Ridiculously crunchy & addictive Cheese & Onion Crispy Roasted Chickpeas. The perfect savoury snack, soup or salad topper, but just a warning, once you start eating them you just can’t stop!
Chickpeas. I love them. ♡ Seriously I do. They are just perfect and so versatile. Have you tried them in my Brownie Batter Dessert Hummus? Yes, you aren’t mistaken, I said dessert hummus. What other recipe shows their versatility more than that?
I think I love them even more now that I have created these deliciously crunchy Cheese & Onion Crispy Roasted Chickpeas! Boy they’re good. Crunchy, savoury. slightly salty, cheesy, oniony and addictive. Once you start you can’t stop. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
CHEESE & ONION FLAVOUR?
Yes, they taste like cheese & onion. Kind of like cheese & onion chips (or crisps if you are in the UK) Seriously they do! And yet they have no cheese in them. Heck yeah!
Nooch is something I love almost as much as chickpeas and it is what gives these Cheese & Onion Crispy Roasted Chickpeas their cheesy flavour. I use nooch a lot round here too in case you haven’t noticed. Have you tried my Carbonara with Smoky Carrot Rashers or my Mac and Cheese Bites? They feature nooch (officially known as nutritional yeast) and are both pretty special.
Back to the Cheese & Onion Crispy Roasted Chickpeas. Make them. Just do it.
PERFECTLY CRUNCHY
They are great for snacking and I made sure when creating this recipe that they don’t go soft if stored in an airtight container. I was so proud of myself. I managed to keep a mason jar full of them for two weeks without eating them as a kind of science experiment for you guys! Aren’t you proud of me? ???? They stayed crunchy the entire time. I couldn’t hold out longer than two weeks though I’m afraid. That was the limit of my willpower. The trick to the lasting crunchiness is a trick once they have finished cooking. It means waiting a while for them but it is so worth it.
THE PERFECT SNACK
Cheese & Onion Crispy Roasted Chickpeas are great eaten as snacks. They are just perfect with a cold beer or a glass of wine.
When you are not pairing them with alcohol, these Cheese & Onion Roasted Chickpeas are great packed in lunch boxes, on hiking trips, served up at parties and gatherings, used as a salad topper and scattered on soup instead of croutons.
There are so many ways to eat them!
COMPLETELY OIL-FREE!
You can feel good about eating these Cheese & Onion Crispy Roasted Chickpeas because they are completely oil-free and full of protein and fibre. They really fill you up too. When added to my salads at lunch time they kept me going all afternoon with no hunger pangs.
There is nothing bad about them….Unless you don’t like chickpeas…..and if that’s the case, I feel for you, I really do.
Cheese & Onion Crispy Roasted Chickpeas
Ingredients
- 2 cups | 1 540ml can cooked chickpeas
- 2 tablespoons aquafaba liquid from the can of chickpeas
- 3 tablespoons onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F
- Line a baking tray with baking parchment or a silpat.
- Drain chickpeas making sure to reserve 2 tablespoons of the liquid for later.
- Pour chickpeas onto the baking tray and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and carefully pour into a bowl.
- Add the aquafaba and stir well.
- Add the other ingredients and make sure all the chickpeas are coated.
- Pour back onto the baking tray and put back in the oven.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven and stir them all around a bit.
- Put back in the oven then turn the oven off.
- Leave in the oven until it is completely cool without opening the door. I make them in the evening and leave them in the oven overnight.
- Remove from the oven and store in an airtight container. I found they keep better in glass jars than they do in plastic containers.
Long time vegan, creator of A Virtual Vegan & author of the book 
Michelle says
Wow. Wonderful recipe. I made them last night and tasted this morning! Brilliant, just brilliant and a free food on weight watchers! Thanks for such an easy quick recipe to keep healthy!!!!
A Virtual Vegan says
Ah I had no idea they’d be a free food on WW. Perfect. Enjoy eating millions of them!
Ivelisse says
Love these…came out pretty perfect. Thank you!
A Virtual Vegan says
Glad you enjoyed them!
zarae says
OK, so I pinned these cheesy & onion chickpeas because they look and sound divine. A great ‘clean’ savory snack, so I was all in! I must give you kudos that you were right on point with the preparation, as they are very crunchy. I prepared exactly as instructed. I kept mine in the oven overnight as you suggested. However, I am not getting too much of the nooch (‘cheesy”) flavor and mine are a tad burnt. I’m getting more onion flavor than cheese flavor. I will certainly give this another try because it is a perfect savory snack and while I am not gluten free, I am a clean eater so this is staying in my recipe box. I’m wondering if I should take them out of the over sooner?
Thanks for the perfect crunchy snack!
A Virtual Vegan says
A few people have made the mistake of coating the chickpeas with the flavourings at the beginning of cooking. You didn’t do that did you? If so that would explain why they became a little burnt. It’s important to add it in the last 10 minutes. If you did add it in the last 10 minutes, then maybe your oven just runs a little hotter than mine. Perhaps reduce the temp to 375°F or reduce the first round of cooking by 5 minutes. That should help. With regards nutritional yeast, all brands are not created equal. Some aren’t very good and do not taste cheesy. Braggs and Bob’s Red Mill, which seem to be the most popular and easiest to find, are 2 of the worst in my experience. It’s worth experimenting to find one you really like with a good cheesy flavour. I buy Hoosier Farms nutritional yeast from Amazon. It’s by far my favourite and it’s super cheap too. Feel free to play around with the ratios though. You can always reduce the onion powder and up the nutritional yeast, or add any other dried spices that you fancy. Stir it up in a bowl first and taste, adjusting as you go to get it just right for you before you coat the chickpeas. Hope that helps!
Lourdes says
I made these chickpeas yesterday for New Years and I went exactly by the recipe. They were extremely hard and had too much onion powder. I will try another recipe next time.
Lynn says
I generally rehydrate and cook chick peas from dry – no aquafaba. Any other ideas?
A Virtual Vegan says
I do too and I make my own aquafaba. I leave the chickpeas in the cooking water overnight. Drain it off and rinse the chickpeas ready for use, then if the drained liquid is pretty thick and gloopy already I use it just like that. If it’s thinner I reduce it down in a pan. I do always keep a can of chickpeas in the cupboard too though in case I have an aquafaba emergency and haven’t got any home-made left! There isn’t really an alternative here in this recipe other than oil but using oil will affect the cooking time a bit I expect. I think I need to write a ‘making aquafaba’ post for the blog!
Lillian says
Hi,
May I ask which heat setting that you use?
Top/bottom heat? With or without fan forced?
Thank you.
A Virtual Vegan says
They were cooked at 400°F in the middle of my oven. I don’t have a fan oven and I also don’t have top or bottom heat choices. It’s just a basic oven. Not even self cleaning! I so wish I had that function…
If recipes require you to use the fan, or top/bottom heat they will generally say. Hope that helps!
Nina says
Hey!
These look so good and healthy! Do you think that these would work if I used smoked paprika (or something else) instead of nutritional yeast? I want to make half a batch without it, since my boyfriend abslutely hates cheesy taste. I will definately try the recepie though, always on the lookout for healthy delicious snacks :D
Thank you for the reply :)
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you! You could use just about any dried spice on them. Smoked paprika would be lovely. It can be a little strong though so go easy. Curry powder would probably be good too. Or you could just make them with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Penny says
I can’t believe how amazingly crispy these are–thanks for the recipe!
A Virtual Vegan says
You’re welcome. I’m so happy you are enjoying them!
Richard Church says
This looks amazing. I was making aquafaba today and have frozen the chickpeas for later use. Was going to do something with mushrooms but this looks more interesting.
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you! These little chickpeas are so addictive. You’ll be glad you saved the mushrooms for another time!
Deb says
So aquafaba is literally just the juice that comes in the can of chick peas? Does it matter which brand you buy?
A Virtual Vegan says
Yes that’s right. I personally buy organic chickpeas but any will do. It all works exactly the same. You will find it in lots of my recipes. It is brilliant as an oil substitute and as an egg substitute in baking. I never throw it away. I freeze it in little pots then defrost in a sink of warm water when I need it!
Heather says
Wait, an egg substitute?? Do tell! I’m going to make these right now. ????
A Virtual Vegan says
Hope you are enjoying them! Aquafaba is my go to egg replacement in a lot of recipes. There are some instances where flax or chia eggs work better, like in cookies, but for cakes aquafaba is the best. It has similar proteins and starches to egg which is why it works so well.
Glenna Rose says
I made them exactly as the recipe says & they were GREAT!! Tasted like some I got at a restaurant as an app. I’m making my next batch today.
A Virtual Vegan says
That’s awesome! I’m so pleased you enjoyed them. Thank you for letting me know!
Denise from UrbnSpice says
Fantastic recipe – the use of nutritional yeast is brilliant!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you so much!
Shellie says
Made these chickpeas today. They’re great. Must double this recipe. There’s nothing left to store. :) Thanks for a great recipe.
A Virtual Vegan says
That is so good to hear Shellie. I am thrilled you enjoyed them. We had the exact same problem here…They seemed to disappear in minutes!
Marni says
Do you have to rinse the chickpeas before putting them in the oven?
A Virtual Vegan says
No there is no need to rinse them :O)
Alina says
hello,
I have always read that you need to rinse can beans very well to avoid becoming gassy. You say not only not to rinse the beans but actually add some of the can water LOL? Please clarify.
A Virtual Vegan says
The starchy can water needs to be left on the chickpeas for the recipe to work which is why you don’t rinse them. Then the aquafaba (liquid from the can) is used instead of oil to make the recipe oil free. So yes everything in the post is correct. Chickpea brine is a wonderful ingredient for vegan cooking. It is a fantastic egg replacer in baking, an oil substitute and you can even make meringue with it. It’s a very popular ingredient and used by most vegans. All it is is water and salt along with starch that has leeched out from the beans.
Fiona says
Oh my god I just made these and they’re incredible! The flavour is so authentic I can’t believe they were so easy to make. Even my carnivore dad can’t believe that they don’t have cheese in them :D
A Virtual Vegan says
That’s awesome Fiona! So glad you both enjoyed them. Their only fault is that you can’t stop eating them! ????
Thanks so much for stopping by to leave feedback. I appreciate it ????
Tracy says
Thank you for posting how they tasted! Everyone always posts how good things look. I’ve been trying different recipes and some things just did not turn out as good as the photos looked! LOL Now I try and find just one person that actually tried the recipe!
A Virtual Vegan says
I always at least try to explain how things taste but it is hard to do sometimes. Words don’t always cover it properly! These were easy though as they taste like cheese & onion crisps (or chips as they are known here). You can take the girl out of England but you can’t take the England out of the girl ;O) There are a few people in the comments under the recipe who have tried them. I think there was a lot more feedback on Facebook but I can’t find the relevant post now. I hope you enjoy them!
kimmythevegan says
These sound SO GOOD! I have been looking for some good snack ideas as I have been getting into naughtier snack items that leave me feeling kinda crappy. These look perfect. Every time I make roasted chickpeas, they end up getting soft, so I look froward to these stay crispy ones =)
A Virtual Vegan says
It’s so easy to slip into bad habits with regards to snacking. These will keep you on the right track though. I hope you enjoy them!