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If you find cooking dried beans from scratch intimidating, you’re not alone. It took me years of buying canned beans before I was willing to cook dried chickpeas on the stove, probably because I knew it wouldn’t be quick. However, it’s relatively hands-off once you know what you’re doing.
That’s why I’m sharing this chickpea cooking tutorial today. When you’re done reading it, you’ll know:
- How to cook chickpeas from scratch (without soaking them first)
- How to “quick soak” chickpeas for a faster cooking time
- How to soak chickpeas ahead of time (to cut the cooking time in half)
If you prefer an even more hands-off method, be sure to check out my Instant Pot Chickpeas tutorial. The pressure cooker makes it even easier, since you won’t have to worry about water evaporating or leaving the stove turned on for over an hour.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Featured Review
“I used the no-soak method tonight and the chickpeas cooked perfectly. I love using warm beans to make hummus. It’s so much creamier! (And I’m using your 5-minute hummus recipe.) Thanks for sharing!” – Wendy
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Dried Chickpeas. The interesting thing about buying dried beans is that you never know quite how old they are. Sure, there’s an expiration date, but since beans can be stored for years, it’s not always clear how long they’ve been at the store. Older beans tend to take longer to cook than fresher ones, so keep in mind that the cooking time may vary slightly each time you cook them. If you can shop at a place with lots of bean turnover, that’s ideal! (A health food store likely sells more dried beans than a regular grocery store.)
- Water. Dried beans soak up LOTS of water as they cook, so be sure to watch the pot every now and then to keep them fully submerged. If the beans aren’t completely covered by water, they won’t cook properly. This shouldn’t be an issue when starting with soaked chickpeas as long as you use the water amount I recommend.
- Salt. This ingredient is slightly controversial when cooking dried beans, but it can be used. My preferred way is to add salt to the soaking water (not the cooking water) if you plan to soak the chickpeas before cooking them. Since salt can slow the time it takes water to come to a boil, I don’t recommend adding it to the cooking water. It’s already a long process as it is!
How to Cook Chickpeas from Scratch
Step 1:
Cover 1 cup of dried chickpeas with 8 cups of water in a 4.5-quart pot. Bring the liquid to a boil. It takes my stove about 20 minutes to come to a full rolling boil with this amount of liquid, but your stove might vary.
Once the water is rapidly boiling, lower the heat to a gentle simmer. You want to see the water barely moving, with just a few bubbles on the surface. Set a timer for 40 minutes, so you won’t forget to check on the beans. As long as the beans stay fully submerged in water, you won’t need to pay much attention to them for a bit.
Note: You may see some white foam form on the surface as the water boils. It won’t affect cooking, but you can scoop it away if you want to see the chickpeas better.
Step 2:
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After your timer goes off, check on the beans and the water level in your pot. If you soaked your chickpeas ahead of time, test one for tenderness. I usually mash one against the side of the pot with a fork. If it easily mushes, I’ll taste-test a couple to make sure they feel tender. Soaked chickpeas take 40 to 60 minutes to cook.
If you started with unsoaked chickpeas, you’ll need to keep cooking. They should still be fully submerged in water, but if the water level is getting low, add another 1 to 2 cups of water, bring it to a boil again, then lower the heat to a simmer. Then set another timer, so you can check on these every 30 minutes or so.
Unsoaked chickpeas require 90 minutes to 2 hours of total cooking time. Like I mentioned before, it’s not a fast process. But it is relatively hands-off as long as you keep the chickpeas fully submerged in water. If you’re concerned about evaporation, you can cook these with the pot lid slightly ajar.
Note: Keep in mind that chickpeas should never be served “al dente.” Dried beans can cause digestive upset if they are not creamy and tender, so keep cooking until they are!
Step 3:
As soon as the chickpeas are tender and easy to chew, drain the cooking water through a fine-mesh strainer. Divide the chickpeas into storage jars and transfer them to the fridge. You can use these just like you would a can of garbanzo beans!
You’ll get approximately 3 cups of cooked chickpeas from 1 cup of dried chickpeas. This is roughly 2 cans’ worth. I divide the cooked chickpeas into two jars, so I’ll have roughly a can’s worth to grab when making a recipe.
If you need to make more than that for your week ahead, feel free to use a bigger pot and double the recipe. (Keeping the chickpeas fully underwater is the hardest part!)
How to “Quick Soak” Beans
If you forget to soak the beans ahead of time, there’s another option to try. Quick soaking is when you cover beans in water and bring them to a boil for 5 minutes. Then turn off the heat and let the water cool for 1 hour. When you drain the beans after that time, you can cook them as if they had been soaked for 8-10 hours.
How to Cook Chickpeas (As Fast As Possible)
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried chickpeas
- water
Instructions
- For the fastest cooking time, start by covering 1 cup of chickpeas with 3 cups of water in a large mason jar. Add 1 teaspoon of salt to the soaking water, if desired. Let this rest on the counter for 8-10 hours. This is perfect to do before work or bedtime. Drain and rinse well before moving to the next step.
- Add the dried chickpeas to a 4.5-quart pot and cover them with at least 8 cups of water. The beans should be covered in 3 to 4 inches of water, since they will triple in size as they cook. Bring the water to a boil over high heat. (My stove takes about 20 minutes for the water to rapidly boil.)
- Once the water is boiling, lower the heat. The water should barely move, but it's okay if you see a bubble every now and then. Set a timer for 40 minutes.
- When the timer goes off, check on the chickpeas and water level. If you started with unsoaked chickpeas, continue checking the water level every 30 minutes to ensure they remain fully submerged as they plump up. If the chickpeas start to stick out of the water, they won't cook properly. Unsoaked chickpeas require 90 minutes to 2 hours to cook, so be patient.
- When the chickpeas are tender, drain off the cooking liquid through a fine-mesh strainer and let them cool slightly. Transfer the cooked beans to an airtight container with a lid and refrigerate for up to a week.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Recipes To Use Cooked Chickpeas
- Mediterranean Chickpea Mason Jar Salads
- Kung Pao Chickpeas
- Instant Pot Chickpea Curry
- Kale Caesar Salad with Roasted Chickpeas
- Chickpea Tikka Masala
- 5-Minute Hummus Recipe
- Smashed Chickpea Avocado Salad
If you try this method, please leave a comment below letting me know how it turns out for you. And if you try anything different, I’d love to hear about that, too!
Answer to my prayer. Right to point.
Hello, I am an Iranian man, 63 years old, and I have lived alone until now. For poor people, who do not have many cooking utensils, it is necessary to cook 1 kg of dried chickpeas in a pot for four hours, which I fill with a handful of cooked chickpeas in a number of plastic bags and place in the freezer section of the refrigerator, adding a bag of it to the food each time I use it.
Used salt on my soak and peas didn’t absorb as much water. Great tip!
How do you make them crispy?
Drain and dry them. Toss with olive oil and salt. Bake at 425 (220) for around 25 minutes. Add desired seasoning.
When you add salt to the water, it’s boiling temperature get low. It mean water will never reached to 100🌡Celsius. That’s why it take longer time to cook. If not you have to increase the pressure inside the container to get it to 💯 Celsius. This is basic physics.! 🙏
Take home massage ;Always add salt later.!
Unfortunately this is wrong. Adding salt to water makes it boil at a higher temperature – although you’d have to add a lot of salt to make a measurable difference
thank you for sharing hw to cook chick peas without soaking them over night. I need them for tonight.
I used the no-soak method tonight and the chickpeas cooked perfectly. I love using warm beans to make hummus. It’s so much creamier! (And I’m using your 5 minute hummus recipe.) Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for such a thorough tutorial! I’ve been scared to cook chickpeas at home, but I tried your no-soak method tonight and it worked out wonderfully. It took just over an hour and a half for them to become tender. Now I’m going to make your chickpea salad!