When it comes to snacking, I am always looking for three things: crunchy, filling and delicious. One of my favorites: roasted chickpeas. A great plant-based source of protein, they are also high in fiber, an excellent source of folate and vitamins B and C, and they contain potassium and calcium among other minerals. Whether savory or sweet, once you get them all brown and crispy with your favorite seasonings, what’s not to love?
You can, of course, cook a batch of dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans) for roasting, set some aside when you make them for other meals, or simply open a can of prepared chickpeas and get roasting! The trick is to make sure to add the spices after they are finished roasting.
Roasted chickpeas will stay crisp for four days at room temperature, but you can also freeze them and pull them out as you want them. Try all the seasonings: curry, garlic, and simple salt and pepper are great options. For a sweet treat, you can also try mixing with honey instead of olive oil, add cinnamon and sugar.
Roasted Chickpeas
INGREDIENTS
- 1 15oz can chickpeas
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
TO MAKE
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Rinse and thoroughly dry the chickpeas.
- Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Spread chickpeas on the baking sheet in a single layer and bake for 15 minutes (do not add any of the other ingredients yet!)
- In a small bowl, mix the cumin, paprika, garlic powder, sea salt, onion powder and pepper.
- Remove the chickpeas from the oven and drizzle them with ½ Tbsp of olive oil, tossing until evenly coated.
- Bake 10 minutes more, then stir and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes, until desired crispiness is achieved (a total of 35-40 minutes of baking).
- To achieve maximum crispiness, turn off the heat and open the door a bit to let the chickpeas cool in the oven.
- Immediately after taking them out of the oven, mix in the spices and serve.
