Instant Pot Chickpeas (No Soaking Required)

A zoomed in image of cooked chickpeas in a metal strainer with a blue napkin.

5 from 1 vote

Instant Pot Chickpeas (No Soaking Required)

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.

Prep Time10

Cook Time45

Natural Release20

Total Time1 15

Course: Appetizer, Dinner, Side Dish

Cuisine: American, Indian

Keyword: how to cook dried chickpeas, instant pot chickpeas, instant pot garbanzo beans, instapot chickpeas

Servings:

Calories: 138kcal

Author: Kari

Equipment

an Instant Pot or pressure cooker
a metal colander/strainer
measuring spoons
a cutting board
a sharp knife

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

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.)

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