Instant Pot Chickpeas ready in 1 hour with no presoaking and made without the preservatives, high sodium, or metallic taste found in canned beans. These versatile little legumes are loaded with nutrients, and can be used in everything from main meals, snacks, desserts, and dips!
Use this simple to guide to batch cook garbanzo beans, freeze them, and then use them in soups, salads, and snacks like hummus all year long!
Table of contents
- Instant Pot Chickpeas – No Soaking Required!
- Why Make Instant Pot Garbanzo Beans?
- Ingredients for Chickpeas in Instant Pot
- How to Cook Instant Pot Chickpeas
- Optional Add-In’s and Variations
- Tips for Buying and Cooking Beans
- Serving Recommendations for Cooked Chickpeas
- Making This Recipe in Advance
- More Instant Pot Recipes
Instant Pot Chickpeas – No Soaking Required!
I have been making Instant Pot chickpeas from the first day I got my Instant Pot. Knowing I can take dried beans, like black beans and cook them or turn pinto beans into baked beans or refried beans, without soaking them was what sold me. The whole idea behind a modern day electric pressure cooker is to save time and energy, but if I can save money and eat healthy along the way, you bet I’m doing exactly that!
Buying dried chickpeas in bulk and cooking them yourself is a much more cost-effective way to enjoy them. The pressure cooker does this easily without spending any time presoaking them, chickpeas come out intact, yet tender, buttery, and creamy, not to mention they taste better!
Why Make Instant Pot Garbanzo Beans?
- Organic: Organic dried chickpeas are way more affordable than organic canned chickpeas.
- No BPA: Most cans are lined with harmful BPA. Non-BPA canned goods are very expensive.
- No sodium: Canned foods are loaded with salt which is not good for the heart and overall health.
- Tastes better: No metal taste from a can or waxy taste from a box.
- Fast and easy: No presoaking and ready in 30 minutes.
- Bulk. You can buy dried chickpeas in bulk which is a money saver, and you can also cook in bulk with the Instant Pot.
- Chickpeas have so many uses. Everything from dips and dressings, to desserts and snacks and let’s not forget falafel!
- They’re healthy! They are high in protein, fibre, vitamins, and minerals like iron, folate, and zinc, to name a few.
Ingredients for Chickpeas in Instant Pot
This is one of those non recipe, recipes. It’s more of a guide or a “how-to” because there are only 2 ingredients!
- Dried chickpeas
- Water.
That’s it!
Are Chickpeas Good for You?
Chickpeas aka garbanzo beans are a nutritional powerhouse:
- High protein and fiber content.
- While low in fat and moderate on calories.
TIP: High fiber and protein content help control healthy blood sugar levels and keep you full longer thus controlling the weight (source).
How to Cook Instant Pot Chickpeas
If you are new to pressure cooking, check out my Instant Pot guide and how it is different than a slow cooker.
- Prep: Add 1-3 cups of chickpeas with water keeping the ratio of 1 cup beans: 3 cups cold water in mind.
- Cook: Cooking time is 25 minutes on High Pressure.
- Wait 10 minutes before releasing pressure: Then release the remaining pressure by turning the valve to Venting. You can also just leave it to naturally release completely on its own until the pin drops.
Be mindful of the ‘age’ of your chickpeas. Old beans may take longer to cook!
If you don’t have an Instant Pot yet but are thinking about buying one, I explain which Instant Pot to buy in my humble opinion.
Optional Add-In’s and Variations
While I love to cook my garbanzo beans with just water, here are some ways to jazz Instant Pot chickpeas no soaking while pressure cooking!
- Garlic: 1-2 garlic cloves, peeled or for max garlic flavor use a whole head of garlic, peeled and crushed.
- Onion: Another way to add flavor, add a whole onion, halved. Add with garlic for even more savory flavor.
- Dried bay leaves: This may be especially nice if you plan to use your chickpeas in a stew/soup.
- Fresh herbs: A handful of thyme and rosemary, but think ahead on how you plan to use your cooked chickpeas, as all recipes may not compliment those herb choices.
- Salt: To bring out the flavor. Note: I do not like to add salt when cooking my garbanzo beans Instant Pot and prefer to do so only when I am adding them to a recipe.
- Replace water with stock: For additional flavor – again think ahead to how you will use them, stock may work well for soup, but maybe not so much for chickpea cookies.
Always keep in mind when cooking your Instant Pot garbanzo beans how you will use your cooked beans in a recipe. Some of the above variations will work well for soup but not for falafel etc.
Tips for Buying and Cooking Beans
- Look in bulk: The bulk section of a grocery store is anyone’s gold mine. That’s where you’ll find the same food that comes in a package but without paying for the cost of extra packaging. You can also find them in bulk food stores that specifically cater to only buying in bulk, as well as health food stores that have a bulk food section.
- Buy organic: If you can afford it, buy organic beans and legumes. Non-organic legumes are sprayed in a field with harmful pesticides that we end up putting into our bodies. Unfortunately, these days, there is still a lot of cross-contamination, even with organic produce, but if we can minimize the effects, we’ve got to try. Plus, organic beans do not cost much more than conventional.
- Fresh is best: There is such thing as “old” beans and rice. They take longer to cook. So once you find a reliable source of beans and my recipes work for you, stick to those beans haha.
- Don’t add salt: Salt can prolong the cooking time. We don’t need more sodium anyways.
FAQs
The pressure cooker does that work for you. The idea behind soaking the beans is to rehydrate them so they don’t take as long to cook. Some people also find that soaking them makes them easier to digest. The pressure from the Instant Pot and the steam from the water does all of this in one sitting, so there’s no “pre” anything!
It is most likely due to the water to bean ratio being off. Remember it is 1 cup of beans to 3 cups of cold water. If you are using too much water, the beans will continue to absorb as much as they can, especially if there is more than enough in there. You also want to make sure to use cold water so that they cook evenly and the cooking time is as accurate as possible. The warmer the water, the faster they’ll cook.
Yes, but get this. After they’re soaked and blanched, and have the additional preservatives thrown in there, they are pressured cooked in the cans themselves. Interesting isn’t it?!
Nope. This is especially true when using the Instant Pot, but it’s just as true when using another method. Some people find using it speeds up the cooking process but also helps with the texture and consistency of the chickpeas for blending. It’s unnecessary for the most part, but highly unnecessary when pressure cooking them.
Since they’re already mushy, you can go all the way and blend up them and go straight for the hummus. You can also use it to make a salad dressing or blend them up and use them to make cookies! Depending on the recipe, sometimes in baking, it’ll require actual blended chickpeas rather than chickpea flour, so there you go!
Alternatively, you could toss them on a baking sheet with a bit of oil and seasoning and roast them for a healthy and seriously addicting snack.
So, this would be a case of the bean to water ratio is off again, only this time you may have added too little water for the number of beans you had in there. Either that or your valve wasn’t set to sealing and there was too much steam being released without realizing which means it never really came to pressure.
Serving Recommendations for Cooked Chickpeas
Wondering what to do with your chickpeas now that you’ve perfected cooking them? The list below is a good place to start!
- Chickpea avocado salad
- Chicken chickpea stew
- Hummus (pictured below!)
- Quinoa falafel
- Instant Pot turkey chili
- Sweet potato hummus
Looking for more ways to enjoy beans in the Instant Pot? Instant Pot rice and beans and black bean soup are two hearty vegetarian dinner ideas!
Making This Recipe in Advance
Storing: Cooked beans refrigerate well for up to 5 days.
Freezing: I like to freeze chickpeas and use them instead of grabbing a can. Transfer the beans, using a slotted spoon, to a large colander placed in a sink and drain. Then measure 1.5 cups (the equivalent of 15 oz can) into freezer-friendly sandwich bags, let the air out, seal, and freeze for up to 6 months.
To thaw: Place them on a counter for a few hours or in the fridge overnight. I wash, dry and re-use bags for next batch.
TIP: To thaw quickly, place them in a bowl with hot water for 5 minutes and then drain! Easy-peasy.
Save broth: Do not discard the liquid. Use as a base for making any soup. Especially, bean mushroom soup. It’s a much healthier version than the liquid you’ll find in canned beans, but it acts the same way.
Keep this Instant Pot cleaning guide handy for cleaning your pot after cooking in it!
More Instant Pot Recipes
Did you know we have entire Youtube channel dedicated to healthy Instant Pot recipes and tips? Make sure to subscribe and hit the Bell icon not to miss new videos.
Instant Pot Chickpeas {No Soaking}
Instructions
- In Instant Pot, add chickpeas and water. You can eyeball water just enough to cover chickpeas by an inch.
- Close the lid, set pressure vent to Sealing and press Pressure Cooking on High for 25 minutes (8 quart model) or 30 minutes (6 quart model).
- After 25-30 minutes, Instant Pot will beep, display will say OFF and now let it bring pressure down for 10 minutes. I do not recommend to do Quick Release by turning pressure valve to Venting position. It will make chickpeas mushy and chickpea broth will spray all over your kitchen.
- Open the lid. That’s it!
Storing: Cooked beans refrigerate well for up to 5 days.
Freeze for Later: I like to transfer chickpeas with a slotted spoon to a large colander placed in a sink to drain the chickpeas. Then I measure 1.5 cups (equal to a 15 oz can drained) into the sandwich bags, let air out, seal and freeze for up to 6 months. To Thaw: Place on a counter for a few hours or in the fridge overnight. Or place in a bowl with hot water for 5 minutes and then drain. Easy-peasy.
Broth: Do not discard the liquid. It is a delicious and nutritious veggie broth. Use as a base for making any soup. Especially, bean mushroom soup.
Notes
Nutrition
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My name is Olena Osipov. I'm a mom to 2 boys, a wife to Alex and we reside on magical Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. This is our healthy family recipes blog. Originally from Ukraine, I grew up on real food. As an adult, I struggled with diets for years because none worked long-term. Now for over 10 years, I cook easy healthy meals for my family. I can help you with “What’s for dinner?” too.