These easy, crispy, roasted BBQ chickpeas make a delicious option for healthy snacking or the perfect crunchy topper for salads.
How many roasted chickpea recipes are too many? Asking for a friend…
Ok, or not.
I know it feels like the most basic of all recipes and almost borderline lame to bring another roasted chickpea recipe to this site and the internet in general but, I think when you taste these BBQ roasted chickpeas you’ll forgive me.
After my cinnamon toast crunch roasted chickpeas climbed to fame (ok, slight exaggeration but they did gain some popularity this past winter for some unknown reason), I decided to dedicate a post solely on how to make roasted chickpeas.
There are a couple tricks to the chickpea roasting process to ensure the result is a nice crispy, crunchy chickpea and not a soggy, mushy flavored bean.
Make sure to check that post out to nail down the method (the video is also in this post so you can watch it too if you prefer).
Once you do that, you can literally season and spice these little guys up however you like.
Today, we’re using a classic seasoning: BBQ sauce.
If you’re a BBQ lover, these roasted BBQ chickpeas will be right up your alley.
I’m betting these bbq pulled pork nachos, Pickled Pineapple BBQ Pork Sandwiches and probably these BBQ Lamb Ribs would be as well.
How To Make BBQ Chickpeas
There are quite a few recipes for BBQ roasted chickpeas out there but most (if not all!) use a blend of dry spices to achieve the BBQ flavor.
This recipe for BBQ chickpeas uses just 1 ingredient: BBQ sauce.
When it comes to BBQ, I’m a saucy BBQ lover over a dry rub any day.
I love the finger licking stickiness of wet BBQ ribs (like these grilled BBQ short ribs or these sticky maple apple ribs) versus the dry flavor of a dry-rub seasoning blend.
Not to mention, using BBQ sauce instead of a spice blend for these BBQ roasted chickpeas makes the recipe a heck of a lot easier!
The chickpea roasting method is exactly the same as I detail in my tutorial on how to roast chickpeas:
- Peel chickpea skins off (tedious but so worth it! It only takes about 10 minutes)
- Pre-roast plain chickpeas
- Toss with BBQ seasoning and roast again
- Cool on tray in the oven after roasted
- Store in a paper bag to retain crispiness
How To use BBQ Chickpeas
The BBQ flavor in these roasted chickpeas makes them a really great option for a Chex mix like snack alternative.
Think bar nuts but in chickpea form. These spicy cinnamon roasted chickpeas are also a great recipe for this kind of thing too.
They make an excellent snack eaten alone or even mixed with some of your favorite nuts. Grab a beer and call that happy hour!
I also really love using roasted chickpeas as a crunchy salad topper. They go perfectly on top of the The Best Baby Kale Salad.
When I made these last, I topped an apple and cheddar romaine salad with the BBQ chickpeas, tossed it all with some ranch dressing and it was so delicious. Their added texture and flavor majorly ups any salad game!
Use these BBQ chickpeas on top of a Caesar salad stuffed sweet potato instead of croutons and you’ll really be killing it.
What BBQ Sauce Should I Use?
Pick your favorite one!
This really doesn’t matter too much. I’ve been loving G Hughes sugar free BBQ sauce line lately because if I’m being honest, I hate when condiments take up a good chunk of my calories. I want flavor but I don’t want to sacrifice like 25% of my daily intake for it!
G Hughes brand has a decent ingredient list, great flavor in my opinion and very little impact from a caloric standpoint (a serving is like 10 calories).
The one thing to keep in mind is not to use too much BBQ sauce. Stick to the recipe here and don’t go overboard. You want the BBQ flavor but you don’t want to douse the chickpeas with sauce and risk making them too heavy and soggy as they roast.
Love snacking on roasted chickpeas? Try these other fun snack ideas too:
Spicy Seasoned Pretzels
Coffee House Cracker Crunch Trail Mix
Trail Mix Popcorn
Buffalo Sauce Beef Jerky
Mediterranean Eggplant Chips
Spicy Homemade Snap Pea Crisps
Roasted BBQ Chickpeas
Ingredients
- 15 oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 tablespoon melted coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons BBQ sauce
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 400°F convection roast or 425°F if you don’t have a convection roast setting.
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Spread drained and rinsed chickpeas out on a dry dish towel, gently pat dry.
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Peel skins off each chickpea. This will take about 10 minutes, it’s tedious but worth it and necessary for crispy roasted chickpeas – don’t skip this step!
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Spread peeled chickpeas out on a baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes, shaking the pan once so they don’t stick.
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Remove chickpeas from the oven and pour the melted coconut oil over top, toss well to combine making sure all the chickpeas are evenly coated.
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Next, pour the BBQ sauce on top of the chickpeas and toss again until each bean is coated with sauce.
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Return the baking sheet to the oven and roast for an additional 12 minutes, tossing once half way through baking.
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Turn the oven off, open the door a few inches and let oven cool with the baking sheet still in the oven for at least 10 minutes.
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Once cooled, chickpeas will be crispy and ready to eat. Store any remaining chickpeas in a paper bag to retain crispness.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
If I can be so pedantic, calling it “coconut oil mixture” led me to believe that there was something mixed with the coconut oil. After re-reading the recipe a few times, I don’t believe there is. I would recommend re-wording to just read “pour the coconut oil..”. Mixture implies something was mixed together, and it led to unclear instructions. Hope this criticism is ok!
Hi Louise – Thanks for your input, I agree. Not quite sure why I wrote it that way! It’s been edited to avoid the confusion in the future.
I love that when I print your recipes it includes a picture of the finished dish. That’s so helpful! (Some sites don’t do that. ???) Keep up the good work!
Such a great idea to use a little bbq sauce to flavor roasted chickpeas! Yum!