These Instant Pot Chickpeas are cheaper and taste better than canned! Cooking chickpeas is the ideal job for a pressure cooker.
Did you know you can make dried chickpeas in an Instant Pot in under an hour? Since it takes a while to cook dried beans on the stove, Alex and I use canned beans most of the time. We just got an Instant Pot and learned that cooking beans in a pressure cooker takes less than an hour! Consider us impressed. Cooking dried beans is cheaper than buying them canned, And they taste better.
For our first pressure cooker beans recipe, we chose to use dried garbanzo beans (aka garbanzo beans). Alex and I use them all the time in salads, hearty bowls and curries. Read on for a video on how to cook chickpeas in an Instant Pot and some of our favorite chickpea recipes!
Check out how to cook chickpeas in an Instant Pot
What is an Instant Pot?
An Instant Pot is an electric pressure cooker. Instant Pot is actually the brand name; There are many other brands of electric pressure cookers. Here’s the Instant Pot we used: Instant Pot 6-Quart Pressure Cooker. The Instant Pot concept for cooking food under high pressure, drastically reducing cooking time. It’s the opposite of a slow cooker, which cooks things very slowly.
We’ve been experimenting with our Instant Pot for years and have many healthy and delicious Instant Pot recipes. Cooking grains and dried beans is one of our favorite uses for pressure cookers because it’s easy and convenient!
Why Make Instant Pot Chickpeas?
Cooking dried beans on the stovetop usually takes several hours to soak and then a few hours to cook. You should also check the chickpeas often towards the end of the cooking time to see if they are done. Here’s why homemade Instant Pot chickpeas:
- It’s fast and hands-free. The method is really convenient and the chickpeas cook perfectly every time. It’s most reliable if you soak them before cooking (see below).
- It’s cheaper than canned. While we love eating canned chickpeas, cooking the beans in a pressure cooker is cheaper: about half or more the canned price!
- It’s MUCH tastier than canned. The texture and flavor of Instant Pot Home-Cooked Chickpeas are better than a can. These chickpeas have a slightly nuttier flavor and firmer texture than canned ones, which can be mushy and have a dull taste.
Should You Soak Instant Pot Chickpeas?
Good question. Short answer? It makes the most reliable chickpeas in a pressure cooker. We’ve experimented with soaking and no-soaking. Here’s what you need to know (updated December 2020):
- Soaking will cook the chickpeas most tenderly and evenly. We know that takes anticipation. But it’s really worth it! All you have to do is soak in the bowl of your pressure cooker overnight (or during your workday). Cover the chickpeas with 2 inches of water and let them soak for 10-12 hours.
- What if you don’t have time to soak? You can also make unsoaked chickpeas! You will only pressure cook them for 35 minutes instead of 23 minutes. Remember that not soaked is drier. If you’re using them for something like hummus, you’ll need to add more liquid. See the recipe below!
How long does it take to cook chickpeas from the Instant Pot?
The cooking time for Instant Pot Chickpeas are 23 minutes. Incredibly fast, right? But remember, the Instant Pot requires a “warm-up” time to build up pressure and a “cool-down” time to release pressure. In this recipe, it is preheated for about 20 minutes and then naturally released for 20 minutes.
That means the real The total cook time of the Instant Pot chickpeas is 63 minutes. That’s even shorter than the time it takes on the stove. This makes it a lot more likely that we’ll be making dried chickpeas in our Instant Pot! And other types of dried beans too: like our Instant Pot Refried Beans.
Ways to Use Instant Pot Chickpeas
How to use these chickpeas in the pressure cooker? Count the ways. Here are some other chickpea recipes where you can use them:
More Instant Pot Recipes
The Instant Pot is perfect for cooking sweet potatoes, rice, quinoa, dried beans, mashed potatoes and even soups. In fact: you can ditch your rice cooker and slow cooker in favor of the Instant Pot! Here are some other Instant Pot recipes to try:
This Instant Pot Chickpeas recipe is…
Vegetarian, gluten free, vegan, plant based, dairy free, naturally sweetened and refined sugar free.
The description
These Instant Pot Chickpeas are cheaper and taste better than canned! Cooking chickpeas is the ideal job for a pressure cooker. Reliability update December 2020.
- The day before or the day before (recommended): Place the chickpeas in the Instant Pot and cover with water. Soak for 10 to 12 hours, then drain. This will result in the most tender chickpeas, which will be cooked most evenly (see notes below*).
- Place the chickpeas in the Instant Pot and cover with 1 inch (about 6 cups) of water. Add kosher salt. Lock the lid. Place the pressure relief (vent) handle in the “seal” position.
- Cook at high pressure for 23 minutes (soaked) or 35 minutes (not soaked*): Press the pressure cook button, make sure the ‘high pressure’ setting is selected and set the time. It will take about 15-20 minutes for the pan to “preheat” and build pressure before it begins to cook. Wait for the Instant Pot to boil. (Note: Avoid touching the metal part of the lid during cooking.)
- Natural release for 20 minutes: After the Instant Pot beeps, wait another 20 minutes to allow the Instant Pot to naturally depressurize. (Tip: we set a timer for this part so you don’t forget!) Next, release any remaining steam by setting the vent to “air” and covering your hand with a towel or heating pad. Never put your hands or face near the opening when dispensing steam. (The pressure gauge in the lid may drop off by itself after 10 minutes, which means there is no more steam in the pan.)
- Open the lid and taste a chickpea to see if it’s soft. Some brands of chickpeas and pressure cookers require longer cooking times. If it isn’t tender, cook on high pressure for a few more minutes and quickly release. Once cooked, drain and use immediately, refrigerate 4-5 days or freeze indefinitely. We freeze the drained chickpeas in airtight containers in 1.5-cup portions, which equals 1 15-ounce can.
Remarks
IMPORTANT: Read and follow all safety instructions in your Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker manual.
*Soaked chickpeas give the most reliable results: they’re more tender, cook evenly, and come closest to canned chickpeas. Unsoaked chickpeas can be quite dry; If using them in hummus, you may need to add more water than the recipe calls for to achieve a creamy consistency.
- Category: main course, side dish
- Method: pressure cooker
- Kitchen: American
Keywords: Instant Pot Chickpeas, Instant Pot Chickpeas, Instant Pot Chickpeas, Instant Pot Chickpeas
Last update: December 2020
