Months ago I bookmarked a recipe on AT’s The Kitchn for oven-roasted chickpeas. Crispy! Salty! Healthy!
Last night I came home well before Ben was due back, and found myself rifling through the pantry in search of a bag of snapea crisps* I was sure were lurking there. I was wrong, and I found myself really wanting something besides salt & vinegar chips to snack on, so I finally pulled out a can of garbanzo beans and tried out the recipe.
Actually, “recipe” is a bit grand:
Crispy Chickpeas
-Preheat the oven to 400.
-Rinse a can of chickpeas (or two, if you’re a glutton like I am and you want enough to share) and blot dry (I actually skipped the blotting because I am lazy).
-Spread the rinsed beans on a cookie sheet (WITH SIDES, if you don’t want to spend the rest of your life fishing lost garbanzo beans out from under kitchen tables, shelves, etc.) and toss with a couple tablespoons of olive oil.
-Roast for 30-40 minutes, shaking every ten minutes or so, until the beans are crispy all the way through.
-Toss with salt and spices of your choice.
-Try to share.
I used a random jar of steak seasoning that I got at a Frankie & Johnnie’s Steakhouse event a while ago. The Kitchn used salt and garam masala. Next Time I might try something different, but they’re probably be good with plain old sea salt, too.
I could have roasted them an extra couple minutes; some of the beans were still a little soft inside. I didn’t mind the different textures, though–I’ll be doing this again as soon as I buy more cans of chickpeas. (By the way, I did manage to save about 12 beans for Ben…)
*You haven’t had Snapea Crisps? Dude. Ben thinks they’re gross but I can eat a whole bag at once, and I’m usually not a whole bag at once girl.
They sell them at both Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, I think? And they taste just like snow peas, but crunchy and greasy.
I am soooo trying these and soon– and just think of all the different spice combos you can try. I think I will try making them spicy with some cayenne and rosemary!
Yeah, exactly. Pretty much any spice could be tried, and I would definitely try grinding some rosemary really fine in a mortar and pestle and mixing with sea salt….
Oh, these sound so simple and so good! I’m absolutely trying tonight when I get home. I have a can of chickpeas I bought for another recipe I never made, so here’s the perfect use for them.
roasted chickpeas became one of my favorite treats on an ill-fated attempt at sticking to the south beach diet. they made a handy replacement for potato chips with their crunch and saltiness.
they really can withstand almost any spice combination, and i’ve tried many. from a more italian tinged rosemary/garlic/sea salt combo, to a spicier chili based combo.
one thing i often do in order to achieve more crispy-ness, is after they’re pretty much done, i turn the oven off, prop it open just a bit, and let them sit in the oven for a while as it cools. They dry out a bit more this way, without the risk of burning under too much more heat.
Oh… I will eat pretty much any vegetable in any form, but I found those Snapea Crips to be pretty nasty. I tried to pass them off on my kids and they just gave me their best, “What the heck have YOU been smoking, Mom?” look…
I love this idea! I made a lentil/chickpea soup this weekend (it was FREEZING in L.A.!), and I have about 3 cans left over. I’m trying this right away, with a little sea salt and pimenton. I can’t wait!
Aileen- Sweet, good flavor ideas. And I’ll try the drying-in-oven trick next time, which may be tonight!
Manager Mom- Yeah, I can see that. For some reason I’m a sucker for things with that texture?
Germi- Do two cans!
Beware, I can speak from experience – too many chick peas make for a LOT of GAS!
Sorry if TMI.
My favorite way to eat them is with cajun seasoning – give ’em a little kick!
OMG! I’m so incredibly happy I accidentally ran across this post- I’m catering a wedding for 70 this weekend with a mediterranean theme and needed something crunchy for my green salad. I also overbought chickpeas by like 5 cans, *and* my fridge is so full I cant fit anything else in it! Thanks for the perfect solution to my dilemma!!!
Yay, I hope they work out for you!
I tried these, too, back when they first were posted on the Kitchn, because I am o-b-s-e-s-s-e-d with chickpeas. The garam masala didn’t stick and the salt all ended up in the bottom of the bowl… not sure what I did wrong, but I wasn’t that motivated to try again. Maybe now that I’ve seen it done right I’ll give it a try.
PS Just discovered your blog and I like it a lot! For some reason the photos in the archives are eensy-weensy, but they are normal sized in the new posts (April 08 – forward). Is that on purpose?
Thanks, Adrienne! I think the key to getting salt to stick is using plenty of oil, sigh…..
The photos are weensy on the old posts because I used to use Shutterfly and then they changed their system and all the old image urls became urls to thumbnails instead of actual photos. I have to go through and update them but I haven’t had the strength. Thanks for reading! (PS, those roasted roma tomatoes make me hungry for my mom’s garden!)