What to cook with chickpeas
Chickpeas are one of those legumes that is worth boiling a little longer, because two completely different meals can come out of the same pot.
You can put them with eggplant, peppers or spinach, bake them with lemon, combine them with rice or orzo, or puree them with tahini for hummus.
The recipes that follow are for about 4 servings and all start with dried chickpeas that have already been soaked and boiled.
For each recipe, we calculate approximately 250 g of dry chickpeas before soaking, an amount that after boiling yields approximately 3½ cups of cooked chickpeas.
A practical dinner at home is to boil 500 g once, save half for a baked dish and the rest for hummus or rice the next day.
This way, the most time-consuming work is done once and then the recipes progress quickly.
Chickpeas with eggplants
For 4 servings you will need about 250 g of dried chickpeas, already soaked and boiled, 1 large eggplant, 1 large onion, 2 ripe tomatoes, grated or about 1½ cups of chopped tomatoes, 3–4 tablespoons of olive oil and a little cumin or paprika.
Cut the eggplant into medium cubes and sauté it with the onion in olive oil for about 8–10 minutes, until it begins to soften.
Add the tomato, a little salt and your preferred spice and let the sauce simmer for about 10 minutes.
Pour in the already boiled chickpeas and about half a cup of water and continue cooking over low heat for another 15–20 minutes.
The eggplant should be soft but not melted and the chickpeas should have absorbed the flavor of the sauce.
Let the food stand for 10 minutes before serving.
In the pot or in the oven?
The same recipe can be finished in the oven.
After sautéing the eggplant and onion, transfer the ingredients to an ovenproof dish along with the tomato, chickpeas and about ¾ cup of water.
Bake at 190°C for about 30–35 minutes, until the sauce thickens.
If you have a busy day, this is a good recipe to prepare the pan early and put it in the oven just before dinner.
Baked chickpeas with peppers
For 4 servings, use about 250 g of dried chickpeas, already boiled, 2 large peppers, 1 large onion, 1½ cups of grated tomato, 3–4 tablespoons of olive oil, a little paprika and optionally a little cumin.
Cut the peppers and onion into strips and place them in a medium baking pan along with the chickpeas.
Add the tomato, olive oil, spices and about 1 cup of water.
Mix well and bake at 190°C for about 40–45 minutes.
Halfway through baking, stir gently and check the liquids.
If necessary, add a little hot water.
The food is ready when the peppers have softened and the sauce has thickened without completely drying out.
How to keep them juicy in the oven
Already boiled chickpeas do not need further cooking to soften.
However, they need enough moisture to absorb the flavor of the vegetables and sauce.
So start with about a cup of water along with the tomato and check the pan once during baking.
At the end, you want some thickened sauce at the bottom of the pot.
Baked chickpeas with lemon
For 4 servings, calculate about 250 g of dried chickpeas, already soaked and boiled, 1 large onion, the juice of 1 large lemon, 3–4 tablespoons of olive oil, 1–2 bay leaves and about 1 cup of hot water.
Place all the ingredients in an ovenproof dish, initially keeping a little of the lemon aside.
Bake at 190°C for about 35–40 minutes.
In the last 10 minutes, taste the sauce and add more lemon if needed.
If the liquids reduce quickly, add a little hot water.
The result should be lemony but balanced, with a little sauce around the chickpeas.
This is one of those foods that often becomes even more enjoyable after sitting out of the oven for a while.
Chickpeas with spinach
For 4 servings, use about 250 g of dried chickpeas, already boiled, about 500 g of spinach, 1 large onion, 3 tablespoons of olive oil and either a little lemon or about 1 cup of grated tomato.
Sauté the onion in olive oil for 4–5 minutes.
Add the spinach gradually and let it reduce in volume for about 5–7 minutes.
Pour in the boiled chickpeas and about half a cup of water.
If you choose a lemon version, add the lemon towards the end.
If you choose tomato, add it before the chickpeas and let it cook for a few minutes.
Simmer for a total of about 15–20 minutes after adding the chickpeas.
Chickpeas with spinach in the oven
For the oven version, use approximately the same quantities.
First, sauté the onion and spinach for 7–8 minutes, so that much of their volume is removed.
Transfer the mixture to an ovenproof dish, add the already boiled chickpeas, ¾ cup of water, 3 tablespoons of olive oil and a little lemon.
Bake at 190°C for about 25–30 minutes.
If you want a more intense lemony effect, add a little more lemon once the food comes out of the oven.
Chickpeas with rice
For 4 servings, calculate about 250 g of dried chickpeas, already boiled, 1 cup of Carolina Serres rice, 1 large onion, 3 tablespoons of olive oil and about 2½ cups of hot water.
Sauté the onion for 4–5 minutes and add the rice.
Stir for about 1 minute and then add the hot water.
Cook over low to medium heat for about 10 minutes.
Add the already boiled chickpeas and continue for another 8–10 minutes or until the rice is ready.
Leave the food covered for 5 minutes before serving.
You can give it a lemony twist or add a little cumin.
For this recipe we recommend Carolina rice from Serres.
When do you add the boiled chickpeas?
The chickpeas are added when the rice is already about halfway through cooking.
This way they don't overcook while you wait for the rice to soften.
This is especially useful for an everyday dinner, when you have boiled chickpeas from the day before and want something ready in about half an hour.
Chickpeas with tahini and homemade hummus
For 4 servings of hummus, use about 250 g of dried chickpeas, already very well cooked, 5–6 heaping tablespoons of tahini, the juice of 1 lemon, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a little cumin if you like.
Also keep about half a cup of the chickpea boiling water or plain water.
For hummus we recommend whole grain tahini from Lemnos.
How to make simple homemade hummus
Place the boiled chickpeas, tahini, lemon and olive oil in a blender or food processor.
Beat and add the water a little at a time, one or two tablespoons at a time, until smooth and creamy.
The process usually takes about 3–5 minutes, depending on the device.
Taste before adding more lemon or tahini.
Serve with a little olive oil and, if desired, paprika or cumin.
Hummus is also a practical way to use up leftover chickpeas from the previous day's cooking.
Chickpeas with curry
For 4 servings, use about 250 g of dried chickpeas, already boiled, 1 large onion, about 1½ cups of grated tomato, 1–2 teaspoons of curry, 3 tablespoons of olive oil and about half a cup of water.
Sauté the onion for 4–5 minutes.
Add the curry and stir for about half a minute, to flavor the oil without burning the spice.
Add the tomato and let it cook for about 8–10 minutes.
Add the boiled chickpeas and water and simmer for another 15–20 minutes.
If you want to serve it with rice, start the rice at the same time so that both are ready at about the same time.
In our store you will find curry, cumin, paprika and all our other spices.
Chickpeas with orzo
For 4 servings you will need about 250 g of dried chickpeas, already boiled, 1 cup of orzo, 1 large onion, about 1½ cups of grated tomato, 3 tablespoons of olive oil and about 2½ cups of hot water.
Sauté the onion for 4–5 minutes and add the tomato.
Let the base cook for about 5 minutes and pour in the orzo along with most of the water.
After about 7–8 minutes, add the already boiled chickpeas.
Continue over low heat for another 8–10 minutes, stirring regularly.
If the orzo absorbs the liquid quickly, add a little more hot water.
Let the food stand for 5 minutes before serving, because the orzo continues to absorb moisture even off the heat.
For this recipe we recommend orzo.
How to prepare dried chickpeas
For the above recipes, start with 250 g of dried chickpeas for about 4 servings.
Check them, rinse them well and put them in a large bowl with plenty of cold water.
The water should cover them comfortably, because the chickpeas swell as they soak.
A typical soak takes about 8–12 hours, so it's usually practical to put them in the water the night before.
After soaking, drain them, rinse them and put them in a pot with fresh water.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer.
The usual time is about 60–90 minutes, but it can vary depending on the age of the legumes, the water, and how soft you want them.
For hummus, let them soften more.
For the oven or pot, you can stop them when they are soft but still hold their shape well.
Do all chickpeas need soaking?
Classic dried chickpeas usually benefit from soaking for about 8–12 hours before cooking.
However, there are products on the market that may come with different instructions.
If the packaging states that they do not require soaking, follow the instructions for that specific product.
Don't assume that all dried chickpeas behave exactly the same in the pot.
Why do we skim chickpeas?
In the first few minutes of boiling, foam often appears on the surface.
Remove it with a ladle or slotted spoon and continue cooking.
Skimming keeps the liquid in the pot cleaner and helps you better control the cooking.
You don't need to wait until not a single bubble is visible.
Remove most of the foam that collects at the beginning and continue as normal.
What do you do when chickpeas don't boil?
If after a while the chickpeas remain hard, the first possible cause is that they are an older stock that has lost more moisture during storage.
In this case, they need more soaking and more boiling time.
Very hard water can also delay softening.
If you know that the water in your area is particularly hard, you can try bottled or filtered water for soaking and boiling.
Also avoid adding lemon or tomato from the beginning of the process.
It is best to add acidic ingredients after the chickpeas have already softened.
Regarding salt, in home practice there are different habits, but if you are systematically dealing with tough chickpeas, you can add it towards the end to remove another variable.
If you know that a batch is particularly difficult to soften, you can add a very small pinch of baking soda to the soaking water.
After soaking, rinse the chickpeas very well and boil them in clean water.
Do not add a large amount of soda, as it can affect the taste and make the texture too soft.
How to choose good chickpeas
When buying dried chickpeas, first look at the product itself and the information that comes with it.
You want a clean image, relatively uniform seeds, and clear reference to origin and harvest when this information is given.
Avoid bags where you see too many broken or very different seeds.
The packaging date or other harvest information, when available, is also useful because very old legumes may take noticeably longer to soften.
No impressive characterizations are needed.
The important thing is to know what you are buying and how it behaves in the pot.
What does "new crop" mean in chickpeas?
The indication "new harvest" means that the product comes from a recent harvest.
It does not in itself constitute a promise of a specific taste, boiling time or other property.
However, it is useful information, because it helps you better know how recent the production of the legume you are buying is.
What varieties of chickpeas will you encounter?
In the market you will find chickpeas that differ in size, color, appearance, and cooking behavior.
You don't need to know specific varietal names to choose correctly for everyday cooking.
Look primarily at the size, uniformity, and product instructions.
For hummus, you want it to soften very well so that it can be mashed easily.
For a baked dish or a salad, you want them to soften but be able to hold their shape longer.
The final texture always depends on how you soak and boil them.
Serres chickpeas for your recipes
In Bakalokarpos you will find new harvest chickpeas from Serres.
They are cultivated in the plain of Serres.
They are available in 250 g, 500 g and 1 kg packages.
250 g is a practical amount for one of the above recipes for about 4 servings.
With 500 g you can do what is often done in a real home: boil a pot and divide the chickpeas into two meals.
Half of it can be made, for example, into lemonade in the oven and the rest into hummus the next day.
This way you use the soaking and boiling time once and then have much more flexibility throughout the week.
In our online store you will find chickpeas from Serres and all our other legumes.
More about legumes and their cooking
For more general information about legumes, their varieties and their place in the daily diet, read our guide to beans and legumes.
This particular article intentionally stays on the practical side of chickpeas.
The useful point is not to memorize a unique boiling time.
It's about learning to look at the legume itself, taste it, and adapt the cooking to the recipe you want to make.
