How to cook chickpeas

How to Soak and Cook Dried Chickpeas

There’s a Shortcut!

Chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans, are practically a staple ingredient in Middle Eastern cooking. They are the basis for foods like hummus and falafel and, while it is convenient to use canned chickpeas, dried chickpeas really are a better option.

Dried chickpeas are much more economical and they tend to have a more natural flavor because they aren’t soaked in preservatives. Also, any extra beans can be frozen to be used at a later time. The only drawback is that you have to soak chickpeas before you can cook them. We’ll tell you how to do both so your family can enjoy these tasty little morsels.

Watch Now: How to Soak and Cook Dried Chickpeas

How to Soak Chickpeas

Just as with any other dry bean, the first thing you will have to do before cooking dried chickpeas is to soak them. It’s best done overnight but if you forget and are in a pinch, there is a shortcut you can take. We’ll get to that, but first, let’s take a look at the traditional method of soaking.

Soak Chickpeas in One Hour

Do you really want chickpeas but don’t have the patience to wait for the conventional soak? Did you forget to prep them last night? It happens to everyone and you’re in luck because you can also do a rapid, quick soak. Here’s how:

How to Cook Chickpeas

Once the chickpeas have soaked, it’s time to cook them. It’s very easy and takes just over an hour.

Once the chickpeas are cooled, they are ready to be used. Cooked chickpeas can be kept covered in the refrigerator for up to three days. They can also be frozen in an airtight container for about a month.

What Are Chickpeas?

Buying, Cooking, and Recipes

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Chickpeas originated in the Middle East about 7,500 years ago and are now an inexpensive and essential ingredient in kitchens around the world, especially in North Africa, Spain, and India. These small legumes are also commonly known as garbanzo beans or ceci (chee-chee) beans. Chickpeas appear in dishes ranging from hummus and chana masala to falafel and salads. Chickpeas can be eaten straight from a can, puréed, stewed, or dried and ground into flour. Dried chickpeas must be soaked and sometimes peeled before being cooked.

Fast Facts

Varieties

Chickpeas may be green, black, brown, or red, but the most recognizable variety is the large, smooth, thin-skinned beige kabuli, the kind most commonly found in U.S. grocery stores. Smaller desi chickpeas look darker and rougher on the outside, with yellow flesh inside. You may see split desi chickpeas sold as chana dal in Indian markets. You can purchase chickpeas either dried or canned.

Chickpea Uses

Versatile chickpeas can be added to dishes whole or blended as a creamy base for a variety of uses. Roasted or fried chickpeas add a crisp element to salads, rice dishes, and soups. They can be seasoned to match the flavor profile of nearly any cuisine.

Dried chickpeas need to be soaked before you cook them. Put the beans in a large bowl, generously cover them with cold tap water, and leave them to soak at room temperature overnight (or for at least eight to 12 hours). Some cooks recommend adding a teaspoon of baking soda per liter of soaking water, which may facilitate the loosening of skins and yield a more tender cooked garbanzo bean. For a quicker method, drop the dried chickpeas into a pot of boiling water, cook them for a minute or two, and then leave them to soak off the heat for an hour. With this method, add the baking soda after you move the chickpeas off the heat. Finish by draining the chickpeas and rinsing them, extra thoroughly if you added baking soda.

Canned chickpeas are ready to use right out of the can but rinse them first to wash away any residue. You can reserve the aquafaba, the liquid in the can, for other uses, such as an egg substitute.

How to Cook With Chickpeas

Some Moroccan recipes such as harira instruct you to peel the chickpeas. The soaked chickpeas need to remain wet in order for the skins to slip off, so work with drained chickpeas quickly. If you intend to peel a large quantity, keep them in a bowl of water and remove them by the handfuls for peeling.

To peel, roll and pinch the soaked chickpeas one-by-one between your forefinger and thumb to snap off the skin. Another roll and pinch may be necessary to remove the second layer of skin. Some chickpeas may break in half during this process but they’re still fine to use.

You can also put a large quantity of soaked, drained chickpeas between two kitchen towels and massage them against a hard surface such as a counter or table. This separates the skins from the chickpeas, which you can pick out of the residue. Similarly, some Moroccans traditionally roll soaked chickpeas against the rough surface of a woven platter-like basket called a tbeq.

If a recipe calls for plain cooked chickpeas, put the soaked beans in a pot and cover them with ample salted water. Bring it to a boil, put the lid on, and simmer the pot for 60 to 90 minutes, or until the chickpeas reach your desired level of tenderness. Drain and use them salads, soups, and other dishes.

You can also cook chickpeas in a pressure cooker. Add them to salted water in the cooker, cover it tightly, and bring it to pressure over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and cook the chickpeas for approximately 45 minutes, or until tender.

What Do They Taste Like?

The mildly nutty flavor and buttery texture of chickpeas make a neutral base for an array of added seasonings or accompanying ingredients. Chickpeas blend smoothly, making them a particularly good start for dairy-free creamy dips such as hummus and vegan spinach dip.

Chickpea Substitutes

You can swap other beans for chickpeas in a recipe. It won’t be a perfect match, but try butter beans, white lima beans, or cannellini beans. They can all easily be found dried or in a can and share a similar creamy texture, especially when pureed.

Chickpea Recipes

Chickpeas are a mainstay in Indian vegetarian recipes, but they also add texture to pasta dishes and make a protein-rich base for falafel and other vegetarian patties.

Where to Buy Chickpeas

Chickpeas can be found in most major grocery stores and from online retailers, generally in 16- or 32-ounce cans or dried in bags near the rice and dried beans. They are often sold in 1-pound bags but you can also buy them in bulk. Check Middle Eastern and Indian grocers for greater variety. It’s possible to grow your own chickpeas, but you’ll need ample room outdoors since they don’t transfer well. The crop will be ready to harvest 100 days after planting.

Storage

Canned and dried chickpeas are shelf-stable for a number of years; refer to the expiration date on the packaging. You can store soaked chickpeas, with or without skins, in an airtight container in the freezer for up to a year. Make sure you drain them thoroughly and allow them to dry before transferring them to the storage container. You can also freeze cook chickpeas; for best results, use them within six months.

Ultimate Guide to Chickpeas

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Looking for the ultimate guide on how to cook chickpeas!? I’ve got you covered! In this post, we’re going over all of your burning questions about chickpeas and walking through how to cook them from the stovetop to the instant pot!

Hopefully you know by now HOW MUCH I LOVE chickpeas! I’ve used this in a TON of recipes and they are seriously one of my all time favorite foods to eat.

Up until the past few years, I always bought canned chickpeas because they’re just so so easy. And while I still really like them canned, I also love how simple and incredibly cost effective it is to buy raw chickpeas and cook them yourself at home.

I’m going to walk you through lots of different ways to cook them, how to soak them, and even show you some of my favorite ways to use them. Let’s dive RIGHT in, shall we?

What are Chickpeas:

Chickpeas are legumes! In their raw form, they almost feel like beige round rocks and are very hard uncooked. You cannot eat them raw as they contain toxins (removed during the cooking process) and are simply too hard to chew or digest properly. While typically beige, they do come in other colors including red and green.

Since chickpeas are so high in protein and fiber, they are used very commonly in vegetarian cooking as a kind of meat substitute such as in this Chickpeas Salad, this Chickpea Noodle Soup, and this Chickpea Pot Pie.

Garbanzo beans vs Chickpeas:

Since I use chickpeas in my recipes on a regular basis, I OFTEN get asked, are garbanzo beans chickpeas? And the answer is YES: chickpeas and garbanzo beans are the same thing but just a different name.

While the average person seems to most commonly refer to them as CHICKPEAS, most stores/ brans label them as GARBANZO BEANS. I suggest that when you are looking for them in a store, be on the lookout for both words since they truly are used so interchangeably.

Chickpeas Nutrition:

Chickpeas are nutritionally rich and high in protein and fiber. Here’s a quick breakdown of the basics and why these legumes are so great:

How to cook Chickpeas:

Cooking chickpeas is very similar and follows a similar process as other beans. I have a detailed recipe card for you down below as well as a video but let’s go over the basics!

FIRST you need to soak your beans. I’ve experimented several different ways but no matter what, you simply CANNOT skip this step! But you do have 2 options: 1) long soak the beans overnight or 2) quick soak the beans by boiling them for 3 minutes and then soaking them for just 1.5 hours. Both work well but you have to pick one.

Next up, you cook them. My recipe card below goes over how to cook chickpeas on the stovetop. But I have several different methods for you!

Stovetop Chickpeas:

As I mentioned, I have a detailed recipe card below all about cooking chickpeas on the stovetop but here’s the gist of it:

After soaking them, simply add the chickpeas in a large pot with water or broth as well as any desired seasonings. Simmer for

1.5 hours or until the chickpeas are soft and at your desired tenderness.

Instant Pot Chickpeas:

This is actually my FAVORITE way to cook raw chickpeas!

I have a detailed blog post all about cooking chickpeas in an instant pot that you can read HERE.

To do this, add the soaked chickpeas into your pressure cooker with water or broth along with any other seasonings. Cook on manual HIGH pressure for 13 minutes and natural release the pressure for 5 minutes. Since the instant pot will take a while to pressurize, this ends up taking about 35 minutes total.

Slow Cooker Chickpeas:

This is not my favorite method of cooking chickpeas honestly, but it can be done. I’ve found that it results in mushier chickpeas (which could be ideal depending on how you are planning to use them).

For this method, you actually CAN skip the soaking step and simply add the chickpeas into a slow cooker with 8 cups of water. Cook on high for 3.5-4.5 hours or on low for 6.5-8 hours.

Air Fryer Chickpeas:

This is kind of a bonus! You CANNOT actually cook chickpeas from raw in the air fryer (that I have successfully tried). However, you can cook COOKED chickpeas in an air fryer to get them ultra crispy and delicious!

To do this, follow THESE detailed directions by mixing cooked chickpeas with some oil and seasoning. Place them in the air fryer and cook for 15 minutes, stirring half way through.

Oven Roasted Chickpeas:

Similar to the air fryer chickpeas, you cannot cook chickpeas from raw in teh oven, however, you can get them DELICIOUSLY crispy this way!

Can you freeze chickpeas?

Why YES, you can! To freeze the cooked chickpeas, simply spread them out on a silicon or parchment lined baking sheet (this avoids them sticking). Place in the freeze and freeze for 1/5 hours. Place the flash frozen chickpeas into a resealable container and store in the freezer for a few months.

Here are some FAQ about chickpeas/ garbanzo beans:

Yes! Chickpeas are a naturally gluten free food!

Per 100gs, chickpeas have 19g of protein which is 38% daily value.

For 1 cup of cooked chickpeas, there are about 275 calories.

Per 100g, chickpeas have 61g of total carbs which is 20% daily value.

An average can of chickpeas has a total of 420 calories. Many are labeled as 3.5 servings per can at 120 calories per serving (1/2 cup of cooked beans).

If you have pets like I do, you may be wondering “can dogs have chickpeas??”. After a little research, I decided that YES, chickpeas are safe for my dogs to eat. Reference this article as you deciding if you feel comfortable feeding them to your dogs though. Overall, chickpeas are totally safe for dogs to eat and can provide lots of great nutrients!

After working in the food space for the past 8 years, I’ve learned that EVERYONE has a totally different definition of the word healthy. Chickpeas are vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, high in protein and fiber and fully plant based! In my book, they’re extremely healthy consumed in moderation (and delicious too!).

While chickpeas can technically be eaten on a low carb diet, they are not recommended since they are so high in carbs. Many people will indulge in a little hummus since it’s overall carb count is lower, though.

Chickpeas have a relatively mild taste which makes them very versatile in different kinds of dishes. The texture is somewhat similar to other legumes but with a slightly grittier and meatier texture.

A lot of recipes will have you remove the skin but I never both with it. It just doesn’t bother me at all and I rarely notice that they are there. There are 2 exceptions to this: 1) if you’re making hummus, the skins can make this a *tiny* bit less creamy but even then, I never remove them 2) I DO remove them when I’m roasting the chickpeas because the skins will burn in the oven.

22 Easy Chickpea Recipes

Got garbanzo beans? Check out these easy chickpea recipes! With hummus, salads, curries, and more, you’re sure to find something you love.

Confession: I love chickpea recipes so much that I almost named this blog “Chickpea Chick.” In retrospect, I’m glad I went in a different direction, but chickpeas are still one of my all-time favorite foods. For starters, they’re healthy, delicious, and packed with plant-based protein, but they’re versatile, too. They can blend into creamy, lemony hummus, bake into crispy, herb-flecked falafel, add protein to a salad, crunch to a grain bowl, and so much more!

Below, you’ll find 22 of my favorite chickpea recipes. They include garbanzo bean basics like roasted chickpeas and hummus, inventive entrées, and everything in between. Because I always have chickpeas in my pantry, these are some of the recipes I cook most often at home. Whether you’re already a chickpea fanatic or are cooking them for the first time, I hope that a few of these recipes make it into your regular rotation too!

Essential Chickpea Recipes

Crispy Roasted Chickpeas
They’re salty, they’re crunchy, and they’re so darn easy to make! Sprinkle them over a salad, top them onto a bowl, or eat them straight off the sheet pan as a protein-packed snack.

Hummus
No list of chickpea recipes could be complete without hummus. You only need 6 ingredients and 5 minutes to make it, so pass the pita chips, please!

Salad and Bowl Chickpea Recipes

Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
Medjool dates and honey goat cheese add sweet notes to this mix of roasted red peppers, fresh veggies, herbs, and chickpeas. A cumin-spiced dressing ties it all together.

Caesar Salad
There’s so much to love about this lightened-up Caesar salad recipe! Along with the Caesar salad essentials – romaine lettuce, Parmesan, and plenty of croutons – it features a creamy Greek yogurt dressing, crisp radishes, and roasted chickpeas for extra crunch.

Easy Pasta Salad
Toasted pine nuts, feta cheese, and chickpeas make this picnic-perfect pasta salad hearty enough to pass as a main or side dish. If you make it ahead of time, save a handful of fresh basil to add at the last minute.

Kale Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing
Meet the ultimate lunch salad! Rainbow veggies and a vibrant carrot ginger dressing make it fresh and fun to eat, while toasted seeds, avocado, and crispy roasted chickpeas guarantee that it’ll keep you full till dinnertime.

Roasted Veggie Grain Bowl
I could eat this mean green grain bowl every night of the week! Chickpeas and quinoa fill it with plant-based protein, kale pesto adds richness, and sauerkraut gives it a bright pop of flavor. I love the combination of roasted cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and parsnips pictured above, but almost any veggie would work here. Use what you have on hand!

Simple Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowl
This simple grain bowl is what I make for lunch or dinner when no one’s looking. It’s a healthy, humble mix of ingredients I nearly always have in my pantry: chickpeas, quinoa, greens, and sweet potatoes. Just add sea salt, olive oil, and a big squeeze of lemon juice to transform them into a bright, flavorful meal.

Sandwiches, Wraps, and Veggie Burgers

Chickpea Shawarma Wraps
I love these wraps so much that I’ve even eaten them for breakfast! They’re stuffed full of shawarma spiced chickpeas, spicy zhoug, creamy yogurt sauce, pickled onions, and as many fresh veggies as can fit.

Chickpea Salad Sandwiches
Jack kindly dubbed this hearty vegan sandwich a pan bag-not. It has everything that makes a classic pan bagnat so crave-able – soft baguette, briny flavor, and lots of crisp veggies – but a creamy, no-mayo chickpea salad steps in for the tuna.

Crispy Baked Falafel
Crispy, rich, and packed with fresh herbs, this homemade falafel is just as good as any you’d find at a Middle Eastern restaurant. Serve it with pita, veggies, tahini sauce, and pickled red onions to take it over the top. Note: Of all the chickpeas recipes on the blog, this is the only one that requires dried – NOT canned – chickpeas. Do not make this recipe with canned chickpeas, or your falafel will be mushy.

Chickpea Harissa Veggie Burgers, page 173 of Love and Lemons Every Day
Walnuts, garbanzo beans, and brown rice give these smoky, savory veggie burgers their hearty texture. Pile them onto buns with creamy cilantro sauce and your favorite fixings, and dig in!

Soup and Curry Chickpea Recipes

Parsnip Chickpea Noodle Soup, page 97 of Love and Lemons Every Day
Since chickpeas are my chicken, I turn to this recipe anytime I’m craving the comfort of chicken noodle soup. Filled with veggies, herbs, and spices, it’s warming, healing, and nourishing.

Creamy Tomato Soup
There aren’t any nuts or dairy hiding inside this creamy tomato soup. Instead, blended chickpeas give it its rich, luscious texture!

Many-Veggie Vegetable Soup
Make this flexible soup to use up whatever veggies you have on hand. Stray carrots? Toss them in! A handful of spinach? Add it! Because I always have chickpeas in my pantry, I call for them here, but white beans or French green lentils would work well too.

Sunshine Sweet Potato Curry, page 193 of Love and Lemons Every Day
There’s more to this curry than meets the eye. Its creamy, aromatic sauce gets its velvety texture and sunny color from a secret ingredient – blended sweet potato!

Chana Masala
If you’re a garbanzo bean fan, chana masala is a dish that needs to be in your repertoire. My simplified version of this chickpea and tomato curry cooks up in 30 minutes flat. Served with a side of warm rice, it’s a satisfying, flavorful weeknight dinner.

Entrée Chickpea Recipes

Acorn Squash with Chickpeas and Chimichurri
A cinnamon-spiced chickpea filling brings out the acorn squash’s sweetness in this hearty vegetarian main dish. For a zesty contrast, top it with bright chimichurri and lemony yogurt sauce.

Baked Feta
Tangy feta cheese melts into an aromatic mixture of marinara sauce, cumin, chickpeas, and kale in this simple weeknight recipe. Dive in with a fork, or, better yet, serve it with naan, pita, or crusty bread for scooping up the warm sauce and cheese.

Turmeric Cauliflower Fried Rice
This curry-spiced cauliflower rice checks all the weeknight-friendly boxes: it’s easy to make, it requires minimal ingredients, and it’s far more than the sum of its parts. Chickpeas give it heft, toasted cashews add crunch, and lime and curry spices fill it with warm, bright flavor.

Orecchiette Pasta
You could make a thousand variations on this easy pasta recipe, and it would come out delicious every time. Finish it with vegan Parmesan or the real thing, add a splash of white wine or a squeeze of lemon, swap the veggies, or top it with pesto. Pasta + chickpeas are a fantastic blank canvas, and you really can’t go wrong.

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
If you have a sweet potato and a can of chickpeas in your kitchen, you’re well on your way to making a delicious dinner. Bake the sweet potato, spice up the chickpeas, and mix them with any veggies or herbs you have on hand. When the sweet potato’s tender, stuff it with the chickpea filling, and enjoy!

More Pantry Essentials

If you love these garbanzo bean recipes, check out these pantry-friendly recipe round ups next:

How to Cook Canned Chickpeas

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Chickpeas are a healthy and versatile legume. You can eat them plain, or add them to salads, chicken dishes, etc. Canned chickpeas are also quick to prepare and especially fast to cook. By either boiling canned chickpeas, baking them, or microwaving them, you can prepare your own chickpeas!

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