Gluten-Free Vegan Black Bean Mortadella Ingredients
- 1½ cups cooked black beans, or another type of cooked bean
- 1/2 cup chickpea flour
- 1 tbsp finely ground flaxseed
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth
- 3 tbsp soy sauce. For a genuinely gluten-free recipe, choose soy sauce or tamari clearly labelled gluten-free, because many regular soy sauces contain wheat.
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 2 tbsp mustard
- 1 tbsp meat-style spice blend
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 2 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp paprika
- A pinch of black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
How to Make Vegan Black Bean Mortadella
Blend the black beans until very smooth. Add all the remaining ingredients except the chickpea flour and blend.
If your blender is powerful enough, add the chickpea flour and blend thoroughly.
If not, transfer the mixture to a bowl, add the chickpea flour and knead well until you have a firm dough.
If the mixture is too dry, add 3 tablespoons of water.
Shape it into a cylinder. Brush a sheet of baking parchment with oil, place the cylinder on it, wrap it and close both ends. The original recipe used parchment as a barrier between the food and plastic.
Then wrap it tightly in plastic film and seal both ends so water cannot leak in.
Wrap it again in aluminum foil and close both ends.
Place it in a pot of boiling water for 45 minutes.
Leave it to cool, then refrigerate for several hours. Remove the wrapping and slice.
You can eat it directly, fry slices in a little oil for a sandwich, or grill them. Serve with vegan mayonnaise, salad and roasted vegetables.
Enjoy.
Why Bean Mortadella Is Stronger Than Just a “Substitute”
Because the base here is beans + chickpea flour + flaxseed: plant protein together with fiber, folate, potassium and magnesium, instead of a mortadella built from processed meat.
This is not just nutrient-list rhetoric. A recent analysis of 38 randomized trials on whole pulses found reductions in LDL and non-HDL cholesterol, with broadly similar effects across different pulse types. Source.
For blood pressure and glucose, the evidence does not justify saying that one bean dish “treats” them. Trials on pulses provide useful signals for some metabolic markers, while pooled blood-pressure trials have not shown a clear overall reduction. We do not need exaggeration to make the case strong.
The comparison with animal mortadella matters even more: WHO/IARC classifies processed meat as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) because there is sufficient evidence that it causes colorectal cancer. The evidence reviewed by IARC estimated about an 18% increase in relative colorectal-cancer risk for each 50 g of processed meat eaten daily. The classification describes the strength of the evidence; it does not mean processed meat carries the same magnitude of risk as smoking. WHO / IARC.
So instead of claiming that folate “prevents cancer cells from forming,” the stronger, harder-to-attack argument is right in front of us: a mortadella built from pulses instead of processed meat.
Try our vegan mortadella for steak-style sandwiches, quinoa and black-bean burger, or carrot hot dogs.
