Crispy Spiced Chickpeas With Peppers and Tomatoes

Crispy Spiced Chickpeas With Peppers and Tomatoes
Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Rebecca Jurkevich
Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
5(1,256)
Notes
Read community notes

This vegetarian sheet-pan supper has verve to spare. You will need two sheet pans to make it, but that’s about all the kitchen equipment necessary. On one of them, spice-coated chickpeas are roasted until golden and crisp, while juicy peppers, tomatoes and onions caramelize on the other. Handfuls of bright fresh herbs and sweet pomegranate seeds add color and crunch. Serve this by itself for a light dinner, or with couscous or rice for something more substantial.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 2(15-ounce) cans chickpeas, rinsed and patted dry
  • ½cup olive oil
  • 2teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1teaspoon ground coriander
  • ½teaspoon ground turmeric
  • ¼teaspoon ground cayenne
  • 1teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste
  • 6fresh thyme sprigs
  • 2red, orange or yellow bell peppers (or a combination), stems and seeds removed, sliced lengthwise ¼-inch thick
  • 2medium tomatoes, diced
  • 1small red onion, sliced
  • 2jalapeños, stem and seeds removed, sliced
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1garlic clove, finely grated or mashed to a paste
  • 1cup fresh herbs (any combination of parsley, cilantro, mint or dill)
  • ½cup pomegranate seeds
  • Couscous or rice, for serving (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

621 calories; 34 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 21 grams monounsaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 68 grams carbohydrates; 19 grams dietary fiber; 15 grams sugars; 18 grams protein; 1123 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat the oven to 450 degrees and arrange racks on the top and bottom thirds of the oven.

  2. Step 2

    In a large bowl, toss chickpeas with 2 tablespoons oil, the cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne and ½ teaspoon salt until evenly coated. Spread onto a rimmed sheet pan in a single layer and top with 3 thyme sprigs.

  3. Step 3

    On a second sheet pan, combine bell peppers, tomatoes, onion, jalapeños and remaining thyme sprigs with 2 tablespoons oil and remaining ½ teaspoon salt. Spread vegetables into one layer.

  4. Step 4

    Place chickpea pan on the bottom rack and vegetables on the top rack and roast for 10 minutes. Switch pan positions. Roast chickpeas until crisped but still tender, about 5 minutes, and roast vegetables until golden brown, about 10 minutes. If the vegetables are tender but not browned, place the pan under the broiler for 1 to 2 minutes to caramelize. Discard thyme sprigs.

  5. Step 5

    While the chickpeas and vegetables roast, whisk lemon juice, garlic and remaining ¼ cup oil in a small bowl. Season with salt to taste.

  6. Step 6

    Arrange vegetables on a large platter and drizzle with half the dressing, then top with crispy chickpeas, fresh herbs and pomegranate seeds. Drizzle remaining dressing over everything. Serve with couscous or rice, if you like.

Ratings

5 out of 5
1,256 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

I'm eager to try this, but my experience in roasting vegetables is that peppers take longer than onions at any given temperature, and so I roast them separately, and toss them gently every ten minutes so they cook evenly. Also, slow roasting brings out more flavor and is more forgiving than roasting at a high temperature. Otherwise, this looks very interesting.

Wonderful dish! Left out the pomegranate seeds (the roasted/broiled veggies added plenty of sweetness), reduced the amount of oil in the dressing and fresh herbs on top, and sliced an avocado to use it to top the dish with the herbs. Didn't have fresh thyme sprigs -- dried worked fine. Reduced the temp to 400. Hubby loved it and is doin' the dishes now. A keeper. Thank you!

Delicious! And easy to prepare ahead of time so you just have to roast when ready. I didn't have chickpeas on hand so I used cannellini beans instead. I knew they wouldn't get as crispy as chickpeas, so I just roasted them enough to heat through. Didn't have pomegranate seeds either, and not convinced I would want them. Fresh local tomatoes and peppers made this savory and irresistible - kept going back for more. Terrific summertime dish.

This is a rather fiddly recipe. It turns out quite good, but there is no way the chickpeas will crisp in the stated time. It is important to make sure they are as dry as possible before adding the oil and spices. Even so, it will take 20 minutes or more to crisp the chickpeas. The pomegranate seeds are totally unnecessary and time consuming to deal with.

I am not a vegetarian but want less meat in my diet and am so tired of a salad for lunch. This is great. I substituted some chopped dried cherries for the pomegranate and they added a nice sweet tang. Other fruits or dried fruits might be good. Made it last night and having it for lunch. I added rice but I think there are many ways you can enjoy it the next day or after.

Made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious. Made it exactly as written, used flat leaf parsley and mint for herbs, and served with plain quinoa. Everyone enjoyed, even the picky tween and teen. There's just enough left for lunch tomorrow and I'm already looking forward to it!

This turned out yummy and got rave reviews at a garden party, but how do people get this done in 30 minutes? It took me about 50 minutes (and I cook a lot)—to some extent because I had to roast everything about 10 minutes longer than stated. I made one substitution: dried sour cherries instead of pomegranate seeds because I couldn't find the latter anywhere. Worked fine, but I'm eager to try it with pomegranate next time. Served it over 1.5 cups of seasoned couscous to feed a small crowd.

This was delicious prepared as written and made for a wonderful light supper. I served it with rice, but it was substantial enough on its own so that the rice seemed like an afterthought. Like a few of the other reviewers, I did not have pomegranate seeds on hand. However, as a substitute I tried dried cranberries and they were really good as a counterpoint to the spices. The texture and moisture of the pomegranate seeds would have been better, but the flavor of the cranberries was excellent.

really delicious! I put even more spices on my chickpeas-- paprika, garam masala, and they were delicious. You could cook them even longer if you want them to be really crisp.

Second time making it. Left out the pomegranate seeds, used cilantro and parsley both times. First time, I served on a bed of fresh spinach and brown rice. Tonite it's spinach and mashed sweet potatoes. Very versatile recipe and delicious. Thank you!

Great flavor! I used grape tomatoes sliced in half and skipped the pomegranate seeds as we didn’t have any. I had to roast the chickpeas for closer to 40 minutes to get them crispy. Other than that, delicious summer time recipe!

Took longer to roast the chickpeas and vegetables than suggested, but I thought this was delicious. Great for vegans!

This was indeed very delicious but it took a lot longer to prepare than 1/2 hour. After preparing the chickpeas, it took an hour to cut all the veggies! But worth it.

Char the peppers on the gas range. This will catch them up to the slower roasted items while improving the entire business overall, especially in the tossing, when the little charred bits mix with the general population. Yeah yeah, carcinogens. Life without some char is a bore.

This was delicious. I had 4 sun burst squash and added those. The two jalapenos and the cayenne on the chickpeas added a lot of heat which I liked. I added a good handful of parsley and a little mint, but couldn't add the pomegranate seeds because they tasted funky. My meat loving family served this alongside some rotisserie chicken, but I ate mine with naan. This dish is flexible and would work with all kinds of veggies.

Another fabulous dish! Does Melissa Clark ever miss!? Easy to make-- our chickpeas crisped terrifically. We served over couscous. We skipped the pomegranates too, as I don't care for their crunchiness! Great for lunch or an easy dinner with an arugula salad. Healthy!

This recipe is delicious! You don’t have to be a vegetarian to love it! We didn’t have pomegranates, but otherwise made it as directed and it was perfection.

Really outstanding recipe. I used 1 jalapeno and a little less cayenne to make it a little less spicy but in the end I could have easily included as much as the recipe called for. I used less than half the oil to save a few calories. I served it with plenty of dill and couscous. Could have added more lemon but a great recipe with a great combination of spices and dill. I will make this again for sure. Thank you.

I put a dollop of Greek yogurt on top didn’t regret it!

Mit Reis (oder Couscous)

Up the cooking time. 30min if you actually want chickpeas crispy. The stated time will not result in crispy chickpeas; only roasted. Up to you. I prefer mine crispy. Great recipe!

Great recipe--loved by the entire family and easy to make. I usually serve it over fresh spinach leaves instead of any grain, and I usually substitute dried cranberries or cherries for the pomegranate seeds.

Made half recipe for a side dish for two. Increased the liquid little bit but otherwise just as written. Fantastic and no leftovers. Definitely a keeper.

I see so many comments about not needing the pomegranate seeds. While I’m sure it’s fine to make without if you are looking for an easy dinner with ingredients you have. I absolutely loved this dish as written. The bit of texture and sweet tart flavor of the pomegranate made it 5 stars for me!

Used pomegranate molasses in place of pomegranate seeds and dried thyme instead of fresh sprigs. Added mushrooms and harissa to the couscous to ensure that it was flavorful on its own.

Yum! I really recommend serving this over quinoa with fresh dill and a dollop of Greek yogurt. What a flavorful and healthy lunch. I think I'll try roasting the veggies at a lower temperature next time, these didn't caramelize as much as I had hoped.

Added some Greek yogurt and almond slivers and served with a wedge of lemon. Delicious!!

I've made this many times and love it, but hadn't had the pomegranate seeds when I made it. This time they had them at my local grocery, and boy do they add a nice little zing! If you can find them, it's worth it!

Has anyone cooked this ahead of time and reheated before serving?

We loved this dish. Prep took about half an hour and cooking about the same. Despite the comments, the chickpeas roasted nicely in our case in 15 minutes. Next time I plan to double the amount of tomatoes.

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