5 crepes out of it. Tasted the first one that came out of the pan, so friggin delicious I ate the whole thing while cooking the others. Thank you so much for this recipe, it’ll make it easier to get in that much needed protien without resorting to meat.

      Reply
      • Vegan Richa Support

        January 26, 2022 at 11:08 am

        lol

        Reply
    4. JGoods

      January 08, 2021 at 4:31 pm

      5 stars
      Made a thinner batter and used them like tortillas. Used besan and all was fine.

      Reply
      • Vegan Richa Support

        January 09, 2021 at 7:11 pm

        excellent! thank you for your great feedback

        Reply
    5. ama

      July 19, 2020 at 4:51 am

      5 stars
      Wow..these came out so good. The batter sat in the fridge for about 26 hours, and it was tangy and flavorful with a bit of spice. They cooked up so beautifully. Had them with leftover curry and a big salad. Thanks!

      Reply
    6. Richard Elliott

      April 12, 2020 at 5:42 am

      5 stars
      Already a fan of the Dosa , I saw a bag of Besan looking very lonely on the empty shelves of the local Tesco. I imagined there must be a recipe for chickpea flour to make something similar so I took the little fellow home. Having found your recipe which encourages the addition of herbs and chilli flakes ( favs of mine) I also threw in some sunflower seeds and fennel seeds for flavour .
      Delicious! Now spreading the word back to the friend who introduced me to Dosas

      Reply
    7. Lyniel

      February 19, 2020 at 8:28 pm

      5 stars
      So glad I found this recipe. It was super simple and came out great. Definitely adding this to my repertoire. Thank you for sharing!

      Reply
      • Richa

        February 19, 2020 at 9:27 pm

        thanks!

        Reply
    8. deedwan Watson

      November 23, 2019 at 10:52 am

      Okay, so I was looking at your response to Alan…you can bake this instead.
      I do not use any oil at all so I’m guessing that means it will turn out maybe
      more cracker like perhaps…? Do you think it would need any more water
      in the absence of the oil?

      Reply
      • Richa

        November 23, 2019 at 12:37 pm

        not necessarily. Just cover and bake and they should turn out soft, maybe a tad bit dryer. Add a dressing, sauce or chutney to serve

        Reply
    9. alan

      July 17, 2019 at 11:23 am

      Is it possible to make this without a cast iron pan?

      Reply
      • Richa

        July 17, 2019 at 12:23 pm

        Yes, for baking you can pour the batter on a parchment lined baking sheet, spray some oil on top so it crisps, and bake it. It wont be as crispy as a cast iron skillet.
        Or use a good non stick skillet or crepe pan for cooking on stove top.

        Reply
    10. gluten free recipes

      July 13, 2019 at 5:05 am

      That is august for us gluten free folks. Join the best gluten free recipes facebook group

      Reply
    11. Janice Yeagle

      July 09, 2019 at 4:38 pm

      Can you make your own chickpea flour out of dried chickpeas?

      Reply
      • Richa

        July 09, 2019 at 4:47 pm

        yes you can. You will need a high speed blender. Youwill have to rest the blender to cool in between to get fine enough flour

        Reply
    12. Charmaine

      July 08, 2019 at 9:22 am

      Brings back wonderful memories of the farmers market in Antibes France on a warm sunnybday

      Reply
      • Richa

        July 08, 2019 at 10:19 am

        Thanks!

        Reply
    13. Luci

      July 07, 2019 at 2:07 pm

      5 stars
      This is very easy and delicious for a quick meal. I served it with some leftover spiced beans. I love that this recipe did not involve a lot of ingredients, I had everything on hand.

      Reply
    14. trish

      July 06, 2019 at 5:17 pm

      5 stars
      Thanks for this quick and easy flatbread – great for so many of us with sensitivities 🙂

      Reply
      • Richa

        July 06, 2019 at 8:35 pm

        Yes, its simple and delicious.

        Reply

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