After a long day working or doing whatever you do, the last thing you want is to go into the kitchen and cook some crazy elaborate meal, am I right? I’ll bet I’m also right when I say that even though you don’t want to work hard in the kitchen, you still want to eat healthy..and a e this creamy tomato chickpea recipe, that’s plant-based, delicious, and done in 30 minutes, will check all the boxes. YESSSSSSSS.
Creamy and Dairy Free
I was inspired to develop this delish slice of chickpea heaven by the latest issue of Bon Appetit magazine. If you ever wonder where I get a lot of my inspiration, it’s from mags like BA, Food and Wine, and Donna Hay. Pick up any of those, skim through it, and you’ll know what I mean. For me, it’s mostly the gorgeous photos: I pore over those and get all the inspo I need to dream up my next recipe. I rarely adapt recipes, preferring to develop ones that are completely mine, but I was so intrigued by the combination of creamy tomato sauce and rosemary, that I’ve adapted this particular recipe from the BA one linked below. My recipe is, I think, pretty different, being that it’s vegan – the BA recipe has ham and eggs in it, plus cream – and I’ve added onion, broth, basil, and coriander to it, plus a lot more tomato paste. I love tomato-y.
I just like to be transparent about my inspirations and that my recipe is similar to the BA one. You know, just so I don’t steal anyone’s thunder. I’m nice like that.
What You’ll Need For These Tomato Rosemary Chickpeas
- olive oil
- chickpeas
- onion
- garlic
- sweet smoked paprika
- ground coriander
- tomato paste
- coconut milk
- vegetable broth
- sprig fresh rosemary
- fresh basil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Optional: diced red chilis to taste
Tips and Notes
Unlike many of my recipes, I wanted to keep this one manageable in terms of yield. To do this, I used only one can of chickpeas, so this recipe serves about 3. While I didn’t test it as doubled, I’m fairly certain that you can double it, and it would freeze well for batch cooking. As a word of caution, watch out for that smoked paprika. I did make the recipe several times in order to perfect it, and in one rendition I used too much paprika. The final product tasted like tobacco, and not in a good way. YUCK!
I also burned the garlic a bit in another version, so watch that too. I always add garlic after the onions are cooked, because it burns really quickly and will completely ruin your recipe.
As far as the basil and rosemary go, you can add more if you like – I’ve kept things pretty conservative because I knew my kids were going to be eating it and I didn’t want to hear the ‘WHAT’S THAT THING IN MY CHICKPEAS!!!’ complaint. Nope, wasn’t in the mood.
You can also add red chilis, that would be amazing..again, not kid friendly (at least not for my kids), so I didn’t add those.
Let me know how you like this one – it’s definitely going to be on repeat at our house!
The combination of herbs, spices, and creamy sauce turn these chickpeas into a satisfying plant-based meal!
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 can chickpeas
- 3/4 cup chopped onion about 1/2 med
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1 tablespoon sprig fresh rosemary minced (around 1 loosely packed before mincing)
- 1 tablespoon loosely packed fresh basil chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Optional: diced red chilis to taste
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In a heavy skillet on medium, heat the olive oil and add the onions.
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Cook onions until slightly browned and softened, then add garlic and sauté for another minute.
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Turn the heat to low, and add the rosemary, coriander, and paprika, stirring to coat the onions and garlic.
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Add the rest of the ingredients to the pan, stir well, and turn the heat up to medium. There will be a fair amount of liquid in the pan, but don’t worry - you’re going to simmer it off.
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Simmer on medium, stirring occasionally, until the liquid reduces into a sauce. Remove from heat and serve.
Here’s the BA recipe: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/spicy-creamy-chickpeas-with-runny-eggs-and-prosciutto
