Chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans - you've probably got some in your pantry. So here are a few ways you can utilise this humble superfood more in your food prepping to save you time and money!

A whole foods must have, chickpeas are nutritional overachievers, loaded with good stuff like protein, fibre, folic acid, and manganese. Usually unceremoniously blended into hummus, though there’s nothing wrong with that - read on for more ways to include these nutritious legumes into your diet.

Hummus

Having a stash of hummus in the fridge is always a good idea. Snacking is a challenge for many of us, but if you’ve got hummus, some veggies, rice crackers or rice cakes, you’re sorted. Hummus is also a great add on to Buddha bowls and roasted veggies.

Hummus is made from a handful of very basic ingredients -and you can make it yourself! All you need is a blender or food processor and 10 minutes.

Ready to up your hummus game? Try this carrot tahini hummus or roasted pumpkin hummus and our favourite – the almond butter tahini hummus.

We also have 4 more variation on the classic hummus here.

Spicy Roasted Chickpeas

Potato chips aren’t easy to replace, but these roasted chickpeas are a good place to start. They’re easy to make, nutritious, crunchy, and satisfying. If you’re making some hummus, whip up some of these chickpea snacks at the same time, you’ll be sorted for the week!

All you need are two cans of organic chickpeas, a little olive oil, sea salt and spices of your choice.

Heat your oven to 200°C, and line a baking tray with non-stick paper. Put your chickpeas in a bowl with the oil and spices, toss to coat and spread evenly over the baking tray.

Bake for 15 minutes, then remove tray from oven. Shake and place back in for another 15 minutes. Remove from oven, let them cool off a bit, then enjoy! When done transfer portions into air tight jars. They’ll keep for a week!

Throw them in salads

Boost the fibre content of your salads and Buddha bowls by throwing in a handful of roasted chickpeas. Just one cup of cooked chickpeas contains 12.5 grams of dietary fibre! That’s almost half the recommended intake for the ladies, and about one third of the recommended intake for the guys! You'll find them in this Moroccan Bowl and these Buddha Bowls.

Make a chickpea scramble

This chickpea scramble is a great make ahead meal. Serve with your fave grain – we used quinoa here, and you’ve got one nutritious meal!

Use them in curry

Chickpeas are a staple in plant based curries, and for good reason. These little legumes are pretty filling! Combined with healthy fats like coconut oil and served over rice, this gluten free meal can be made in under a half hour. It also keeps well for the next day.

In burger patties

Chickpeas make a great alternative to black beans in plant based patties. These plant powered burger patties by the Organic Mechanic were featured in our last ebook.

And falafel!

A super versatile recipe, falafels are great on their own with some mayo as a snack or add them into salads or stuff into pitas. Another great recipe to make alongside your weekly basics – they keep in the fridge for a few days too so are great as part of a meal prep plan.

And keep in mind, if you buy chickpeas dry, you’ll also save some dollars! Just soak overnight and cook the next day. If you do this, a big batch is best and then you can split your chickpeas up and make all the deliciousness above!