I absolutely love chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans. These protein-packed legumes have a mild, nutty flavor that goes well in a variety of dishes, including hummus, soups and stews. Because of the time involved in preparing dried chickpeas, most people resort to canned varieties. The trouble with canned chickpeas is that many contain additives for preservation, as well as high sodium content from added salt. Making chickpeas from scratch is a much more natural and healthy way to go, and it’s surprisingly easy. This recipe, photo tutorial and video will show you the whole process, step-by-step.
Here is a simple method for quick-soaking and preparing chickpeas for recipes. Chickpeas are soaked before boiling for two reasons – one, they need to be softened before they boil, and two, pre-soaking helps to make the beans more digestible. You can soak them quickly, as described below, or overnight if you prefer. My friend Gila Ronel, a doula and holistic nutritionist in Israel, soaks the beans for a couple of days until they begin to sprout. She says that the nutritional value improves when the chickpeas are sprouted. If you try this, you’ll need to use cold water, not the quick soak method. Make sure you change the water they are soaking in twice daily to keep bacteria at bay. When shopping for your chickpeas, make sure you use a bulk bin with a high turnover rate. The older the chickpeas are, the less tender they will cook. Beans that have been sitting in a pantry for a year or longer tend to go stale and will not cook up as nicely.
Most recipes call for chickpeas that have been soaked and boiled until tender (falafel is one notable exception– chickpeas should only be soaked for falafel, not cooked). I often make a large batch of cooked chickpeas, then refrigerate or even freeze for future use. I have covered the instructions for storing and freezing below. You will notice that home-prepared chickpeas taste much better than the canned variety, and you’ll have more control over the salt content. Preparing the beans this way is also more affordable… you’ll save over 50% by preparing them yourself. Frugality rocks!
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How to Soak, Cook, Freeze and Store Chickpeas
Ingredients
- 4 cups dried chickpeas (you may use more or less as needed-- 4 cups dried equals roughly 12 cups cooked beans)
- Salt (optional)
NOTES
Instructions
- Before cooking, you will need to soak the beans. You can soak them overnight, if you have the time. Place them in a large bowl and cover with cold water.
- The chickpeas will expand to over double their size, so make sure you cover by several inches of water to allow for expansion. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and let them soak overnight. Drain the water and rinse the beans before cooking.
- To quick soak the beans, you will need 1 hour. Place the chickpeas into the bottom of a large pot and cover with water. The chickpeas will expand to over double their size, so make sure you cover by several inches of water to allow for expansion.
- Bring the chickpeas to a boil. Let them boil for 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat. Let the beans soak in the hot water for 1 hour.
- Drain the water and rinse the beans before cooking.
- When you are ready to cook your soaked beans, place them in a large pot and cover with several inches of water. I use about 1 quart of water per 1 cup of soaked beans. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Add salt, if desired. I use about 1/8 teaspoon of salt for every 1 quart of water and 1 cup of soaked beans. You may like more salt to taste, or none at all to keep them "au naturel."
- Let the beans cook for 60-90 minutes until desired tenderness. Certain dishes require very tender beans (like hummus), while other dishes call for firmer beans (like stews and soups that need to be cooked over long periods of time). Adjust cooking time to achieve the desired tenderness for your purposes. If you are freezing the beans, keep in mind that they will freeze best if they are on the firmer side, rather than completely soft. As you cook them, the beans will continue to expand a bit. Keep an eye on the water level and add additional water as needed to keep the beans covered. When the beans are fully cooked, drain in a colander and allow to cool.
- To store cooked beans in the refrigerator, place them in a covered airtight container or a plastic zipper bag without any additional liquid. Cooked beans will keep 3-4 days in the refrigerator.To store the beans longer for future use, freeze them. Remove as much moisture as possible from the beans by patting them dry with paper towels. Place the beans in reusable or plastic zipper bags spread out in single layers; you don't want to pile the beans on top of each other or they will stick to each other. Freeze, laying the flat single layer down to keep the beans from freezing together. You can freeze several bags this way, one laying flat on top of another.
- Alternatively, you can spread out the beans in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment and freeze the beans for 30 minutes.
- Once they are firm, pour them into a plastic zipper bag or airtight container, seal, and put immediately back into the freezer. Using this method, you don't need to put the chickpeas in a single layer-- because they are already half frozen, they will not stick together.
- Frozen beans will keep for up to 1 year.
Nutrition
tried this recipe?
Let us know in the comments!
Nutritional information per serving is for 1 cup of cooked chickpeas (1/3 cup dried chickpeas)– values and cook times will vary based on how what cooking method is used.
Kalle says
In Iran people usually soak the chickpeas for several days believing that it will lower any possibility of gastric distress and they are also cooked for at least 4 hours! We occasionally hear from Iranians going abroad stating “You should see the chickpeas here, they cook in less than an hour!”
Mark Miller says
In the soaking to spouted method it says to keep the water cold and to change it twice daily. Can you simply put the pot in the fridge until sprouting begins?
Tori Avey says
Hi Mark– for food safety reasons it is recommended to change the water twice daily, even when refrigerating. So you can refrigerate, but be sure to change water regularly.
VAlerie says
thanks for the tutorial. You can also save the cooking water and use it like egg whites in frosting, meringue, and other recipes ( the chickpea cooking water is called aquafaba). I’ve used it for royal frosting; amazing results.
Janet says
Definitely am going to try that
Stephanie says
This was very helpful, God bless you! I’d try cooking my other beans this way.
Kevin says
I will try the soak overnight / freeze storage. Thanks for all the great suggestions for making these dry Garbanzos.
ps. Anyone ever tell you, that you look like Shawnee Smith when she was on that show Becker? Very pretty, maybe more so than the food you present. 😉
andrew says
That’s weird – food is food and people aren’t. Let’s ask Hannibal….
Gwendolyn says
Thanks for the tips. I love chickpeas as well and wanted to stop using the canned chickpeas.
Rena says
Hello, I was wondering if I soaked my chick peas for 3 hrs and then drained them and kept them in the fridge for two days and then started boiling them. Have they gone bad?
Ashley at ToriAvey.com says
Hi Rena, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. Normally we do not put the chickpeas in the refrigerator after soaking, so I’m not sure if it would change the outcome of the recipe. I wouldn’t think so. As long as they smell and appear normal, I don’t think they have gone bad.
Amy says
Hi. I’ve just soaked my chickpeas and there’s a really eggy smell coming from them. Not very pleasant. It seems to be getting stronger as I cook them. Are they ok?
Ashley at ToriAvey.com says
Hi Amy, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. Chickpeas do have their own unique smell, though I wouldn’t say it’s bad. If they don’t smell right to you I would recommend starting over.
Lynn Pierog says
Hi Tori,
Do you take the skin off the chick peas once their cooked?
Ashley at ToriAvey.com says
Hi Lynn, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. You can certainly remove the skins if you’d like. We prefer to remove the skins when making hummus, for creamier results.
Daniel Miller says
Thank you! Beans are great values in any case, but when I contemplated throwing away 2/3 of my cooking effort I was sickened to waste all these nutrients! According to the label on the bag garbonzos provide 28 % of both carbohydrates and protein from a serving of just 1 1/4 cup! Truly a power food! I can now turn my attention to using them for soups, salads and stews I have discovered.
Thanks again!
ith the waste
Edward Parry says
Hey just to say thanks for this. I’m soaking/cooking my chickpeas for the first time – so i can avoid BPAs from the cans – and was delighted to get such clear intsructions from you
Thanks ! Ed
Boyex says
Just soaked my first chickpeas for about 12hours and I cooked it for another 1hour. Though I have not decided what to do with it but I like the taste already….will check online for interesting recipes.
Helen Fryer says
I am confused! At the beginning you say this takes total soak and cook time 2hrs 30mins: the recipe says 1 hr soak, then boil for 5 mins then leave in the hot water for 1hr, then cook for 60 – 90 mins.
this makes total 3hr 5min – 3hr 35min
I am afraid of cooking beans for not long enough and causing problems so I have read through 3 times and looked in the comments for clarification but cannot find any
sorry if I am stupid
Tori Avey says
Hi Helen! The length of time varies based on the preparation method used… an overnight soak will take overnight. Just follow the instructions rather than the total time suggestion and you should be fine. 🙂 I will remove the time suggestion to avoid confusion, since it varies.
Liesa says
If you have a pressure cooker (I have an electric one so i dont have to watch it constantly) just rinse and sort them then pour them (I make 4 cups at a time so as not to overload my pressure cooker) into your cooker and add water to within 2-3 inches over the tops of your chick peas. No soaking needed! Obviously this will end up with alot more since they swell up. I never go over half the capacity of my cooker because beans and peas are foamy. Add-2-3 Tablespoons olive oil or another oil. This cuts down on foaming. So basicly if you have a 5 Liter cooker and peas and bring water up to 2 1/2 Liters. Cook at high pressure for 35 minutes and allow to natural release. This makes perfect chickpeas. Pour your water off and rinse if desired. They are ready to go!
Nancy says
I bought some dry garbanzo beans thinking they were roasted. How long do I need to soak and then boil, before roasting them?
Tori Avey says
Follow the instructions above for soaking and cooking the beans, then proceed with roasting.
Ruth says
Hi Tori,
I use chick peas as a chunky chick peas in veggie sandwich spread for my catering company. I tried cooking chick peas from scratch but they didn’t cook evenly. Some of them are hard and some of them soft. I end up not using it. Any suggestions? Thanks
Tori Avey says
Hi Ruth, how long did you cook them? They might have needed to cook longer. Also older chickpeas (that have been in the bulk bin too long) can sometimes be difficult to soften, which might have resulted in the uneven results.
Donna says
A quarter teaspoon of baking soda in the cooking water ensures an evenly nice soft bean every time for me!
Laurel says
I cooked my first batch of dried chickpeas tonight and noticed a few transparent “skins” coming off of them and floating to the top. Do these need to be discarded from the chickpeas?
Ashley at ToriAvey.com says
Hi Laurel, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. Yes, you can discard any of the skins that float to the top of the water.
Celia says
Hello
Thanks for the article, I felt so lazy about going through all the chickpea process for just a single dish. With the freezing instructions now I can plan ahead for a bunch of dishes.
I was told in the market that I could cook them for 10 minutes in a pressure cooker. Is it true?
Thanks again
Gina says
I cooked mine in a pressure cooker after soaking overnight. Was making hommus so had it at pressure for 15 minutes to make sure they were tender but instructions suggested 10-12minutes. You use a ‘natural’ pressure release method so it’ll take a little longer to get the pressure down but at least you don’t have to sit at the stove the whole time.
Christine says
Hi,
When soaking the beans overnight do you place them in the fridge or leave them on the counter?
Christine
Ashley at ToriAvey.com says
Hi Christine, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. We leave the beans on the counter at room temp while they soak.
Jenny W says
Ashley, in south east asia room temp can be 29-33 degrees Celsius. So what room temperature do you mean ? 16-20 or 20-25?
Michael says
Thank you! Just soaked a bag of the Chick Peas for the first time, now I know what to do next!