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Vegan okonomiyaki! These savory Japanese cabbage carrot pancakes are packed with veggies and so delicious served with sweet and sour homemade tonkatsu sauce. (nut-free with soy-free and gluten-free options)
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Vegan okonomiyaki is an easy weeknight meal. Just shred the veggies, mix them with the batter ingredients, and cook these tender, savory pancakes on the stovetop. The sauce comes together in one bowl!
Okonomiyaki are usually made with eggs, vegetables, and meat. In this vegan version, I’m using lots of veggies, plus some chickpea flour and black salt to give them that signature egginess. You can use all chickpea flour instead of the all-purpose flour for a gluten-free option.
These are absolutely delicious served with sweet, tangy, 1-bowl tonkatsu sauce made with ketchup, vegan Worcestershire sauce, and a little bit of sugar. You can also drizzle on some vegan mayo for a creamy element.
What I love about these Japanese cabbage pancakes is that they are so versatile! You can add veggies of choice, add some sliced mushrooms for a meaty pop of texture, or add more crumbled nori sheet for a fishier flavor, if you like.
No matter how you serve them, okonomiyaki are an absolutely delicious and easy dinner!
Why You’ll Love Japanese Cabbage Pancakes
- quick and easy weeknight meal
- packed with veggies and flavor! Add your favorite veggies of choice, too.
- super quick, 1-bowl tonkatsu sauce to drizzle or dip
- naturally nut-free with easy gluten-free and soy-free options
More Cabbage Recipes
Vegan Okonomiyaki – Japanese Cabbage Carrot Pancakes
Ingredients
For the Pancakes
- 1/2 head of cabbage
- 3/4 cup carrots
- 1/2 red or green bell pepper
- 2 tbsp scallions
- 1 inch ginger, minced
- 2 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp miso, optional
- 1/8 tsp Indian black salt, kala namak- optional
- 2 tsp crumbled nori sheets , or 1/2 tsp togarashi – optional
- 1/2 cup unbleached white flour (ap flour) , or a mix of rice flour and all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup chickpea flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder optional
- 2 to 3 tablespoons water
For the Easy Tonkatsu Sauce
- 1 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tbsp vegan worcestershire sauce , or whatever sauce as we refer to it in my house 😉
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- a few tsp water
Instructions
Make the okonomiyaki.
- Shred all the veggies. Add the vinegar, soy sauce, salt, white pepper, nutritional yeast, miso, black salt, and crumbled nori sheets. Set aside for 10 minutes.
- Mix the flours and baking powder into the bowl and mix in. Add a little water to make a mix that can spread. You might not need much, as the veggies leak a lot of water, depending on how you shred them.
- Heat a pan over medium heat, and add the oil. Spread the batter to even it out into 1/4" to 1/2" thick pancake ,and cook for 5 to 7 minutes per side.
- Serve with the tonkatsu sauce, vegan mayo and pickled ginger if you have some. You can also sprinkle on some green onion and sesame seeds.
Make the tonkatsu sauce.
- Mix all the ingredients until well combined, and serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Ingredients
- veggies – Shredded cabbage, carrot, bell pepper, and chopped scallions add flavor and texture.
- ginger – Boosts the flavor even more!
- sauces – Rice vinegar and soy sauce add moisture and flavor to the pancakes. Use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce for gluten-free and soy-free. For the tonkatsu, you need ketchup and vegan Worcestershire sauce.
- spices – White pepper adds a signature flavor, and black salt (kala namak) gives the okonomiyaki an eggy flavor. Nutritional yeast adds umami and color.
- miso – This is optional but adds even more umami! Use chickpea miso for soy-free, if needed.
- nori sheets – Gives this a fishy flavor.
- flour – A mix of white flour, rice flour, and chickpea flour act as the binder. Use more chickpea flour instead of white flour for gluten-free.
- baking powder – This is optional but makes the pancakes fluffier.
💡Tips
- The veggies will release moisture as they sit in the bowl, so the amount of water you need to add to the batter at the end will vary. You want a thick, spreadable batter.
How to Make Okonomiyaki
Shred all the veggies. Add the vinegar, soy sauce, salt, white pepper, nutritional yeast, miso, black salt, and crumbled nori sheets. Set aside for 10 minutes.
Sift the flours and baking powder into the bowl and mix in.
Add a little water to make a mix that can spread. You might not need much, as the veggies leak a lot of water, depending on how you shred them.
Heat a pan over medium heat, and add the oil. Spread the batter to even it out into 1/4″ to 1/2″ thick pancake ,and cook for 5 to 7 minutes per side.
Serve with the tonkatsu sauce, vegan mayo and pickled ginger if you have some. You can also sprinkle on some green onion and sesame seeds.
What to Serve with Okonomiyaki
Serve these drizzled with vegan mayo, the tonkatsu sauce, and a sprinkle of sesame seeds and green onions. They’re great with some pickled ginger on the side, too!
Frequently Asked Questions
Vegan okonomiyaki are naturally nut-free with easy gluten-free and soy-free options. For gluten-free, use more chickpea flour instead of the all-purpose flour and coconut aminos instead of soy sauce. For soy-free, also use the coconut aminos and use chickpea miso for the miso element. Also make sure that your vegan Worcestershire sauce is gluten-free and soy-free.
Yum, excellent! We loved this as a side dish to a bowl of ramen. I wasn’t sure how/when to mix the flour with veg so mix was a little gummy, but the flavor is killer, I’ll figure it out.
awesome! maybe it needed to cook longer? you can also spread the mixture a bit more to make a thinner pancake so it doesnt get gummy.
I just made these okonomiyaki for dinner and I must say this is a great recipe! I slightly changed the flour, I used 1/2 c. of gram flour and 1/2 c. of wholemeal wheat flour since this was all I had in my cupboard, but it worked. I also added some self-made vegan mayo (oil, soy drink, cider vinegar and guar gum) as a topping to get the classic okonomiyaki flavour.
That was really delicious, it’s the kind of recipe that fills your belly and puts a broad smile on your face, thank you so much for this! I will definitely try out more of your stuff.
Looking forward to these. Your recipe looks the best of those I’ve seen on line. Although, I wonder about not using an egg substitute, i.e. Flax seed egg, for binding. All other vegan okonomiyaki recipes seem to use them.
With regular flour, you dont necessarily need a flax egg. You can add one if you like
I’m just making this now can’t wait to put them in the pan xxx
Hi what size is the cabbage you used? Because when I shredded up my half i ended up with like 8 cups which I think is too much..
yes, that sounds like a lot. start with 2 cups cabbage and add more if there is enough batter. The mixture should be more veggies than batter somewhat like latkes.
I know this was from two years ago, but I thought I’d chime in for those just reading (like I am).
For this recipe, you’ll likely want a very small head of cabbage – think “about a little larger than a softball” size. You may want to blanch it first, as that will cause it to shrink a bit.
As Richa said, roughly 2 cups or so. An alternative is to pick up a bag of already shredded cabbage from somewhere like Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. That’s about the amount you’d need right there.
This being said, I’m off to Trader Joe’s myself for the ingredients! I’m having these for tomorrow’s breakfast with a little miso soup and rice!
While this was no “easy weeknight fix up” (my fault since I doubled the recipe, didn’t use a food processor and had a baby to contend with), my husband and I totally enjoyed these delicious pancakes! And we’re freezing two more dinners’ worth of pancakes for a a really quick fix up in the future. Thank you for this recipe!
Awesome!! the food processor helps or someone you can delegate the chopping to 🙂
Chope up the veggies.
Taste so good !
I second what Pongodhall said… this will be a regular for us. It’s delicious and my children absolutely loved them. I used red bell peppers, broccoli, carrots, and zucchini for my veggie blend — worked perfectly. Another wonderful recipe by you… cannot wait for your cookbook to arrive!
These are so good! Thank you, yet again, richa.
Put in my regular file. This sounds ordinary. It is not for this is the file that I keep the things I love the best!
We have these regularly and they are ones to present to guests. Menu for week or fortnight list a nightmare without my special book you see.
I love them because they use my favourite vegetables and I also use gf (sorry richa) yes, the dreaded! It is a lovely, simple but oh so tasty and filling lunch for us. They are very portable.
I had to travel a good way yesterday, out for most of day, no gf nor vegan (tut!) so… Out comes my portables and I get to eat (enjoyably too).