Hi everyone! I’m Emerald, the in-house food stylist at FreshDirect and today I’m sharing a recipe that I created in my Brooklyn kitchen. Since most of us are spending more time at home cooking for ourselves these days, I want to bring you some really simple and delicious recipes using staples you most likely already have in your kitchen.

If you’re anything like me, you probably stocked up on about 17 cans of beans. I decided to use up some of my stash by making these tasty chickpea broccoli fritters. You can use fresh or frozen broccoli, or even swap broccoli out with cauliflower or zucchini—really any hardier veg can work with this recipe. Check it out below!

Chickpea Broccoli Fritters with Lemony Yogurt Sauce

Makes 10–12 Fritters

What You’ll Need:

For the fritters:
1 can chickpeas, rinsed
1½ cup chopped broccoli florets
1 clove garlic, chopped
½ teaspoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons Greek yogurt
1 large egg
1 tablespoon cornstarch
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon cayenne
Kosher salt
Black pepper

For the lemony yogurt sauce:
½ cup Greek yogurt
Juice of half a lemon
Kosher salt
Black pepper

What To Do:

Place chickpeas, broccoli florets, and garlic in a large bowl. Use a potato masher (or food processor) to smash chickpeas until most are broken down (some larger pieces are OK).

Add lemon zest, yogurt, egg, cornstarch, cumin, turmeric, cayenne, and pinch of salt and pepper to chickpea mixture. Fold with rubber spatula until well combined. Mixture should be wet enough to hold a ball shape. If not, add more Greek yogurt, ½ tablespoon at a time.

Form mixture into 10-12 golf-ball-sized fritters and place onto a sheet tray. If it is sticky, wet your hands with a little bit of cold water. Place fritters on a flat surface and press down gently with the palm of your hand to flatten—they should be about ½ inch thick. Set aside.

To make the lemony yogurt sauce, in a small bowl, mix ½ cup of yogurt, juice from ½ a lemon, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside.

Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat in a heavy-bottomed skillet (such as cast iron). Working in batches to not overcrowd the pan, cook fritters, flipping once, until browned, 4-5 minutes on each side. Add more oil between batches if needed. Transfer fritters to a cooling rack set over a baking sheet after cooking and immediately season with flaky sea salt while still hot.

Serve warm fitters alongside lemony yogurt sauce and extra lemon wedges.

Watch me make this recipe in the video below!