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Healthy comfort food to the rescue! This teriyaki chickpea recipe tastes like a simple, insanely delicious vegan Panda Express.
This recipe takes me back to childhood mall food-court trips when I always ordered teriyaki — the sweet-and-salty flavor was irresistible. I used to ask for teriyaki on both sides of my combo meal. Those days are behind me, but my love of teriyaki remains.
To keep the flavor but make a cleaner, less-processed version, I developed a date-based teriyaki sauce instead of using refined cane sugar. Dates give the sauce natural sweetness, depth and richness, and they’re surprisingly easy to work with.
For a healthier take on vegan “Panda Express,” I stir-fry broccoli, carrots and red pepper and serve everything over brown rice. Chickpeas add protein and fiber in place of animal protein. The finished dish is colorful, filling, and delicious — perfect for easy weeknight dinners or packable back-to-school lunches.
If you want more clean, flavorful recipes, check out another of my Panda Express–inspired dishes: Orange Chickpeas, and my back-to-school meal-prep guide with recipes.
Vegan Panda Express Teriyaki Chickpeas
Ingredients
Date Teriyaki Sauce
- 1 teaspoon grapeseed oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 6 Medjool dates, pitted and chopped (other dates work fine)
- 1/3 cup water plus 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder or cornstarch
Stir-fry
- 1 tablespoon grapeseed or coconut oil (or sauté with 1/4 cup water)
- 1/2 cup red onion (or 2 shallots), thinly sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped or julienned
- 1 carrot, chopped or julienned
- 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (about 1 can, drained and rinsed)
- 1 crown broccoli, florets diced
- 2 cups cooked brown rice (1 cup uncooked)
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, raw or toasted
- 1–2 fresh limes, quartered
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
Date Teriyaki Sauce
- Warm the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the ginger and garlic and sauté about 1 minute, until the garlic just starts to turn golden. Watch carefully to avoid burning.
- Add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and chopped dates. Stir and simmer on medium-low for about 5 minutes to soften the dates and meld flavors.
- Mix the arrowroot or cornstarch with 1/3 cup water, stirring until smooth and lump-free.
- Pour the starch mixture into the simmering sauce and stir slowly as it thickens.
- When the sauce thickens, remove from heat and let cool until it’s safe to blend.
- Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend until completely smooth. Set aside.
Stir-fry
- Heat the oil (or 1/4 cup water for a water sauté) in a wok or large skillet over medium heat.
- Add the onions and sauté about 1 minute, until they begin to turn translucent.
- Add the red pepper and carrot, cover, and cook 5–10 minutes until they begin to soften.
- Stir in the broccoli, chickpeas, and the blended date teriyaki sauce. Cover and cook another 10 minutes, or until veggies reach your preferred tenderness.
- Serve the stir-fry over cooked brown rice and garnish with sesame seeds, fresh cilantro and a squeeze of lime.