Roasted Chickpeas for Kids, 4 Ways
Kids love these crispy, crunchy, oven-roasted chickpeas coated in familiar seasonings. Try them instead of chips or crackers for a snack or side.
Do Beans Help you Live Longer?
Have you heard of Dan Buettner and his book, The Blue Zones?
Buettner traveled the world in search of places where people tended to live long lives. Really long lives.
Then he tried to piece together the food and lifestyle elements these communities had in common–things like close family bonds, physical activity, and a plant-based diet.
One fascinating finding from his research is that eating beans–regular old beans–seems to be in important piece of the longevity picture.
Forget obscure superfoods. Beans are where it’s at!
I’ve always loved beans, but after I read the book (wow, about ten years ago, now!) I started eating them even more. And now that I have kids, I make a point of including them in our family’s meals, regularly. (I’ve got two bean-loving kids, now. Don’t give up!)
Beans aren’t just rich in fiber, protein, and antioxidants; they’re also incredibly versatile.
And here’s a fun, snacky way to enjoy them: roasted! We’ve made these roasted chickpeas with four kid-friendly seasonings, and we love them all: cinnamon-sugar, cool ranch, sweet curry, and barbecue.
My kids love these as a movie snack or after-school snack. They get nice and crispy. And with four flavors to choose from, there’s a great chance you’ll find a flavor everyone can agree on.
(Or not. And then you’ll just have to make two batches. OH WELL.)
How to Make Roasted Chickpeas
Here’s how to make this yummy, healthy snack.
Drain and rinse two cans of chickpeas. Spread them on a cookie sheet and bake, without any oil or seasonings, for 40 minutes. This is the step that gets your chickpeas good and crispy in the oven… don’t skip it!
After the pre-bake, toss the chickpeas in a small amount of oil, then your seasoning of choice. I know it’s hard, but stick to one type of seasoning per batch.
Bake another few minutes until the spices become fragrant and the chickpeas get nice and crispy.
Enjoy them hot!
How to Store Roasted Chickpeas
Freshly-roasted chickpeas stay crispy for a day, but they tend to get a little softer after they’re completely cool.
If your leftovers soften up too much for your liking, you can simply throw them back in the oven (or toaster oven) for ten minutes, and they’ll get crispy again. But actually, my kids don’t mind them a little softer and chewier.
Happy snacking!
Roasted Chickpeas for Kids, 4 Ways
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked chickpeas (or 2 cans, rinsed and drained.)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Seasonings (Choose one per batch.)
Cinnamon Sugar
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Cool Ranch
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried dill
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
Sweet Curry
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- 2 teaspoons sugar
Barbecue
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Rinse and drain chickpeas, and spread on a cookie sheet.
- Bake at 375 for 40 minutes, shaking the pan once in the middle.
- Remove the chickpeas from the oven, transfer to a bowl, and toss with oil and seasonings of choice.
- Return the seasoned chickpeas to the cookie sheet and bake 5-10 more minutes, until they become crisp and fragrant.
- Enjoy immediately.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
www.superhealthykids.com
Natalie Monson
I'm a registered dietitian, mom of 4, avid lover of food and strong promoter of healthy habits. Here you will find lots of delicious recipes full of fruits and veggies, tips for getting your kids to eat better and become intuitive eaters and lots of resources for feeding your family.
Learn More about Natalie
Can’t wait to try this!
Where are the recipes for the seasonings?
Woops, I found them 🙂
In directions you say “ rinse and bake with no oil for 40 Min” but in video you put oil THEN baked for 40 Min. Does it make a difference?
Hi Breyonna! I like to roast the chickpeas without oil first, because I find they get a crispy texture faster that way. I add the oil close to the end of cooking.
I realize the video shows the oil going on the chickpeas before baking… this works too! But my preference is to bake first, then add oil. I hope this helps.
Thank you so much for these recipes! My picky toddler loves them!
Love to hear this Lecia!
I’ve been trying for years to get the texture right on roasted chickpeas. Thank you sooo much! They were perfect!!!
I can’t find the recipes for the seasonings ;(
Hi Lucce, thanks for reaching out! We had some glitches to a few of our recipes last week, but everything should look back to normal now. Sorry for the confusion!
I can’t seem to find the recipe part for the four seasons…can you point me in the right direction please?
Thanks
Hi Stephanie, thanks for your patience while we sorted out some technical glitches with our recipes. The seasoning ingredients should be back in the recipe now.
I can’t seem to find the recipe??
Hi Brittany, sorry for the confusion! We made some big updates to the site recently and it caused some glitches in a few of our recipes. Our team is working hard to fix it, and the recipe should look complete again soon. (Right now it’s nearly complete, just missing one seasoning option. So if you wanted to make BBQ, Ranch, or Curry, you’re good to go!) Thanks for your patience!
In your reading, you mentioned one of your favorites is garlic, not curry. However, the recipe shows curry, not garlic. Do you have the measurements for the garlic ones? Thanks. Also, I’m going to try these combinations with my sixth grade FCS class.
Which ones are seriously the favorites? 🙂
Hi Julia! Thanks for pointing this out. “Garlic” was actually a typo in that part of the post! (I fixed it.) The four flavor combos we developed are the ones listed in the recipe card at the bottom. I think your sixth graders will love them! And SERIOUSLY the favorite flavor? Barbecue, if you ask my kids. 🙂
Okay, me again. lol. Do you think you could change the recipe’s tbls to tbsp? I’m doing your recipe in conjunction with a measurement abbreviation lesson, and one student noticed that wasn’t the accurate abbreviation. Signed, a thorn in your side but loves your recipes!
Hi Julia, thanks for your feedback! We’re actually trying to make the switch to using the full words in our recipes anyway, so I updated it to say “tablespoons” and “teaspoons” instead of the abbreviations. I’m glad you pointed this out for us!
I’m anxious to try all four for myself, lol! What is the serving amount? How many servings per recipe?
Thanks so much! ?
Hi Kym! If you make a batch using two cans of chickpeas, consider that six servings. (A serving is a little less than half a cup.)
can you use veg oil ?
Yes!
What is the serving size for the 257 kcals? Is it the entire 3 cups or less? Thank you. I’m excited to try these!
Hi Natasha! The nutrition info is divided by 4 servings. However for this recipe, the amounts may be a little off, because the system is probably calculating all the seasoning mixes at once.
Although I haven’t tried these yet, I’d love to make these recipes for gift-giving during the holidays! What’s the best recommendation for storing, to keep them crisp? Also, can I make several batches at the same time on one cooking tray? And, can I cook two trays at the same time? I have lots of family, friends and coworkers who are going to love these treats❣️
Hi Nora,
it is pretty tricky to get these to stay crunchy for days, even if they’re quite crisp out of the oven. I recommend eating them the first day if you want to enjoy their peak crispiness! It’s also best not to double up the recipe on a single tray, because the beans won’t dry out so well if they get crowded. We have a few other recipes that would make better gift jars during the holidays, in my opinion. Check them out if you’re interested:
Granola Jars: https://www.superhealthykids.com/recipes/holiday-gift-idea-cranberry-almond-granola-jars/
Homemade Pancake Mix: https://www.superhealthykids.com/recipes/homemade-pancake-mix/
They were delicious I did the barbecue seasoning; and my family love them; and I was surprised because my husband is so picky; can’t wait to try the other seasons this weekend ☺️
Thanks for sharing! Glad they were a hit!
I made it as per instructions, kids liked it asked for me to mix the bbq sauce over a flame next time no roasting just for the sake of variety. It was very tasty.
How long do they stay crispy for?
If you make sure they are completely dry before removing them from the oven, they should stay crunchy for as long as you keep them stored! If they aren’t properly dried out, they will get soft. The amount of time will vary depending on your oven and where you live. Good luck!
These look amazing. I have 2 really picky eaters at home, esp. my almost-4-year-old who just hates the texture of cooked meat (ANY meat) so I’d love to get some protein into him. I’m going to use cooked chickpeas bc in Greece you can’t find the canned stuff easily. Wish me luck! 😀 I’ll be back to report how they went down…
I hope they’re a hit!