A Faster (Better?) Way to Crispy Chickpea

For all of your pizza night salad (or entertaining) needs

Dec 06, 2024

Pizza Friends, hello! And happy Friday.

Like many this week, I found myself craving vegetables and salads, and the two together, tossed with toasted nuts and seeds, fresh and dried fruits, crumbly cheese, soft cheese, shaved cheese, and really anything I could pull from the fridge or pantry that made sense.

For one such salad, I made a batch of roasted chickpeas. And one bite reminded me why I don’t make them more often: I’m not a fan. I want to love them. They always look so promising, rattling around the sheet pan like marbles as they emerge from the oven, their surfaces glistening, speckled with salt and spices.

But for me, they just don’t deliver. It’s not that they’re not crisp… they are! It’s not that they’re too crispy… they aren’t! Meely isn’t completely accurate, but it’s not far off.

I have tried various methods — roasting at higher temperatures (425ºF) for shorter periods of time (20-30 minutes); roasting at moderate temperatures (375ºF) for longer periods of time (45-ish minutes); roasting them coated with oil and spices from the beginning; roasting them dry first, then coating them with oil and spices halfway through; etc.

These experiments were not conducted in any systematic America’s Test Kitchen fashion, but rather over various years, every attempt conducted after enough time had passed to allow me to forget, to give me renewed hope, to make me think: Maybe this time will be different?

I know I am in the minority here. These recipes have hundreds of 5-star reviews. I had finally accepted I simply don’t like crispy chickpeas — that I prefer brothy chickpeas or ones blitzed into dreamy purées. I actually feel this way about tofu, too: I prefer it soft and boiled to crisp and pan-seared.

But a few years ago, I made Milk Street’s crispy chickpea recipe, which calls for coating the drained and dried chickpeas in cornstarch, shaking off the excess, pan-frying the chickpeas in a quarter cup of olive oil for 5 minutes, then seasoning with salt and spices.

Given my lengthier oven experiments, I had my doubts, but I was so pleased with the results: crisp exteriors, soft centers, perfectly seasoned, delicious. And for the effort — 5 minutes! no oven preheat! I haven’t looked back since.

Friends, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of oven-roasted chickpeas (on the left) and pan-fried (on the right) both made with drained and dried canned chickpeas.

I actually think the oven-roasted chickpeas are more visually appealing than the pan-fried, but there was no question from any of my evaluators (husband + children) about which tasted better.

One final note: the oven-roasted chickpea recipe I used and many others I referenced on the web called for 1 tablespoon of olive oil; the pan-fried recipe called for 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Four times as much olive oil definitely could lend more flavor, but when I removed the chickpeas from the pan using my slotted spatula and measured the amount of oil remaining, it was roughly 2 tablespoons. So I don’t think the difference in flavor/texture here has to do with the amount of oil so much as the method.

Friends as you can see from the top photo and the photos below, I used these crispy chickpeas to bulk up a salad but truthfully I don’t think salad is their best use… sigh. They go soft quickly and the user experience is tricky — they kind of get lost and they’re hard to stab with a fork… I sound so old!

So where does this leave us? Maybe make these when you’re looking for a quick fun appetizer when entertaining? Or as a decorative hummus topper? Or if you don’t mind the crispy-gone-soggy texture, by all means, pile them atop your salads with abandon.

The Recipe: Crispy Chickpeas (with Clean-Out-The-Fridge Salad)

Let’s start with the chickpeas: First, you’ll need to rinse and drain* a can of chickpeas:

Then you’ll pat them dry:

If at this step any skins slip off, I collect them and toss them:

Transfer the chickpeas to a bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch:

Shake them in a sieve to remove the excess cornstarch:

Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a skillet until it shimmers, then add the chickpeas:

Cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, adjusting the heat as needed until they are evenly golden and crispy:

Transfer them to a bowl and add some spices, salt, and a pinch of sugar, if you wish:

The original recipe calls for cumin and smoked paprika. I love using Aleppo pepper or Silk chili (which is the Turkish variety of Aleppo pepper):

Toss to combine, taste, and adjust seasoning as needed:

For this salad, I pulled three different lettuces from the fridge, some par-cooked fingerling potatoes, red onion, a pomegranate, and a persimmon:

Incidentally, I think the easiest way to slice persimmon thinly is to leave the skin on and use a mandoline (being careful of your fingers). They’re such a pain to peel, and once you peel them, they’re so slippery. When they’re thinly sliced, the skin doesn’t bother me.