Home-cooked chickpeas are tastier than canned, and an Instant Pot makes them very easy. Use them for everything from salads to hummus.
Chickpeas in an Instant Pot
Course: Meal Prep10
minutes1
hour50
minutes120
minutes7½-9
cups2¾-3½
lbsNote that the cooking phase, although lengthy, is fully unattended. This large batch is easy to halve.
Ingredients
3 cups of dried chickpeas
9 cups of water
1 Tbs coarse salt
2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 bay leaves
Directions
- Rinse and pick through the chickpeas. Place in an Instant Pot. Pour in the water. Add the salt, garlic, and bay leaves. Screw on the lid and set the pot to Bean/Chili, more (50 minutes), high pressure. Natural release for at 20-60 minutes.
- For storage, allow the beans to cool, then refrigerate them in their cooking liquid for 3 to 5 days. For longer storage, drain the beans, let them more-or-less dry off, flash-freeze them in a single layer (in batches, if necessary), and then transfer them to freezer bags in quantities of 9 oz.
Notes
- I developed this recipe for a six-quart Instant Pot. If using a different size or type of pot, you may need to make modifications
Ingredients:
Can you avoid all the fuss and just use a can of chickpeas? Yes. Are canned chickpeas the same as home-cooked? No. How big of a difference does it make? Canned chickpeas are good, and if they’re not playing a lead character, it may not matter at all. But if they take center stage, canned might be good, but home-cooked can take “good” into the realm of “spectacular.” It’s a subtle difference, but it’s the kind of difference that leaves your guests wondering what your secret is.
Cooking:
- Of course, there are plenty of ways to cook chickpeas. The Instant Pot is nice because it’s quick, and you can just step away from it and let it do its thing.
- Adding the aromatics to the chickpeas is a pro move. The peas won’t taste “flavored,” they’ll taste like chickpeas, except that they’ll have more depth.
- With a 20-minute natural release, the chickpeas will still have a subtle bite. Perfect for a salad. If you intend to use them for something like hummus, consider the full 60-minute release. They’ll be noticeably creamier.
- Consider hanging on to the cooking liquid. If you make hummus, use it instead of water. It has tons of other uses, too: a stock base, egg replacement, a thickener, as a cooking liquid for grains. I’ve even heard that it can be whipped like cream.
Leftover:
Leftover chickpeas might last three to four days in the fridge, but don’t look to me for food safety advice. I usually use them right away, or freeze them in a day or two. Thaw them overnight in the fridge when you’re ready to use them. They don’t lose anything for having been frozen.
Serving:
The reason I freeze them in 9-oz packs is because that matches the amount of strained chickpeas you get from a typical can. This recipe with produce the equivalent of between four and six cans of chickepeas.
Social:
I’ve never gotten excited about chickpeas before. I like them well enough … I’ve simply never been what you could call “thrilled” by them. I am thrilled with these. They’re delicious.
Chickpeas in an Instant Pot
Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. Thank you, Kesor. Thank you, ⌘+C. Make It Like a Man! is ranked by Feedspot as #2 in the Top 30 Men’s Cooking Blogs.
Keep up with us on Bloglovin’
