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Guide to Cooking with Chickpeas
Chickpeas are a powerhouse superfood that often gets overlooked in recipes! It has a delicious flavor that can be cooked like regular legumes, or roasted into a nutty delight.
Chickpeas can add some extra flavor and nutrients to any dish. We recommend adding them to salads or soups when you’re just starting. Once you get hooked on them like we are, you’ll discover more fun and unique ways to add them to your diet.
What are Chickpeas?
Chickpeas are considered a legume and with such a high protein count it’s considered to be both a vegetable and a protein. They are also sometimes referred to as garbanzo beans.
Chickpeas are prevalent in many areas around the world, with traditions linking them back to Middle Eastern, African, and Indian cuisine. If you’ve ever had falafel or hummus, the key ingredient in each is traditionally chickpeas.
What makes chickpeas such a healthy option? They contain a complete protein–all nine essential amino acids–which are great for bodily function. They also have a ton of vitamins and minerals, including folate, calcium, thiamine, iron, potassium, phosphorus, and more.
In a serving, they have about 170 calories, 23 grams of carbs, and 9 grams of protein.
Tips for getting the most out of your chickpeas
Chickpeas, in their raw form, are actually a lot like raw beans. If buying them raw, like our Organic Chickpeas, you’ll generally want to soak them for at least a few hours or even overnight.
After you’ve soaked your chickpeas, you’ll want to remove the skin. For some methods of cooking, removing the skin isn’t necessary but will result in a more flavorful chickpea. Soaking will help make removal easier, but it does take a few extra minutes to get done.
Once soaked and ready to cook, you can opt to boil them in water, roast them in the oven, or toss them in a slow cooker. Slow cooking and boiling in water will yield similarly soft, pleasant chickpeas with a light earthy and nutty taste.
Another popular cooking method is roasting chickpeas in the oven. In this method, we recommend removing the chickpea skin before roasting, as moisture can get trapped in the skin and result in a mushy chickpea. You’ll want to roast your chickpeas with oil and any seasonings you like. The delicious result will be crunchy and reminiscent of peanuts.
Chickpeas, like many other legumes, don’t have a strong flavor profile, so you’ll want to make sure you’ve seasoned them well!
Recipes to get you started
Chickpeas are a great addition to any of your favorite recipes. We recommend getting started by adding them to some of your favorite salads. Need a recommendation to get you going?
Try out our Barley Butternut Squash Salad. With feta and dried cranberries, this salad would be wonderfully complemented by chickpeas.
If you want a warm dish, check out our Brussel Sprouts and Quinoa. While this dish is perfect on its own, you may want to add chickpeas to up your protein.
No matter what you choose, we’re sure you’ll fall in love with chickpeas as soon as you take that first blissful bite!
