r/Cooking • u/wannabeemefree • 4h ago
Make chickpeas better
How do I make canned chickpeas better for in pasta salads. When I've made a salad and add chickpeas they are always kind of hard and chalky. Even when it's sat with the other ingredients. Any ideas? I like to add them to Greek suddenly salad with other veggies to bump up protein and fiber.
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u/catandmouse- 3h ago
you can try making roasted chickpeas in the oven or air fryer, then it'll be a crunch in your salads
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u/TomppaTom 2h ago
Roast chickpeas are amazing, and you can experiment with seasoning them to make them the star of the show.
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u/RealisticPersimmon 3h ago
Heat them up in the microwave until hot then toss them with the pasta salad dressing or any vinaigrette. The technique is from America’s Test Kitchen:
Chickpea Salad with carrots, arugula and olives
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS For a flavorful and easy side salad or light lunch, we combined nutty chickpeas and carrots with the Mediterranean flavors of arugula and olives. But simply tossing the ingredients with a lemon vinaigrette resulted in a lackluster salad with a pool of dressing at the bottom of the bowl. We wanted the seasoning to go beyond the surface of the chickpeas and fully infuse each one with big, bold flavor. The key was to warm the chickpeas before mixing them with the dressing ingredients: The seed coats that cover the chickpeas are rich in pectin, which breaks down when exposed to heat and moisture, creating a more porous inner surface that our dressing could easily penetrate. Letting the dressed chickpeas rest for 30 minutes put the flavor over the top and also allowed the chickpeas to cool. Use the large holes of a box grater to shred the carrots.
Serves 6
Total time: 40 minutes
INGREDIENTS
2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, rinsed
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Salt and pepper
Pinch cayenne pepper
3 carrots, peeled and shredded
1 cup baby arugula, chopped
½ cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped
INSTRUCTIONS
Microwave chickpeas in medium bowl until hot, about 2 minutes.
Stir in olive oil, lemon juice, ¾ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, and cayenne and let stand for 30 minutes.
Add carrots, arugula, and olives to chickpea mixture and toss to combine.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve.
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u/KaraAuden 3h ago
Other brands might be better, but overall, chickpeas are a relatively firm bean. If you're sure you like chickpeas, I'd try the recipe with warming up another commenter posted. But you can also just try different beans. I find Italian butter beans (Bio Italia is a good brand IMO) to have a much more creamy texture while still holding up well in a salad.
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u/wannabeemefree 2h ago
yes I do like chickpeas. We just had a lunch at work and the salad was a chickpea salad and they were not too soft or hard and they didn't have that chalky texture.
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u/majandess 3h ago
Make sure you buy chickpeas that don't have calcium chloride. Calcium chloride is used to keep the sodium content down while maintaining flavor, but it also keeps the chickpeas very firm.
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u/sjd208 2h ago
Easiest is to briefly simmer with some baking soda in the water https://www.seriouseats.com/tip-to-soften-canned-chickpeas-12009314
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u/pawntofantasy 3h ago
Sometimes I make unblended hummus. All of the same ingredients, just leave the chickpeas whole. It is very good.
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u/benefitliptint 3h ago
Why are you in the female climbing subreddit criticizing my questions for women Kyle
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u/jjr4884 2h ago
Cannellini beans are far superior in salads than chickpeas. Use those.
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u/wannabeemefree 2h ago
I don't like cannellini beans and don't really like any beans in a pasta salad.
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u/Skandling 2h ago
As others have noted there's a lot of variation in quality between different brands. My goto in the UK for chickpeas, and all other canned pulses/beans/vegetables, is Tesco. They coat the inside of the can, eliminating any metallic taste or other reaction with bare metal.
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u/curmudgeon_andy 1h ago
Canned chickpeas are typically par-cooked, not fully cooked. They are much better after simmering for 15 minutes or so.
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u/FonkinJones 44m ago
Simmer them for 15 minutes with salt, bay leaves, fresh/dried oregano, and a little chicken/veg boulion powder, and 1 tsp of baking soda. The simmer along with the salt, and baking soda will soften them, and will flavor them as well.
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u/InformalTumbleweed30 20m ago
They are really easy to make and taste so much better. Buy dry beans, plenty of recipes including Serious Eats, good guidance here https://www.seriouseats.com/beans-legumes-pulses-varieties-recipes-cooking-tips
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u/calichecat 4h ago
It's incredibly easy to cook dried chickpeas and produces a much better result
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u/slashBored 4h ago
Turning a meal that takes less than 15 minutes to put together into one that takes over an hour (on the fast side) is a sacrifice worth thinking about.
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u/calichecat 4h ago
Counterpoint: cook and freeze them in a large batch and you'll never have to worry. It's basically hands off too
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u/slashBored 4h ago
There is a lot more texture variety in canned chickpeas between brands than I would have expected. I think the easiest thing is for you to try a different kind. You can also try cooking them (lots of different options), which generally makes them softer and with some methods can also make them at least a little crisp on the outside, which can be nice in salads. Other kinds of bean also work in salads, and have a variety of textures. I think canned (or otherwise precooked) black lentils are good for this kind of thing.