These crispy Italian chickpeas with Italian flavourings are roasted until crispy in an air fryer (or oven) to make a moreish healthy snack.
My latest recipe is these crispy Italian chickpeas flavoured with dairy-free pesto flavours and roasted until crisp in the air fryer.
Of course, you could roast these tasty little snacks in the oven instead.
Crunchy chickpeas make an excellent protein-packed snack, that is full of fibre and nutrients.
They make a great alternative to crisps (potato chips) which are not quite as healthy.
Jump to:
- 🥘 Crispy chickpea ingredients
- 📖 Variations
- ⏲️ Air fryer or oven?
- 💭 Roast chickpea tips
- 🥗 How to serve crunchy chickpeas
- 🥫 Storing crispy baked chickpeas
- ⏲️ How long will they keep?
- 👩🏻🍳 Related recipes
- 👩🏻🍳 Pairing recipes
- ⭐ Sign up for a free recipe sent to your inbox every morning
- 👩🏻🍳 How to make crispy Italian chickpeas
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
At a glance - crispy italian chickpeas
⏲️ Ready in: 20 minutes
👪 Serves: 4
🍽 Calories: 124
🧾 Main ingredients: cooked chickpeas (canned are fine), olive oil, dried basil, garlic powder (or granules), nutritional yeast (nooch)
👩🏻🍳 Suitable for: vegan, plant-based, dairy-free, egg-free, vegetarian
Summarise & save this recipe:
🥘 Crispy chickpea ingredients
Here are the simple ingredients you need to make this gluten-free snack.
- Cooked chickpeas - canned chickpeas are an easy option
- Oil - olive oil for flavour
- Basil - you want dried basil for this recipe
- Garlic - garlic powder
- Nutritional yeast - also called nooch
- Salt & Pepper - to season
See the printable recipe card at the end of this post for quantities, method, calories and nutrition.
📖 Variations
Use this crunchy chickpea recipe as a base and change up the flavours every time you make them.
You may like to try my crunchy pizza chickpeas next, but here are some more flavouring ideas.
- Garlic & Herb - add garlic powder and dried herbs
- Lemon & Herb - add lemon zest, oregano and salt
- Smoky - add paprika, salt and some chilli flakes for a bit of heat
- Sweet & Savoury - add maple syrup, cinnamon, cumin and salt
- Curry - add cumin, ground coriander, turmeric and ground ginger
⏲️ Air fryer or oven?
Roast chickpeas can be baked in the oven or in an air fryer.
Using an air fryer is quicker and cheaper (energy consumption is lower with an air fryer), but if you prepare them properly, they will crisp up nicely in both.
In an oven or oven-style air fryer with shelves, bake them on a lined tray near the top of the air fryer, stopping to move them about (turn them), so they are evenly crisped.
If you have an air fryer with drawers, then give them a good shake during the roast.
Next, try these crunchy air fryer balti tofu bites.
💭 Roast chickpea tips
Here are a few tips for the crunchiest roasted chickpeas.
- Dry them - make sure you dry them well on kitchen paper or a clean tea towel before adding the flavourings.
- Give them space - don't overcrowd the basket or tray, have a bit of room between them to allow the chickpeas to crisp
- Move them - move them about during cooking to make sure they are evenly roasted
- Watch them - they can go from crispy to burnt quite quickly, so keep an eye on them
Do give them a try, they are a fabulous oven-roasted snack and great for lunchboxes.
They are suitable for vegetarians, vegans and those on a dairy-free or gluten-free diet.
🥗 How to serve crunchy chickpeas
Here are a few serving suggestions for roasted chickpeas, if you can manage to do anything other than pop one after another of these tasty morsels in your mouth until they are all gone!
- Naked - just serve them as they are as a tasty protein snack
- Salad - serve them as a crunchy topping on a salad
- Pitta - add them to pitta bread with salad and a creamy ranch dressing or the most gorgeous Russian dressing
- Wrap - add to a wrap with salad and a rich vegan buffalo sauce
- Soup - add them as a crunchy topping to soups instead of croutons, try them with this homemade vegan cream of tomato soup
- Trail Mix - go all American and add them to a trail mix (dry snack mixture) with nuts, seeds and dried fruit
🥫 Storing crispy baked chickpeas
Store crispy pesto chickpeas in a glass jar or an air tight container.
Just make sure the glass jar or airtight container is spotlessly clean and totally dry, as any hint of moisture or water and the chickpeas will go soft.
You can add some kitchen paper, just to be on the safe side.
⏲️ How long will they keep?
Store them right and these crispy Italian chickpeas will keep for a few days.
They make a great portable snack, that's low in calories, high in protein and fibre and full of nutrients.
Best of all, they taste so good!
👩🏻🍳 Related recipes
Looking for more savoury snack recipes like this? Try these:
👩🏻🍳 Pairing recipes
Try adding crunchy chickpeas to these dishes as a filling or topping:
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👩🏻🍳 How to make crispy Italian chickpeas
These step-by-step photos will show you how to make these air fryer crispy chickpeas. Keep scrolling for the full printable recipe (with full ingredient list, calories and nutritional info).
Step 1
- Drain the chickpeas (reserving the aquafaba aka chickpea water to make chocolate mousse) and pat dry with a clean tea towel or kitchen paper.
- Add the oil and flavourings (see the recipe card below for the full ingredient list).
Step 2
- Mix until well coated then spread on a tray (to oven or air fryer oven roast) or in an air fryer drawer.
- Roast until crunchy.
- Enjoy!
📖 Recipe
Crispy Italian Chickpeas Roasted in the Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 240 g chickpeas (400g/14 oz can drained)
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder (or granules)
- 2 teaspoons nutritional yeast (also called nooch)
- 1 pinch salt and pepper
Instructions
- Drain a can of chickpeas and dry on kitchen paper or a clean tea towel.
- Pour the chickpeas into a large bowl, add the oil and mix well.
- Add the herbs, nooch and garlic and season with salt and pepper, then mix well to coat.
- Add to your air fryer basket and shake into an even layer or if you have an air fryer with shelves, either spread out on a tray or straight on the mesh shelves.
- Cook at 180c/350f for 10 minutes, then turn up to 200c/400f for a further 5 minutes. Keep an eye on them so they don't burn and check at this point to see if they are just right, if not give them a few more minutes.
- Once cool store in a dry jar or airtight container and tuck in.
- Enjoy!
Kushigalu says
Never tried chickpeas in the air fryer. Sounds interesting. Thanks for the recipe.
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Oh you must try them they are so good. Such a tasty snack.
veenaazmanov says
Love the Garlic Powder flavor and the basil toppings. This is definitely a healthy snack box option. Perfect when chilling with friends and family.
Jacqueline Meldrum says
The flavours definitely give it that pesto flavour. Such tasty crunchy chickpeas.
Maggie says
What a yummy snack! I love chickpeas and so does my son. Can't wait to make them again for him. q
Jacqueline Meldrum says
I am sure he will love the crunchy chickpeas. My son loves them.
Dina says
Adding the nutritional yeast is genius! Super tasty!
Jacqueline Meldrum says
It's such a handy thing to have in the store cupboard and full of nutrients.
Sharon says
These Italian chickpeas are my new snacking favorite! The flavor was really great on top of salads too.
Jacqueline Meldrum says
I am so glad you tried them and loved them Sharon and yes great on salads.
Rian says
I made them! Rushed right into the kitchen when I saw this. They are not going to last long!
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Haha brilliant. I am so glad you liked them and yes they never last long.
Sam Burton says
Loving these flavours. Must try them.
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Oh yes do try them Sam, they are super easy to make and a really tasty snack.
Jill says
Well you know what I will be making tomorrow!!! I have everything I need too. I love when that happens. Jill x
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Haha brilliant and yes I love that too. I think we must have our store cupboard filled in the same way, because I am sure this has happened a few times before. Anyway, enjoy the chickpeas.
George says
Oh I have a airfryer now so this is perfect. I spotted your vegetable list too. Thanks
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Oh that is perfect timing. You are going to love having an air fryer, they are so handy. Do check out the air fryer section in my recipe index.
Sharon Purchase says
This recipe looks lovely! I don’t have an air fryer & have no plans to buy one, so would the temperature be the same for an over but extend the time by how long?
Thanks
Sharon
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Yes, but it will take longer. Try an extra 10 minutes, then try them, it might take a bit longer.