It's about time we share one of our weekly staple recipes. We use these instant pot chickpeas in so many recipes, and you will find yourself making a batch every week! Is there anything that our little garbanzo beans can't do?
If you're as big of a bean lover as we are, you probably have an instant pot (or pressure cooker) to make your beans from scratch.
It's true that beans cooked from scratch just have more flavor. They also happen to be cheaper to make. Plus, a scoop of warm beans that have been freshly cooked is just heaven in a mug.
If you love my recipe for instant pot black beans, you will notice this one is even more simple, because it just relies on dried chickpeas, water, salt and pepper. While my instant pot pinto beans include vegetables for flavor, I prefer to keep the additions to instant pot chickpeas very simple. This is so we can use the cooked beans in many different ways.
Ingredients
We need very few ingredients for this recipe, but please do make sure that your dried beans are fresh. They shouldn't appear shriveled or dusty, and make sure to buy dried beans from a place where the turnover is high. Just because dried beans will sit on the shelf for years doesn't mean they are still fresh!
- Dried Chickpeas. Just 2 cups (or about 1 pound) of dried chickpeas. Also known as garbanzo beans. Rinse the beans and pick them over for any shriveled or broken beans.
- Water. I take the extra step of using filtered water when making beans, because they literally soak up the water they're cooked in. If your regular tap water has any funky flavors, we don't want to taste them in our bowl of freshly cooked beans.
- Salt. When cooking, I always use sea salt. Interestingly, we're going to add one teaspoon to the instant pot before cooking, and then stir in the final teaspoon after cooking. This way, the beans don't soak up too much of the salt, plus you'll have a flavorful brine to store extra beans in.
- Pepper. This is entirely optional, but a few grinds of fresh black pepper is so good here!
See recipe card for quantities.
How to Make No Soak Instant Pot Chickpeas
I'm going to share instructions as if you're using a 6-quart instant pot, just like I use. If you're using a regular pressure cooker, check your instructional manual for the best method of making chickpeas.
To the pot of your pressure cooker, add the dried beans, half of the salt and all of the black pepper.
Slowly pour in the 6 cups of filtered water.
Stir everything together, and then place the lid on the instant pot. Turn the valve to 'SEAL,' set it to 'PRESSURE COOK' on HIGH. Toggle the timer to 45 minutes. After about 15-20 minutes, the pot will come up to pressure and then the 45 minute timer will begin.
After the timer goes off, let the instant pot rest (also known as 'natural pressure release) for just 10 minutes. At the end of 10 minutes, use a long-handled wooden spoon to open the sealing valve and release the pressure. When the safety valve drops, it's safe to remove the lid. Then, stir in the final teaspoon of salt and let the beans rest in the pot for another 30 minutes to absorb the salt.
Hint: Yes, this recipe really used dried chickpeas that haven't been soaked. In my experience, cooking the beans directly from dry results in less overly mushy beans. However, if you would like to soak your beans before pressure cooking, reduce the cook time to 15-18 minutes. Please known that 15 minutes will result in firm beans that hold their shape, and 18 minutes is best if you're use the chickpeas for a hummus recipe.
To Soak or Not to Soak Instant Pot Chickpeas
As a professional bean lover, I want to say that I believe this particular recipe produces the best results when the beans are not soaked.
I don't usually agree with this; most of the time, beans benefit from a long, slow soak. Soaking tends to result in more evenly-cooked beans with a shorter cooking time.
However, I have made this recipe dozens of times, both with soaked chickpeas and unsoaked, and I prefer the unsoaked chickpeas! The beans cooked from dry beans tend to have far fewer split skins, and they never result in overly mushy beans.
If you do soak the beans, reduce the pressure cook time to 15-18 minutes. Please use 15 minutes for firmer beans that you would use whole in a salad, like my Mediterranean Chickpea Salad. Use closer to 18 minutes if you will be pureeing the beans into hummus without tahini. (I also have a recipe for hummus without garlic for you).
Variations
This recipe is pretty straightforward, but I want to address some questions I think might come up.
- Beans - This method is for chickpeas only, because all beans have different cook times. If you use the beans, please search my site for their cook time.
- Spices - You can absolutely add more things to the cooking liquid to flavor the beans slightly. I recommend a few garlic cloves, a bay leaf, a sprinkle of cumin or epazote, or even half of an onion.
Storage
Since we're cooking one pound of chickpeas, I'm sure you will have leftovers! If you will use the beans within a day, you can drain them and store in the fridge until you make my Buddha Bowl recipe. However, for up to 3 days of storage, store these beans in their cooking liquid.
Instant Pot Chickpeas
Easy instant pot chickpeas, just water, salt and unsoaked dry chickpeas.
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried chickpeas (about 1 pound)
- 6 cups filtered water
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt, divided use
- A few grinds of black pepper
Instructions
- Rinse and drain the chickpeas, and pick out any broken beans or any that are shriveled or discolored.
- Place the beans in the bottom of a 6-quart instant pot. Add the water and 1 teaspoon of the salt and pepper.
- Place the lid on the instant pot, secure it closed, and turn the valve to SEAL. Press PRESSURE COOK and set it to HIGH. Toggle the timer to 45 minutes. When the instant pot has reached pressure (after about 15-20 minutes), it will beep and begin counting down the 45 minutes.
- After the timer is done, let the instant pot rest for 10 minutes. This is also called a natural pressure release, though it will not release all of the pressure and the sealing valve will not drop. After 10 minutes, use a long-handled wooden spoon to carefully open the sealing valve. Be careful—very hot steam will pour out! Stand back.
- After all of the steam is out and the pressure valve drops, it is safe to open the instant pot. Remove the lid, and give the beans a stir. Taste at least 5 beans to make sure they’re tender. If not, replace the lid and pressure cook another 2 minutes. 45 minutes is the perfect cooking time for chickpeas that still hold their shape for salads and don’t lose too much of their skins during cooking. Once you’re happy with the tenderness of the beans, stir in the remaining teaspoon of salt, and let the beans rest in the liquid for at least 30 minutes. The beans are now ready to use or store for future use.
Notes
Soaking: If you do soak the beans, reduce the pressure cook time from 45 minutes down to 15-18 minutes. Please use 15 minutes for firmer beans that you would use whole in a salad, or 18 minutes if you will be pureeing the beans.
Beans: This method is for chickpeas only, because all beans have different cook times.
Spices - You can absolutely add more things to the cooking liquid to flavor the beans slightly, such as a few garlic cloves, a bay leaf, a sprinkle of cumin or epazote, or even half of an onion.
Storage: If you will use the beans within a day, you can drain them fully and store them in the fridge. However, for up to 3 days of storage, store these beans in their cooking liquid.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 68Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 539mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 3gSugar: 2gProtein: 4g
Lois
I am on a low sodium diet and buy canned beans with no sodium added. They beans usually contain 10mg sodium per serving. How many milligrams of sodium are there in your instant pot recipes for black beans and chickpeas?
BeanRecipes
AT the very bottom of the recipe card, nutritional information is listed. This is hard to calculate for this particular recipe, because most of the salt stays in the liquid of the beans. It's unclear how much is absorbed by the actual beans. Plus, most recipes call for beans to be rinsed before using, which further reduces the sodium. If I were you, I would add half the amount of salt called for, and then rinse the beans before using in a recipe.
Stephanie
Have you ever tried freezing cooked chickpeas? I'd love to make a batch and freeze them for easy use later instead of resorting to canned
BeanRecipes
I have, but I don't like the results when they're defrosted. If I'm going to use defrosted chickpeas for hummus or soup, I'm okay with it. But I have found that frozen chickpeas don't always hold their shape. The best way to prevent this is to slightly undercook them, freeze, and then add a few extra minutes to a recipe where you want to use them. This way, they hold their shape better after being frozen.