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Learn how to cook Instant Pot chickpeas for the best flavor and texture! This simple method for garbanzo beans is quick, reliable, and better than canned.
After cooking dried chickpeas for years, I’ve found that Instant Pot chickpeas is the quickest method! The first time I made them, I was amazed at how tender they get in only 1 hour. It’s so much easier and faster than cooking them on the stovetop!
Also, homecooked chickpeas have a texture and flavor that’s more satisfying than canned garbanzo beans, and they’re about half the price. My hands-off method makes it easy to batch-cook chickpeas for everything from homemade hummus to quick weeknight chickpea curry.
Why You’ll Love This Method
When I need to cook dried beans, I whip out my Instant Pot! Alex and I are always trying to find ways to fit cooking dried beans into our lives. Here’s why the pressure cooker is key:
- It’s quick and hands off. The method is truly hands off, and the chickpeas cook perfectly every time.
- It’s cheaper than canned. I love eating canned chickpeas, but cooking beans in a pressure cooker is cheaper: about half or more the price of canned!
- It’s MUCH more delicious than canned. The texture and flavor of home-cooked Instant Pot chickpeas are better than those from a can. These chickpeas have a slightly nuttier flavor and firmer texture than canned, which can be mushy.
Reader Reviews
“Thank you for this recipe! Delicious.” -Leslie
“Turned out perfectly. I love cooking garbanzos this way because they’re so inexpensive and taste better than canned. I put them in small baggies in the freezer, and then it’s perfect to throw onto a salad for a quick lunch. Easy and healthy protein and fiber.” -Alice
All About Chickpeas
Chickpeas (also called garbanzo beans) are versatile legumes that work in everything from Mediterranean salads to Indian curries. They’re packed with plant-based protein and fiber, making them a nutritious addition to vegetarian and vegan meals. I use them constantly for Chickpea Salad Sandwiches, Chickpea Curry, and my other favorite chickpea recipes.
Instant Pot Notes
An Instant Pot is an electric pressure cooker that uses steam and heat to cook foods faster than the stovetop or oven. I use a 6 quart Instant Pot Pressure Cooker, but any brand of pressure cooker will work with this recipe. Keep in mind larger pots may take a little longer to come up to pressure.
I’ve been experimenting with my Instant Pot for years and have lots of Instant Pot recipes: cooking dried beans is one of my favorite uses because it’s so quick and hands-off. Traditional stovetop methods can take 2 to 3 hours, but pressure cooking reduces that to under 1 hour including prep time.
Tips for Cooking Chickpeas in an Instant Pot
- To soak or not to soak: I recommend soaking dried chickpeas overnight (or 10-12 hours) for the most tender, evenly cooked results. You also can cook unsoaked chickpeas if you’re short on time: just increase the cook time to 35 minutes. But keep in mind, unsoaked will have a drier texture.
- Add enough water: Cover the chickpeas with about 1 inch of water (roughly 6 cups of water for 1 pound of dried chickpeas). This ensures they cook evenly without burning.
- Season with salt: Add 1 teaspoon of kosher salt or sea salt to the cooking liquid. This enhances the natural flavor without making them overly salty.
- Use natural release: After the cook time ends, let the pressure release naturally for 20 minutes. This helps to prevent the chickpeas from splitting.
- Test for doneness: Taste one chickpea before draining. Different brands and pressure cooker models can vary. If they’re still firm, cook for an additional 3 to 5 minutes on high pressure.
Texture & Cook Times
Here’s a quick guide for different textures based on cook time (using soaked chickpeas):
- Soft & creamy (all-purpose): 23-25 minutes on high pressure + 20 minute natural release
- Very soft/mashable (best for hummus): 28-30 minutes on high pressure + 20 minute natural release
- Unsoaked chickpeas: 35 minutes on high pressure + 20 minute natural release (note: these tend to be drier than soaked)
Remember that the Instant Pot takes about 15-20 minutes to come up to pressure before the actual cook time starts, so the total cook time is about 1 hour.
Ways to Use Chickpeas
Chickpeas are one of my favorite solutions for quick, protein-packed meals. Here are my favorite ways to use them:
- For quick meals: Toss into Moroccan Chickpea Stew, blend into Instant Pot Hummus or Chickpea Burgers, or add to Chickpea Couscous Bowls.
- For salads and sides: Mix into grain bowls or Power Bowls, add to Greek Orzo Salad, or make Chickpea Salad Sandwich for lunch.
- For crispy snacks: Roast with olive oil and spices to make Crispy Roasted Chickpeas
- For curries and soups: Simmer in Coconut Cauliflower Curry or add to vegetable soups like Chickpea Rice Soup for extra protein and fiber.
Storage & Freezing Tips
Store cooked chickpeas in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 days. Keep them in their cooking liquid if you’re planning to use them within a day or two for extra moisture.
You can also freeze them for up to 3 months: drain the chickpeas and freeze in 1.5-cup portions (the same as one can of chickpeas!) in freezer-safe containers or bags. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, or run the container under warm water for fast thawing.
Tip: You can save the cooking liquid for soups, stews, or as a base for hummus. It’s packed with nutrients and adds depth to recipes.
Dietary Notes
This Instant Pot chickpeas recipe is vegetarian, gluten-free, vegan, plant based, dairy free, naturally sweet, and refined sugar free.
Frequently Asked Questions
Use about 6 cups of water for 1 pound of dried chickpeas, covering them by about 1 inch. This ratio works whether you’re using soaked or unsoaked beans.
The key is using a natural release for 20 minutes rather than a quick release, which can cause them to split. Also, don’t overcook them: test for doneness and stop cooking when they reach your desired texture.
Yes! Bay leaves, garlic cloves, and salt work great. Avoid adding acidic ingredients like lemon juice or tomatoes during cooking, as they can prevent the chickpeas from softening properly. Add those after cooking.
One cup of dried chickpeas yields about 2.5 to 3 cups of cooked chickpeas, depending on how long you cook them.
Instant Pot Chickpeas
Perfectly tender, flavorful chickpeas cooked from dried beans in under an hour! This pressure cooker method for garbanzo beans yields better texture and flavor than canned, and it’s perfect for meal prep.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes (preheat)
- Cook Time: 42 minutes (including natural release)
- Total Time: 52 minutes
- Yield: 6 cups 1x
- Category: Main Dish, Side Dish
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: American
Instructions
- Night or day before (recommended): Place the chickpeas in the Instant Pot and cover with the water. Soak 10 to 12 hours, then drain. This makes the most tender chickpeas that are most evenly cooked (see notes below*).
- Place the chickpeas into Instant Pot and cover with water by 1 inch (about 6 cups). Add the kosher salt. Lock the lid. Place the pressure release handle (vent) in the “Sealing” position.
- Cook on high pressure 23 minutes (soaked) or 35 minutes (unsoaked*): Press the Pressure Cook button, making sure the “High Pressure” setting is selected, and set the time. It takes about 15 to 20 minutes for the pot to “preheat” and come up to pressure before it starts cooking. Wait while the Instant Pot cooks. (Note: During cooking, avoid touching the metal part of the lid.)
- Natural release for 20 minutes: After the Instant Pot beeps, wait for another 20 minutes to let the Instant Pot naturally release pressure. (Tip: We set a timer for this part so we don’t forget!) Then vent any remaining steam by moving the vent to “Venting”, covering your hand with a towel or hot pad. Never put your hands or face near the vent when releasing steam. (The pressure indicator in the lid may drop on its own after 10 minutes, meaning that there is no remaining steam in the pot.)
- Open the lid and taste one chickpea to see if it is tender. Some chickpea brands and pressure cooker brands have require longer cook times. If it’s not tender, cook a few more minutes on high pressure and do a quick release. Once cooked, drain and use immediately, store in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 days, or freeze indefinitely. We freeze the drained chickpeas in sealable containers in 1.5 cup servings, which equals 1 15-ounce can.
Notes
Important: Read and abide by all safety precautions in your Instant Pot / pressure cooker manual.
Soaked vs unsoaked: Soaked chickpeas make the most reliable results: they are most tender, evenly cooked, and closest to canned chickpeas. Unsoaked chickpeas can be rather dry; if you’re using them in hummus, you may need to add more water than the recipe specifies to make a creamy consistency.
Cooking liquid: Save the cooking liquid to use as a base for soups, stews, or homemade hummus.
Texture variations: Adjust cook time based on desired texture. For softer chickpeas perfect for hummus, cook for 28-30 minutes. For firmer chickpeas for salads, reduce to 20-22 minutes.
Freezing tip: Freeze cooked chickpeas in portions that equal one can (1.5 cups) for easy recipe substitutions.
Worked great in my Ninja Foodie 8 qt….make sure how ever much you make your water and beans don’t fill the pot more than half way. I would like to figure out a time I could go in and skim them, but totally happy with texture (pre-soaked overnight).
Hey, here’s one MORE tip! … In my Instant Pot manual, there are directions for doing a ‘pre-soak’ of any beans / chickpeas. On those days when you forget to soak ahead, or are planning a meal more spontaneously, here’s what you can do to “mimic” the overnight soak. I have done this MANY times and it works great to make tender, delicious beans / peas.
Measure beans / chickpeas into pot, add water (4 x more than dry ingred’s), seal pot, press “Manual” and enter 4 minutes. Wait for a minimum of 10-15 min after finished that cycle before unsealing your pot. That is your “pre-soak” …. Drain them, then put back into the IP, add water, and proceed to now cook the beans.
As of December 2020, this recipe was updated with soaking instructions for more reliability! Soaking the chickpeas is highly recommended for the most consistent cooking. Soak the chickpeas 10 to 12 hours, then cook 23 minutes on High Pressure. For unsoaked, cook 35 minutes on High Pressure. Thank you for your feedback!
If this helps: I cooked 1.5 lbs of (unsoaked) garbanzo beans in 12 cups of water for 40 minutes of actual pressure cooking time with slow release for 15 minutes and they came out perfectly.
I have never been able to cook dry chick peas in instant pot in 20-30 minutes.
What is the sodium count? It is not on the Nutritional List. I’m on a sodium restricted diet and really would like this info included.
Tia
Melody Rhoades
Hi! Our nutrition analysis doesn’t include sodium. A teaspoon of kosher salt has 1,920 mg of sodium but it wouldn’t all be ingested since the water is drained. Hope this helps!
I thought they came out perfectly. I agree with the above comment that the freshness of the dried beans matters (from the personal experience of trying to cook old beans before!). I’ve been looking for a recipe for dried garbanzo beans that come out soft but not mushy or split, and this worked well, thank you!
Getting ready to try this recipe and I’ve read a lot of reviews about beans not cooking enough and just wanted to share my lesson on “not cooked to soft”. I think if they are old/aged/ dry beans they kind of go “stale”. I’ve had this problem before and just st ended up throwing them out because they were never cooking. Just wanted to share my experience. Thanks for the recipe!
You didn’t really explain if you shut the pot off and wait 20 minutes or keep it on keep cmwarm
Either one will work!
My experience — to get the consistency I’m looking for (cooked, but not mushy), I’ve found that no less than 45 minutes of cooking is needed — with 50 being preferable. This is using a ‘fresh’ bag of Goya beans (expiry 10/22 — over 30 months hence). No salt added, but 1/3 of the cooking liquid was low-sodium vegetable stock (which, if the label is accurate, translates to 70ml of sodium).
is there a difference between natural release and quick release. my son is impatient and wants to use quick release, so we are going to try setting for 30 minutes to see if that works???
Hi! There is a difference in the way it cooks. The natural release allows it to soften slowly, while a longer high pressure cook might demolish it. Let us know your results!
Thank you for this recipe! Delicious.
22 minutes was perfect. I made them before bed and let them natural release overnight. One pound of dried chick peas is four store-bought cans exactly. I’m making chick peas salad with one can and the other three went in freezer containers. Super simple and much cheaper than canned. No packaging and Earth friendly too!
Yum! I used garlic salt instead of kosher. For my Kroger brand beans, I ended up doing 22 minutes on high with 20 minutes natural pressure release; then an additional 5 minutes on high with 20 minutes natural pressure release.
Turned out perfectly. I added a couple bay leaves and a couple smashed cloves of garlic. I love cooking garbanzos this way because they’re so inexpensive and taste better than canned. I put them in small baggies in the freezer and then it’s perfect to throw onto a salad for a quick lunch. Easy and healthy protein and fiber.
Some (macrobiotics at least) say the water used to soak chick peas should be discarded. So, I soak them overnight and discard the soaking water. Then pressure cook on ‘high’, with less water (maybe just to cover the chick peas) for about 15 minutes. Perfect for hummus. And, no more burnt peas and pots when boiling on a stove top and the water runs dry!
My chickpeas needed about 5 extra minutes of pressure cooking after the first check, but they turned out delicious. I added about 5 cloves of garlic and two bay leaves to the pot for some extra flavor. The liquid in the pot also turned out delicious – so much so that I added kale and made a quick soup.
Thank you for the recipe. I might not buy canned chickpeas again.
I agree that the 22 minutes yields an al dente chick pea, and I waited until all the pressure was down before opening Instant Pot up. My hummus recipe calls for a VERY well done chick pea, so I cooked the chick peas again. This time I did 10 minutes with a full pressure release. They were much softer, so I will try to make hummus with this level of doneness. However, I appreciated the no-soak hands off ease of preparing chick peas this way. It is a great starting point for getting chick peas fixed to your particular liking.
You don’t use any spices or onions or anything? I did just chickpeas and salt and found that they didn’t really have any flavor. Super blah. What can we do to jazz them up?
Oh this recipe is just to cook the chickpeas! They are not meant to be eaten as is, but included in recipes! Here are some favorite ways to eat them: https://www.acouplecooks.com/easy-chickpea-salad-sandwich/ https://www.acouplecooks.com/chickpea-couscous-bowls-tahini-sauce/ https://www.acouplecooks.com/spiced-crispy-chickpeas/ https://www.acouplecooks.com/moroccan-chickpea-and-sweet-potato-stew/
My Instant Pot book that came with my cooker says to cook them for 35-40 minutes.
Interesting! We’ve found that 20 to 30 works for us — does your pot book say to natural release or quick release?
I omitted the salt (I think I have read that it prevents beans from cooking fully – best to add it after cooking) and I cooked on high pressure for 20 minutes. They were still quite crunchy so I’ve just added another 10 minutes on. I bought the chickpeas in the bulk section of Whole Foods. I like my instant pot but I do feel like lots of recipes need adjustment based on brand and perhaps on altitude – I’m at about 5000 feet.
Glad that 30 minutes did the trick! Yes all Instant Pots have a lot of variation we’ve found — and so do the chickpea brands! So we’ve had to customize based on both.
It is actually better to salt the water when cooking beans, including chickpeas (and when soaking, if you do that). The salt then flavors the beans throughout. If they are fully hydrated whey you add the salt, they will not absorb it as well. When cooking on a stove top, as opposed to a pressure cooker, add somewhat less salt because, as the water boils off, the salt concentration will increase.
Salt does not prevent beans from cooking.
I found this article that further explains it:
https://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/15/when-to-salt-your-beans/
Mine all split, has that happened for others? Should I try for less time, or omit the salt? I’ve tried google but can’t find an explanation.
Sorry for the delay! We would try for a little less time next time. All chickpea brands are different, so there is a lot of variation! And same with Instant Pots. Let us know how it goes — or feel free to shoot me an email to take this offline: sonja @ acouplecooks.com.
I now NEVER use salt while cooking any kind of legume because they turn out al dente every time and I don’t like crunchy beans. Just thought I’d mention that for some who have had the same issues. For some reason it doesn’t work for me.
Thank you for letting us know!
Based on the comments I tried 30 mins and it still wasn’t quite enough =/ Would try 40 next time.
Thank you for letting us know! Cook times can vary based on chickpea brand and pressure cooker. Let us know if 40 minutes works for you next time! We’ve added some notes in the recipe to account for this variation.
Mine came out al dente too; I’m going to put them in again for another 15 minutes and see what happens. :-)
Thank you for letting us know! Different chickpea brands and Instant pots make the timing vary, so this can happen. Did the extra time do the trick?
It’s been super cold here and our house is really really dry, so it’s likely that was a factor! I made hummus from some of the chick peas yesterday and it came out gloriously silky smooth and wonderful. :-)
I did a second cook for 15 minutes and they were done. In fact, they were a little bit overdone, but since all I wanted them for was hummus, it’s not a problem. Next time I cook a pound of chick peas in the Instant Pot I’ll do maybe 30 minutes.
We tried this yesterday and it worked out very good. Although I had soaked them for about 6 hours before cooking, they were juuust cooked enough to blend into hummus. Next time I’ll give them three more minutes and I also might add a little bit of baking soda because I’ve read somewhere that this also helps to break down the skins even more. Thanks for the recipe!
This did not work well for me at all. I have an Instant Pot and have Ben disappointed with its performance. It’s an overpriced crock pot for me. Other recipes have indicated that a pre-soak was recommended. My beans were only half cooked…I repeated the process for 10 min increments. Now, after 3 hours they are done.
We’re so sorry to hear this! Do you think that you might have accidentally been cooking on Low pressure instead of High pressure?
I followed the instructions and the chickpeas were cooked “al dente.” Was that the intended texture?? I like mine much softer so I can blend them for hummus.
Hi Sam! Interesting! In all our trials we did not have this happen — our chickpeas were cooked to be soft and tender that would work for hummus. We know that there can be some variation in chickpea brands and also in Instant Pots. We’d say to cook a few more minutes on high to get to the right consistency. (You can do it even after the natural release.) I’d go ahead and do that on your next try and see how it comes out — sounds like your chickpeas and Instant Pot may need 1 to 2 more minutes on high.
Honestly, what did I do before InstaPot? I have a Crock Pot Multi Cooker and use it practically every day. Most of the amazing dishes I’ve made have been totally accomplished from prep to clean up within a half hour.
I’ve already soaked my chickpeas over night. Do I follow the same directions?
Good question! Since your chickpeas are soaked, unfortunately we can’t speak to what the timing would be for the Instant Pot! It would be shorter than the time in this recipe, but we’re not sure by how much. Since we created this method to skip the soaking step, that wasn’t a variation we tried. You’re welcome to try less time and see if it comes out! Or just try our method next time without soaking. Thanks for asking!
I pre-soaked for 24h and 15 min dit it for me
Love how quick this is!! :)
I had the same reservations about getting an instant pot, because I also thought it was mostly for cooking meat! but I haven’t bough a single can of beans since purchasing my IP! It works wonders for large batches of grains, too. If I just need a cup of rice, I’ll usually do it on the stovetop. Can’t wait to try sweet potatoes, per your recent post!!