I was planning to make a vegan Caesar salad and I decided to use chickpea croutons instead of the traditional croutons, which are made with refined white bread and olive oil.
This recipe is gluten and fat-free. I've used lemon juice instead of the oil, but you can add oil if you want, or use any other kind of juice (lime juice works awesome too).
I shared with you this spicy roasted chickpeas recipe a few months ago, it's quite similar, but I've used only salt, onion and garlic powder this time, to get a less intense flavor. Feel free to use other spices or even herbs.
You can use this recipe to replace traditional croutons or just like a healthy snack. It's a lighter popcorn alternative, so if you're on a diet, this is perfect for you.
The salt is optional, so remove it if you want or if you can't eat any salt. Add more spices instead.
Place all the ingredients in a bowl and stir with your hands, then place the chickpeas on a baking sheet with baking paper. You can mix the ingredients on the bking sheet, but I prefer to use a bowl. Roast for 20 minutes, then gently roll the chickpeas around in the baking sheet and roast for another 10 or 15 minutes. The chickpea croutons will firm up as they cool.
The vegan Caesar salad you can see in the picture above is one of the best salads I've ever tried, it tastes even better than the original version. I'll share the recipe this week, so stay tuned! Meanwhile, you can make these delicious chickpea croutons. I hope you like them!
Chickpea Croutons
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry chickpeas
- The juice of half a lemon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
- Soak the dry chickpeas overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 390ºF or 200ºC.
- Place all the ingredients in a bowl and stir with your hands. Place the chickpeas on a baking sheet with baking paper.
- Roast for 20 minutes, then gently roll the chickpeas around in the baking sheet and roast for another 10 or 15 minutes.
- Let the chickpeas cool completely before using, eating or storing them.
Miranda says
How long do they last before they go bad?!
Iosune Robles says
Hi Miranda! It is difficult for chickpeas to go bad, so they last a long time 🙂
None Given says
You need to include the overnight soak in the prep time. Imagine my disappointment.
Iosune says
Hi None! I don't include the soaking time in my recipes, sorry for the inconvenience!
Whitney says
I'm a huge crouton fan, but it's nice to find an alternative that isn't so "bready". This looks like an awesome recipe and I'm going to try it tonight. One question, if I have some left over how would I store them?
Thanks!
Iosune says
Hi Whitney! I keep them in a sealed container at room temperature. Hope you like them!
Tsianina says
I just made them without cooking them first like I was supposed to in the first place, even better! I'm in love with these things. Looking forward to trying more of your recipes 🙂
Iosune says
Hi Tsianina! SO glad you enjoyed them 🙂 Hope you like the rest of our recipes!
tsianina says
Oh, I just read that the chickpeas were supposed to only be soaked, not cooked... I guess I forgot that part in my haste. Oh well, they came out amazingly, I'll try them out only soaked next time which is kind of cool because one less step.
Iosune says
Hope you like it as well 🙂
Tsianina says
I've been wanting to make these for a long time and I finally tried this recipe out tonight and omg.... these are AMAZING. I couldn't believe how good they were! I made them to go in a salad but I couldn't stop snacking on them the whole time I made the salad lol, but it was ok because you get a lot of these little croutons out of this recipe. My salad was the best I've had in a long time because of these so I'm definitely going to make these regularly for salads but I'm also going to make them regularly for snacking! Such an awesome, savory and fun snack to have around for movie nights, traveling, or for whatever. These would easily replace chips for people.
I actually baked mine at 350 or a little over, I didn't time it perfectly I just kind of eye balled it, but they came out perfect. Some were more crispy others had somewhat of a softer center with a crispier outside, all in all, they had a great "mouth feel." I'll try them on the higher temperature one time to see if there's a difference, but they worked beautifully for me at 350 and kept in a little longer (I think). When I cooked them from dried, I made sure to not overcook them at all which I think helped with their consistency.
Anyways, these are a serious new favorite of mine, thanks so much for this recipe!! That's another great thing about the simpler recipes, they're much easier and affordable to make on a regular basis.
Iosune says
Hi Tsianina! Thank you SO much 🙂 I'm so happy to hear that. Have a nice day!
Michelle K. says
Thank you for this awesome recipe. I was searching for a tasty garbanzo bean crouton recipe and yours is perfect. I used canned garbanzo beans and it turned out great!
Iosune says
Hi Michelle! You're so welcome 🙂 So glad you liked it!
Melissa says
Hi, I just wanted to confirm that the chick peas are soaked only, and not cooked. Any other recipe I've seen for roasted chick peas used cooked ones, so I wanted to check with you!
Iosune says
Hi Melissa! They're not cooked, just soaked 🙂
Gail says
I hate to sound dumb. but where in the grocery store would you find dry chickpeas! I know you can get them in a can but I have never seen dry.
Iosune says
Hi Gail! I'm from Spain and here you can buy them in every grocery store, I don't know if you can find them in your country, although you can try to use canned chickpeas, I think it could work...
Georgia says
I made these today. they are wonderful and so... easy to follow your recipe.
Iosune says
Hi Georgia! Thanks a lot for making the recipe 🙂 I'm glad you liked it!
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
I love chickpeas but never have thought to turn them into crispy croutons before.. I have to try this recipe out and use them to top a salad!
Iosune says
If you like chickpeas, you're gonna love chickpea croutons, they're just perfect!
Laura says
Roasted Chickpeas are the best!! I love experimenting with different flavours. My fave lately is smoked paprika - a little smoky spiciness and it's delicious:) Thanks for sharing!
Iosune says
Yeah!!! Smoked paprika is one of my favorite spices 🙂
Diony says
Found this recipe on Foodgawker. These look like a wonderful alternative for bread croutons to get a nice, extra crunchy texture in your salad. Adding dry chickpeas to my shopping list so I can try this. Thank you!
Iosune says
Hi Diony! It's a super healthy alternative, and these croutons tastes even better!! Thanks for your comment!