Air fryer Chickpeas

Air fryer chickpeas is a crunchy, healthy snack that is gluten-free, vegan and high protein.

It is really quick and easy to make in the Air fryer with barely any oil. A perfect any time snack without guilt.

I love crispy lentils, chickpeas, gram lentils (chana dal), green moong beans (sabut moong dal), dried peas (sabut matar) and so on.

They are crunchy, flavourful, filling, satisfying and healthy. Almost like a perfect snack. You can vary the seasonings as per your like.

The only thing that held me back was deep frying them.

With air fryer, I can quickly do batches and store them in airtight containers for a ready snack.

You may also like: Air fryer falafel, Air fryer Broccoli, Honey roasted almonds and Air fryer baked potatoes.

These are fastest to make with canned chickpeas that take about 15 minutes only for this perfect crunchy snack.

If not, a little bit of planning by soaking dry chickpeas overnight and then parboiling them takes slightly longer but does the job equally well.

What should I do if I don’t have canned chickpeas?

Soak dry chickpeas overnight and then parboil them with a little salt.

I give them 4 whistles in the pressure cooker. Drain and use.

No need for drying them. This takes slightly longer but does the job equally well. You can use Instant Pot too.

Make sure the chickpeas are not mushy but ¾^th cooked.

How to Store these?

Store them in an air-tight container and they will last for a week easily.

Though, my batches get over in a couple of days tops. 🙂

Which Oil Must I Use?

I like to use extra virgin olive oil for a nutty taste. You can use vegetable oil too.

Which seasonings Can I use?

1. Lemon chilli seasoning: Mix together 1 tsp. chilli powder or cayenne with 1 tsp. lemon salt.

2. Salt and pepper: Mix together 1 tsp. each of salt and pepper.

3. Barbecue seasoning: Buy premixed seasoning mix.

4. Peri peri seasoning: Use pre-bought peri peri spice mix.

5. Italian seasoning: Mix together 1 tsp. Italian seasoning and salt.

Here is the recipe:

Instructions

Drain canned or parboiled chickpeas and keep aside. No need to dry them.

Preheat Air fryer at 200 C or 390 F for 5 minutes.

Spread the chickpeas and air fry for 6 minutes.

Chickpeas will be dried by now.

Brush with 1 tsp. oil (or aquafaba for oil free) and Air fry at 200 C or 390 F for 8 minutes to crisp them up.

Take out the basket and shake it midway.

Now add half the spice mix to the chickpeas and Air fry again at 390 F for 2 minutes.

Crispy crunchy air fryer chickpeas are ready to eat. Add the remaining half of the spice mix that you reserved.

Mix and enjoy! Have this healthy snack whenever hunger strikes.

Here's the recipe card:

📖 Recipe Card

Air fryer chickpeas

Rachna Parmar

These delightful and healthy chickpeas in air fryer are a nutritious snack. It uses only 1 tsp. oil to make. These are gluten-free and vegan.

5 from 22 votes

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Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 16 mins

Course Snack

Cuisine American

Servings 3

Calories 148 kcal

Equipment

• Air fryer

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

• 15 oz. chickpeas or garbanzo beans can or use dry chickpeas see Notes
• 1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil or vegetable oil

Seasoning - Lemon chilli

• 1 tsp. chilli powder or cayenne
• 1 tsp. lemon salt

Instructions

 

• Drain canned chickpeas and keep aside. If using dry chickpeas, see notes.
• Preheat Air fryer to 200 C or 390 F for 5 minutes.
• Spread the drained chickpeas. No need to dry them as that happens in the air fryer basket . Air fry for 6 minutes. This helps in drying them out well.
• Now brush 1 tsp. oil on the chickpeas so they are coated well and put them back in the air fryer basket for 8 minutes. Keep shaking the basket once in the middle.
• Meanwhile, prepare the seasoning. For lemon chilli seasoning, I used 1 tsp. cayenne and 1 tsp. lemon salt. See Notes for more seasoning ideas.
• Now add half the prepared seasoning and spread on the air fried chickpeas.
• Air fry again for 1-2 minutes till done. Your Air fryer chickpeas are ready. They are super crispy snack.
• Add the remaining spice mix that you have saved. Mix well and enjoy!

Notes

1. You can make them from dry chickpeas too with a bit of prep. Soak 1.5 cups chickpeas overnight in plenty of water. Drain them and pressure cook for 4 whistles in 2 cups water till parboiled. Make sure they are not mushy. Cool and drain them in a colander. Then follow the rest of air frying method.
2. You can try different flavour combinations to mix things up a bit. I love the basic salt and pepper, chilli and lime, barbecue seasoning, Italian seasoning and peri peri seasoning. All work well.
3. I find that adding the seasoning right towards the end of the air frying time works better than adding the seasoning from the start. The spices don’t burn and taste best. I use half the seasoning just before the end and the remaining half after they are done.
4. Your air fryer works like a fantastic dehydrator and hence I have never needed to dry the lentils or chickpeas before putting them in Air frying. Just a simple draining works well. The same works for other lentils I mentioned.
5. Canned chickpeas are the fastest and most fuss-free way to make these. Use a 15 oz. can.
6. You can store them for a week in an airtight container.
7. I prefer extra virgin olive oil but any vegetable oil works. You can also avoid oil by brushing with aquafaba or chickpea water in place of oil.
8. You can use the same recipe to make air fryer lentils like chana dal (split gram), moong dal (split moong lentils without skin, sabut moong (whole moong beans), sabut matar (dry peas) etc. In their case, you can just soak them overnight, drain and follow the air frying instructions. No need to precook except dry white peas which are similar to chickpeas. Also the air frying time is between 6-10 minutes for them as they are smaller in size. Try these and you have a variety of munchies at hand.

Nutrition

Calories: 148kcalCarbohydrates: 20gProtein: 7gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 420mgPotassium: 218mgFiber: 7gVitamin A: 23IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 53mgIron: 2mg

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You may also like these healthy air fryer snacks: Air fryer falafel, Air fryer Broccoli, Honey roasted almonds and Air fryer baked potatoes.