How to make Instant Pot Chickpeas- no soaking required! Cooking your chickpeas from scratch will save you money and tastes so much better than canned.
The Instant Pot makes it so incredibly easy to cook ingredients that normally take a long time. We love cooking Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash and Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes, and these Instant Pot chickpeas are on repeat as well!
This year I’ve been making chickpeas from scratch in the Instant Pot instead of using canned chickpeas to cut down on our kitchen waste. Not only is it super easy to cook them up and freeze, but they taste so much better than canned chickpeas.
It also happens to save us money- a 4 lb bag of chickpeas costs me $5.80 (CDN) and is the equivalent of about 24 cups, or 12 cans of chickpeas!!
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We love Instant Pot chickpeas because
- they save us money
- they taste way better than canned
- thanks to the Instant Pot, they are so quick & easy to make
- you can skip the soaking step if you’re like me and always forget!
- you can cut this recipe in half and cook for the same amount of time if you don’t want to eat chickpeas all month
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How to cook chickpeas in an Instant Pot
Cooking chickpeas in an Instant Pot is pretty much the easiest way to cook them!
- Weigh out 1 lb of chickpeas (this is roughly 2 1/4 cups if you don’t own a kitchen scale)
- Pick through them for stones or bad chickpeas. Look for chickpeas that are grey and remove.
- Rinse chickpeas, then add to the Instant Pot with water, bay leaves and salt.
- Pressure cook for 35 minutes.
- Natural pressure release for 20 minutes for ‘al dente’ chickpeas, or full pressure release until the pin drops (roughly 40-50 minutes) for softer chickpeas.
Meal prep tips
- half batch– if you don’t need 6+ cups of cooked chickpeas, you can cut this recipe in half. Use the same cook time.
- storage– after cooking, your Instant Pot chickpeas can be stored in the fridge for 4 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
- freezer– portion out your chickpeas into mason jars and top with the cooking liquid. Cool completely before freezing (leave lids ajar and 1/4 of the jar empty to allow for expansion during freezing).
- old beans– if you are using old beans, they may take longer to cook.
Find my Instant Pot models, jars and other kitchen equipment in my shop!
How to store cooked chickpeas? Store in the fridge in a sealed container (cover with cooking liquid) for up to 4 days. For longer term storage, freeze! I freeze in jars (leave 1/4 of the jar empty to account for expansion, and leave the lids off until completely frozen).
Don’t I need to soak the dried beans? Some people swear that soaking chickpeas makes them easier to digest and reduces gas/bloating. I have not personally noticed a difference between soaked and unsoaked chickpeas. I skip this step in favor of easy prep.
How can I use up my chickpeas? There are so many ways you can use these chickpeas. Here are three of my faves:
More Instant Pot recipes
- Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats
- Parmesan Instant Pot Mashed Cauliflower
- Instant Pot Applesauce
- Bone Broth Recipe (Instant Pot, Stove Top, Slow Cooker)
- Instant Pot Whole Chicken
Instant Pot Chickpeas Video
Want to see exactly how to cook these Instant Pot Chickpeas? Watch this 1-minute video! You can find more recipe videos on my YouTube channel.
Instant Pot Chickpeas
Ingredients
- 1 lb dry chickpeas (roughly 2 1/4 cups)
- 6-7 cups water (cover by 1.5 inches)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 bay leaves
Instructions
- Rinse chickpeas and look through to pick out any bad ones or stones.
- Add to the Instant Pot with all remaining ingredients
- Cook on high pressure for 35 minutes.
- Al dente chickpeas- Allow pressure to naturally release 20 minutes before releasing remaining pressure.Softer chickpeas- allow pressure to fully naturally release until the pin drops (40-50 minutes).
- Cool completely and store.
Storage
- Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 6 months.
Amy
Quick, simple, delicious, worked great! Thanks for the recipe!
Denise
So happy to hear this, Amy! Thanks for coming back and leaving a review <3
Nina
These were the perfect texture and had so much flavor! Thanks for the recipe!
Denise
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed, Nina! Thanks so much for your review 🙂
Richard
Thanks for the recipe.
BTW, when you discuss freezing, you wrote ‘keep the jars off until frozen’.
Pretty sure you wanted to write “keep the lids off … “
Denise
LOL oops! Thanks for pointing that out 🙂
Danielle
Hi Denise! I’m trying yet another one of your recipes and am super excited, but have a question. I am going to make the full batch recipe and then freeze what I don’t need for this week’s meal prep (Farro & Chickpea Salad). Once I am ready to use the frozen ones, do I simply thaw and use normally? In other words, can I use them in a salad where they aren’t cooked any further or are they best to then use in a recipe that involves further cooking/seasoning? Also, when you freeze them in the jar do you add liquid (like when you store in the fridge) or just the chickpeas?
Denise
Hi Danielle! They should be fine in a salad, the texture might be slightly softer than what you’re used to but if that’s OK with you I’d go for it! Hope this helps 🙂
Jody
Question: If I can freeze the cooked chickpeas, can I freeze them in a ziplock instead of a glass jar? Or would they do better sealed in a bag(vacuum sealed)? Thank You! I can’t wait to try these and moe away from so many cans 😉
Denise
Hi Jody! Yes, that should work as well! I squeeze out as much air as possible and freeze them flat so they’re easier to store. Hope you enjoy!