Like children, it’s impossible to pick a favorite bean. Chickpeas, however, certainly rank high on our list. They star in some of our favorite dishes: falafel, chana masala, pasta e ceci, and lest we forget, classic hummus (and ricotta-beet hummus and curried sweet potato hummus). You can even use aquafaba, the liquid in a can of chickpeas, as a vegan substitute for egg whites. Fun!
Among the earliest crops cultivated worldwide, some evidence suggests chickpeas were first farmed in the Fertile Crescent thousands of years ago. Today, the versatile legume grows all over the world and goes by many names: garbanzo beans, chana dal, and Egyptian peas, among others, and you may see it spelled as one word (chickpeas) or two (chick peas).
Though you can certainly soak dried chickpeas overnight or even cook fresh chickpeas in season, canned chickpeas offer a convenient alternative, no planning required. But which brand of canned chickpeas is best? We put 10 contenders through a brand-concealed taste test to find the ideal garbanzos to keep in your pantry.
How we picked the products
We started by compiling a comprehensive list of chickpea brands available at grocery stores nationwide. We reviewed insights from previous bean-focused tastings, including our own refried beans taste test and canned baked beans taste test. From this long list, we narrowed down to 10 finalists, prioritizing products with broad availability. To capture a representative range of options, we included both salted and unsalted varieties, as well as organic and conventional chickpeas.
Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, Prop Styling b y Christine Keely
How we set up our taste test
We placed the chickpeas in anonymized ramekins and warmed them in a 100-degree oven for about 20 minutes, bringing them to just above room temperature. Since we were tasting both salted and unsalted canned chickpeas, we grouped like with like, starting with the unsalted contenders to avoid blowing out our palates before moving on to the salted varieties.
How we evaluated the beans
The quality of canned chickpeas hinges on texture. That’s the promise of the shortcut: perfectly cooked beans, without having to hover by the stove or finagle a pressure cooker. Tasters wanted chickpeas that were tender and creamy, not mushy, grainy, or slimy. The cardinal texture sin, chalkiness, is often caused by undercooked interiors or residual starch.
Although chickpeas have a mild flavor, it is distinct. A good chickpea, tasters said, should have a delicate, earthy, and nutty taste. Red flags included bitterness or any metallic notes the beans may have picked up during processing.
The best unsalted chickpeas: Westbrae Natural Organic Garbanzo Beans
Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, Prop Styling b y Christine Keely
