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 has opened so many new opportunities to me! Exhibit A: cooking beans from scratch. Normally, this process takes a lot of time and effort, and you need to keep an eye on them while they simmer on the stove. Thanks to the Instant Pot, you can push a few buttons and have delicious chickpeas from scratch waiting for you.
Today I’m talking to you about Instant Pot chickpeas. I’ve been making my chickpeas this way for a few months now and I don’t think I can go back to canned now!
Not only does it save money (a 4 lb bag of chickpeas costs me $5.80 and is the equivalent of about 24 cups, or 12 cans of chickpeas!!), but they just taste better. Let’s discuss!
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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
How to cook chickpeas in an Instant Pot
Cooking chickpeas in an Instant Pot is pretty much the easiest way to cook them!
- Combine chickpeas, water, salt and bay leaves in an Instant Pot
- Pressure cook! Depending on if you soaked or not, you will use different times
- Natural release for 10 minutes, then release the rest of the pressure.
How to store Instant Pot chickpeas? Store in the fridge in a sealed container (and some of the 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 jars off until completely frozen).
Don’t I need to soak the chickpeas? This is a very controversial subject (in terms of chickpeas, LOL!). Some people swear that soaking chickpeas makes them easier to digest. I have not personally noticed a difference. I skip this step in favor of easy prep.
How can I use up my Instant Pot Chickpeas? Guess what? I have a LOT of chickpea recipes for ya!
- Spicy Roasted Chickpeas
- Korean BBQ Chickpea Bento Bowls
- Vegan Roasted Veggie Meal Prep + Turmeric Tahini Sauce
- Vegan Moroccan Chickpea Skillet
- Chickpea Salad Bento Box
- Instant Pot Chickpea Curry
- Thai Chickpea Mason Jar Salads
Tips & Equipment for Instant Pot chickpeas
- this is my 6 quart Instant Pot
- to cut this recipe in half, simply halve the ingredients and cook for the same amount of time
- looking for more basic Instant Pot Recipes? Check out these Perfect Black Beans, Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash and Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats!
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 manual 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.
Linda Daniel
Where do I find the 5/19 update for soaked garbanzos?
Denise
Hi Linda, so sorry about that but I had a few issues with the soaked garbanzos in my 8 quart instant pot so I took the instructions down for the time being. I recommend sticking with the unsoaked recipe for now. Apologies!
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 🙂
Denise
Hi Beth (apparently I deleted my comment by mistake!) I just retested this no soak version and had no issues at all. The chickpeas were soft but not mushy…they still had a good chew to them. So I’m wondering if you could clarify what the issue was for you? Were the chickpeas too soft, or did the liquid come out of the valve when doing the pressure release? Thanks so much for your feedback.
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!
Ella
I have the 3 quart instant pot followed your directions using whole bag of chickpeas which I soaked overnight. pressure high 10 min 10 min rest quick release. they came out mushy funny thing about that quick release though came out shooting everywhere (: the steam turn into hot water it was a mess had to throw them away.
Next time, I still soaked overnight but I did half the bag less baking soda
came out much better but soft. 10 min low pressure 10 min rest and quick release. Last batch no baking soda 5 min low
10 min rest quick release perfect. Thank you Trial and error. FYI the chickpeas that came out soft roasting, as I type Thanks again
Denise
Hi Ella! If you are using a 3 quart Instant Pot, you are probably going to need to half most recipes on the internet as most people are using the 6 quart when testing these recipes. Thanks for reporting back on your cook time for the chickpeas in your 3 quart 🙂