Cooking chickpeas in the instant pot is faster than stovetop and you don’t have to soak them overnight. Now you can enjoy chickpeas in your favorite Chickpea Salad or homemade Hummus without needing to plan a day ahead. I included instructions for cooking chickpeas to your desired doneness (i.e. slightly chewy for salads and very soft for hummus).
The Instant Pot has gained so much popularity in recent years because it shaves hours of cooking time from recipes that require slow cooking to tenderize like Instant Pot Beets (which is genius), Instant Pot Baked Potatoes, and of course instant Pot Chickpeas!
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Instant Pot Chickpeas Video Tutorial
Watch this quick video and learn how to cook chickpeas in the instant pot. This is such an easy method and the hardest part is peeling the skins – thankfully that’s optional!
Chickpeas in the Instant Pot is Genius!
Homecooked chickpeas are less expensive and taste so much better than canned. Making them in the instant pot is super fast and easy. You don’t even have to prep ahead since there is no soaking required and they come out tender, creamy, and buttery. A full batch is enough to make 2 batches of hummus so we use half and freeze the other half for another day (see make-ahead tips below).
How to Cook Chickpeas in the Instant Pot
The ingredients and process are simple. All you need is dried chickpeas or garbanzo beans, water, and salt.
- Rinse the chickpeas and pick out any debris or shriveled/bad chickpeas then drain.
- Add beans to the 6-quart Instant pot, add enough to cover the chickpeas by 1-inch of water and add salt.
- For slightly lightly chewy chickpeas (used for salad): Cook on high pressure for 45 minutes followed by a 10 minute natural pressure release.
- For soft and tender chickpeas (used for hummus): Pressure cook on high pressure for 50 minutes followed by a 15 minute natural pressure release.
Pro Tip: If your chickpeas aren’t soft enough, you can cover and pressure cook another 5 minutes followed by a manual pressure release.
Common Questions
You can pre-soak the night before. If you pre-soak the beans, they will cook much faster. You can cook on high pressure for just 15 minutes for firm chickpeas or 18 minutes for very creamy and tender chickpeas, followed by a quick pressure release.
Before cooking, discard any stones and discolored, shriveled, or grey chickpeas which indicates bad chickpeas.
Keep some of the liquid for storing the beans. You can also use it in hummus or soups to add more flavor.
Peeling is optional. For some recipes such as hummus, where a smoother texture is desirable, you can peel the chickpeas. Transfer drained chickpeas to a bowl of water and rub them between your hands then skim off the skins.
Chickpeas are the same thing as garbanzo beans and the terms are used interchangeably. They are a type of bean in the legume family.
How to Serve Chickpeas
These are our favorite ways to serve chickpeas, but as they have gained popularity in recent years, people have gotten really creative. I’d love to hear how you use Chickpeas with your cooking in the comments below.
- Chickpea Salad – topping your salads with cooked chickpeas adds great protein, wonderful nutty and buttery flavor, and a fun crunchy texture.
- Soups – add them to soups as you would other beans.
- Hummus – homemade hummus is so much better than store-bought and cooking the beans in the instant pot takes it to the next level.
Make-Ahead
Refrigerator Storage – Cool beans to room temperature then transfer to an airtight container with a little bit of cooking liquid and store for 3-5 days.
How to Freeze – Place cooled chickpeas along with some liquid in a freezer- safe zip bag, squeeze out all of the air and seal tightly. Freeze flat for quick thawing and store in the freezer for 2-3 months. Package in portions that you know you will use when thawed, for example, we freeze half of the batch for hummus.
More Instant Pot Recipes
Whether you’re looking for a quick weeknight dinner, or want to skip some cooking time like with Instant Pot Beets to add to your favorite Beet Salad, you will love these recipes:
- Instant Pot Whole Chicken and Gravy
- Mashed Potatoes in the Instant Pot
- Instant Pot Corn on the Cob
- Instant Pot Ribs
- Chicken Chili in the Instant Pot
Instant Pot Chickpeas (No Soaking Required)
Ingredients
- 1 lb dried chickpeas, 2 cups
- 6 cups water
- 1 tsp fine sea salt, optional
Instructions
- Rinse and chickpeas and remove any debris then drain well.
- Transfer chickpeas to a 6-quart instant pot and add 6 cups water or enough to cover the chickpeas by 1-inch of water. Add 1 tsp salt.
- For slightly lightly chewy chickpeas (used for salad): Cook on high pressure for 45 minutes followed by a 10 minute natural pressure release.
- For Soft and Tender Chickpeas (used for hummus): Pressure cook on high pressure for 50 minutes followed by a 15 minute natural pressure release.*
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
I had barely 1 cup of dry chickpeas and added water to about 1.5″ in a 6 qt Instantpot. 45 mins with 15 mins natural release. I thought the chickpeas might have been more cooked than I wanted so I drained and kept the liquid for later and then added cold water to barely cover the chickpeas. This “tightened-up” the chickpeas and kept them from cooking much more and they were perfect later when I used them for a chickpea curry. Brands and size and age of dry chickpeas will vary, smaller amounts will cook more quickly, and erring on the side of underdone is probably the best – especially if planning to cook further. Thanks again Natasha, from another Natasha. Your instructions and recipes never fail!
SOOO EASY!! I make Vegan Chickpea Curry almost weekly and this is way more economical than buying cans that have sat on the shelf for xxxx🙄. THANK YOU!!
You are very welcome!
I followed the recipe to a T and I had so much water when it finished cooking for 45 minutes and a 10 minute natural release. Why did I have so much water left?
Hi Monique, I recommend double checking the settings and the amount used to ensure there wasn’t an error there. There should be some liquid remaining – see my photos for reference. You may keep some of the liquid for storing the beans. You can also use it in hummus or soups to add more flavor. I hope that helps.
Hummus is actually the Arabic word for chickpeas, so there are 3 interchangeable names. Any “hummus” made without hummus/chickpeas is not hummus but simply a dip.
I have cooked hummus/chickpeas in chicken broth (which renders them no longer vegan or vegetarian but tastes fine) or vegetable broth.
Also when making hummus (dip) rubbing a clove of garlic all over the bowl and leaving it out of the ingredients gives a subtler flavor should you not like the strong garlic flavor some use.
I have been marinading my canned chickpeas and I was wondering if I could use a marinade instead of water as the liquid when rehydrating in the instant pot? If it worked it’d be a great way to get it all done at once.
Hi Logan. I’ve never tested anything like that, so I’m not sure, but I don’t see why not. Let us know if you experiment.
Tip: If chick peas are for hummus add a teaspoon baking soda this will break down the chick pea skins for a smoother blend
This is listed under an Insta pot recipe… It would be nice to include which buttons to push on the Insta pot… One of the reason I was here
Hi Leslie. There is not a generic button to press since it depends on model and brand you’re using (there are many different pressure cookers out on the market). If you’re using an Instapot newer model, you should see a pressure cooker button, once you press that it should allow you to manually select which level pressure and adjust your time. I hope that helps. If not, I would refer to your user manual.
Hi Natasha I use chickpeas in my chicken curry, rice pulao, and vegetable curry. They all turn out so delicious and are very popular in Pakistani cuisine.
Thanks so much for this recipe! Easy instructions and so time-efficient! It’s great to have a freezer full of chickpeas waiting for soups and hummus, while keeping some in the fridge for salads (I compromised and set my IP for 48 minutes).
Looking forward to checking out any other vegan recipes you offer.
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
What do you mean by a 10 minute natural pressure release? I know how to do a ‘quick release’…is that what you mean? I also use the Saute option to bring the cooking water up to a boil quickly and then switch to high pressure cook and reduce the cooking time by 15 min. This is a new try, so I’ll let you know.
Hi Janne, a natural pressure release happens at the end of a cooking cycle. For ten minutes after it is done cooking, the inside of the pressure post will begin to gradually decrease the pressure on its own. Meaning, you do nothing. After the 10 minutes of natural pressure release you can then release the pressure value to release the rest of the pressure. I hope that helps.
Many thanks for the rock star recipe- sharing widely! 🙂 *****
Hi there, perfect recipe for our chickpea dishes, always a good result !
Based on the pre-soaked instructions above, I used 1.5 cup dried chickpeas and pre-soaked them for 3 hours. I added 4.5 lbs seared chicken drumsticks, seasonings, 1 cup of canned diced tomatoes, 1 chopped onion, chicken broth and water – liquid totaling 4 cups. Set my 8 qt Instant Pot for 10 minutes. It took about 23 minutes to get to pressure + the 10 minutes of cooking + manual release. It was like a soup so I will use less liquid next time. I know I altered the recipe but the recipe was a good guide because I wanted the garbanzo beans and chicken to cook and finish together. The recipe said 15 minutes for pre-soaked, but I set it to 10 minutes. The beans were a tiny but firm and chicken was fall off the bone. In the future I might set it to 8-9 minutes and use half the liquid. I know I altered it a lot for my chicken and bean stew but Natasha’s tips were still helpful.