I have a massive love affair with chickpeas. There’s basically never a time I don’t have some sort of chickpea foods in my house.
If you know me, you know how much I love hummus. I put that sh*t on everything. Can’t stop won’t stop. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I use these little legumes in everything from soup to salads to pasta.
Like all pulses (don’t forget it is officially The Year of The Pulse) they are extremely versatile, cheap and full of great plant proteins and fibre. They help to balance blood sugar (which keeps us full longer), lower cholesterol and feed the good bacteria in our guts.
So, you can imagine how stoked I am to be sharing another wonderful way to prepare this pulse – as a savoury and crispy snack!
These crispy, spiced chickpeas will be one of the easiest snacks you will make. They have the salty and crispy vibe of popcorn or chips, but obviously pack a nutritional punch instead of a gut dump of empty calories.
Not only can you snack on these suckers straight up, they are GREAT as a crispy topper to your salads or soups…even on top of a baked potato. Really, the sky is the limit.
And, did I mention how easy they are to whip up?
Obviously, you can use whichever spices you like. This is just a good, basic spicy mixture, but you can tweak the measurements to your liking.
Here you go:
- 1 can of chickpeas (drained and rinsed) or 1 ½ cups of cooked chickpeas.
- 1-2 tbsp coconut oil (liquid state)
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp cumin
- ⅛ tsp chili powder
- Preheat oven to 450F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- After you’ve rinsed your chickpeas, let them dry on a clean tea towel. (Drying them helps the oil stick better).
- In a large bowl, add chickpeas, oil, salt and pepper and mix until evenly coated. The more oil you add, the crispier they’ll be. But, don’t go crazy.
- Pour chickpeas onto baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and re-toss in the same bowl with all the remaining spices. (adding these spices as a second step ensures they don’t burn, but I’ve had success adding ALL the spices at once in the beginning. Up to you.)
- Put back into the oven for another 10 minutes or until a little browned and crispy.
- Enjoy immediately as they will go a little chewy if stored in a container overnight (but they’re still good this way too).
