Tender lovin’ chickpeas from scratch

Chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans aka any friend of hummus is a friend of mine) are worth making from scratch every time! If you too stocked up on a 25 lb bag of beans to get through quarantine, you’ve come to the right place. I purchased canned beans for too long, nervous about accidentally starting a gas-chain reaction from not soaking properly. But DIY dried chickpeas are super simple and you reduce your packaging waste! Hello tender lovin’ chickpeas from scratch!

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dried chickpeas
cooked chickpeas from scratch

Bulk bin dried beans are a great, low impact approach to alternative protein. You often get more dried beans in a bag than you do a can. Or bring that reusable bag, load up, appreciate how much more affordable bulk is, and soak! It’s that easy! This is a great beginner recipe for anyone looking to make beans from scratch. You can make a large batch at the start of the week and have them on hand for meal prep, a late night hummus craving, or just to snack. Chickpeas are one of my favorite beans so I make sure to include them on my plant-based pantry list. They pair well in this roasted squash and broccoli bowl and our homemade tahini of course.

The secret to these incredibly tender chickpeas is two part – first, soak your beans overnight with a tablespoon of kosher salt. The salt tenderizes the beans and makes for easier digestions. Second, add in a bit of baking soda while cooking! Another tenderizing tip for the dreamiest bean you’ve ever seen. Alternatively you could soak and cook with kombu, a kind of seaweed used to help aid digestion, but kombu can be difficult to find in stores (especially now.)

Another benefit to making garbanzo beans from scratch is all of the fabulous leftover cooking liquid, known as aquafaba. This biz is liquid gold! You can save your aquafaba and use it in soups or stocks, liquid for stir frying or braising, and baking! Save your aquafaba folx and enjoy your chickpeas!

Stay hungry,
Hawnuh Lee
Closed Loop Cooking

Tender lovin’ chickpeas from scratch   by

Chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans aka any friend of hummus is a friend of mine) are worth making from scratch every time! If you too stocked up on a 25 lb bag of beans to get through quarantine, you've come to the right place.

makes: 4 servings | soaking: 8 hours | cook time: 20 min | total time: 20 min

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cooked chickpeas from scratch

Ingredients

  • 1 cup dried chickpeas
  • 1 tbsp kosher salt
  • 3 cups water
  • 1/2 tbsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda

To-Do's

  1. In a large bowl add dried chickpeas and 1 tbsp kosher salt. Cover with double the amount of cold water and gently stir. Let soak overnight, approx 8 hours.
  2. Once soaked, strain chickpeas from soaking water. Add to large pot.
  3. Add remaining salt, baking soda, and 3 cups water. Gently stir. Bring to a boil.
  4. Once boiling you’ll see white peaks forming atop the beans. Skim as much of the foam off as you can and give another stir to the mixture.
  5. Reduce heat and let simmer about 20 – 25 minutes, until chickpeas are tender. Skins should come off easily. Strain and serve. Enjoy!
  6. Save leftover aquafaba (cooking broth) for future stocks, making grains, or anywhere you might use water in a savory dish. You can freeze stock for later use, if using a glass jar leave an inch of head space to avoid cracking the glass.

Rated [awcr_rating type="averageRating"]/5 based on 14 reviews

Comments

14 thoughts on “Tender lovin’ chickpeas from scratch”

  1. Great tips—I’ve never heard that about baking soda! I make my black beans from scratch in the slow cooker but I haven’t made my own garbanzo beans in a few years. Thanks for the reminder—I eat chickpeas several times a week, so this is a great way I can reduce waste in the kitchen!

    Reply
  2. Wow, baking soda? I had no idea. I will have to give this a try as a vegetarian. I like the way you approached this post and the conscious kitchen ideas. These are really great. You make chickpeas look beautiful. 🙂 Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
  3. Great tutorial. I’ve even wanting to start reducing canned beans and make them myself. And we’re huge garbanzo bean fans in this house. Definitely giving this a shot!

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