Roasted chickpeas are no news to the foodie world. However, my first few attempts were disastrous. I tried them several times, with canned and home-cooked chickpeas. And ended up with some chewy, rubber-like and by no means crunchy balls. Simply because I didn’t roast them long enough. A few recipes in the Internet call for 20 minutes roasting time. I must have seen only these recipes and couldn’t quite figure out what went wrong. As I never had roasted chickpeas before, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. But chewy didn’t feel right, it tasted horrible.

Fast forward a year or so: by coincidence I came across a recipe for roasted chickpeas that call for 40-50 minutes roasting time. Now we are talking. My first few attempts were huge hits with my family, each batch was munched up within a very short time. The seasoning can be any combination of herbs and spices. For now, spicy  is our favorite. A hearty combination of cumin, paprika and cayenne pepper. A no-guilt snack that munches away as quickly as crisps.
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SPICY ROASTED CHICKPEAS
2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)

Serves 6
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Preheat oven to 180C/375F.

Spread the cooked chickpeas on a kitchen or paper towel and pat dry.
Combine spices and salt in a small bowl. Coat chickpeas with olive oil, then sprinkle spice mix over them. Toss until evenly coated.

Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast for about 45 minutes, or until crunchy and no longer soft inside. Let cool. Ready to serve.

9 Comments

  1. I’m right there with you! I’ve never understood the 20 minute roasting suggestion. These aren’t crunchy or snackable after 20 minutes; I roast mine for 22 minutes, stir them, then roast for another 18-22 more minutes. I love these so much!

  2. Ive wanted to try these for agessss but never new what flavourings to go for..until now! I trust your opinion utterly and plan on trying these asap! 🙂

  3. Can you use canned chickpeas?

  4. Thanks so much for posting this. I would’ve likely had the same experience as your first few if I hadn’t read this. I might try and throw in a bit of smoked paprika in addition to the sweet to changeup the flavor a bit. Thanks for the recipe 🙂

  5. Anja, your recipes are always brilliant! Another one for me for sure. Thanks.

  6. I love roasted chickpeas, but with mine I dry roast them for about a half an hour, then toss them with the oil + spices and put them back in the oven. They get even crunchier without the oil at the beginning.

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