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Instant Pot Chickpeas. No soaking, no fancy stuff, just a simple pot of garbanzo beans, cooked from dried in about an hour. And they make fantastic hummus!
Chickpeas are one of my pantry staples. I always keep some on hand, so I can make hummus as a quick appetizer. For years, those pantry chickpeas were in cans. Then I learned how easy it is to cook chickpeas in a pressure cooker.
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Homemade chickpeas have a deeper flavor and a creamier mouthfeel than canned. And the bean cooking liquid is delicious - it adds another layer of flavor to any recipe you use it in. Try some homemade chickpeas; you will be surprised at how much better they taste. (I'm not against canned chickpeas. They work, if you're in a hurry. But if you have an hour, homemade chickpeas are so much better)
🥫Ingredients
- 1 pound (2 cups) dried chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans)
- 6 cups water
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 small onion
- 1 bay leaf
How to Cook Chickpeas in an Instant Pot
Sort and rinse
Sort the chickpeas, removing any stones or dirt clods you find. Rinse the chickpeas, then put them in an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker
Pressure Cook for 45 minutes with a Natural Release
Add the water, onion, and bay leaf to the pot. Lock the lid and pressure cook at high pressure for 45 minutes in an electric PC, or for 40 minutes in a stovetop PC. (Use Manual or Pressure Cook mode in an Instant Pot). Let the pressure come down naturally for 15 minutes, then quick release the rest of the pressure.
Serve
Unlock and remove the pressure cooker lid - open it away from you to protect yourself from the hot steam. Discard the onion and bay leaf. Serve the beans with their broth, drain them for use in other recipes, or freeze them in their broth in 2-cup containers for up to 6 months.
💡Tips and Tricks
- Salt your bean water! "Salt toughens beans" is a myth. Salting before cooking helps season the beans all the way through as they cook.
- If your beans are still tough when the cooking time is over, especially any "floaters" at the top of the pot, give the beans a stir, lock the lid, and pressure cook for another five minutes. Older beans take longer to cook, and if the beans have been sitting in the shelf at your store for a while, they may need extra time.
- Simmer to thicken: If you have the time, and want thicker bean liquid, simmer the beans for 20 minutes after pressure cooking. I set my Instant Pot to Sauté mode adjusted to low, set the timer to 20 minutes, and leave the lid off to let the broth evaporate.
🥘 Substitutions
Chickpeas are also called Garbanzos in Spanish, or Ceci in Italian.
You can replace the onion with a couple of unpeeled cloves of garlic, or skip it altogether.
You can also skip the bay leaf if you don't have any. Beans, water, and a little salt are enough - but the onion and bay add a subtle extra flavor to the beans.
Serving Suggestions
What do I do with my chickpeas? The first thing I always think of is Hummus. They make a great side dish in Sautéed Chickpeas, Chickpea and Tomato-Lemon Vinaigrette, or Smashed Chickpea and Scallion Salad. And, my new favorite thing is a crunchy snack: Oven Roasted Chickpeas, which I can't stop munching on.
🛠 Equipment
A 6-quart pressure cooker. (Or larger - this recipe was originally cooked in my 10-quart stovetop pressure cooker, but I switched to full time Instant Pot use years ago.)
Pressure cooker dried beans are one of the reasons I became a pressure cooker convert. Try them - you'll never go back to canned beans. (OK, maybe you will, for convenience - but see the Storage section for tips on make ahead freezer beans.)
📏Scaling
This recipe scales down easily - cut everything in half if you don't need as many beans, or have a 3-quart pressure cooker. Scaling up runs into space issues; if you have an 8-quart pressure cooker, or larger, you can double this recipe, but it's too much to fit in a 6-quart pressure cooker.
🤨 Soaking chickpeas?
I get the "to soak, or not to soak?" question all the the time. I don't soak my chickpeas in this basic recipe. Unsoaked chickpeas cook to tenderness with 45 minutes at high pressure.
That doesn't mean you can't soak the beans. They turn out fine with an overnight soak, though the bean broth isn't quite as full bodied. Soaked beans cook much quicker, 20 minutes at high pressure. I use that when I'm cooking the beans with other ingredients, where the shorter cooking time keeps me from overcooking the whole dish just to get the beans tender.
Sorting Beans
Beans are an agricultural product, and stuff tends to creep in when they are processed. Beans should always be sorted and rinsed before using, to get rid of any twigs, stones, clumps of dirt, or broken beans.
To sort the beans, I pour them out on one side of a rimmed baking sheet (a half-sheet pan), to keep the beans from escaping. Then I slowly run my fingers through the pile of beans, pulling them towards me on the sheet. I watch the beans as they move, looking for anything that doesn't seem right. If I see something, I poke around in the beans until I find what caught my eye, and discard it. I repeat this a couple of times, until I'm satisfied everything is out of the beans.
Then I dump the beans into a fine mesh strainer and rinse them under cold running water, to wash off any dirt or dust still on the beans.
Now the beans are sorted, rinsed, and ready for soaking or cooking.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much water should I use when cooking chickpeas in an Instant Pot? I use a ratio of 1 pound of chickpeas to 6 cups of water. A pound of chickpeas is a little more than 2 cups, so the ratio is 1 cup of chickpeas to 3 cups of water.
- Can I add flavorings and spices to my Instant Pot chickpeas? Absolutely! I add an onion and bay leaf to my cooking water to add flavor. You can replace the onion with a few unpeeled cloves of garlic. Or, add some fresh herbs. I buy a pack of "poultry herbs" from my grocery store and tie a bundle of herbs: a sprig each of fresh thyme, rosemary, and sage. (Tying the herbs together makes it easier to find them and remove them after cooking.)
- Do I need to add salt when cooking chickpeas in an Instant Pot? Do you need to? No. But you should, unless you are on a very salt-restricted diet. It adds a lot of flavor to the chickpeas.
Adapted From: Lorna Sass, Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure
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Instant Pot Chickpea Recipe
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 6 cups cooked chickpeas
Description
Instant Pot Chickpeas recipe - a basic technique for pressure cooker chickpeas. Use them right away, or save for later in the freezer.
Ingredients
- 1 pound (2 cups) dried chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans)
- 6 cups water
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 small onion
- 1 bay leaf
Instructions
- Sort and rinse: Sort the chickpeas, removing any stones or dirt clods you find. Rinse the chickpeas, then put them in an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker
- Pressure Cook for 45 minutes with a Natural Release: Add the water, onion, and bay leaf to the pot. Lock the lid and pressure cook at high pressure for 45 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker, or for 40 minutes in a stovetop PC. (Use Manual or Pressure Cook mode in an Instant Pot). Let the pressure come down naturally for 15 minutes, then quick release the rest of the pressure.
- Serve: Remove the pressure cooker lid - open it away from you to protect yourself from the hot steam. Discard the onion and bay leaf. Serve the beans with their broth, drain them for use in other recipes, or freeze them in their broth in 2-cup containers for up to 6 months.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Basic Technique
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: American
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Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 291
- Sugar: 8.6 g
- Sodium: 234.8 mg
- Fat: 4.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 48.8 g
- Protein: 15.6 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
☃️ Storage
A 2-cup container of cooked chickpeas, with cooking liquid, replaces a 15-ounce can of beans from the grocery store. They'll last in the refrigerator for a few days, and freeze for up to 6 months. I always make extra beans, and freeze the leftovers for use in other recipes. Freezer beans are ready to use with about 5 minutes in the microwave, and are so much better than canned.
🤝 Related Posts
Pressure Cooker Hummus
Sautéed Chickpeas
Instant Pot Smashed Chickpea and Scallion Salad
Pressure Cooker and Oven Roasted Chickpeas
Click here for my other pressure cooker recipes.
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I-Rod says
I followed your instructions, adding both the onion and garlic (plus a teaspoon of salt) and they turned out perfect. I used my 6-quart Cuisinart pressure cooker, 45 minutes, 15 minutes NPR, then quick-released the rest of the pressure. After the garbanzos had cooled down, I roasted half with olive oil and spices. With the other half (plus the flavorful cooking liquid), I made a Spanish stew, "garbanzos con chorizo". I'm glad to report that the chickpeas were the right level of firmness for both dishes.
About your phrasing question: I would say "four 2-cup servings." I think the hyphen adds clarity. Another way would be "4 servings, 2 cups each" although I much prefer the former to the latter.
Thank you for sharing your foolproof method of cooking garbanzos in a pressure cooker! I'll be making them this way every time I realize I forgot to soak them overnight!
Paula says
Thanks so much for a really great recipe! I needed chickpeas for Crispy Spiced Chickpeas as well as Hummus with Smoked Paprika. I used the onion, garlic (upped it to 4 cloves), a large bay leaf AND 3 whole Black Cardamom Pods (used 7 cups of water). Cooked exactly as you directed and they came out perfect! Before straining, I added 1.5 t Kosher salt and gave it a gentle stir. I strained the broth into a storage container and spread out the chickpeas on a platter to cool faster. Hard not to eat “as is” like popcorn!!!! Cannot wait to use them in the recipes I needed them for- just hope they aren’t devoured before I start! The broth is a wonderful extra “gift” as well. All around AWESOME!
darcy says
I love a hyphen: four 2-cup servings.
Mike Vrobel says
Thanks! I think that is the best way to say it.
Dan says
I followed the recipe exactly, except I put in 4 small cloves of garlic and 1/2 TBS salt - perfect. To answer your question, I would say: Four servings of 2 cups each.
Lisa says
Used your instructions for my first time cooking dried chickpeas in my new IP. I soaked them for one day, (didn’t get chance to cook sooner), with a pinch of baking soda then cooked them for 22 minutes. I allowed them to natural realease for about 50 minutes before opening. They came out Great! Nice and tender and tasty. Now I didn’t season them because I am making the traditional Sicilian Pastry, (Cassateddi), for St. Joseph’s day. Thanks
Deborah says
I don't want my beans to be mushy, we want to roast some of them. Would you set your IP to stay warm during natural release or turn off when pressure portion is over?
Mike Vrobel says
I leave it in Stay Warm mode. There is no difference between Off and Keep Warm until the natural pressure release is done - the pot is too hot for Keep Warm to turn on the heater. See here for more details: https://www.dadcooksdinner.com/cancel-keep-warm-mode-natural-pressure-release-no/
bjwright1 says
I was excited to try this. The 45 minutes in my Fagor wasn't quite enough, so I put it back under pressure for 2 min. This time I'm trying 47 minutes from the beginning. I made the hummus recipe from Vita Mix and will be making it again into a Chickpea Shwarma dip with hummus and roasted chickpeas. Yum!
Love your site! Thanks!
Christy says
Made these today and they came out great. I was pleasantly surprised by the difference versus canned chickpeas—I didn’t think they would taste SO much better—but they do! Thanks for posting.
Nicole says
Question.... When I cook Chic Pea's (boil them, can't wait to try the pressure cooker)removing the skin's is time consuming, any tips to make it easier?
Mike Vrobel says
I leave them on the chickpeas. (Mostly. If there are loose skins, and I'm doing a recipe where I can easily pick them out, I'll remove them - but I leave any that are still attached to the chickpeas alone.)
Ingrid says
This absolutely works! It also works using half the amount of beans. I am truly amazed. I've tried many recipes. This one is simple and will be my go-to from now on. Thanks dad 🙂
Lorrie Mengel says
I cooked 1lb 6 oz garbanzo beans in filtered water to the 10 C mark in my instant pot. I think it's a 6 quart duo. I added 3 cloves of garlic, smashed, 2 bay leaves, a teaspoon dried onion and 2 teaspoons of salt. (America's Test Kitchen taught me to add salt to beans)
Set it on beans /soup for 40 minutes and went to the eye doctor. When I got home I had the best beans ever! Perfectly tender but not mushy. Some went into my shrimp pasta dish and the rest are in the fridge, waiting to become hummus, roasted chickpeas or just gobbled up by granddaughter!
Thank you for cooking, Dad!
Sarah says
Approximately how many cups is 1 lb of garbanzo beans?
Mike Vrobel says
About 2.5 cups
Bridget says
These are delicious and I am happy to have found them again!!
Lynda K. says
On an electric pressure cooker, does the 40 minutes include the time it takes for the pressure to build. I have a Power Pressure Cooker XL, and the timer only goes to 30 minutes.
Mike V says
No, sorry, that's the time spent cooking at high pressure.
Mike V says
But...If you soak the beans in water for 8 hours (or overnight) before cooking, and drain them, the cooking time cuts to about 20 minutes under pressure. Try that?
Lynda says
I tried the pressure cooker at 30 minutes, natural release, and they were great. Maybe it's the brand?
Chrissy S says
Hey Lynda K. I have a Power XL too. Select the Chicken/meat setting, then select Medium cook time, then also use the time adjust button to bring the time up to 40 minutes.
Just cooking a batch now.
Me says
How many pounds pressure?
Mike V says
High pressure is typically 15 PSI in a stovetop pressure cooker and 12 PSI in an electric pressure cooker.