Easy Oil-free Smoky Chipotle Chickpeas are easy and ready in 10 minutes. They are smoky, spicy, salty and slightly sweet and make the perfect topping over sweet potatoes or avocado toast!
These easy Oil-free Smoky Chipotle Chickpeas I’ve made so many times over the past several months and have shared them many times on Instagram. People have asked repeatedly for the recipe and I’m finally sharing it. The recipe is so ridiculously easy and simple and takes only 10 minutes to make!
I created these because I love to top my potatoes with something hearty and since I eat sweet potatoes usually a few times a week, I wanted some hearty and delicious chickpeas that took just minutes to prepare. And I wanted them to have lots of flavor. Any time you top a sweet potato, you need those pops of flavor to stand out. But one of my favorite ways is over this Pimento Cream Sauce.
This smoky chipotle spice mix has it all.
- Smoky
- Salty
- Spicy
- Slightly sweet
To make these chickpeas, it couldn’t be simpler. I mean, so simple.
After making your spice mix, you’ll rinse your chickpeas well and add them to a large pan with water and salt.
Cook for about 5 minutes until slightly tender and all the water is gone and you begin to hear a dry popping sound.
Stir the chickpeas around constantly just to slightly brown them. Remove and add them to a bowl.
Add the spice mixture and toss to coat them well. The warmth of the chickpeas with intensify the spicy flavors and dissolve the sugar a bit.
My favorite way to eat these is over sweet potatoes, as that was my original reason for creating them. I top them with my favorite Lemon Pepper Cream Sauce, as it’s a wonderful compliment and contrast to the spicy chickpeas. These chickpeas are also really delicious topped on avocado toast! You could also add them into tacos with lettuce, tomato and your favorite sauce.
If you love chickpeas, be sure to try these other recipes:
- Vegan Caesar Smashed Chickpea Sandwich
- Vegan Chickpea Tomato Ragu Sauce
- Easy Vegan Quick Curry
- Sweet Potato, Chickpea and Spinach Coconut Curry
Oil-Free Smoky Chipotle Chickpeas
Ingredients
- 2 15 oz cans low-sodium chickpeas drained and rinsed well (OR 3 cups cooked, 510g)
Smoky Chipotle Spice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons coconut sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
Instructions
- Whatever way you plan to serve these, like over a potato (yum!) then have your potato made first, as these come together super fast and are best eaten right away while warm.
- Make your spice mixture. Add all of the spices listed under "Smoky Chipotle Spice" to a small bowl and whisk well. Set aside.
- Add the drained/rinsed chickpeas to a large pan with 3 tablespoons water and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Turn the heat to high and once it begins to sizzle, cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often until the chickpeas are slightly tender and you begin to hear a dry popping sound. This means all the water is gone.
- Once the water is gone and it's popping, stir constantly for 2-3 minutes so that the chickpeas begin to lightly brown.
- Remove from the heat and add the chickpeas to a bowl. You do NOT want to add the spices to the pan because they will not stick well to the chickpeas that way and will just clump so you must transfer them to a bowl first.
- Add the spice mixture and toss to coat the chickpeas well. The warmth of the chickpeas with intensify the spicy flavors and dissolve the sugar a bit. They should taste smoky, spicy, salty and slightly sweet.
- My favorite way to eat these is over sweet potatoes, as that was my original reason for creating them. They are also really delicious topped on avocado toast! You could also add them into tacos with lettuce, tomato and your favorite sauce. I personally love to serve these with my Lemon Cream Sauce chickpeas over a sweet potato. The whole combo is so delicious!
Holy smokes! Even without the chipotle chili powder (which I could not find at 3 groceries locally), these chickpeas are amazing! We had them over pasta with your pimento cream sauce, but they are perfect even by themselves. All 5 kids loved them . . .perfect combination of smoky, spicy, and sweet. Thank you for crafting such a great recipe, Brandi!
So happy it was such a hit!
Hi Brandi
I like the sound if this recipe, don’t use salt atm.
Do you think I could substitute the sea salt with an alternative? Maybe sumac, what’s your thoughts?
Salt brings out the other spice flavors so I don’t know how sumac will compare, since I’ve never tried it! Without salt it may taste quite bland but you can certainly give it a try!
I tasted them first before putting on a sweet potato and they almost didn’t make it on; they were so good I didn’t want to stop eating them! A fast, easy recipe I can make with ingredients I have on hand. And soooooo delicious!!!
So happy to hear this!!
So excited to make this! What brand did you use for the chili chipotle powder?
I use the Spice Islands brand!
This recipe is delicious!!
I had my with plain yogurt.
Thank you!
Delicious! Made it without the coconut sugar and still really good. I used it as a topper for my Buddha bowl, will make again!