Instant Pot Chickpeas (No Soaking Required)

Instant Pot Chickpeas are ready in 1 hour with no soaking required! Step by step instructions how to cook garbanzo beans at home so you can ditch canned beans, save money, and always have them on hand for meal prep, salads and anything!

This foolproof method results in tender, buttery chickpeas ready to be used in favorites like chickpea avocado salad or garlic hummus recipe!

I have been making Instant Pot chickpeas from the first day I got my Instant Pot. Knowing I can take dried beans and cooking them without soaking was what sold me!

Since then I have made black beans in Instant Pot, Instant Pot kidney beans, and turned dried pinto beans into Instant Pot baked beans and Instant Pot refried beans all with no soaking involved.

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 also cost effective! With the Instant Pot there is no time waiting around pre-soaking and chickpeas come out intact, yet tender and creamy.

Not to mention they taste so much better!

Why You’ll Love The Instant Pot for Cooking Chickpeas

• Budget friendly: Buy in bulk plus organic dried chickpeas are way more affordable than organic canned chickpeas.
• Tastes better: No metal taste from a can or waxy taste from a box.
• Fast and easy: No pre-soaking and recipe ready in 30 minutes vs. cooking dried beans on the stove which takes 6+ hours!
• They’re healthy: Low sodium plus high in protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals like iron, folate, and zinc, to name a few.

Ingredients Needed

Instant Pot chickpeas recipe 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: Be mindful of the “age” of your chickpeas. Old beans may take longer to cook!
• Cold water: You’ll need just enough to cover the chickpeas by an inch.

That’s it!

How to Cook Chickpeas in the Instant Pot

The process is so simple, Instant Pot chickpeas is one of my favorite Instant Pot recipes for beginners! All you need are chickpeas aka garbanzo beans and water.

Rinse: Rinse dry chickpeas to remove any dust or debris.

Prep: Add 1-3 cups of chickpeas with cold water keeping the ratio of 1 cup beans: 3 cups water in mind. Water needs to cover beans by 1 inch and not surpass max fill line.

Cook: Cooking time is 25 minutes on High Pressure.

Wait 10 minutes before you do pressure release: Then quick release the remaining pressure by turning the valve to Venting. You can also just leave it to natural release completely on its own until the pin drops.

Variations

I love to cook my Instant Pot garbanzo beans in unsalted water and then season them in dishes later. However, here are some ways to jazz up your Instant Pot chickpeas for added flavor while they are 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.
• Salt: Add a teaspoon to bring out the flavor.
• Replace water with stock: For additional flavor, stock may work well for soup, but maybe not so much for chickpea cookies.

Expert Tips

• 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.
• 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, plus they tend to be more fresh.
• Save the cooking water: Use it as a broth in chicken chickpea stew or in other dishes.
• Don’t soak your chickpeas: This recipe time has been tested for unsoaked chickpeas. If you soak your garbanzo beans, they’ll turn out too soft.

FAQs

How to Use Chickpeas

Wondering what to do with your chickpeas now that you’ve perfected cooking them? I prefer to use chickpeas in savory dishes and the list below is a good place to start!

• Salads: Chickpea salad, tuna chickpea salad or toss into any of these healthy salad recipes.
• Soups: Replace any beans with chickpeas, browse my collection of healthy soup recipes.
• Vegetarian main dish: Quinoa falafel is a favorite plus it’s freezer friendly!
• Hummus: Once you make homemade hummus, you’ll never buy store bought! Try this sweet potato hummus.

Make Ahead and Storage

Storing: Instant Pot chickpeas 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 storage bags. Let the air out, seal, label, and freeze for up to 6 months.

To thaw: Place them on a counter for a few hours or in the fridge overnight. To thaw quickly, place them in a bowl with hot water for 5 minutes and then drain! Easy-peasy.

More Instant Pot Recipes

• Instant Pot corn on the cob
• Instant Pot beets
• Instant Pot baked potatoes
• Instant Pot minestrone soup
• Instant Pot shredded chicken

Browse all healthy Instant Pot recipes.