Easy Instant Pot Chickpeas - No Soaking Required

How to Cook Chickpeas from Scratch

Chickpeas are a high-protein legume that can simply be added to salads, grains bowls, curry, or used to make dips like hummus. So why not make nutrient-dense tender and earthy chickpeas from a home-cooked batch?

This chickpea recipe is easy to follow, and requires no soaking, and little effort thanks to the instant pot. Cooking chickpeas in an Instant Pot is probably one of the easiest things you can do. Chickpeas that haven't been soaked can pressure cook in just 45 minutes and require barely any prep time.

So let’s take a look at how you can cook chickpeas in an Instant Pot!

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• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Recipe

Ingredients

Here is what you will need to cook chickpeas from scratch at home!

• dried chickpeas
• water
• garlic cloves
• salt + pepper
• fresh herbs, optional

See the recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

This recipe skips soaking the chickpeas, which is great if you are craving chickpeas for your next meal but you never got around to soaking them.

There are health benefits to soaking legumes before consumption though, read about the benefits of soaking legumes here. So if you do have time you can soak your chickpeas overnight (or for at least 6-8 hours), receive the health benefits of soaking legumes, and reduce the cooking time.

Start with prepping the garlic first and give it some time to activate its medicinal benefits, read about the garlic rule here. To easily remove the peel, crush the garlic cloves with the flat side of a knife, the peeling should just fold off. Then roughly chop the garlic and let it sit to activate its medicinal properties.

Get out your instant pot and add all the ingredients to the pot. Add the dried chickpeas, water, garlic, salt, pepper, and any optional additions. As far as optional additions this can just be fresh herbs or spices to enhance the chickpeas, like thyme, rosemary, or quartered onion.

Give all the ingredients a mix to equally distribute the seasonings.

That's it, now set your instant pot to cook. Secure the instant pot lid to the pot and move the steam release valve to "seal".

Use the pressure cook option by selecting the "Pressure Cook" button. Cook unsoaked chickpeas at high pressure for 45 minutes and set the pressure release to 10 minutes. If you did soak your chickpeas for 8 hours pressure cook on high for 12 minutes and set the pressure release for 10 minutes.

After the chickpeas are done cooking and the pressure release is up, move the steam release valve to "vent".

Once the instant pot is done venting, you can slowly remove the lid (more steam may release when removing the instant pot lid - be careful).

The chickpeas should be tender and easily smashed with a fork. Use the chickpeas right away or let them cool and then store them in the fridge or freezer.

If storing them in the freezer keep them in the cooking liquid.

There are about 1 1/2 cups of chickpeas in a can, which is helpful to keep in mind if following recipes that call for a can of chickpeas. This is a great size to use for storing chickpeas in the freezer.

Properly stored chickpeas will last about 6 months in the freezer or even longer.

Make sure to store cooked chickpeas without the liquid. Allow the chickpeas to drain and completely dry before freezing them. You can save the chickpea liquid and use it to make aquafaba.