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June 4, 2019

29 Ways To Serve Chickpeas That Kids Will Love

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Chickpeas are a great source of sustainable protein for your family. Here are 29 different ways to serve chickpeas to your kids.

Chickpeas

(This post is NOT sponsored, but I did receive samples of Biena snacks, which inspired this post because we loved them!)

Welcome to my new series, “Let’s Try!”

I’ll be featuring different healthy foods and all kinds of kid-friendly ways to serve them. First up: Chickpeas!

Are Chickpeas Beans?

Yes! Chickpeas are also called garbanzo beans, and people have been eating them since ancient times. 

Are Chickpeas Healthy?

Absolutely. Chickpeas are a great source of lean, sustainable protein and fiber. A one-half cup serving of chickpeas has six grams of fiber, about a quarter of what kids need in a day. Chickpeas contain iron and zinc, two minerals kids need for growth. And like all “pulses”–peas, lentils, beans–they’re also linked to health benefits such as a lower cholesterol and blood pressure, and perhaps even less risk for some kinds of cancers.

  You might also like: Red Lentil Cookies

What About Packaged Chickpea Snacks?

There are lots of new bean-based snacks on the market–and I’m all for it! Chickpea “puffs” and even chocolate-covered chickpeas are a nice baby step toward the whole food, especially for reluctant kids (and grown-ups). Are puffs the same as eating the whole chickpea? No, but they may help chickpeas seem less intimidating and more acceptable when they’re presented this way, like a bridge toward the real deal.

Biena Chickpea Snacks

Are Dry or Canned Chickpeas Better?

Though both dry and canned beans are pretty economical–and a downright cheap source of protein compared to meat–dry typically costs less. But canned are ready to be tossed into recipes ASAP, with no extra time needed to cook them. And according to Bon Appetit, canned chickpeas are actually the best canned bean around.

How Do I Cook Chickpeas?

Canned chickpeas are cooked and ready to go. If you decide to opt for dry chickpeas, here’s a guide to cooking them on the stove, in the slow cooker, and in the Instant Pot.

29 Ways To Serve Chickpeas To Your Kids:Click to Tweet

What If My Kid Doesn’t Like Chickpeas?

If plain chickpeas haven’t gone over well with your gang, here are some other ways you can introduce them to your kids:

  • Roasted chickpeas (see recipes below)
  • Falafel (a Middle Eastern “fritter” made with ground chickpeas)
  • Hummus (here’s the simple hummus recipe I make)
  • Chocolate-covered chickpeas (we like the ones from Biena)
  • Chickpea Puffs (ditto on Biena!)
  • Chickpea bars & brownies (see recipes below)

Foods made with chickpeas

Chickpea Recipes

If you’re looking for some healthy chickpeas recipes, I’ve collected a bunch. Some of these come from my dietitian friends. I also asked Real Mom readers on Facebook for their kids’ fave chickpea recipes, and those are marked with an asterisk.

Roasted Chickpeas Recipes

  • Roasted Chickpeas With Salt from Kroll’s Korner
  • Cheesy Roasted Chickpeas (Vegan) from Grateful Grazer
  • Crunchy Chickpea Trail Mix from Byte Sized Nutrition
  • Everything But The Bagel Chickpea Toppers from Champagne and Paper Planes
  • Roasted Honey Cinnamon Chickpeas from Weelicious*

Chickpea Bars, Cookies & Brownies Recipes

  • Mini Peanut Butter and Dark Chocolate Chip Chickpea Blondie Cups from Holley Grainger
  • Gluten Free Pumpkin Chickpea Blondies from Once Upon a Pumpkin
  • Peanut Butter Chickpea Bars from Lean Green Bean
  • Chickpea Brownies from Erin Lives Whole
  • Chocolate Pecan Love Bites from Spicy RD Nutrition

Chickpea Dinner Recipes

  • Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Sauce from Jessica Levinson
  • Curried Chickpea Salad Sandwiches from Nutrition by Jessica
  • Cheese Tortellini in Chickpea Red Sauce from 360 Family Nutrition
  • Middle Eastern Turkey Meatball Sheet Pan Dinner from How To Eat
  • Chickpea Noodle Soup from Cozy Peach Kitchen
  • Chole Indian Spiced Chickpeas from Salubrious RD
  • Confetti Chickpea Salad from Carrots & Cake
  • Sheet Pan Meatballs With Crispy Tumeric Chickpeas from Smitten Kitchen*
  • Roasted Chicken With Cauliflower and Chickpeas from Martha Stewart*
  • Chickpea and Kale Curry from Cooking Light*
  • Chickpea Pot Pies from Taste of Home*

Misc. Chickpea Recipes

  • Snickerdoodle Chickpea Smoothie from Hummusapien
  • Healthy Edible Play-Doh from Smart Nutrition
  • Healthy Vegan Edible Cookie Dough from The Sensitive Table
  • Chickpea Nuggets from My Plant-Based Family*

Food made from chickpeas

Hi! I'm Sally, a dietitian-mom.

I believe that EVERY mom can feel successful and confident about feeding her kids, lose the stress, and finally enjoy mealtime again.

Sign up for my weekly emails for support and inspiration (plus dinner ideas!) and I'll send you 16 game-changing tips for feeding your kids--even the super-duper picky ones.

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Filed Under: Nutrition Advice + Ideas Tagged With: beans, chickpeas, picky eaters, recipes

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sarah Jane says

    June 4, 2019 at 9:39 am

    This is such a fun idea for a series, I love it! I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old with a baby on the way. Overall our girls are very good eaters, but this year we are working on them being more adventurous eaters by trying lots of new recipes and foods, so this is perfect!

    Reply
    • Sally says

      June 4, 2019 at 12:27 pm

      Thanks Sarah Jane! Hope it gives you new ideas. 🙂

      Reply
  2. Karen says

    September 4, 2019 at 7:23 pm

    Thank you sir all the suggestions! I’m excited to try some of these that we haven’t done before. One thing we just tried tonight to get our kids to like chickpeas more is to make a cheese sauce for macaroni and cheese and then just mix in chickpeas instead of pasta. It ended up being a success. I figure in time I can offer them the chickpeas without the sauce once they get used to it. other than hummus, another way they have eaten chickpeas is by making a chocolate chickpea spread kind of like Nutella. Yum. Thank you again for all the other suggestions. I’m looking forward to trying them!

    Reply
    • Sally says

      September 5, 2019 at 8:18 am

      You’re welcome! I think it’s great that a cheese sauce helped your kids explore and eat chickpeas–sauces are great for that. And it helps them feel comfortable eating that food in other ways as well. Way to go!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Top 5 Sites to help with Picky Eaters – Spaz Mom says:
    June 21, 2019 at 11:57 am

    […] discuses her own dinner time struggles with her her kids. I highly recommend one of her latest post 29 ways to Serve Chickpeas to your Kids. The post has a link to a Chickpea Brownie Recipe that the kids actually loved. My son even ate […]

    Reply

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