Vegan Chilli Pesto Traybake (Gluten-Free)

A fiery, warming and simple one-pan traybake meal ready in 40 minutes with minimum effort. Chilli pesto roasted chickpeas, red pepper and broccoli served with cooling yoghurt, flaked almonds and hunks of fresh bread or rice – all naturally vegan and gluten-free.

A lot of people say that they make food choices because they don’t want to spend time in the kitchen, don’t have good enough kitchen skills or the foodie brain to get creative. This Vegan Chilli Pesto Traybake is the perfect excuse to be lazy in the kitchen, make minimal effort but deliver on flavour, texture, wholesomeness, vibrancy, and creativity.

This one-pan traybake does what it says in the name: add it all to one pan. Pop it in the oven, bake and then eat. Which means you only have one tray to wash up and only a few key ingredients are needed. This traybake is:

• Packed with flavour
• Fiery but not overwhelming
• Vibrant and abundant
• Easy to pack in vegetables
• High protein and high in fibre
• Naturally vegan and gluten-free
• Easy to personalise

Now, you only need 6 main ingredients to make this Vegan Chilli Pesto Traybake and they are all simple, easy to find ingredients, too.

• Vegan chilli pesto: this was the inspiration behind this traybake meal it is so delicious. It packs so much flavour and colour – it really makes this dish shine. Other varieties might be called “red pesto” but just check the labels that they are vegan and gluten-free, where needed. I use this one.
• Chickpeas: this adds the protein and crunch to the meal. I just love roasted chickpeas, they turn so golden, crisp yet tender inside. If you are not a fan, try using another bean like cannellini or use cubed tofu, too.
• Garlic: one of my favourite things about traybakes is to add in a whole garlic bulb when roasting and it turns to gooey, sweet, and delicious. Chop off the end, rub with oil and nestle in the traybake and then when it’s roasted, squeeze out the garlic cloves one by one. They are sticky and sweet – great for rubbing on toasts, chopped into salads, adding into stir-fries and blitzing into curry pastes.
• Red pepper: or another colour pepper or even strips of courgette, aubergine or squash.
• Broccoli: I love the vibrant green this adds to the Vegan Chilli Pesto Traybake, but you could also try cauliflower, too.
• Flaked almonds: I think it is so important to add some crunch on top of a meal, and the almonds do just that. They add another layer of texture, and the nutty sweet taste goes so well.

Apart from the almonds, everything is roasted in one pan. The key to keeping all the veggies and chickpeas evenly crisp and baked is to do this in two stages:

• First roast the chickpeas and garlic.
• Now add the red pepper and broccoli to the same tray and continue to roastAdd the almonds onto a second tray and roast for the final 10 minutes.
• Do not overcrowd the tin, too. Make sure they are in one even layer so every bit can bake evenly.

It’s as easy as 1-2-3 to make this Vegan Chilli Pesto Traybake. I then like to add a drizzle of cooling yoghurt as it adds a great contrast in colour, temperature, and texture. Also, if the chilli pesto is on the hotter side, the yoghurt will seem so refreshing. 

If you are wondering what to serve with this Vegan Chilli Pesto Traybake, I like to eat it with hunks of crusty sourdough bread or homemade Seedy Wholemeal Soda Bread, but it is also really delicious over a salad, served with cooked grains like rice, quinoa or buckwheat or even stirred into pasta.

I hope you will love in love with this simple, protein-packed, plant-based, gluten-free and wholesome lunch or dinner and you can share it with your family. It is also great to cook for 1 as leftovers are delicious the next day enjoyed cold in a lunchbox or warmed back up.

If you are looking for other simple and traybake meals, how about my:

• Pesto Tomato and Gnocchi Traybake
• Hassleback Sweet Potato and Chickpea Traybake with Tahini
• Roasted Red Pepper and Cauliflower Harissa Traybake
• Hassleback Squash with Herby Tahini
• Balsamic Roasted Potato, Aubergine and Broccoli Traybake

Vegan Chilli Pesto Traybake (Gluten-Free)

• Servings: 2
• Time: 40 minutes
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

A fiery, warming and simple one-pan traybake meal ready in 40 minutes with minimum effort. Chilli pesto roasted chickpeas, red pepper and broccoli served with cooling yoghurt, flaked almonds and hunks of fresh bread or rice – all naturally vegan and gluten-free.

Ingredients

• 80g vegan chilli pesto (or red pesto)*
• 1 tin chickpeas, drained (240g drained weight)
• 1 garlic bulb, whole
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 red pepper, in strips
• 200g broccoli, florets or tenderstem
• 30g flaked almonds
• Salt and pepper
• To serve: fresh herbs, pomegranate, rice/bread, yoghurt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 160Fan/180*C and line a large baking tray with parchment paper. Pat the chickpeas dry in an old tea towel. Remove the outer garlic skin, slice off the top (so the bulb remains whole) and place both the chickpeas and garlic on the tray. Drizzle with the olive oil, salt and pepper and roast for 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, add the red pepper and broccoli to a mixing bowl with the pesto and toss well. Add the vegetables to the chickpeas, toss well again and roast for another 20-25 minutes until crisp – watch that the broccoli doesn’t catch.
3. To a separate tray, add the flaked almonds and roast for 10 minutes, tossing halfway through, until golden.
4. Serve the traybake topped with the almonds, with a drizzle of yoghurt, some fresh crusty bread or rice, fresh herbs and some pomegranate seeds. Enjoy straight away or keep leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days.
*if you don’t have chilli pest, you can use regular dairy-free green pesto and add ¼ – ½ tsp dried chilli, depending on the strength! Stir it into the vegetables as you would with the chilli pesto.

I look forward to hearing what you think of this Vegan Chilli Pesto Traybake so please let me know in the comments below. If you do make this traybake, I would love to see your creations, so please tag me in them! I’m @nourishing.amy on Instagram and use the hashtag #nourishingamy. I’m also on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest  – please say hello!I’m xxx

With chilli pesto traybake love x

The original recipe was made with Sacla earlier this year, but I am choosing to now share this post on my website now!