Got garbanzo beans? Put them to work in these easy chickpea recipes! They include fresh salads, flavorful curries, the BEST hummus, and more.
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We LOVE chickpea recipes! Also called garbanzo beans, chickpeas are healthy, packed with fiber and plant-based protein. Even better, they’re delicious and versatile. Keep a few cans in your pantry, and you won’t get stuck making the same old chickpea recipes on repeat. Nope—you can blend these legumes into hummus, form them into falafel, or roast them up for a crispy snack. You can toss them into a salad or a pot of soup or stuff them into a sandwich.
If you want more specific ideas, check out the chickpea recipes below. They’re some of my favorites. I hope you love them too!
My Top 5 Chickpea Recipes
When I crack open a can of chickpeas (or a bag of dried ones, as the case may be), I’m more likely than not making one of these chickpea recipes. If you’re looking to use up the garbanzo beans in your pantry, they’re a delicious place to start.
Crispy Roasted Chickpeas
They’re salty, they’re crunchy, and they’re so darn easy to make! Sprinkle them over a salad, top them onto a grain bowl, or eat them straight off the sheet pan for a protein-packed snack.
Chickpea Salad
This zesty salad packs up perfectly for a picnic or healthy lunch! An easy lemon dressing, pickled onions, and loads of herbs fill it with bright, fresh flavor.
Crispy Baked Falafel
This flavorful homemade falafel is just as good as any you’d find at a Middle Eastern restaurant! Note that it calls for dried—NOT canned—chickpeas, which help perfect its crispy texture. Don’t use canned chickpeas here, or your falafel will be mushy.
Hummus
No list of chickpea recipes is complete without hummus. This version is the best I’ve tried. It’s incredibly creamy, bright from lemon, and rich and nutty from lots of tahini. You only need 6 ingredients and 5 minutes to make this dip, so pass the pita chips, please!
Baked Feta
One of the easiest (and most delicious!) ways to turn a can of chickpeas into a simple weeknight meal. A cumin-spiced mixture of marinara, chickpeas, and kale creates a saucy, flavorful base for slabs of baked feta.Dive in with a fork, or, better yet, scoop it all up with naan, pita, or good crusty bread.
Chickpea Salad Recipes
Whether straight from the can or roasted, chickpeas offer a great textural contrast to fresh veggies in salads, not to mention plenty of fiber and protein.
Kale Caesar Salad
Everything you love about a classic Caesar, but with a few fun twists. 1) There’s kale. 2) There’s avocado. 3) Homemade croutonsandroasted chickpeas add irresistible crunch.
Italian Chopped Salad
Not your average side salad! This one is packed with bold flavors and interesting textures from crisp lettuce and radicchio, tangy pepperoncini, chickpeas, tomatoes, and TWO types of cheese. A zingy dressing takes it over the top.
Orzo Salad
Greek salad meets pasta salad in this punchy, packable recipe.
Three Bean Salad
A fresher take on the American classic! Make it ahead for your next cookout—it only gets better the longer it sits in the fridge.
Caesar Salad
A lightened-up version of a classic Caesar salad! It features a Greek yogurt Caesar dressing, crisp radishes, and roasted chickpeas for extra crunch.
Easy Pasta Salad
This classic pasta salad recipe has 450+ 5-star reviews. Try it to see why!
Kale Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing
Meet the ultimate lunch salad! Filled with toasted seeds, avocado, and crispy roasted chickpeas, it’s guaranteed to keep you full till dinnertime.
Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
This recipe has a delicious mix of sweet and savory flavors, made with honey goat cheese, Medjool dates, and silky roasted red peppers.
Bright Spring Salad
Serve it alongside a frittata or quiche for a festive spring brunch.
Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
Roasted tomatoes add rich, savory flavor to this protein-packed lunch salad. It’s perfect for meal prep—just wait to add the herbs until you’re ready to eat.
Grain Bowls with Garbanzo Beans
A good grain bowl has four key parts: a whole grain, fresh veggies, a tasty sauce, and a protein. Chickpeas are my favorite way to check the protein box!
Best Buddha Bowl
A sunny turmeric tahini sauce ties together this combo of brown rice, roasted sweet potatoes, and vibrant veggies. Top it off with a little sauerkraut for a burst of tangy flavor.
Roasted Veggie Grain Bowl
I could eat this mean green grain bowl every night of the week! The recipe calls for roasted cauliflower, roasted Brussels sprouts, and roasted broccoli, but feel free to swap in whatever veggies you have on hand. The lemony kale pesto sauce tastes good on everything.
Simple Sweet Potato Quinoa Bowl
This simple grain bowl is what I cook for myself when no one’s looking. It’s a healthy, humble mix of basic pantry ingredients: chickpeas, quinoa, greens, and sweet potatoes. Just add olive oil, lemon juice, and a pinch of sea salt to transform them into a bright, flavorful meal.
Chickpea Sandwiches and Wraps
My favorite vegetarian sandwiches all have one thing in common: they’re stuffed with chickpeas! They add satisfying texture and staying power to fresh veggie fillings.
Healthy Lunch Wraps
If you’re looking for healthy lunch ideas, these kale, avocado, and chickpea wraps are just what you need. They keep well for up to 2 days in the fridge, so they’re perfect for meal prep!
Chickpea Shawarma Wraps
I love these wraps so much that I’ve even eaten them for breakfast! They’re stuffed full of shawarma-spiced chickpeas, spicy zhoug, creamy yogurt sauce, pickled onions, and as many fresh veggies as can fit.
Chickpea Salad Sandwich
Jack kindly dubbed this hearty vegan sandwich a pan bag-not. It has everything that makes an actual pan bagnat so crave-able—soft baguette, briny flavor, and lots of crisp veggies—but a creamy, no-mayo chickpea salad steps in for the tuna.
Chickpea Harissa Veggie Burgers, page 173 of Love and Lemons Every Day
Walnuts, garbanzos, and brown rice give these smoky, savory veggie burgers their hearty texture. Pile them onto buns with creamy cilantro sauce and your favorite fixings, and dig in!
Chickpea Soups and Curries
On a cold night, warm up with these cozy chickpea recipes!
Parsnip Chickpea Noodle Soup, page 97 of Love and Lemons Every Day
Since chickpeas are my chicken, I turn to this recipe anytime I’m craving the comfort of chicken noodle soup. Filled with veggies, herbs, and spices, it’s warming, healing, and nourishing.
Creamy Tomato Soup
There aren’t any nuts or dairy hiding inside this creamy tomato soup. Instead, blended chickpeas give it its rich, luscious texture!
Vegetable Soup
When I don’t know what to make for dinner, I make this flexible soup. It features pantry staples like chickpeas and canned tomatoes, and it works nicely with nearly any veggie. Toss in whatever’s in your fridge!
Chana Masala
If you’re a garbanzo bean fan, chana masala is a dish thatneedsto be in your repertoire. My simplified version of this tomato and chickpea curry cooks up in 30 minutes flat. Served with a side of warm rice, it’s a satisfying, flavorful weeknight dinner.
Chickpea Recipes for Dinner
If you’re hungry for more than a soup, salad, or sandwich, try one of these main dish chickpea recipes for a filling vegetarian dinner.
Acorn Squash with Chickpeas and Chimichurri
A cinnamon-spiced chickpea filling brings out the sweetness of the acorn squash in this vegetarian main dish. For a zesty contrast, top it with bright chimichurri and lemony yogurt sauce.
Turmeric Cauliflower Fried Rice
This curry-spiced cauliflower rice checks all the weeknight-friendly boxes: it’s quick and easy to make, it requires minimal ingredients, and it’s far more than the sum of its parts. Chickpeas give it heft, toasted cashews add crunch, and lime and curry spices fill it with warm, bright flavor.
Orecchiette Pasta
You could make a thousand variations on this easy pasta recipe, and it would come out delicious every time. Use a different mix of vegetables, or add a splash of white wine or a squeeze of lemon. Finish the pasta with vegan Parmesan (or the real thing!), or top it with pesto. Pasta + chickpeas are a fantastic blank canvas, and you really can’t go wrong.
Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
If you have a sweet potato and a can of chickpeas in your kitchen, you’re well on your way to making a yummy dinner. Bake the sweet potato, spice up the chickpeas, and mix them with any veggies or fresh herbs you have on hand. When the sweet potato’s tender, stuff it with the chickpea filling, and enjoy!
Chickpea Flour Recipes
Canned and dried chickpeas aren’t the only types of garbanzo beans you’ll find in my kitchen. I like to cook with chickpea flour too! Try it in these simple, protein-rich recipes.
Socca
Also called farinata, this gluten-free chickpea flatbread is native to southern France and Italy. With its crisp edges and rich, nutty flavor, it’s a tasty snack on its own, but I also like to load it up with toppings for a complete meal.
Spiced Chickpea Waffles, page 33 of Simple Feel Good Food
Or falafel waffles, if you will. These savory waffles are seasoned with falafel spices and piled with fresh veggies, pickled onions, and tahini yogurt. They’re a fun, filling breakfast, but you could just as easily enjoy them for lunch or dinner too.
More Healthy Recipe Collections
Looking for more healthy recipes? Check out these posts next:
- 60 Easy Dinner Ideas
- 51 Best Salad Recipes
- 30 Best Zucchini Recipes
- 60 Healthy Meal Prep Ideas
- 25 Best Bean Recipes
- 25 Healthy Rice Recipes
Chickpea Recipes: Best Chickpea Salad
rate this recipe:
5 from 28 votes
Prep Time: 20 minutes mins
Total Time: 2 minutes mins
Serves 4 to 6
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This Mediterranean chickpea salad is one of our favorite chickpea recipes!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoon cumin seeds*
- 2 cups cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 4 Medjool dates, pitted and diced
- 3 Persian cucumbers, sliced into thin half moons
- ⅓ cup choppedroasted red peppers
- ¼ cup finely chopped parsley
- 3 ounces goat cheese
- ¼ cup fresh mint
- ⅓ cup roasted chickpeas, optional
Instructions
In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and several grinds of pepper.
In a small skillet over medium-low heat, toast the cumin seeds until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and crush them a bit (a mortar & pestle is easiest for this). Add them to the bowl and stir.
Add the chickpeas, tomatoes, dates, cucumbers, red pepper, and parsley to the bowl and toss. Transfer to a serving platter and dollop with the goat cheese, sprinkle with mint, and top with the extra roasted chickpeas, if desired. Season to taste and serve.
Notes
*if using ground cumin, use a heaping 1/2 teaspoon and add it directly to the mixing bowl, no need to toast.
