Food

34 Reasons Chickpeas Deserve a Place in Your Pantry

Hummus, soups, salads, and pancakes—these chickpea recipes do it all

By SAVEUR Editors

March 3, 2017

Rich in fiber and other nutrients, and plenty delicious, chickpeas (a.k.a. garbanzo beans) are one of our favorite proteins. Chickpeas feature heavily in Middle Eastern Recipes. With just a little love, you can make the most of chickpeas. Creamy and rich when made just right, they are even better than the best bean recipes we could find. Braise them for a stew, purée them, or grind them into flour—then use them to make one of these recipes, our favorite ways to cook chickpeas.

FALAFEL WITH TAHINI — The seasoned chickpea mixture for this falafel should have a coarse texture. This will ensure a crisp shell and a moist interior. Get the recipe for Falafel With Tahini »Matt Taylor-Gross

Roasted Rack Of Lamb with Roasted Pumpkin and Chickpea Salad — The flavors of fall and winter are perfectly represented in this simple and elegant meal. Get the recipe for Roasted Rack Of Lamb with Roasted Pumpkin and Chickpea Salad »Farideh Sadeghin

Chickpea and Pasta Soup — This soup is a meal in and of itself, full of lots of vegetables, chickpeas, and pasta.Farideh Sadeghin

Sprouted Chickpea Socca with Herb Salad and Yogurt — These thick, dinner pancakes are filled with cilantro, warm spices, and nutrient rich sprouted chickpeas. Get the recipe for Sprouted Chickpea Socca with Herb Salad and Yogurt »Ryan Liebe

Scallops with Stewed Chickpeas and Tomatoes — Scallops might not be the heartiest, but when you combine them with a chickpea stew you're guaranteed to stay cozy on cooler nights.Justin Walker

Spiced Chickpeas (Chana Masala) — Chana masala is a simple chickpea stew with many variations, eaten by a multitude of people across India.Penny De Los Santos

Potato and Chickpea Snack (Aloo Chana Chaat) — Potato and chickpeas are flavored with an earthy combination of mustard seeds, cumin, curry leaves, and chiles in this classic Indian street snack. The savory mixture is topped with crunchy fried chickpea noodles and sometimes dressed in tamarind, mint, or cilantro-yogurt chutneys.James Roper

Green Hummus — This recipe comes from test kitchen assistant Jake Cohen, inspired by a similar hummus he tried while working at Restaurant Daniel in New York City. Fresh chickpeas provide a vibrant green color and brightness that pair well with the Asian flavors in this dip.Matt Taylor-Gross

Grilled Octopus with Chickpeas, Tomatoes and Anchovy Vinaigrette — Tacolicious owner Sara Deseran first discovered this smoky salad, from Neil Fraser of LA's Redbird, while cooking at the annual Sabores San Miguel festival in Mexico. The trick to getting tender, flavorful octopus is boiling it first, then marinating and grilling it.Farideh Sadeghin

Argentine Pork, Veal, and Hominy Stew (Locro) — "In Argentina, I fell for the gauchos and their locro—a stew of squash, meat, and hominy. It was creamy and slightly sweet, and its garnishing sauce, made with paprika, provided a festive burst of spice and color" —Virginie Blachere, photographerVirginie Blanchère

Cabbage Fritters (Cabbage Vepadu) — Cookbook author Madhur Jaffery describes these spidery-looking cabbage-and-peanut fritters as looking like little Medusa heads, "with the strands of shredded cabbage providing a crunchy, unruly halo." A popular item in the mess halls of the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, they can be served as part of a meal or as a crunchy snack.Ingalls Photography

Pumpkin-Chickpea Curry — With warming notes of curry and cinnamon, this hearty vegetable curry is perfect for a cozy meal.Helen Rosner

Chickpea Fritters in Curry (Besan Curry) — This Jain-style curry pairs airy chickpea fritters with a creamy, tangy sauce.Ingalls Photography

Chickpea Stew with Lamb, Pork, and Veal (Cozido de Grão) — Chickpeas are bolstered with spicy sausage and three kinds of meat in a filling stew served at País das Uvas in Vila de Frades, Portugal. Get the recipe for Chickpea Stew with Lamb, Pork, and Veal »Todd Coleman

Fried Chickpea-Battered Potatoes (Bhajiya) — For this Mumbai street-food snack from Raghavan Iyer, chunks of potato are dredged in a light chickpea-and-rice-flour batter that is spiced with turmeric and chile powder. The potatoes are then deep fried until a golden crust forms and served with cilantro and tamarind chutneys. The spiced batter can be also used for other vegetables such as cauliflower and broccoli florets, sliced plantain, and eggplant.Ingalls Photography

Salt Cod, Chickpea, and Egg Salad (Salada de Bacalhau a Grão-de-Bico) — Alentejo's traditional salt cod, chickpeas, and hard-boiled eggs are combined into an elegant petisco, the Portuguese version of tapas.Todd Coleman

Curried Yogurt Stew (Kadhi) — Chickpea flour acts as a stabilizer, preventing yogurt from curdling in this aromatic soup.André Baranowski

Hot Mix (Indian Spiced Snack Mix) — There are countless varieties of this ubiquitous Indian snack mix, made with varying combinations of nuts, fruit, spices, and other ingredients. Cookbook author Smita Chandra's version of the addictive nibble is the best we've had, with four kinds of nuts (cashew, peanut, almond, pistachio), plus sweet raisins, nutty coconut, and poha, dried flattened rice flakes.Ingalls Photography

Palestinian Couscous with Chicken and Chickpeas (Maftoul) — This hearty couscous dish is layered with chickpeas and bathed in a broth fragrant with garlic and lemon, and served with crisp-skinned chicken.Ariana Lindquist

Persian Chicken Meatball Soup (Gundi) — At the heart of this intriguing soup is a matzo-ball-like dumpling made of ground chicken and chickpea flour.Eilon Paz

Couscous Royale — A plate of fluffy couscous is lavished with meatballs, lamb chops, chicken skewers, merguez sausage, and a saffron-scented chickpea stew in this celebratory dish, a staple at Moroccan restaurants in Paris.Landon Nordeman

Chickpeas with Pita and Spiced Yogurt (Fattet Hummus) — Across the Levant, you will find variations on fatteh, dishes built on toasted or fried day-old bread. The term comes from the Arabic word "fatta", meaning to crumble bread. In this Lebanese version from author Fouad Kassab's mother Isabelle, brown butter tops a layered dish of baked pita and chickpeas tossed with spiced yogurt. To save time, soak the chickpeas in water and baking soda: the alkilinity of the soda breaks down the beans' cellular walls and can reduce cooking time by thirty five minutes.James Oseland

Galilean-Style Hummus (Hummus Maushaushe) — Generous spice, a good dose of olive oil, and chickpeas piled high are the hallmarks of this Galilean-style hummus.Eilon Paz

Chickpea-flour Dumplings in Spiced Tomato Sauce (Dharan Ji Kadhi) — This rich dish features chickpea-flour dumplings, a Sindhi specialty.Ariana Lindquist

Hummus with Tahini — This velvety dip is a classic—we like it garnished with pickles and served with plenty of toasted pita chips.Penny De Los Santos

Okra in Yogurt — This vibrant okra stew is thickened with chickpea flour.James Oseland

Spiced Chickpea-Flour Snacks — The batter for this snack has to be of the right consistency—not too wet, not too dry—when you spread it out for rolling, so test a spoonful of it on a plate first.James Oseland

Mediterranean Mussel and Chickpea Soup with Fennel and Lemon — Light enough for a summer dish, this terrific soup is also delicious in the winter months made with Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.) mussels instead.Geoffrey Smith

Cipollini Onion Hummus — Gently browned cipollini onions add an unexpected hint of caramel sweetness to this hummus, deepening its earthy flavors.Leah Koenig

Crispy Calamari with Pesto Mayonnaise — Chef Jim Leiken of DBGB in New York City serves pesto-spiked mayonnaise as a dipping sauce for fried calamari, cauliflower, and chickpeas.Todd Coleman

Lebanese-Style Green Beans with Chickpeas in Olive Oil (Loubieh wa Hommus bi Ziet) — Slow-cooked vegetable dishes like this one, a cumin-and paprika-spiced stew of beans and tomatoes, are a standby in many parts of the Middle East. Here, tomatoes and green beans release some of their flavor into the cooking liquid, creating a rich broth.Todd Coleman

Chickpea Salad (Salade de Pois Chiches) — This bright, slightly spicy salad is great served alongside roasted chicken.Todd Coleman

Hummus with Hen of the Woods Mushrooms — A tangle of fried mushrooms provides textural contrast and a savory boost to this silky hummus.Todd Coleman

Chickpea-Flour Crepes (Socca) — This rosemary-scented chickpea-flour crepe is a mainstay of southern French markets.Landon Nordeman

Chickpeas with Mango Pickle (Zalata Amba) — The recipe for this zesty Iraqi salad, which uses pickled mango, comes from the cart Aladdin's Castle Cafe.Todd Coleman

Roasted Garlic Chickpea Burger — We took inspiration from falafel when developing these burgers—but unlike the dense, often dry deep-fried chickpea fritters, this sautéed patty is both light and rich in texture, with added depth from roasted garlic.Helen Rosner

Falafel — Any way you make it, there is nothing like falafel's first bite: the crisp-fried exterior giving way to a creamy center of seasoned mashed beans, garlic, and parsley.Todd Coleman

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