best pot of chickpeas
good enough to eat by the bowlful, ft. lemon, garlic, olive oil
Welcome to mamaeats, a twice-weekly newsletter (Tues. & Sat.) inspired by a simple + seasonal home life. I’m a mother of three, avid reader, gardener, and home cook who focuses on nourishing, whole food meals with a focus on plants. This newsletter is my labor of love—if you are not already, and are able to do so, please consider becoming a subscriber to support my work here, which takes time and effort. Doing so gives you access to all the archives and recipes (find the recipe index here), as well as cook-along videos which go along with most recipes. If a recurring payment is too much for you right now, but you’d still like to contribute, I’d be delighted to receive a one-off tip via my ko-fi. As always, thank you for being here, reading this newsletter, and sending me your thoughts.
notes: this recipe was originally shared on my old blog in 2019, with edits for clarity & updated information/photos from me now, in 2025, plus a new cook-along video (for all subscribers today!) to go with it. It is such a good, simple, and useful recipe—in my opinion, everyone needs a good pot of beans in their repertoire, which is why I’m sharing it again here.
I’ve been cooking chickpeas from dry at home for many years- it’s cheaper, less waste (since I buy them in bulk- 25 pounds!!- at a time, from here), and they taste so much better than canned. I use them for superlative hummus, soups (pasta e ceci is a forever staple in our home), roasting and adding on top of soups and salads in lieu of croutons, in bowls, even cookies/blondies. Chickpeas are one of my favorite legumes, flavoursome with a supremely comforting texture (soft, yet also firm- toothsome?). I love that I’m in good, ancient company with this: the first-century Roman poet Horace described the simple pleasure returning home at night, to simple homemade food: “I go home to my bowl of leeks, chickpeas, and lagana [a sort of ancient pasta]” And then, there is even an old Italian fairytale I was told as a child, which I can never forget, about Cecino, a chickpea boy. I think of it every time I soak chickpeas—in the story, a woman who wants children is given magic chickpeas by a benevolent witch, and they each turn into a chickpea child after soaking.
Back to this particular recipe, though: I came across this perfect cooking method for chickpeas from the excellent Mina Stone, in her very beautiful cookbook, Cooking for Artists, in which she describes women on a Greek island traditionally baking chickpeas in a wood fired oven for 24 hours—which reminded me of the old Tuscan method of cooking beans in a glass jug in the leftover embers of the fire overnight. Her home adapted method is so simple, and not that different from how I was already cooking them before (with bay, garlic, olive oil)- just adding the onion and lemon takes this to the next level- bright, rich broth with tender, perfectly seasoned beans. The real star here is the broth that you get as a side bonus—it is excellent, almost like a chicken broth. I always use chickpea broth in soups, such as pasta e ceci, but the broth this particular method yields is singularly delicious.
You can, and I often do, treat this like a soup, ladling the hot chickpeas and their broth into bowls. This makes a very good and very quick lunch, when adding in different things to the bowls depending on the season and whatever leftovers are at hand. Some memorable renditions include:
wilted tuscan kale or chard, fried garlic chips (slice them crosswise and gently fry in olive oil with a bit of salt till just golden), calabrian chile paste
a big squeeze of fresh lemon, fresh dill, scallions, leftover cooked white rice
leftover slices of cooked japanese sweet potato, toasted sesame seeds, thin diagonal slices of scallions, a bit of miso or tamari whisked into the broth
cooked large chunks of zucchini, carrots, and potatoes + paper thin slices of serrano chile, cilantro for a caldo tlalpeño type dish
sauteed garlicky cherry tomatoes, cooked pastina, rosemary for a pasta e ceci adjacent dish
harissa paste, wilted spinach, lemon juice, sauteed cherry tomatoes, small cumin seeds fried for a minute in oil and poured over the top
best pot of chickpeas
notes: this recipe is from Mina Stone’s method (whose cookbooks are an absolute treat, both visually and culinarily). Soak the chickpeas here at least overnight, then drain and rinse well before proceeding. I like to soak all my beans at least 24 hrs (just on the countertop) for digestive and nutritional reasons. They also cook faster and more evenly when soaked well. If you are using table salt or himalayan/rock salt, the granules will most likely be finer than what I use, and therefore you should reduce the salt, perhaps starting with 2 teaspoons.
1 lb / 450g dried chickpeas, soaked (see headnote)
a medium onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
4 wide strips lemon zest, from one large unwaxed lemon
2 bay leaves or a big sprig fresh thyme
3 tbsp / 45 ml olive oil
1 tbsp salt, I use sea salt that is fine but not superfine
freshly ground black pepper
Add everything to a pot (I like to use a dutch oven) along with 2 quarts / 2 liters of water, and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat, and simmer until the chickpeas are tender, 1-2 hours depending on freshness and size of your chickpeas. Alternatively, instead of simmering on the stovetop, you can bring everything to a boil, place the lid on, and transfer it to a 325f / 165c oven for around 2 hours.
I often make use of the oven method in the winter, when the house benefits from the added heat, or when I’m already needing to use the oven for something else, to capitalize on the energy use. Eat straight away while hot, or let cool and transfer to airtight containers (I ladle into quart sized glass Mason jars) along with the cooking liquid, where it will keep up to a week in the fridge, or months in the freezer.
Below, find the cook-along video for this recipe. I usually paywall these as a perk for paid subscribers, only because it takes me quite a bit of time to film and edit them (even though they are not very advanced nor usually lengthy!) Today I’ve made this short one available to everyone, free or paid, as a thank-you for being here. I deeply appreciate you all. xx A
Have been following you for many years and literally thought of this chickpea recipe the other day and couldn’t find it online anymore. Thank you for sharing it again!
One of my go to recipes! I make this at least once a month and have been since you shared the recipe in 2019. The broth is so lovely, and I’m always trying to convince friends to make it. Thank you for sharing!