How To Cook Canned Chickpeas
Learn How To Cook Canned Chickpeas for a delicious and versatile dish that’s ready in minutes! Perfect for busy weeknights, these canned garbanzo beans are equally delicious on their own or added to any of your other favorite recipes.
Suitable for vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free diets. Post includes Weight Watchers Points.
Nutrition
Love chickpeas? Then learning How To Cook Canned Chickpeas is great for busy weeknights when you need to whip up something healthy and easy with minimal prep and effort.
And we know canned goods are convenient, and learning how to cook canned chickpeas is a simple way to serve easy food to your family.
There are a few ways you can go about cooking these, including a microwave, slow cooker, or Instant Pot. I find it easiest to simmer them on the stovetop with some seasonings in just a few minutes.
The great thing about this easy recipe is that the beans can be used in various delicious bean recipes and delicious side dish recipes, such as wraps, rice bowls soups, salads, taco filling, and more.
Just like my How To Cook Canned Pinto Beans, this easy How To Make Canned Refried Beans Better posts.
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What Are Chickpeas
Chickpeas, also called garbanzo beans, are the seeds of legumes. These offer an affordable delicious plant based protein, an excellent source of fiber, iron, folate, and more, which you can easily store in your pantry and always have to hand.
This post talks about cooking canned cooked chick peas. You can also get dried chickpeas, which you will have to cook completely differently.
Why Make This Recipe
- Meal planning made easy – These are convenient for meal planning.
- Fast – Whip up this deliciously quick side dish with minimal cooking time.
- Budget-friendly – Canned vegetables are an easy and affordable pantry staple.
- Adaptable – Use the in various recipes, see ideas below, or season with herbs and spices to bring out different flavors. It’s so versatile.
Ingredients You Will Need
- Canned Chickpeas – this recipe calls for store-bought can of drained cooked chickpeas. These can be eaten as is, but adding extra flavor to them and cooking them for a few minutes really adds to their great taste. Look for plain unseasoned ones, as you will be adding flavor to these.
- Fresh garlic cloves – add so much flavor. But you can use garlic powder or garlic paste instead.
- Spices – this uses ground cumin, ground coriander, smoked paprika, onion salt, and dried oregano.
- Water – you can use other liquids to cook with, to your preference.
Handy Tip: Use Good Kitchen Tools!
For the best tools to help make your recipe even easier and more successful, check out my collection of the Best Kitchen Tools on Amazon.
How To Cook Canned Chickpeas
Get complete ingredients list and instructions from the recipe card below.
- Open you canned chickpeas (using this awesome can opener) and drain out the liquid.
- Add the drained chickpeas into a saucepan with the garlic, ground cumin, smoked paprika, onion salt, and dried oregano, followed by the water, and stir.
- Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Please note firmer garbanzo beans will need a more cook time and more water.
- Taste for seasoning, adding salt or sprinkling with salt (and pepper) as desired before serving.
Microwave Them
- Add contents from your drained can into a microwave-safe bowl that has a lid, along with half a cup of water, and mix. Cover the bowl add to the microwave and cook for about 2 minutes.
- Uncover, add in your desired seasonings, stir to combine, and place the lid back on.
- Cook for another 1-2 minutes, until completely warmed through.
Prefer them Crispy and Crunchy?
Then bake them in the oven by following these directions, or check out this post to learn how to make these delicious Air Fryer Chickpeas.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F / 200 degrees C.
- Drain the canned chickpeas and pat them dry with a paper towel.
- Spread chickpeas out on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and roast for 20-30 minutes, stirring a few times during cooking.
- Cook until the chickpeas are golden brown on the outside, but creamy and soft on the inside.
Recipe Tips And Tricks
- Use this really great can opener to easily and smoothly open canned food.
- Please do make sure to drain and rinse the chickpeas well before adding to the pot. Wash off all the gooey stuff that will be in the bottom of the can.
- You can mash some of the chickpeas with a potato masher to thicken the final result.
- Scale up the recipe – for easier weeknights, double the recipe (for all the ingredients)
- Please use smoked paprika, as that gives a fantastic extra smoky flavor.
- If you prefer more garbanzo beans, then you need to add more cooking liquid. Note that you may need to add extra salt and spices.
- Cover the pot while cooking, so that the liquid does not evaporate and that they all cook evenly.
- If your canned garbanzo beans are too firm, then add at least 1 can of fresh water and simmer for at least 30 – 45 minutes. You will need to keep an eye on the water and add more as needed so that it does not dry out.
- Please do check out some of my favorite things to use to make this recipe.
Delicious Variations
You’ll love some of these totally optional additions.
- Add fresh herbs – like fresh dill, cilantro, parsley, basil, and more. You can also add dried spices and herbs.
- Add heat – for spicy delicious flavor with red pepper flakes, black pepper, cayenne pepper, chili powder, hot sauce, chopped jalapeno, etc.
- Vary the cooking liquid – feel free to use chicken stock, vegetable broth, etc.
- Curry these up – add extra cooking liquid and curry powder, and let simmer away
- Add oil – feel free to add in a little olive oil, coconut oil, or avocado oil.
- Add vegetables – add finely diced quick-cook veggies like chopped onion, bell pepper, and celery.
- Add citrus – a bit of lemon juice will go a long way for upping flavor.
- Add crunch – you can top with finely diced onion, pita bread chips, or croutons (remember to keep these gluten free if you need to).
- Add meat – add cooked bacon strips, chicken, turkey, and more.
How To Use Chickpeas In Recipes
- Sprinkle over fresh veggies or roasted veggies for extra protein in your dinner.
- Simmer them with some tomato sauce or curry sauce and serve with pasta, rice or bread.
- Add into salads with various extras like feta cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, avocado, or with plenty of tuna to make a tuna salad.
- Make a hummus – pluck them into a food processor with some olive oil, lemon juice, tahini sauce, etc., to make a creamy homemade hummus and eat away.
- Soups – sprinkle them over or into soups for some extra texture and protein.
Storage
- Store – Store leftovers in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Freeze – Do not freeze if cooked, as they may become mushy.
- Reheat – Reheat in a small saucepan on the stovetop or in a microwave using a microwave-safe container.
FAQs
Canned garbanzo beans vary in firmness / softness, so this depends on the firmness of the beans and what you are going to be using them for.
For example, firmer is good if you will be using in salads or wraps, versus if you plan to mash, you would need them softer.
For softer chickpeas, 5 minutes of simmering is enough. I have found that that for very firm ones, I may need to simmer them for up to 30 minutes to get them soft.
Try various brands and see what works best for you.
If you prefer to cook dried chickpeas instead, you certainly can.
Make sure to pick through them to discard any debris and soak them overnight before cooking. but be aware the cook time will be significantly different.
Yes, you can use pinto beans, black beans, great northern beans, and cannellini beans instead, In other words, you can swap in the variety of canned beans you like best.
More Chickpea Recipes
Love this recipe? Then you will want to try this well loved dessert, aka Chocolate Hummus.
Air Fryer Chickpeas, delicious Chickpea Tacos, best ever Instant Pot Hummus, and my way better than take-out Instant Pot Chana Masala.
Or try this spiced dump and start Moroccan Chickpea Stew , this back to school Smashed Chickpea Wraps, or fragrant Moroccan Lamb Stew. #somanyoptions
More Canned Food Recipes
You can check out these pantry staple posts below.
- How To Cook Canned Corn.
- How To Cook Canned Black Beans.
- How To Make Canned Refried Beans Better.
- How To Cook Canned Pinto Beans.
- How To Cook Canned Carrots.
- How To Cook Canned Green Beans.
- You would also love this How To Make Canned Refried Beans Taste Better.
Canned Recipe Collections
You can also get a great selection of recipes in this Canned Chicken Recipes post, these easy Canned Salmon Recipes, and the best Canned Tuna Recipes. All of which the whole family will be sure to love.
Recommended Tools
- An awesome can opener to open cans easily at the push of a button.
- Great saucepans for even cooking.
- A good set of spices and seasonings to upgrade your food.
- For the best tools to help make your recipe even easier and more successful, check out my collection of the Best Kitchen Tools on Amazon.
Weight Watchers Points
There are 0 Blue Plan SmartPoints in one serving of this.
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How To Cook Canned Chickpeas
Ingredients
- 15 ounces (425g) canned chickpeas 1 can, that is drained and rinsed (unseasoned)
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ⅓ teaspoon onion salt or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ cup (118ml) water
Instructions
Stovetop
- Add the drained chickpeas into a saucepan with the garlic, ground cumin, smoked paprika, onion salt, and dried oregano, followed by the water, and stir.
- Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Please note firmer garbanzo beans will need a more cook time and more water.
- Taste for seasoning, adding salt or sprinkling with salt (and pepper) as desired before serving.
Microwave
- Add contents from your drained can into a microwave-safe bowl that has a lid, along with half a cup of water, and mix. Cover the bowl and cook for about 2 minutes.
- Uncover, add in your desired seasonings, stir to combine, and place the lid back on.
- Cook for another 1-2 minutes, until completely warmed through.
Oven
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F / 200 degrees C.
- Drain the canned chickpeas and pat them dry with a paper towel.
- Spread chickpeas out on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and roast for 20-30 minutes, stirring a few times during cooking.
- Cook until the chickpeas are golden brown on the outside, but creamy and soft on the inside.
Video
Notes
-
- Please do make sure to drain and rinse the chickpeas well before adding to the pot. Wash off all the gooey stuff that will be in the bottom of the can.
- You can mash some of the chickpeas with a potato masher to thicken the final result.
- Scale up the recipe – for easier weeknights, double the recipe (for all the ingredients).
- Please use smoked paprika, as that gives a fantastic extra smoky flavor.
- If you prefer more garbanzo beans, then you need to add more cooking liquid. Note that you may need to add extra salt and spices.
- Cover the pot while cooking, so that the liquid does not evaporate and that they all cook evenly.
- If your canned garbanzo beans are too firm, then add at least 1 can of fresh water and simmer for at least 30 – 45 minutes. You will need to keep an eye on the water and add more as needed so that it does not dry out.
- Storage – keep in an airtight container inside the fridge for 4 days.
- There are 0 WW Blue Plan SmartPoints in one serving of this.
