How To Roast Chickpeas

Crunchy and flavorful, roasted chickpeas make a great, healthy snack. This post will teach you how to roast chickpeas perfectly using my foolproof method!

Hi Friends!

Today we have another second-look post. I first shared this recipe back in 2012 but it needed a facelift! If I’m being totally honest, I’m not crazy about chickpeas just plain. I don’t particularly like them on salads or in a casserole. But grind them up into hummus and you’ve got my attention. Roast them into crunchy little puffs to snack on and it’s fairly likely I could eat a whole can in one sitting.

Roasting chickpeas can be a tricky beast. I’ve had many failed batches. Through trial and error, and a little luck, I’ve figured out a few secrets and I thought I’d share them with you!

Ready? Three secrets to perfectly roasted chickpeas:

1. MIST them with oil. Too much oil will make them soggy and they will never get crispy.
2. Don’t crowd the pan. Use a large baking sheet, especially if you’re roasted two cans at once so there’s enough room for air to circulate around them.
3. Start them in a cold oven, roast them and then leave them in the oven as it cools back down.

That third one is the one that came about by accident. A few years ago i REALLY wanted roasted chickpeas…but I was running late for a workout. I didn’t have time to let the oven preheat so I threw them in there right when I turned the oven on, let them roast as long as I could and then shut off the oven, left them in there and hoped for the best.

The best roasted chickpeas ever is what I got!

Here’s how you make them:

• 1 – 2 cans chickpeas (low-sodium or no-salt-added)
• oil for misting
• spices (i use paprika and cayenne pepper)

1. Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
2. Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Pour the chickpeas on top and use more paper towels to dry them off as well as possible.
3. Remove the paper towels.
4. Mist the chickpeas with oil, sprinkle with spices and shake pan gently until all the chickpeas are well coated.
5. Place pan in a cold oven.
6. Set oven to 425 degrees F and let roast for 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
7. Turn the oven off and leave pan in the oven for at least an hour.
8. Remove and let cool completely before transferring to a storage container.

If you don’t have a mister, try putting the chickpeas in a container after you’ve dried them off, adding a VERY small amount of oil, putting on the lid and shaking well to coat.

Play around to find your favorite spice mix. I usually choose cayenne and paprika but they’re also good with curry powder!

You will inevitably end up with a few burned ones, but I just tested this method out again last week, once with only one can and once with two cans at once and both times I only ended up with maybe 6-7 burned ones in the whole batch. Don’t forget to use a big pan if you do two cans at once! Leave them in the oven for at least an hour after you turn it up, but really, you can leave them in there until it gets totally cold if you want to.

I like to make a batch right before I go to bed then just shut off the oven and take them out in the morning.

Learn the secret to perfectly roasted chickpeas from @Leangrnbeanblog!
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Look good?! Don’t forget to share with friends on Pinterest and Facebook!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

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