How to Cook Dried Chickpeas (Recipe)

A bowl of cooked chickpeas with some herbs.

4.94 from 46 votes

How to Cook Dried Chickpeas (Recipe)

Updated! This is close to a fool-proof method for cooking dried chickpeas on the stovetop or in the oven, along with FAQ tips if they won't soften or if they split through their skins. Each serving is ½ cup for nutrition calculations.

Prep Time5

Cook Time1 30

Quick Soak1 15

Total Time2 50

Course: Any

Cuisine: Indian, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern

Keyword: how to cook dried chickpeas

Servings:

Calories: 131.3kcal

Author: Susan Pridmore

Equipment

baking sheet
Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot
Colander

Ingredients

1 cup dried chickpeas
4 teaspoons kosher salt, divided (or half that amount of table salt)
3 garlic cloves peeled (optional)
1 dried chipotle pepper (optional)

Instructions

Inspect the Beans. Spread one cup dried chickpeas on a baking sheet and remove any stones, damaged beans, or other grit. Place the beans in a colander and rinse.
Pre-soak beans in a brine solution. Pour the beans into a heavy bottomed pot. Cover them with 2 inches of water (about 1 quart for 1 cup of dried chickpeas). Add 1 tablespoon kosher salt (or half that amount of table salt). Cover and bring to a simmer.
Simmer for 10 minutes, remove from the heat, and cool for 1 hour.
Drain in a colander, and rinse well.
Cook the chickpeas. Place the rinsed beans back into the same heavy bottomed pot. Add enough water or broth to cover them by at least 3 inches.
Stir in 1 teaspoon kosher salt or ½ teaspoon table salt for every cup of dried chickpeas you're cooking.
Add herbs, chiles or mirepoix for infusing flavor, if using.
Remove foam. Bring the pot to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Foam may develop in the first 20 minutes of simmering, and sporadically while the beans cook. Remove this by skimming the top of the water with a large spoon.
Tip: Place a small bowl of water next to the stove. After skimming some foam off the top, dip the spoon into the bowl of water. This easily removes the foam from the spoon.
Cook on the stovetop or in the oven. Either continue to simmer on the stovetop until the chickpeas are tender, or cover and slide the pot into a 350˚F preheated oven to continue to cook.
The oven method creates a more even cooking since all surfaces of the pot are evenly heated. The cooking time will be approximately the same.
The length of time will depend on the age of the dried chickpea and whether you pre-soaked them overnight. Heirloom beans, which tend to be fresher, should be ready after 90 minutes.
Store-bought chickpeas may be older, and may therefore take longer to soften. Allow for up to 20% additional simmering time.
Check the post (above) for cook times for Overnight Soak and No Soak.
Check bean for doneness: Spoon out a bean and cut it in half. It should be firm but tender, and a consistent color and texture through the thickness of the bean. Or bite into it.
Final soak. When the chickpeas are done, turn the stove off, cover the pot, and allow the chickpeas to completely cool in the leftover broth. This last soak adds flavor and promotes a creamy texture.
Drain and discard vegetables added for flavor.
(If using the oven method, remove the pot from the oven, keep it covered, and allow the chickpeas to completely cool before draining.)
Store. Completely cool, and refrigerate in jars for up to 4 days. Or freeze up to 6 months in a freezer-safe container.
Before freezing, be sure the beans are completely cooled and dry. You can dry them be either 1) using a towel, 2) leaving them out to dry naturally, or 3) placing them in a warm oven.
Note: If you use a towel, it will remove some of the skins. This is perfectly normal and nothing to worry about. Just discard the skins.
Pro-Tip: Use any cooking liquid remaining at the end of cooking for a base for making vegetable broth.

Notes

Amounts:

Dried chickpeas triple in size when cooked, so 1 cup of dried = 3 cups cooked. The Nutrition calculations is based on ½ cup cooked chickpeas.

Ingredient Notes:

The dried pepper in the listed ingredients in the recipe card doesn’t add heat, just smokiness.

Alternate vegetables and herbs can be added to the cooking broth to infuse more robust flavors to the beans. If you use herbs that easily fall apart such as thyme or oregano, however, wrap them in cheesecloth before adding to the cooking broth. This makes for easy removal at the end of cooking. A bay leaf is a better choice.

Nutrition