plant-based and free of gluten and top 8 allergens
These hearts of palm cakes are a fun veggie-packed spin on a crab cake. Sweet chili aioli is the perfect creamy and flavorful compliment to the crispy cakes that can be enjoyed as an appetizer, side, or a main dish.
Developed for our friends with shellfish allergies, and our vegan friends, these vegan crab cakes will blow your mind!
Pan-fry or for a healthier option…air fry.
From a chipotle mayonnaise to a mango salsa, there are a number of sauces that would pair well with these cakes. We chose a sweet chili aioli because, well…we have sweet chili sauce in our fridge.
For this delicious sauce, whisk together allergy-friendly mayo, sweet chili sauce, fresh lime juice, and sriracha. That’s it! Set the aioli aside in the fridge.
Aioli
Aioli is a rather sophisticated term for oil that has been emulsified into mashed garlic. Nowadays, the word aioli is pretty much synonymous with mayo. So yeah, aioli can be traditional or experimental. It can be mayo or made with olive oil.
mise en place
For the hearts of palm cakes, heat a little oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook until crisp-tender, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
Drain, rinse, and dry the hearts of palm. Slice in half, lengthwise. Then cut into thin slices at an angle, as shown below.
Place the sliced hearts of palm in a bowl. Use your fingertips to further shred, but leaving some larger pieces for texture. Add lightly mashed Yukon gold or yellow potatoes to the hearts of palm. Gently mash together with a fork or potato masher.
Add cooked onion, red bell pepper, panko, mayonnaise, lemon juice, mustard, and Old Bay seasoning. Stir until evenly moistened.
Take a quarter cup of the mixture and form it into a thick patty. We like to use a #16 blue scoop to portion the patties. Place the patty on a baking pan lined with parchment or foil. After shaping all the patties, start breading.
Quick Tip to Shaping Patties using a #16 Scoop
Scoop the patties on a baking pan lined with parchment. Be sure they are evenly distributed. Cover the scoops with a large piece of plastic wrap. With another baking pan of the same size, evenly press down just to slightly flatten the scoops into patties.
Breading Station
Place chickpea flour (also know as garbanzo bean flour), alternative milk, and gluten-free panko each in their own wide, shallow dish.
Set up the station with the flour on the left, milk in the middle, and panko on the right.
- With your left hand, gently place a patty in the chickpea flour and coat all sides evenly and set in milk.
- With right hand, quickly submerge the patty in milk, making sure the flour is wet. Remove from the milk.
- Place in panko, coating all sides well, using the right hand. With right hand, set the patty back onto the baking pan and repeat with all patties.
Check out our favorite breading trays.
Pan-Fry
Place oil in a heavy bottomed frying pan to a depth of 1/2-inch over medium heat. Bring to a temperature of 350-360° F on a deep-frying thermometer. Pan-fry in batches of two or three, depending on the size of your pan, for about 6 minutes or until golden and heated through, turning once. When done, remove from pan and place on a baking pan lined with paper towels.
Keep warm while frying remaining cakes, adding additional oil, as needed.
Air Fry
For a healthier way of cooking, air frying is the way to go.
We pan-fried half of our cakes and air fried the other half. Finding both versions equally delicious, we’ll stick with air frying.
Preheat your air fryer to 390° F. Slightly spray the tops and bottoms of the hearts of palm cakes with olive oil spray, or other vegetable spray. In batches, place cakes in air fryer basket with space between each and cook for about 8-10 minutes. Fry until golden and heated through, flipping each patty over after 5 minutes.
Serve hearts of palm cakes over mixed greens with sweet chili aioli and if desired, lemon wedges.
Our recipe makes 14 cakes. If 14 is too many, cut the recipe in half. You can also make the full recipe and store extra patties in the fridge, before breading. We haven’t tried freezing the patties. However, they should freeze well if placed in heavy-duty freezer bags or covered airtight containers.
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Hearts of Palm Cakes
Yield 14 Cakes
Free of: gluten and top 8 allergens.
Sweet chili aioli is the perfect creamy and flavorful compliment to these crispy vegan cakes.
Ingredients
Sweet Chili Aioli
1/2 cup allergy-friendly mayonnaise, such as Follow Your Heart Soy-Free Vegenaise
2 tbsp sweet chili sauce
1 tsp fresh lime juice
1/4 - 1/2 tsp sriracha
Hearts of Palm Cakes
1 tsp vegetable oil, plus more for frying
1/2 cup minced yellow onion
2 (14-ounce) cans hearts of palm, whole
1-1/2 cups lightly mashed Yukon gold or yellow potatoes (see recipe notes)
1/2 cup minced red bell pepper
3 cups gluten-free panko, such as Ian's, divided (1/2 cup + 2-1/2 cups)
1/4 cup allergy-friendly mayonnaise, such as Follow Your Heart Soy-Free Vegenaise
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp Dijon-style mustard
1-1/2 tsp Old Bay or Cajun seasoning (see recipe notes)
1 cup chickpea flour
1 cup alternative milk, such as unsweetened hemp
To Serve
1 (5-ounce) package mixed spring salad greens
Lemon wedges
Instructions
- For the sweet chili aioli, in a small bowl whisk together until smooth the mayonnaise, sweet chili sauce, lime juice, and sriracha.
- For the hearts of palm cakes, heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook until crisp-tender, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Drain, rinse, and dry the hearts of palm. Slice the hearts of palm in half, lengthwise. Cut into thin slices at an angle. Place the sliced hearts of palm in a bowl. Use your fingertips to further shred, but leaving some larger pieces for texture. Add lightly mashed Yukon gold or yellow potatoes to the hearts of palm. Gently mash together with a fork or potato masher.
- Add the cooked onion, red bell pepper, 1/2 cup panko, mayonnaise, lemon juice, mustard, and Old Bay seasoning. Stir until evenly moistened. It's important that the onion and red bell pepper are very small and uniformly chopped so that the cakes will stick together while frying.
- Take a quarter cup of the hearts of palm mixture and form it into a thick patty. We like to use a #16 blue portion scoop to portion the patties. Place the patty on a baking pan lined with parchment or foil. After shaping all the patties, start breading.
- For the breading, place the chickpea flour, milk, and half of the remaining 2-1/2 cups of panko each in their own wide, shallow dish. Set up the breading station with the flour on the left, milk in the middle, and panko on the right.
- Gently place a patty in the chickpea flour and coat all sides evenly.
- Quickly submerge the patty in milk, making sure all the flour is wet. Remove from the milk and place in panko or breadcrumbs, coating all sides well. Set the breaded patty onto the baking pan and repeat with all patties. Add remaining panko for breading, as needed.
- To pan-fry, place oil in a heavy-based frying pan to a depth of 1/2-inch over medium heat. Bring to a temperature of 350-360 degrees F on a deep-frying thermometer. Pan fry in batches of two or three, depending on the size of your pan, for about 6 minutes or until golden and heated through, turning once. Add additional oil, as needed.
- To air fry, preheat your air fryer to 390-degrees F. Slightly spray each entire patty (top and bottom) with olive oil spray, or other vegetable spray. In batches, place cakes in air fry basket with space between and cook for about 8-10 minutes. Air fry until golden and heated through, flipping each patty over after 5 minutes.
- Serve hearts of palm cakes over mixed greens with sweet chili aioli and if desired, lemon wedges.
Notes
- To cook the potatoes, wash, peel, and dice the potatoes into uniform pieces, about 3/4-inch cubes. More important than size are that the pieces are uniform so they will all cook at the same rate. Place cubes in a saucepan and cover with 1 to 2-inches of cold water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a bare simmer. Do not cover. Begin checking the potatoes after around 5 minutes of simmering. The potatoes should take about 10-15 minutes, depending on size of cuts. When tender, drain the potatoes in a strainer. Set aside to cool. Transfer to a small bowl and gently mash, leaving some texture. Measure out 1-1/2 cups and set aside.
- In lieu of Old Bay, we made our own seasoning blend. We combined the following: 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika, 1/2 tsp granulated onion, 1/2 tsp granulated sugar, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, 1/4 tsp ancho chili powder, 1/4 tsp granulated garlic, 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/8 tsp ground cumin, and 1/8 tsp ground coriander. We like this blend better than Old Bay. This spice mix is from friends of ours, Ron and Gail Patak, and was the spice mix in their Blue Pepper Crab Cakes.
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