Salt n’ Vinegar Chickpeas

Roasting chickpeas is almost a daily ritual at this point. Salt n’ Vinegar Chickpeas work perfectly to fill us up for snacks and meals. They’re delicious on salads and pasta, and serve as all-around picky-kid pleasers!

There are so many different ways to roast chickpeas. It’s hard to go wrong with the flavors, so whatever spices you normally love will probably make for a tempting treat. When roasting chickpeas, the main idea is to get the outside a little crisp, while the inside stays moist. Otherwise, they can be dry and disappointing.

The idea for doing salt n’ vinegar chickpeas came from.. where else… our love of salt and vinegar chips! We don’t even keep salt and vinegar chips in the house because we’d eat them constantly, and feel completely sick afterward. The brand of chips we liked actually had milk ingredients in them, which explained at least one reason why I always felt so awful after eating them. Not a worthwhile tradeoff for 15 minutes of salty snacking.

Mmm.. Salt n’ Vinegar

One day when I was craving salt and vinegar chips while making dinner. I was in the mode of roasting chickpeas, so I thought why not drench them in salt and vinegar? I got out the plain white vinegar, sea salt, a touch of olive oil, and mixed them up in under a minute. After roasting for 20 minutes, we gave them a try. And they were amazing!

Don’t get me wrong, these aren’t chips. Too bad. But, we have actually adapted to prefer the less processed homemade versions of our previously coveted junk foods. We love these chickpeas as an alternative to the chips because we feel great after eating them. They satisfy the craving without that sluggish, tired, junk food fog.

Roasting Chickpeas 101

The secret to roasting chickpeas is to get them crispy on the outside, but without drying out the inside. An oven temperature of 375 F works perfectly. Setting the oven on convection also helps. At 375, the chickpeas take about 20-25 minutes to be perfectly browned, but not dried. We did have our oven replaced recently, and I found it changed our cook times quite a bit. So play around with the time until you know how they turn out in your oven.

When roasting chickpeas I also use my Rock cookware griddle pan. It has ridges that leave grill marks when cooking veggie burgers on the stovetop. What the ridges do when oven roasting, is let that hot oven air get in underneath the food which makes for even cooking (and crisping) all around. Soooo good!

A parchment-lined baking sheet is also great, so use whatever is on hand. The parchment lining will make for a much easier clean up.

Chickpeas – Nutrition Profile

A 28 gram serving of Chickpeas contains:

• 46 Calories
• 8g Carbs
• 2g Fiber
• 3g Protein

When it comes to you Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) for an average adult, the same 28g serving of Chickpeas contains:

• 12% Folate RDI
• 4% Iron RDI
• 5% Phosphorus RDI
• 5% Copper RDI
• 14% Manganese RDI

If you want the full details on Chickpea Nutrition you can read more in depth here.

Chickpeas for a Healthy Vegan Plant Based Lifestyle

Chickpeas are filling. (Yay fiber!) They also pack a sustained energy punch for the day with their slow-releasing carbohydrate load. They won’t spike your blood sugar and leave you feeling sluggish an hour later. Instead, chickpeas will leave you feeling full, satisfied and topped up on nutrients your body loves.

So here they are! Roasted Salt n’ Vinegar Chickpeas are a crowd pleaser and all-around healthful and delicious addition to any meal. If you make these chickpeas and get hooked like us, let us know! We hope you enjoy them as much as we do – Enjoy!