21+ Healthy Vegan Chickpea Recipes (2024)

Do you love chickpeas as much as I love chickpeas? I’ve got more than 21 delicious vegan chickpea recipes featuring the most versatile of all the legumes. Whether you’re looking for snacks, main dishes, salads, or even desserts (!!!), there’s something here for you. Each of these plant-based recipes are easy to make and full of flavour.

Move over cauliflower…I’m pretty sure that chickpeas win the award for the most versatile plant food around. Chickpeas can make dips, snacks, a really good tuna dupe as well as lovely soups, salads and even pasta. Yep, this dietitian cannot get enough of chickpea pasta, but only if it’s Banza which sadly you can’t really get in Canada and it’s been waaaaaaaay too long since I could pack a suitcase with American grocery goodies.

Chickpeas (or garbanzo beans if that’s how you roll) might also win the award for the bean most loved by those who don’t consider themselves bean lovers. Like kids. And carnivores. So if you’re trying to eat more plants, or trying to up your intake of gut-loving fibre, you’re gonna need more chickpea recipes in your life.

I’m also sharing a few chickpea tips and tricks so here’s a handy table of contents so you can skip ahead:

• Are Canned Chickpeas Healthy?
• How to Cook Chickpeas from Scratch
• How to Freeze Chickpeas
• Are Chickpeas Low FODMAP?
• 21+ Healthy Vegan Chickpea Recipes

Are Canned Chickpeas Healthy?

Canned chickpeas are a fantastic fast food. They’re affordable, last forever in the pantry so you always have a plant-based protein at the ready, and pack plenty of nutrition. The fibre, protein, and minerals we find in chickpeas are heat- and processing-stable so chickpeas don’t really lose any nutrition in the canning process.

When buying canned chickpeas, my only advice is to look for no-salt-added varieties. Why? Well, I find that they don’t really add that much flavour to a dish so I still have to salt my recipe to taste. So, why not get salt free versions so I can keep the sodium down?

How to Cook Chickpeas from Scratch

Now, as great as canned chickpeas are, I do find the flavour and texture of home-cooked chickpeas to be superior. So if you’re really into beans, you might want to cook from scratch! With the amount of cooking I do, I find that I use 50:50 canned/homecooked.

It can be even more economical to buy dried beans at the supermarket, but I also like to splash out a bit on really good quality dried ones, like Flourist or Rancho Gordo.

Here’s how to cook ‘em from scratch… but first things first: if you’re going to cook chickpeas from scratch, don’t make tiny amounts! I’ll cook ½ or 1 pound (225g – 450g) of dried chickpeas in one go and then freeze them so they don’t go bad. I’ve got instructions on how to do this below:

• Soak dried chickpeas for 24 hours in a large pot with plenty of water. Keep it on the counter or back of the stove, with lid slightly ajar. Well soaked beans mean less tummy trouble.
• Drain soaked beans, rinse, and fill up pot with fresh water so that beans are covered by 3 inches of water. Why waste that water? To remove the water-soluble FODMAPs that will give you a ton of gas.
• Cook beans, without salt, until tender but not mushy. Depending on the variety and age of the chickpea, this could be anywhere from 45 – 90 minutes. After 30 minutes, set a timer to check every 15 minutes for doneness.
• Rinse, drain and store whatever you’ll use in the next 4-5 days in the refrigerator with fresh water.

How to Freeze Chickpeas

Yep, you read that right: you can freeze cooked chickpeas. And if you’re cooking them from scratch, you want to! I cook up big batches of chickpeas on the weekend, before I need them, and then freeze them so they’re as convenient as canned beans.

Once you’ve cooked your chickpeas, spread them out on a large, parchment-lined, rimmed baking sheet until they come to room temperature. Then, pop them in the freezer for an hour until they start to harden. You can then transfer them to large freezer bags until ready to use.

To use, just pop them into soups and stews as is. Or, if using in salads, or for chickpea tuna, measure into a mesh strainer and let thaw until ready to use.

Are Chickpeas Low FODMAP?

Chickpeas are a higher FODMAP food…but in certain forms and serving sizes, they’re actually low FODMAP! What is this magic circ*mstance? You can eat ½ cup of canned chickpeas if they’re really well rinsed and drained. That’s a decent serving size. In fact, there are actually a lot of vegan foods that are low FODMAP in smaller servings so you don’t need to worry about staying nourished if you’re plant-based and on a low FODMAP elimination for IBS.

21+ Healthy Vegan Chickpea Recipes

Want more chickpea goodness in your life? Try these healthy vegan chickpea recipes that feature either chickpeas or chickpea flour — which you can make by simply popping dried chickpeas into your blender!