Crunchy Roasted Za’atar Chickpeas Recipe (2024)

To make za’atar, mix together 1/4 cup finely crumbled dried thyme, 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, 1 teaspoon sumac (available in Middle Eastern markets) and a pinch of salt. Place in a jar, and keep in a cool, dark place. A number of seeds can stand in for the za’atar. I like charnushka, also known as nigella, as well as sesame seeds, cumin seeds, poppy seeds and flax seeds. Try different combinations.

I didn't read the recipe closely and I roasted the chickpeas after tossing with the olive oil and za'atar. After pulling them out of the oven I tossed in a dash or two of olive oil and more za'atar and salt. They were fabulous and disappeared in a flash. Roasting them with the olive oil and spices first gave an extra depth to the flavor

I have had great results w/this recipe. BASIC: takes time; DON'T RUSH it. Plan on 2 hrs minimum. 1) You must first drain the chickpeas VERY well. 2) I use a Lodge baking pan to roast. 3) When you turn the chickpeas, you should see steam rise. When it stops, turn down the oven to 175 and let sit for 30 minutes. 4) Test for crunchiness. Then, having taken out, let sit for another 30 minutes. 5) Be careful how much olive oil you add! Less is more.

Yum! I've tried a number of baked chickpea recipes which never lived up to their promises of crispness, but this recipe did. The key is def. making sure they're dry. After thoroughly drying the chickpeas with sack cloth towels, I let them sit on a dry towel at room temp for 3 hours before baking. Like other reviewers, I skipped the parchment; I think direct contact with the baking sheet also helped crisp them up. Will continue to use this technique and experiment with other flavorings.

The trick to getting roasted chickpeas to stay crispy: When they're done roasting, turn off the oven but leave them in. Cooling them slowly this way means they'll be super crunchy—and stay that way, even when stored. Works every time.

i let chickpeas dry overnight. i did use parchment paper when baking. after following recipe and baked in 400F oven for 30mins, my chickpeas were not crunchy. i continued baking at 400F for another 20mins, then turned off oven and let chickpeas stay inside oven for another 10 mins to achieve crispiness. during this whole time, i checked them and rotate pan every 10mins. great crunchy snack! will do a double or triple batch next time to make most use of the hot oven.

Turned out great & relying on notes of others to make that so, I'll summarize what worked.1)Although I always cook my own chickpeas for anything from soups to hummus, for this I used a can, rinsed & drained.2)Dried them on kitchen towel, then on dry paper towel on counter overnight. Getting super dry is key.3)No parchment on baking pan, roasted 400 for 20 min & then enough crisped that I turned down to 200 for last 10 min. Perfect crunch.4)Needed only @ 2 tsp oil.

The trick to getting roasted chickpeas to stay crispy: When they're done roasting, turn off the oven but leave them in. Cooling them slowly this way means they'll be super crunchy—and stay that way, even when stored. Works every time.

There's a recipe to make your own za'atar here: http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1013588-olive-oil-crackers

To make za’atar, mix together 1/4 cup finely crumbled dried thyme, 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, 1 teaspoon sumac (available in Middle Eastern markets) and a pinch of salt. Place in a jar, and keep in a cool, dark place. A number of seeds can stand in for the za’atar. I like charnushka, also known as nigella, as well as sesame seeds, cumin seeds, poppy seeds and flax seeds. Try different combinations.

Perfect bar snack just like fried chickpeas! I agree with a commenter below, I just used half the amount of Za'atar and was perfectly seasoned. I brined the dried chickpeas with plenty of salt and added good amount of salt during the cooking so it didn't need any more salt at the end. (Doesn't Za'atar have salt in the mix too?)

I didn't find them easy to crisp, either--based upon this comment, I followed the recipe exactly but left them in the oven for 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. I coated them with the spice mix and they we still soft in the middle. I put them back in the the oven, spread out on parchment paper, for about half an hour at 250 degrees and that did the trick. Not sure if I'd make these again unless I could find a more fool-proof technique.

Made these today after letting the chickpeas dry out overnight as suggested by some comments. While they were roasting, I started hearing pops and bangs coming from the oven. The chickpeas were exploding!! Otherwise these were easy and mostly tasty and crisp.

Not crispy enough, not crispy enough... And then: Too dry. I like crisp too, but dislike stone-like. This recipe is just right, I think; when some of the chickpeas are crunchy on the outside and a bit creamy - not mushy - on the inside, well, they are just so lovely that way. Like with a wee bit of grated lemon peal in the mix. Variations are endless. I get the crunchy contingent though, just not for me.

Delicious addition to a salad or other veggies.

After they dried for a couple of ours, I put them in the air fryer at 400º. They were perfectly crunchy after 20 minutes. I used canned chickpeas.

I tried this recipe with canned Great Northern beans, really delicious!

I’ve made this recipe twice…and now after reading comments, it’s clear that cooking times will vary significantly, based on any number of variables, but primarily how much moisture is in the chickpeas at the time they go in the oven. Both times I’ve made these, they were delicious but both times the chickpeas were a bit soft. Next time I’m going to make sure they’re right. I may try letting them cool in the oven as another reader noted.

I made the recipe mostly as written, with the exception of letting the chickpeas dry out and crisp up as various reviewers recommended. Unfortunately, I did not like these at all. The texture was kind of dusty: neither creamy like a wonderful chickpea nor crunchy like a nut. As a big fan of za'atar -- and based on the rave reviews -- I had high hopes.

Try the air fryer. You don't need to dry them.

For extra crispy chickpeas: After you dry the chickpeas, place them on one half of a kitchen towel. Fold the towel over. Gently roll the towel back a forth over the chickpeas—the skins will fall off. Remove the skins. Then proceed with the recipe. For extra extra crispy chickpeas? Leave them on the hot sheet pan until they cool. Enjoy!

I found these to be overly dry and not crunchy enough. I think cooking then with the oil would get the texture I wanted but it could be a preference thing

Finally a recipe for crunch chickpeas that are actually crunchy! I made mine in an air fryer and they turned out perfectly.

I cooked for 30 minutes and tasted . Insides were soft. I had turned off the oven. But I put the tray back into the oven ( it was still warm) and left the tray inside for 20 minutes. Garbanzos were now crunchy.

Dry on paper towel overnight

I soaked dry chickpeas. Then, I cooked them to dry them again in the oven. I'm afraid nothing good came out of it - way too dry and hard. Maybe it's my oven's fault; maybe I didn't check on them often enough. Anyway, they were uneatable as a snack, so I used them in another Melissa's recipe for farro salad with corn and chickpeas, which was quite good.

Only dried the chickpeas for about 30 minutes! In the oven, because my oven runs hot, I shook the chickpeas every ~5 minutes for about 30 minutes. Then I shook the pan one last time, put the chickpeas back in, and turned off the heat for ~5 minutes. Came out delicious and crunchy for me!