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Chickpea flour is a surprisingly versatile flour that you can make at home in just minutes. All you need is a blender, or coffee grinder, to get started!
What is Chickpea Flour good for?
I’ve been using chickpea flour to make socca for years. It’s my favorite flatbread for a Mediterranean-style socca pizza!
Chickpea flour is naturally gluten-free, and unlike many other gluten-free flours, it doesn’t always need an egg as a binder. So, it’s great for use in vegan recipes, or for anyone who needs to cook without eggs.
Benefits of Using It
Why would you want to use chickpea flour? This simple flour has all the same benefits as chickpeas, and is naturally gluten-free.
Here’s why you’ll love it:
- Chickpeas are a great source of resistant starch, which may help to feed the good bacteria in your gut.
- These legumes also contain 8 of the 9 essential amino acids your body needs to build protein.
- Chickpea flour produces less acrylamide (a potential carcinogen) when baked compared to other flours.
- Including legumes in your diet may help to increase feelings of fullness.
- One study suggests that adding chickpea flour to bread may result in a lower blood sugar impact, when compared to eating white bread or 100% whole wheat bread.
You can find methionine, the essential amino acid from chickpeas, in other plant foods, like sunflower seeds, brazil nuts, and oats.
How to Make It
To make chickpea flour, you’ll need a high-speed blender, or a coffee grinder (or spice grinder).
Place the dry chickpeas in the blender, and blend until they are finely ground, like a flour. Be warned– it’s VERY loud at first!
Once you’ve ground the chickpeas, pour them into a fine mesh strainer to sift out any larger pieces that might have been missed.
Then, the chickpea flour is ready to use.
Homemade chickpea flour may be coarser than the kind you buy at the store, because even store-bought flours will vary in texture. Even if your flour ends up having the texture of corn meal, it should still work well in most recipes that call for chickpea flour.
How much chickpea flour do you get from dry chickpeas? In my experience, 1 cup of dry chickpeas = 1 1/2 cups of chickpea flour, give or take.
If you want to be very precise about it, use a food scale!
When I measure out 1 cup of chickpea flour, it usually weighs about 120 grams. So, if you want to make exactly 1 cup of chickpea flour, you could measure out 120 grams of dry chickpeas, blend them, and then voila! You’ve made exactly 1 cup of chickpea flour.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does chickpea flour taste like? Chickpea flour tastes relatively bitter, so if you were to use it in a cookie dough, you won’t find yourself nibbling on the batter. I think the flavor becomes more mild when you bake it, but the taste is still quite noticeable, so it’s not a flour you necessarily want to use on its own, especially in a sweet recipe.
Can you substitute chickpea flour for all-purpose flour? Yes! Oddly enough, you can substitute chickpea flour 1:1 in recipes that call for all-purpose, and the results will have a very similar texture.
However, chickpea flour does NOT have the same mild flavor that all-purpose flour or oat flour has, so if you substitute it 100% in a recipe, you might not be pleased with the results. Instead, I’d recommend using chickpea as a substitute for only half of the flour in a recipe.
You can try it in one of my oat flour recipes to boost the protein content!
Ingredients
- 2 cups dry chickpeas
Instructions
- Place the chickpeas in a high-speed blender and secure the lid. Process until the chickpeas are very finely ground, about 1 to 2 minutes. Be warned-- it's VERY loud at first!
- If you don't have a high-speed blender, you can also use a small coffee grinder or spice grinder. In this case, you'll only be able to work with 1/4 cup of dry chickpeas at a time. It takes about 60 to 90 seconds for a coffee grinder to grind the chickpeas very finely.
- Pour the ground chickpea flour into a fine mesh sieve, arranged over a large bowl. Sift the flour, catching any large pieces that might have been missed by the blender. The sifted flour is ready to use in recipes right away! Store the chickpea flour in an airtight container for up to 6 months, or even longer if you keep it stored in the fridge or freezer.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe Ideas
Need some chickpea flour recipes? Here are some to try:
Reader Feedback: If you make chickpea flour at home, please leave a comment below and let me know what you make with it!
I don’t know if this question was answered, but do you soak the chickpeas and let dry before grinding?
Is it right the the chickpea flour can substitute half the flour such as cake flour, wholewheat flour except the coconut flour ? How about the almond flour, can replace half also? Can I use it based on that formula on angel food cake and chiffon cake? Thank you
Can you use a food processor to get the same results? I don’t have a high-powered blender…
Thanks for sharing how to make chick pea flour! It saves me money when I can make my own. Can’t wait to try the pancakes!
Is it okay to use unwashed dried chickpeas? Or do you wash and dry them first (not sure they would fully dry again)? Thanks!
I am loving your videos lately! It’s so nice to see your face and this one was so helpful. I feel confident making homemade chickpea flour now, and I’m going to try making the Socca you posted a few days ago.
Thanks; I can’t wait to hear what you think!