Freeze chickpeas – so you always have them to hand!

Freezing chickpeas is very practical! Especially if you have some left over or would like to have them in stock ready to cook. This means you never have to resort to pre-cooked chickpeas from the tin again. I’ll show you how to freeze chickpeas and what you should bear in mind when doing so.

Freeze chickpeas: Here’s how it works!

I wrote this article because I was asked time and again whether you can freeze cooked chickpeas. The answer is: Yes, you can freeze chickpeas! It’s really easy to do.

My mother in particular likes to cook her chickpeas herself and then freeze them so that she always has some ready to cook. This is how she preserves cooked chickpeas. And then she uses them to make delicious dishes. For example, delicious hummus or a chickpea stew. But I also like to make a creamy chickpea soup.

To freeze chickpeas, follow these simple steps:

1. Soak the dried chickpeas: Before freezing chickpeas, they must first be soaked and cooked. Before cooking, you should soak the chickpeas in plenty of water for at least 12 hours.
2. Cook the soaked chickpeas: After soaking, the chickpeas need to be cooked. You can find everything you need to know about cooking chickpeas in this article.
3. Dry the chickpeas: After cooking, you should strain the chickpeas well and leave them to dry. The less wet the peas are, the better you can portion them when frozen. They won’t stick together as much. You can also place them on a dry kitchen towel and rub them dry.
4. Freeze the chickpeas: You can either put the prepared chickpeas in a freezer bag or in a freezer box and then freeze them in the freezer.

If you have leftover cooked chickpeas, steps 1 and 2 are of course not necessary. Frozen chickpeas will keep for about 4 months. You don’t need to freeze dried chickpeas, as they will keep for many months in an airtight container anyway.

How to defrost chickpeas

If you want to take the chickpeas out of the freezer for a delicious dish, it’s best to defrost them gently before using them. Simply leave them to defrost overnight in the fridge or in a bowl at room temperature.

And if you always have ready-to-cook chickpeas in stock, you can always get started straight away and make a delicious chickpea salad, for example.

You can also follow me on Instagram for even more inspiration about Levante cuisine.