Sticky Sesame Chickpeas are sweet with a nutty, umami flavor. They're so easy and quick to make, and a great source of plant protein. These can be ready to serve in less than 15 minutes.
I really love a good plant based meal that's nutritional, tasty and filling. Another good vegan meal is my Vegan Eggplant Parmigiana. Like this recipe for sticky sesame chickpeas, they both have a gluten free option as well.
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📝Ingredient Notes
Chickpeas- These beans are also known as garbanzo beans. I like to make this recipe using canned chickpeas, but you can always use dried and make them yourself. This recipe calls for 2 cans. Each can is 1 pound of chickpeas, so you will need 2 pounds of cooked chickpeas. Remember, dried beans do not measure the same as when they are cooked.
🍯Substitutions
Corn starch- Or tapioca starch.
Pure maple syrup- Swap out the pure maple syrup for honey as a sweetener.
Soy sauce- Tamari is a good soy sauce substitute that is also gluten free. Make sure to use low sodium on either of these. Otherwise, it will taste overly salty.
Rice vinegar- Fresh lemon juice or apple cider vinegar will work in place of rice vinegar. These swaps can also help make this recipe a gluten free one!
Vegetable broth- Water will also work well in the place of broth.
🔪Instructions
Open the canned chickpeas and rinse them until all the bubbles disappear. Drain well and then set them aside.
In a skillet, add in the olive oil and grated garlic. Sautée until fragrant for about a minute.
Add in the reduced sodium soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, maple syrup and ground ginger. Mix well and turn the stove on to medium heat.
In a separate bowl or liquid measuring cup, mix together the vegetable broth and corn starch until no lumps remain. Add that in to the pan when the soy sauce mixture starts to get hot, and whisk it together.
Continue to whisk as the sauce begins to lightly bubble and thicken.
Turn the heat down to low and then add in the chickpeas and mix them in with the sauce. As the chickpeas cook, they will absorb some of the flavors.
This recipe uses extra sauce, so the longer we let it bubble, the more it will thicken. Let it cook and thicken on low heat for a few minutes. With a wooden spoon, stir throughout while it cooks. The sauce will also thicken more as it cools.
Before serving, sprinkle in the sesame seeds and mix well.
Serve over a bowl of rice and optionally top with green onions, crushed red pepper flakes or sriracha.
Enjoy!
🧊Storing
Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
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✅Pro Tips
- Use good quality chickpeas from a can. Typically, lower quality chickpeas are much harder and take longer to become soft. I like to use a good one such as Bush's Garbanzo Beans. They're already soft, so they really just need heated up.
- If your sauce is too thin, let it sit at a soft/light boil while continuously mixing to prevent the sauce from burning in the pan. It will also thicken even more as it cools.
❓Frequently Asked Questions
You can check your local supermarket for sesame seeds or find them online on Amazon.
This recipe uses soy sauce, which is not gluten free. You can instead use a low sodium Tamari in its place. Additionally, rice vinegar is not gluten free as it is fermented, and not distilled. In its place you can use fresh lemon juice or even apple cider vinegar.
You can either toast the sesame seeds first to bring out their nutty flavor even more and give some extra crunch, or just mix them into the sauce last, like I do.
To toast the sesame seeds, place them in a pan on the stove (without oil) for up to 3 minutes on medium heat. Make sure you stir them the whole time. They will become golden when they are toasted. Just be careful not to let them burn.
Chickpeas provide numerous health benefits such as helping with digestion, controlling blood sugar, lowering cholesterol and provides nutrients for strong bones. Sesame seeds also provide good nutrition as well. Given these statements, this recipe is also high in sodium from the soy sauce and vegetable broth, even using reduced sodium products. Therefore, it is important to enjoy in moderation.
If you enjoyed this recipe for my vegan Sticky Sesame Chickpeas, leave a comment and review down below! I love to hear from you. Also, if you aren't following me on Instagram, search @thedairyfreemenu for some more cooking inspiration!
📖 Recipe
Sticky Sesame Chickpeas
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3-4 large garlic cloves grated
- ½ cup soy sauce low sodium**
- 3 teaspoons rice vinegar
- 1 ½ tablespoons sesame oil
- ½ cup maple syrup or more to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ cup vegetable broth low sodium
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 2 cans chickpeas rinsed, drained
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Toppings
- green onions
- crushed red pepper flakes
- sriracha
Instructions
- Open the canned chickpeas and rinse them until all the bubbles disappear. Drain well and then set them aside.
- In a skillet, add in the olive oil and grated garlic. Sautée until fragrant for about a minute.
- Add in the reduced sodium soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, maple syrup and ground ginger. Mix well and turn the stove on to medium heat.
- In a separate bowl or liquid measuring cup, mix together the vegetable broth and corn starch until no lumps remain. Add that in to the pan when the soy sauce mixture starts to get hot, and whisk it together.
- Continue to whisk as the sauce begins to lightly bubble and thicken. Turn the heat down to low and then add in the chickpeas and mix them in with the sauce. As the chickpeas cook, they will absorb some of the flavors.
- This recipe uses extra sauce, so the longer we let it bubble and keep hot, the more it will thicken. Let it cook and thicken on medium-low heat for a few minutes. With a wooden spoon, stir throughout while it cooks.
- Before serving, sprinkle in the sesame seeds and mix well.
- Serve over a bowl of rice and optionally top with green onions, crushed red pepper flakes or sriracha.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- It's important to use low sodium soy sauce. Otherwise, the dish can get pretty salty. It's also good to use a reduced sodium vegetable broth.
Nutrition
Note: The nutrition label is only an estimate. Amounts may vary.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!