Panelle or Sicilian chickpea fritters are a common street food in Sicily. These crispy little bites are exceptionally delicious served in a panino.
Panelle or Sicilian Chickpea Fritters are a popular street food typically found in Palermo, Sicily. I had the pleasure of sampling them for the first time in Palermo two years ago. Although they are usually sold as street food and served in a panino, my family and I ordered them as an appetizer in a local restaurant. You can read more about that trip and all the amazing foods we tried here.
The plate arrived piled with hot, crispy panelle squares. We quickly devoured them and immediately ordered a second plate. We were hooked! I had never even heard of them before, which goes to show you how specialties can vary from one town to another within Sicily.
Where can I find chickpea flour?
Thankfully chickpea flour is widely available in most grocery stores here in Montreal and so I was able to recreate this dish easily. Chickpea flour is usually found in the same section as dried packaged legumes, such as chickpeas and other beans. You may also find it in the ethnic food section of your grocery store.
Chickpea flour is also available for purchase on Amazon. See link at the bottom of this post for details.
How do you make Panelle (Sicilian Chickpea Fritters)
All you need is chickpea flour, water, salt and parsley as well as vegetable or canola oil for frying.
The first step in making panelle is similar to the process of making polenta. The only difference is that with polenta you would heat the water before stirring in the cornmeal. With panelle, the chickpea flour, salt and water are whisked together before placing on the stove.
The mixture is whisked constantly until smooth and thick on medium heat. This will take about 5 minutes.
When it is ready, stir in fresh chopped parsley and quickly spread the mixture on a baking sheet with a spatula, as shown below. Place in the refrigerator and let cool completely before frying, about an hour.
Cut the cooled panelle into squares.
Fill a large shallow skillet with canola oil to the depth of about 1/2 inch. Without overcrowding the pan, fry panelle 2-3 minutes on one side, until crisp and golden, then flip and fry the opposite side 2-3 minutes more. Transfer to a paper towel covered dish to absorb excess oil. Sprinkle lightly with salt.
How to serve Panelle:
Panelle are best served piping hot out of the oil or they can be warmed in the oven just before serving. Serve as antipasto or a simple lunch stuffed inside a panino with a drizzle of lemon juice.
Tips for making perfect panelle each time:
- Spread the chickpea mixture using a spatula on the prepared baking sheet quickly before it begins to set.
- Do not overcrowd the pan when frying. Fry 3-4 at a time for best results.
- Panelle can be fried ahead of time and kept warm in the oven before serving.
If you enjoy chickpeas as much as I do, you’ll definitely love panelle. I know I’ll experimenting more with chickpea flour in the near future.
Let me know how much you enjoyed panelle by posting your photos on Facebook or Instagram and tagging me with @mangiabedda or #mangiabedda. Feel free to pin the recipe for later. Buon appetito!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups chickpea flour
- 3 cups water
- 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- Vegetable or canola oil for frying
Instructions
- Pour the chickpea flour, water, and salt in a medium sized sauce pan and whisk until smooth. Set over medium heat, and whisk constantly as the mixture slowly heats. Cook and keep whisking, scraping the bottom and sides of the pan frequently, until the mixture is smooth, thick and starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the parsley.
- Pour the mixture onto a parchment covered baking sheet (approximately 12” x 15”) and spread it quickly with a spatula, before it cools and sets, so it fills the pan in an even layer, about ¼ inch thick. Let cool in the refrigerator for approximately an hour, until completely firm.
- Once cooled, cut into squares with a sharp knife. Carefully lift the cut pieces from the pan with a spatula or your hands.
- To fry the panelle, pour enough canola oil into a wide heavy skillet to cover the bottom to a depth of 1/2 inch, and set over medium heat. When the oil is hot, fry the panelle about 3 minutes, until the underside is crisp and golden, then flip and brown the other side about 2-3 minutes more. Place the panelle on paper towels to drain excess oil. Drizzle lightly with salt and serve hot. The panelle may also be served in a panino.
Notes
- Spread the chickpea mixture using a spatula on the prepared baking sheet quickly before it begins to set.
- Do not overcrowd the pan when frying. Fry 3-4 at a time for best results.
- Panelle can be fried ahead of time and kept warm in the oven before serving.
Nutrition
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Would someone tell me if I can bake these?
Hello Ellen, although I must admit I have never tried baking them myself I have heard they can be brushed with oil and baked. I would go for a high temperature of 400 degrees F if I were to try. If you do give it a try please let me know how they turn out!
Thanks for this recipe! I’ve been craving panelle for several years. When staying with family in Sicily some years ago, I went with my cousin to a funeral in Palermo. Because it was Sicily, we waited about five hours for the body to arrive. It was at a church on the site of a cemetery, so we didn’t want to leave to get something to eat in case we missed the funeral. The mass etc. took over an hour. We were very hungry because we had had an early breakfast and nothing else to eat. As we were leaving, a food truck appeared and we managed to get the last panelle sandwiches. It was like eating ambrosia, the food of the gods. I’m looking forward to trying this tomorrow!!
Hi Dolores, indeed Sicily has the best food trucks! I enjoyed the best pane e panelle sandwich last time I was there 2 years ago from a food truck by the sea. It doesn’t get better than that! And yet it’s such a simple recipe. Hope you enjoy them!
Hi Nadia, These were fantastic!!! Thanks again!
Hi Dolores, so glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for sharing with me!
Are there different grades of chickpea flour? My aunt and I both tried to make panelle many years ago and failed. We bought the flour from King Arthur flour online. Cornmeal for polenta is coarse and gritty. The chickpea flour we bought, looked like tan colored all purpose flour. All looked OK, but when we added the batter to the oil instead of frying like a pancake it started to dissolve in the oil. Our only thought is perhaps there is a different grade of chickpea flour that more closely resembles cornmeal instead of all purpose flour?
Hello Steve, the chickpea flour that I purchase from my local Italian grocery store is also quite fine and not course like cornmeal. One thing I did learn when I first tried making panelle is that the batter can not be spread too thin. In my trials before succeeding at making panelle I noticed when it was spread too thin it did tend to fall apart when frying. Hope this helps and thanks for your comment!
This sounds’ like a great companion for my friend pinot grigio. Will try tomorrow for lunch. Will make a nice start to a little antipasto; my favortie food group.
Sounds like a good pairing to me, hope you enjoyed them!
Grillo goes much much better with panelle than pinot 😉
I was introduced when I was 12 and my first trip to Partinico. Its a small town just outside of Palermo.
Now I’m 56 and I still love them.
Hello Salvatore, I first tried panelle in Palermo 4 years ago and fell in love with them too. Thanks for stopping by my blog!
Perfect ratio flour to water…I have tried to make Panelle many times and I am not always successful
This recipe is a keeper
Gracie molto Nadia
Hi Giosi, so glad you enjoyed them. Thanks so much for sharing this with me!
Hi, this might be too late, but a secret of panelle is to cook them, spread, cut flip them and let them dry.
If there is too much moisture, it will dissolve into the oil.
Also panelle must be deep fried not shallow fry.
Hi Allegra, so if I understood correctly you let the squares dry out before frying? I’m curious, for how long do you dry them? Thanks for your comment!
I would say at least an hour on a rack or until it doesn’t feel wet anymore.
It will help creating a very crispy shell, soft inside and crunchy corners.
Sounds good to me!
Its never too late for good tip on panelle!! Ive just made them and before frying, i dried them in the open oven on the fan with 60 deg C. Came out amazing, so crispy! Kids dived into 29 of them and i was lucky to try last 30th piece 😉
Its a shame, i cant post photos here, because these look beautiful…
Hello Tomasz, it’s always great to have readers share their tips. Drying them out in the oven sounds interesting, I’ll have to give it a try. Thanks!
Came perfect using this recipe. Actually my 12 years old was doing them and we ve just finished – like in palermo!
Hello Tomasz, thanks for sharing this with me. I’m glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe!
I was SO excited to make these after having them out at a restaurant. I was very disappointed with this recipe. They don’t keep their form and just crumble into crispy crumbs once they hit the oil. I almost got one to work and then when I carefully flipped it, it too crumbled after a short period of time. If you wait to flip it, it crumbles but if you don’t wait it doesn’t cook?? I honestly just stopped after the third or fourth try because it was so frustrating and I was throwing everything away. We tried adjusting the temperature, only doing one at a time, even mashing them into balls when the patties wouldn’t work. 🙁 To no avail.
Hello Tiffany, I’m so sorry to hear that your panelle did not turn out well. I assure you that my recipes are tested more than once before being posted. Of course, I was not there to see exactly what happened but if I may, I’d like to give you a few tips that may be of help. I’m wondering if perhaps your batter was spread out too thin on your baking sheet. I have noticed that if it is too thin, the panelle may break apart. Also, be sure to let the mixture cool completely before cutting into squares for frying. I hope these tips are helpful and once again, I’m sorry the recipe did not work for you.