yummy (and healthy!) roasted chickpea snacks
March 7th, 2009
In our house we love savory snacky foods. And since I’ve given up sweets for Lent this year I have found myself eating more crackers and chips and nuts than usual. That’s why when I saw Catherine Newman‘s recipe for roasted chickpea snacks I knew right away that I had to try them. A crunchy salty snack that’s high in protein and fiber and very low in fat? Sign me up! Annalie thought they sounded good too, so we headed down to the kitchen. They ended up being so easy to make that although though I helped with opening the can and cooking on the stove, Annalie did a lot of the measuring and stirring. This would probably be a great recipe for older kids to make with minimal supervision.
First we opened a can of chickpeas (I had to help with our recalcitrant can opener) and poured them into a mesh strainer over the sink. Annalie thought the chickpeas in the can smelled weird, which is why she’s holding her nose.
Ah, that’s better. Once they were rinsed off, they didn’t smell so much.
The next step was to spread the chickpeas out to dry. Before we could do that, we had to get a fresh roll of paper towels and play with the empty tube from the old roll.
Finally that was done. We spread a few paper towels (cloth towels would work too) out on a cookie sheet and dumped the can of chickpeas out. Annalie spread them around a bit to help dry them off.
She couldn’t resist snitching a few to eat. Annalie loves garbanzo beans. I think the main reason she eats them is because of the kids’ PBS show Zoboomafoo. Garbanzo beans are Zoboo’s favorite snack, so Annalie likes them too.
We left the chickpeas to dry for a few minutes while we measured a tablespoon of olive oil into a saucepan. I would have used a skillet or larger saucepan but they were in the dishwasher. This one worked fine though.
Annalie doesn’t much care for curry powder, which is what the recipe I was working from called for. I decided to take inspiration from the classic Chex Mix recipe and use onion powder, garlic powder, and Worcestershire sauce.
Annalie didn’t like the smell of the onion powder, but I managed to convince her that foods don’t taste like they smell. She allowed me to add a small amount of onion powder to the pot.
Garlic is something that Annalie likes the taste AND smell of, apparently. I’m not surprised, since Troy and I both love garlic and use it a lot in our cooking. When Annalie was a baby and still nursing, I never avoided garlic at all so she’s been tasting it since day one.
Annalie added a good teaspoon of garlic powder to the oil and onion powder in the pot. I added a tablespoon or so of Worcestershire sauce and totally forgot to add salt. (I remembered later; I’ll get to that.) I turned the heat on low under the pot and cooked and stirred for a minute or so.
After I turned off the heat, we added the chickpeas to the pot. Annalie stirred it all up, making sure all the chickpeas were coated with the oil mixture.
Annalie carefully poured the chickpeas onto a foil-lined baking sheet and spread them around a bit so they were in a single layer. It was at this point I remembered the salt, so I just sprinkled it over the top. I popped them in the 400F oven where they cooked for 45 minutes. I stirred them a few times while they were cooking.
When I took them out of the oven, a few were slightly charred and there were some blackened bits but most of the chickpeas were just right—crunchy on the outside, with a few remaining slightly soft in the middle.
My mom and Annalie and I all thought they were delicious. We had to force ourselves to save a small handful for Troy to try when he came home from work. And today I bought three more cans of chickpeas at the store so we can make some more!
Roasted Chickpea Snacks
1 15-ounce can chickpeas
1 tablespoon olive oil
1-2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt or half as much table salt
Preheat the oven to 400. Drain and rinse the chickpeas, then drain again and spread out onto towels to dry.
Heat the oil in a small pan over low heat. Add the garlic and onion powders, Worcestershire sauce and salt, and stir until fragrant. Turn off the heat, pour in the chickpeas, and stir gently with a rubber spatula until they’re coated with the oil mixture.
Spread the chickpeas in a foil-lined rimmed baking pan and bake for 45-55 minutes, stirring the pan every ten minutes or so. When they’re done, they will be brown and crunchy.
Edited 6th May 2009: When I made these again a few weeks after this post, I accidentally burned a double batch after only 30 minutes in the oven. It was very sad. No idea why that happened, nothing was different that we could determine except the double-batch part. So be sure to keep a close eye on these while they’re cooking, and stir often to avoid ending up with burnt-to-a-crisp chickpea snacks!
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Oh. My. Word. I am SO making those!!!
yum! want to make those! Annalie is adorable!
i totally did not know the word “chickpeas”, but after i realized what they are, i’ll definately make some of these!!! we all love chickpeas, so i guess they’ll be a huge hit!
by the way: in german those chickpeas are called “gigglepea”…
Ooh, I want to try those! It’s so funny that Annalie had to smell everything first. When I was a kid I wouldn’t eat anything that didn’t smell good or look “pretty.”
Perfect timing – I’m going to make these for my book group meeting tomorrow!
Going to go make some right now! Yum! :) Thanks!!!
Thank you!! A coworker was just talking about these and I was going to google how to make them today. Talk about timing! :) They look yummy.
These do look great. I think I’ll give them a try this weekend. I’m afraid I’ll have to make a boat load of them. We’re snackers around here.
Man those look good. We should swap snacks for sweets after Lent is over. Ha.
Got the ingredients while out enjoying our first really Springy day!! Sounds yummy!
Hmmmm. Being one that likes snack foods myself (and all the better if they are healthy!) I’m going to have to try this one!
Have you ever tried the crispy sugar snap peas… they aren’t really fried snap peas, but they’re made with snap peas (if that makes any sense) You can get them at your local health food store, they’re pretty good too.
My mouth is so watering right now. I wish I had read this earlier as I don’t think I have any chick peas in the house, must try this this week for sure.
I’m not one for trying new things foodwise (I know, boo!) but these look like they’d be a tasty snack.
My main comment, however, is that Annalie looks so much older in these pictures!
Yum, I’ll have to try these
Oh, I have now made and eaten the WHOLE batch (minus about 10 I gave to Zeke)! He said they smelled and tasted like a grilled hotdog which is a good thing around here! I don’t agree with him, but we both agree they are yummy and more chickpeas are on the grocery list! He even asked if I was going to the grocery again today!! Thanks for a new recipe to add to our favorites list!
I’ve already got the ingredients and can’t wait to try this yummy snack! I do want to try it with the curry powder, though, since I bought some especially for this recipe! Annalie is so adorable sniffing all the good sniffs.
Those really do look great! And Annalie is looking so grown up! I really can’t believe she eats chickpeas – my kids would never have even considered them! Yay for Zoboomafoo!
I am SO making these! I am a savory fan…
Alright, that’s it. I’m making some of these.
Yum, those look good! My hubby would love them with curry powder. I might have to make some today for him. Thanks for the recipe!
Oh I can’t wait to make these! First off, I love love love chickpeas. I use them in pasta all the time. Also I pretty much will eat anything with garlic and Worcestershire sauce. I am definitely picking up the stuff to make these when I go grocery shopping today!
This sounds so good, and high in protein is just what I need. Thanks…
I’ve seen recipes for these and always thought I should make them. For some reason, I just never get to it… but I should.
I love that Annalie could help so much. Not only is it quality time together, but the pictures are so cute! And how awesome is it that something geared toward kids can encourage them to like a healthy food item?!
I cannot WAIT to try this!!!
Mmmm, sounds delicious! I’ll have to give these a try!
Sounds like a great recipe! Can’t wait to try it! :)
i’ll be trying this for sure! i was given (yes, given) a can for Christmas, um, in 2007, and have never found an inspiring recipe. here it is, thanks! it’s much cheaper than roasting nuts, which we’ve been doing a lot lately.
You say email addys are not published, but I do hope you have access.
You said initially that the recipe called for curry? What was THAT recipe? Was the curry in addition to, or on lieu of, the chex spices? Usually, when I make chex mix nowadays, I add A-1 sauce (replacing 2 tbsp of woozy) AND I do add a tsp of mild indian curry. I may just try this combo, but I would REALLY like to know the original recipe! Could you email it or otherwise publish it?
Shon, I linked the original recipe in my post. Here it is again for ya so you don’t have to scroll up. :-)
Roasted Chickpea Snacks
Looks like I know what’s on the horizon for that can of chickpeas in my cupboard. What a cool idea. I’m still grinning over the nose-holding. What a cutie-pie!
There’s a giant can of chickpeas on my counter that a certain husband put out in a hint to make some more hummus (so cheap! so easy!) but I may have to snitch some to make these. I read the original article but totally forgot. Thanks for the reminder!
Try buying dry chickpeas, they are way better than canned. Also there is an online called Juliet Mae Spices and they have spice blends to try on them. I am going to try Dry Harissa chickpeas. Yum!
These are great! I’ve been looking for cheap, healthy ways to stave off hunger for my four housemates and I, and these look perfect! Thanks!
Made these a bit differently and they were delicious! Hard to get two teen boys to eat garbanzo beans but you did it!
Great tips…and that daughter of your is too precious!!!
God bless-
Amanda
These are fantastic, I make them all the time, except I use grill seasoning and Chipotle chile powder for the seasonings. If you doubled the oil for the double batch, that could be the reason why they burned. Olive oil has a low smoke point, so it burns very easily. Happy snacking!!
I can vouch for these as being both delicious and addictive!
I stumbled this page. I wanted to share another healthy snack that I stumbled upon- Roasted Kale chips. I was so surprised that they taste SOOO good, the kale takes on a potato flavor when roasted. Just google Roasted Kale chips. :)
Oh my GOODNESS! Does it GET any better? I absolutely love chickpeas in all forms, especially hummus! These look absolutely divine, can’t wait to try the recipe. Thanks for sharing!!
just made these. delicious. added cumin, coriander, paprika and cayenne. we’re going to try black beans tomorrow and see what happens.
Thank you so much for this recipe! I found it via Stumble Upon, and it’s fantastic! I made some today, a double batch, and I’m almost already done, lol. Easy Vegan snacks are always a plus! =] I also added a bit of cumin to taste, yum yum.
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MMmmmmm they look good and sound good. I just went rifling through the cupboards hoping I’d have some chickpeas laying around. But nope. :( Sweet peas and black eyed peas but not a chickpea in sight.