Chickpeas are a workhorse ingredient. They’re tasty, filling, and boast health benefits with protein, fiber, magnesium, potassium, and more. They’re also versatile: The dozens of ways you can use canned chickpeas run the gamut from main courses like Moroccan chickpea stew and chickpea pot pie to tons of side dishes, and they’re naturally the star of any hummus recipe. But they’re also an irresistible snack on their own with a touch of crunch and a hint of spice. Once you know how to make crispy chickpeas, you’ll have a new favorite midday (healthy!) treat, and you can also use them to instantly upgrade salads and entrees.
You can crisp your chickpeas on the stove, in the oven, or in the air fryer. For the stove, heat a tablespoon of olive oil at medium-high. Add a can of chickpeas and some garlic and cook for five minutes, stirring often. Then, add more spices and heat for another five minutes. When they look browned and crispy, they’re all ready. For the oven, roast chickpeas on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet for 45 to 60 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep an eye on them toward the end so that you can remove them when they turn golden-brown, as they’ll keep cooking and crisping as they cool off. Crank the temperature to 390 for the air fryer, where chickpeas need about 17 minutes. Shake them every few minutes, spraying them with oil at the first shake and seasoning at the last two minutes.
Prepping and seasoning crunchy chickpeas
The prep for making crispy chickpeas is pretty simple. It’s a good idea to rinse the beans and at least pour them out and dry them to remove excess moisture. You may want to remove the chickpea shells — they tend to retain moisture – so that your finished result will be somewhat less crispy with those skins on. Don’t worry, though, with one simple trick, you don’t need to peel individual chickpeas. When you’re drying them, rub them with a paper towel, and most of their shells should just fall off.
When it comes to spices before, during, and after heating the chickpeas, there are a couple of options. You can mix oil and seasonings in a bowl and toss the beans before heating, or to keep some spices fresher and more noticeable, add them at different times — before cooking, at midway points while heating, and even after, right when you remove them from heat. The sky’s the limit here; use olive oil with garlic, rosemary, thyme, basil, coriander, paprika, crushed red pepper, chili powder, cumin, or any combination of those. Lean Asian with sesame oil and curry powder, ginger, or gochugaru. Brighten with squeezes of fresh lemon and lime, and anchor profiles with salt and pepper. To store your crispy chickpeas, make sure they’re totally cooled and transfer them to an airtight container. Refrigerating them can de-crisp their texture, but luckily, they’ll last for a week in your pantry.
