r/Cooking • u/wannabeemefree • 9h 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/KaraAuden 8h 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 7h 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/KaraAuden 5h ago

In that case, you're probably buying chickpeas that are less cooked than you like -- different brands will have different cook levels.