{"id":8926,"date":"2017-03-15T09:10:46","date_gmt":"2017-03-15T16:10:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oneingredientchef.com\/?p=8926"},"modified":"2017-03-15T10:44:11","modified_gmt":"2017-03-15T17:44:11","slug":"cook-chickpeas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oneingredientchef.com\/cook-chickpeas\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Cook (and Freeze) Dried Chickpeas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

I recently started cooking my own chickpeas from scratch instead of buying them canned and there\u2019s at least 37 really good reasons to do this. For example:<\/p>\n

\u2013 They taste a million times better<\/p>\n

\u2013 They cost a fraction of canned chickpeas ($1.60 per pound, or about 4x cheaper)<\/p>\n

\u2013 You can control the sodium<\/p>\n

\u2013 No added chemicals, preservatives, or weird stuff like BPA from the can liners.<\/p>\n

\u2013 By freezing a few bags, you always have a convenient supply of cooked chickpeas right when you need them.<\/p>\n

The first time I made these, I practically ate the entire batch like it was popcorn. Freshly-cooked chickpeas have a much more satisfying firm texture, softer flavors, and a sense of freshness that you just can\u2019t get from something that\u2019s been sitting in brine for months.<\/p>\n

Best of all, the process of cooking chickpeas is incredibly simple, so I thought I\u2019d put together a quick tutorial on how it\u2019s done. Trust me, you\u2019ll never go back to canned beans again…<\/p>\n

Step One: Buy<\/h4>\n

\"\"
\nRepeat after me: \u201cI will not be afraid of the bulk bins.\u201d Seriously, the bulk bins are my favorite part of the grocery store. You can save 50% or more on products that are (usually) fresher and have less waste than their prepackaged counterparts. That\u2019s definitely the case here. $1.60 for a pound of chickpeas will yield about 3.5 cans which would cost 4-5x as much.<\/p>\n

So grab the big spoon and measure out about a pound of chickpeas. See how easy this is so far?<\/p>\n

Step Two: Soak<\/h4>\n

\"\"
\nChickpeas need to soak before cooking \u2013 preferably overnight. You might be able to get by with 3 hours, but 8 is ideal. A good rule of thumb is to allow them to double in size, as you can see from the photos above.<\/p>\n

I like to rinse the chickpeas as well. So pour them into a large bowl and fill with water, then run your hands through them to sort out any debris. Pour that water out and fill again with fresh soaking water. Set aside overnight.<\/p>\n

Step Three: Cook<\/h4>\n

\"\"
\nYou need to cook the chickpeas for an hour, or up to 90 minutes if you want them really soft. So begin warming a big stockpot of water. Drain the chickpeas of their soaking water and pour them into the stockpot when it reaches a boil. If you want salty chickpeas, now is the time to add salt into the water. I added a full teaspoon (remember, most of it will get drained out with the water) and they turned out perfect. Now turn down the heat slightly and allow them to simmer for 60+ minutes.<\/p>\n

Step Four: Drain<\/h4>\n

\"\"
\nIf you\u2019re freezing the chickpeas (next step), draining is super important to remove the moisture so that you don\u2019t end up with a bag of ice later on. Once you\u2019ve tasted the chickpeas to ensure they\u2019re soft and the raw\/green taste is gone, remove them from the heat and carefully pour them through your colander (preferably a 1970\u2019s-era baby blue one\u2026) and just let them sit there for 10-20 minutes, so that the steam & moisture can evaporate. You can use these as-is now, or freeze them for later use.<\/p>\n

Step Five: Freeze<\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The best way to make sure you always have chickpeas on hand is to make a big ol\u2019 batch like this and then freeze them so that you don\u2019t have to go through this entire process each time you want some curry or chickpea tuna salad. So, once the chickpeas are thoroughly drained and dry, pour them into a Tupperware container or zip-top bag and freeze for up to a year.<\/p>\n

Pro Tip:<\/strong> One of the problems with fresh chickpeas is trying to figure out how many to use in recipes that call for “1 can of chickpeas.” I figured out that one can is approximately 14 oz (by volume) of chickpeas. So get out a measuring cup and portion out 14 oz of chickpeas into each zip-top bag and freeze each \u201ccan\u201d individually.<\/p>\n

That’s all there is to it! If you’re ready to kick the can for good, you can apply the same process to all the canned beans in your cupboard for fresher, cheaper, tastier, and (potentially) healthier beans that are just as convenient as the slimy canned versions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently started cooking my own chickpeas from scratch instead of buying them canned and there\u2019s at least 37 really good reasons to do this. For example: \u2013 They taste… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8936,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oneingredientchef.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8926"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oneingredientchef.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oneingredientchef.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oneingredientchef.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oneingredientchef.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/oneingredientchef.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oneingredientchef.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oneingredientchef.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oneingredientchef.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oneingredientchef.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}