Crispy Chickpeas

perfectly crispy chickpeas every time

Most people’s interaction with chickpeas is with hummus. This middle eastern dish has country specific variations, but it is one of the most iconic chickpea dishes in the world. Recently crispy chickpeas have been getting popular. The problem, how to make them perfectly every time. This article is more a step by step guide than a recipe, so if you want to see every picture for every step, continue on.

Crispy chickpeas make a great snack so you can whip up a huge batch of these and then snack on them throughout the week, if they make it that long. Plus you can get creative with tons of interesting flavors at the end. Why not try some garlic parmesan chickpeas next time you make them!

Step 1: Peel Your Chickpeas

Whether using canned or jarred chickpeas, you want to get them as dry as possible. Otherwise they will steam and get mushy, and you won’t end up with delicious perfect crispy chickpeas at the end. So to start, you need to peel everything. I know…this is annoying. I tend to do a few jars worth at a time in front of the tv, which makes the act a little less monotonous.

After you pop the skin off (seriously, it just takes a little squeeze and the skin slides right off) place the chickpeas on a paper towel to dry further, leading into step 2.

Step 2: Dry Your Chickpeas

There are two parts to this actually. Leaving the peeled chickpeas on a paper towel right after peeling, and then using some salt to wick off excess moisture. Once I am finished peeling all the chickpeas, I use paper towels to dry them as best as I could. However you may find that they are still a bit wet to the touch. All you need to do is toss them with about a teaspoon of salt per cup, and let sit over a sieve and bowl for about 20 minutes. You will notice at the end even more moisture has collected.

Step 3: Bake

chickpeas on a baking tray

What is the perfect baking temperature for crispy chickpease? I find what works best is 175 Celsius for 32 minutes on the convection setting. I find, at least with my oven, any higher and they burn and any lower they still have a moist inside. Of course, before going into the oven you have to prepare the chickpeas.

After they are done with the salt rest from step 2, add them to a large bowl. They will still have salt on them, but most of the salt I find gets scraped off or dissolved in step two. Here, we’ll add about 2 tbsp of olive oil per cup of chickpeas. As we are baking the chickpeas for a while, you don’t need to use your fancy cold pressed EVOO. Any cheap olive oil will do (or not even olive, you can use grapeseed, avocado, or sunflower). Spread them evenly on a foil lined baking tray. Touching is inevitable, just try not to have any stacking.

Step 4: Season Your Crispy Chickpeas

perfectly crispy chickpeas straight from the oven

After the chickpeas have done their time in the oven, you want to season them right away. I make these perfect crispy chickpeas as a somewhat healthy TV snack, so I just sprinkle a bit of salt on them. However you can totally get creative and add things like black pepper, garlic powder, paprika, cumin, cinnamon, curry powder, etc. The list goes on.

perfectly crispy chickpeas every time

Crispy Chickpeas

How to make perfectly crispy chickpeas every time
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 32 minutes
Total Time 52 minutes
Course Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine Mediterranean, Middle Eastern
Servings 1 cup
Calories

Equipment

  • Oven

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup Chickpeas also known as garbanzo beans. You can use canned or jarred.
  • 2 tbsp Olive Oil doesn't need to be high quality. Can also use other oil if convenient
  • 1 tsp Salt plus more to taste

Instructions
 

  • Peel all your chickpeas and let them rest on a paper towel.
  • Use more paper towels to dry them off, then sprinkle some salt on them and put them over a sieve to wick away more moisture for 20 minutes. Preheat your oven to 175 Celsius.
  • Put the chickpeas in a bowl, add the olive oil, and coat completely. Place them on a foil lined baking tray as uncrowded as you can get it. Put in oven and bake for 32 minutes.
  • As soon as they are done, sprinkle with some more salt to taste, or the seasonings of your choice.

Notes

To store: Until they are completely room temperature, leave them out in the open. You don’t want to put them in a jar in the fridge or the steam can kind of dissolve them a bit. Even so, I’ve never had to store them longer than a day and they are perfectly fine being left out uncovered on the counter.
Keyword Chickpeas, Crispy Chickpeas, Garbanzo

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