The infallible recipe to make vegan croquettes

Before they used to be made with the leftovers of other foods, especially stews and stews, but we don’t have to wait to make large meals to make a good batch of croquettes and freeze to have any day.

How to make vegan croquettes

The structure of a croquette is very simple:

A core of ingredients with béchamel

Vegetables, vegetables, seeds, nuts and even legumes, always in small pieces, can make up the inside of a croquette. Of course also commercial vegetable meats like veggie-chicken and the like.

The important thing is that the pieces are not too big. Because if not, the croquettes come out deformed, they are difficult to handle or the béchamel does not directly “stick” to the ingredients.

the béchamel It is like the usual one but using an unsweetened and flavorless vegetable drink. For example soy, almond or oat drink. The normal thing is to make the béchamel together with the rest of the ingredients, adding the flour and the vegetable drink to the same pan.

A crunchy breading

The breading has two tasks: keep the filling inside the croquette (because otherwise it would fall apart) and provide a crunchy layer that contrasts with the creamy texture inside.

For a good breading we can use common flour (normal or whole wheat flour, soy flour, corn flour, chickpea flour, etc) and a fine or coarse breadcrumb, preferably homemade, made with the remains of bread that we have left over from other daysso we will have a slightly thicker breadcrumb, with seeds, with wholemeal breads, with gluten-free bread, etc.

not just fries

To make the croquettes well we can use two methods:

Fry in oil: is the option of a lifetime. Preferably in a tall container so that more oil fits, using olive oil and browning the croquettes just enough (the interior is already done). For remove excess oil Let them rest on a rack lined with absorbent paper. roast in the oven: we can make them in the oven, making sure that the entire surface is browned well, turning them once or twice in the process, so that they are browned but we do not need oil for it. If we plan to bake them no need to make a very thick breadingbut do watch that we do not go over time and temperature.

Vegan mushroom and vegetable croquettes

Ingredients

½ red pepper ½ leek 250 g mushrooms 3 tablespoons olive oil ¼ teaspoon nutmeg ¼ teaspoon chopped parsley ¼ teaspoon salt ½ cup whole wheat flour 2 tablespoons cornstarch or starch tapioca 2 cups soy drink (unsweetened and unflavored)

For the breading:

Wheat or corn flour 3 tablespoons chickpea flour 1 tablespoon vinegar A pinch of salt Breadcrumbs

Preparation

Chop the pepper, leek and mushrooms and cook them in the pan with the oil until they are golden brown. Add the salt and spices and mix. Add the flour and lower the heat a bit, mixing everything well. Dissolve the starch in a part of the vegetable drink and add it all to the pan, little by little and without stopping stirring until a very thick cream is formed. Remove it from the heat and allow it to cool completely. Put the flour on a plate, the chickpea flour with the vinegar and salt in another and add water, stirring constantly until you have a liquid cream (more or less like liquid cream). In another plate, put the breadcrumbs. Form croquettes with your hands or with two spoons. Dip them first in the flour, then liquid mixture, then flour again, liquid mixture again and finally breadcrumbs. Leave the croquettes in a large dish or tray. You can freeze them at this point, inside freezer bags or tightly closed containers. Heat abundant olive oil in a wide saucepan or a tall frying pan. To know if it is hot you can add a cumin or sesame seed. If many bubbles come out as soon as you add it, it is ready. Fry the croquettes for batches without crowding the pan, until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack lined with absorbent kitchen paper to remove excess oil. Serve warm or warm.