14 Veggie-Forward Recipes to Celebrate the Versatile Chickpea

Chickpeas are a staple ingredient in our pantry. Looking beyond familiar standards like hummus, falafel, and chana masala, a wide variety of soups, braises, and salads leverage the satisfying heartiness of this creamy legume. In this collection, we focus on dishes where dried or canned chickpeas are the main ingredient, but we also decided to include several braises and stews where these beans play an essential supporting role.

Of course, whole chickpeas are just the beginning: chickpea flour can be fashioned into a crispy, savory batter for pakoras, or a soft and custardy farinata. Aquafaba, the cooking liquid found in canned chickpeas, is an essential egg substitute in vegan recipes for meringue, frosting, mayonnaise, and pancakes.

Pasta e Ceci (Pasta With Chickpeas)

Pasta with brothy chickpeas is Italian comfort food at its best. For a creamier dish where chickpeas are used to thicken the sauce, see Daniel‘s recipe for vegan pasta with chickpea sauce.

Chickpea Stew With Bacon and Broccoli Rabe

Got bacon and anchovies in the fridge and some onion and garlic kicking around? Then you have the base for this flavorful chickpea and vegetable stew.

Homemade Falafel

These perfectly fried balls of chickpea goodness are crisp on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside, and packed with herb and spice flavor. Tahini sauce is essential for serving, but a bowl of zhug at the table is our condiment of choice.

Maftool (Palestinian Wheat Pearls in a Vegetable, Chickpea, and Chicken Stew)

Caviar-sized pearls made of whole wheat served in a brothy stew with onions, chickpeas, butternut squash, and tender chicken.

The Best Smooth Hummus

Kenji, drawing from the iconic hummus created by Michael Solomonov of Zahav fame, starts this recipe by puréeing a whole, unpeeled head of garlic in lemon juice, which mellows its spiciness. Once strained, this garlic-lemon juice is whisked into a tahini sauce. The chickpeas are overcooked with a little baking soda and blended while still hot. The tahini sauce and smooth chickpea purée is then whisked together to create an Israeli-style hummus that’s both smooth and flavorful. If you want to make this style of hummus in late spring or summer, consider Kristina’s recipe for garlic scape hummus.

Hummus Masabacha (Hummus With Whole Chickpeas)

On the other end of the chunky-smooth spectrum is this “deconstructed” recipe from Daniel for whole-chickpea hummus. A quarter of the chickpeas are blended with tahini sauce and the rest are folded in whole.

Papri Chaat (Indian Street Snack With Potato, Chickpeas, and Chutneys)

Papri chaat is a traditional street snack found all over India, with crunchy, soft, and fluffy textures, all smothered in tangy, sweet, and hot chutneys. In addition to whole cooked chickpeas, this dish is topped with sev, or fried noodles made with chickpea flour.

Channa Masala

Plump, tender chickpeas swimming in a tangy, tomatoey masala is one of our go-to comfort food dishes. Big on flavor and ready in under an hour, start to finish.

Chickpea, Coconut, and Cashew Curry

This rich curry is intense with garam masala and ginger, cooled by coconut milk and toasted and ground cashews.

Marinated Kale and Chickpea Salad With Sumac Onions

A simple and hearty vegan salad, studded with tender chickpeas and bright, tangy pickled onions, is a perfect addition to cookouts, potlucks, and picnics, or just storing in the fridge for several days. The kale and onion retain their crunch and the flavors meld and develop over time. For a variation on this theme, see this crispy roasted chickpea kale number, which gets dressed with a punchy sun-dried tomato vinaigrette.

30-Minute Pressure Cooker Chicken With Chickpeas, Tomatoes, and Chorizo

This one-pot meal of tender chicken, chickpeas, and spinach tastes like it’s been simmering all day in a creamy sauce flavored with ginger, garlic, and cumin. For another option that uses the same efficient template, check out Kenji’s chorizo-spiced version, which comes together in just half an hour.

Chickpea, Potato, and Spinach Jalfrezi With Cilantro Chutney

Jalfrezi is an all-time favorite Indian restaurant dish in Britain for a reason. Spicy green chiles, onion, garlic, ginger, cilantro stems, and red peppers are fried in oil until almost all the moisture is driven from them and they become sticky and begin to brown. To this flavorful base, a few spices are added (hot paprika, cumin, coriander, and turmeric), along with chopped tomatoes. Kenji’s vegan take on jalfrezi adds chickpeas, par-cooked potatoes, and a generous handful of spinach.

Vegan Garbanzos con Espinacas y Jengibre (Spanish Chickpea and Spinach Stew With Ginger)

Kenji’s vegan version of this tapas bar standard is brightened by adding fresh ginger purée to the braising liquid and a last-minute splash of sherry vinegar.

Vegan Chickpea Cakes with Mashed Avocado

These crunchy, falafel-esque patties come together in a fraction of the time. Instead of having to soak dried chickpeas, here soaked bulgur and canned chickpeas are roughly pureed and act as a binder. Some of the beans are mixed in whole, which provides a satisfying internal texture. A crisp, panko crust and a topping of smashed avocado and lime juice add even more textural contrast, and a creamy-tart element.