Name: Crispy Veg Nuggets with Sichuan Sauce
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 18 Nuggets
Ingredients: 1/2 cup Carrots (finely shredded); 1/2 cup Green Beans (finely chopped (french beans)); 2 cups Cabbage (finely shredded); 2 teaspoons Garlic (finely chopped); 2 teaspoons Ginger (finely chopped); 3 tablespoons Sichuan sauce (or any other hot sauce like Sriracha + extra for serving); 1 teaspoon White Pepper Powder; 1/2-3/4 teaspoon Salt; 4 tablespoons Corn flour; 2 tablespoon All purpose flour / Maida; Oil (for deep frying)

Crispy Veg Nuggets with Sichuan Sauce

These crispy veg nuggets disappear before you know it because even though they are made of just veggies (pretty much), they are loaded with flavour. Dip them in some Sichuan sauce for an extra kick!

Serves 18 Nuggets

Prep 15 minutes

Cook 10 minutes

Total 25 minutes

Jump to the recipe

Let’s take a moment to admire these bite sized beauties. And how fried food tastes amazing. We might have a love hate relationship with deep fried, but I truly believe in giving into those cravings once in a while. Especially when it’s this good.

These veggie nuggets or veg fingers are pretty much all veggies.

Prepping the veggies is the only work

We use finely shredded cabbage, carrots and beans. That could mean a little work if you are chopping by hand. But if you have a food processor, using it makes fast work of getting these veggies prepped. Just use the shredder attachment. Or grate those carrots and cabbage in an old fashioned grater. The beans do take a little work, but I just use a knife to roughly chop first and then go at it like a monster.

But believe me, it’s so worth it! Deep fried crispy veg nuggets are the only way to go, especially if you don’t like meat or are vegan. Because these happen to be naturally vegan.

Binding for Crispy Veg Nuggets

The cool trick while binding these crispy veg nuggets is that you don’t need any extra liquid or eggs here. While you mix the veggies with the sauce, aromatics, cornflour and all purpose flour, the veggies automatically release enough liquid that they create a thick binding.

Shaping the nuggets

Once you form the batter, you can roll these out into oblong fingers or just form them into circles. The shape is really up to you. It takes one or two tries to get them looking nice and uniform. You can also rub a little oil on your hands before forming these because that helps the batter from sticking to your hands.

Then all that’s left to do is frying them. Make sure the oil is medium hot (approx 350F/180C), and you can adjust the temperature by reducing the flame or increasing it as you fry these. These only take 3-4 minutes to fry and once they are a deep golden brown, you know they are done!

These are our favourite appetizer these days, especially when kids are involved, which is happening more often now. And I hope you enjoy them too, family style!

More Crispy Vegetarian Appetizers

The recipe

Crispy Veg Nuggets with Sichuan Sauce

These veg nuggets are a great alternative to chicken nuggets. They happen to be vegan, and are loaded with veggies. Kids and adults both love them!

Serves 18 Nuggets
Prep 15 minutes
Cook 10 minutes
Total 25 minutes

Ingredients

For the nuggets:

1/2 cup Carrots (finely shredded)
1/2 cup Green Beans (finely chopped (french beans))
2 cups Cabbage (finely shredded)
2 teaspoons Garlic (finely chopped)
2 teaspoons Ginger (finely chopped)
3 tablespoons Sichuan sauce (or any other hot sauce like Sriracha + extra for serving)
1 teaspoon White Pepper Powder
1/2-3/4 teaspoon Salt
4 tablespoons Corn flour
2 tablespoon All purpose flour / Maida
Oil (for deep frying)

Method

1
Add the carrots, beans and cabbage to a food processor and process very finely.
2
Take the mixture out in a bowl and add ginger, garlic, sichuan sauce, salt, white pepper, corn flour and all purpose flour and mix well. The veggies will start releasing liquid and you'll get a thick batter (like in the video above). Form into 1.5" long cylindrical fingers. Form all the fingers.
3
Heat oil for frying the fingers. The temperature should be between 325-350F (180C). Deep fry the fingers, making sure not to overcrowd the pan or the temperature of the oil will drop really fast. Fry till they are a deep golden brown, and then take them out on a tissue lined plate.
4
Serve immediately with sichuan sauce or ketchup on the side.