Say goodbye to soaking dried chickpeas for hours. These Instant Pot chickpeas are tender, flavorful, and ready for making hummus or your favorite dinner in just about an hour.
I love any excuse to use my Instant Pot, so the challenge of trying to make perfect chickpeas sounded really fun. My husband LOVES hummus, so we tried a few different cooking methods in our Instant Pot to see what gave us the best texture for both making hummus and for cooking later on.
One of the perks to cooking chickpeas this way is that they have so much more flavor than they would had they been soaked first – they absorb all of the deliciousness from the liquid that they are cooked in.
Table of Contents
🥘 Ingredients
- Dried Chickpeas
- Water
- Kosher Salt
- Bay Leaves
- Garlic Cloves
- A Whole Onion
🍽 Equipment Needed
- An Instant Pot
- A Metal Strainer
- A Cutting Board and Knife
🥣 How to Make Them
Cooking chickpeas in an Instant Pot could not be easier. Best of all, there is no soaking needed.
Begin by peeling a head of garlic and smashing the cloves. I use pretty much the whole head unless it is huge – around 10 – 12 cloves. Then slice an onion in half and remove the peel.
Now, add the chickpeas, water, bay leaves, kosher salt, garlic cloves, and onion to the Instant Pot.
Give it a quick stir to mix everything together then, put the lid on and turn the vent to sealing,
Next, set the Instant Pot to Manual Mode at High Pressure for 45 minutes.
When the cooking cycle is complete, let the pressure Naturally Release (ie, do nothing, just leave it alone) for 20 minutes.
When 20 minutes is up, carefully release any remaining pressure.
Once the pin has dropped, carefully open the lid. There will be some extra liquid – that’s fine.
Strain the chickpeas to remove them from the liquid, then pick out the bay leaves, garlic, and onion. If you are not going to use the chickpeas right away, save some of the liquid for storing.
Let the chickpeas cool, then use them for hummus, your favorite dinner, or save them in the refrigerator for up to a week to use on salads or in other meals!
🙋♀️ Frequently Asked Questions
There is no difference. Chickpeas and garbanzo beans are the same thing!
If you don’t have an Instant Pot, the best way to cook dried chickpeas is to let them soak overnight first covered by at least two inches of water. Then, in the morning, transfer the beans to a pot on the stove and again, cover with at least two inches of water. Add the same ingredients as below, (bay leaves, salt, garlic cloves, and an onion) then bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer for 35 – 40 minutes with a lid on.
Yes, chickpeas are a legume.
1 cup of dry chickpeas yields around 3 cups of cooked chickpeas.
🍳 Serving Suggestions & Uses
We love to use these chickpeas to make hummus, curries, and crispy air fryer baked chickpeas.
Approximate Yield: 1 cup of dried chickpeas makes about 3 cups of cooked chickpeas. This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled to make a large batch, just make sure your Instant Pot can handle that much liquid. (Do not exceed the Max Fill line.)
🥫 Storage/Shelf Life/Reheating
Once cooled, store cooked chickpeas in a little bit of their cooking liquid in the refrigerator for up to one week. If they sit for too long they will start to get slimy.
✏️ Helpful Tips
- To make less crunchy chickpeas, you can cook them for up to one hour. They will be soft but still have a little texture. To make chickpeas that are just melt in your mouth creamy – really only for making hummus because they will fall apart if you stab them with a fork, you can soak them before cooking them. Soak for 12 hours, then cook them for 15 minutes with a 20 minute Natural Release. Chickpeas cooked this way will be so soft you can make hummus by just mashing them with a fork.
- Store cooked chickpeas in a little bit of their cooking liquid. This will keep them from drying out too much.
- You can also use a little of the starchy cooking liquid when making hummus – it makes the puree a little thicker and smoother.
🌯 Other Great Bean Recipes
- Louisiana Red Beans & Rice
- Slow Cooker White Beans & Ham
- Instant Pot Pasta e Fagioli
- Pasta e Fagioli
- Instant Pot Southern Style Green Beans
Have You Tried This Recipe?
Please rate it and leave a comment below. I would love to hear what you think!
📝 Recipe
Instant Pot Chickpeas (No Soaking Required)
Equipment
- a metal colander/strainer
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried chickpeas
- 4 cups water
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 10 – 12 garlic cloves I usually just use one small head of garlic, then peel and smash the cloves to extract the flavor.
- 1 white or yellow onion halved and peeled
Instructions
- Begin by peeling a head of garlic and smashing the cloves. I use pretty much the whole head unless it is huge – around 10 – 12 cloves. Then slice an onion in half and remove the peel.
- Now, add the chickpeas, water, bay leaves, kosher salt, garlic cloves, and onion to the Instant Pot.1 cup dried chickpeas, 4 cups water, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 10 – 12 garlic cloves, 1 white or yellow onion
- Give it a quick stir to mix everything together then, put the lid on and turn the vent to sealing.
- Next, set the Instant Pot to Manual Mode at High Pressure for 45 minutes.
- When the cooking cycle is complete, let the pressure Naturally Release (ie, do nothing, just leave it alone) for 20 minutes.
- When 20 minutes is up, carefully release any remaining pressure. (Stand back.)
- When the pin drops, carefully open the lid. There will be some extra liquid – that's fine.
- Strain the chickpeas to remove them from the liquid, then pick out the bay leaves, garlic, and onion. If you are not going to use the chickpeas right away, save some of the excess liquid for storing.
- Let the chickpeas cool, then use them for hummus, your favorite dinner, or save them in the refrigerator for up to a week to use on salads or in other meals!
Video
Notes
Tips
- To make less crunchy chickpeas, you can cook them for up to one hour. They will be soft but still have a little texture. To make chickpeas that are just melt in your mouth creamy – really only for making hummus because they will fall apart if you stab them with a fork, you can soak them before cooking them. Soak for 12 hours, then cook them for 15 minutes with a 20 minute Natural Release. Chickpeas cooked this way will be so soft you can make hummus by just mashing them with a fork.
- Store cooked chickpeas in a little bit of their cooking liquid. This will keep them from drying out too much.
- You can also use a little of the starchy cooking liquid when making hummus – it makes the puree a little thicker and smoother.
How to Use Cooked Chickpeas
We love to use these chickpeas to make hummus, curries, and crispy air fryer baked chickpeas.How to Store Cooked Chickpeas
Once cooled, store cooked chickpeas in a little bit of their cooking liquid in the refrigerator for up to one week. If they sit for too long, they will start to get slimy.Nutrition
Nutrition information is approximate and is automatically calculated, so should only be used as a guide.
