40 Chickpea Flour Recipes (Gluten-Free + Vegetarian) (2024)

FAQs

Can I replace gluten-free flour with chickpea flour? ›

Muffins, Cookies, and Quick Breads

Though you can mix it with other flours (gluten-free or regular) to add complexity in flavor, chickpea flour is sturdy enough to do the heavy lifting in baking all by itself. Try a 1 to 1 swap for flour in blender muffins, pumpkin bread, or sunflower butter breakfast cookies.

You can usually substitute half the amount of plain flour in a recipe for chickpea flour. But, be warned, it can suck up a lot of moisture, so it may not be right for every recipe – especially if you're making a cake or bread.

Chickpea flour is also a terrific anti-inflammatory food, as consuming beans has been shown to have anti-inflammatory abilities and protective benefits against cancer — in particular cancer within the digestive tract, including colon, stomach and kidney cancer.

Besan flour, gram flour, and garbanzo bean flour are all chickpea flours; they're just made from different varieties of chickpeas. Chickpea flour or garbanzo bean flour is milled using whole white chickpeas (garbanzo beans). Besan or gram flour is made by grinding split brown chickpeas (chana dal) into a fine powder.

Brown rice flour is about as close to a 1:1 substitute for all-purpose flour as it gets since it provides structure and a “wheat-like” flavor.

Chickpea flour is full of healthy nutrients. It's a great alternative to refined wheat flour, as it's lower in carbs and calories yet richer in protein and fiber. Research suggests that it may have antioxidant potential and could decrease levels of the harmful compound acrylamide in processed foods.

By improving feelings of fullness, the study authors say that switching to a cellular chickpea blend in commercial bread recipes could help people stop overeating. As the flour doesn't cause as high a spike in blood sugar levels as normal white flour, it could also reduce the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Cooking, soaking overnight in water, sprouting (germination), fermentation, and pickling can all break down phytic acid so that the phosphorus can be released and absorbed by the body. Some natural bacteria in the colon contain the enzyme phytase and can also help to break it down.

While every flour mentioned here is both lectin-free and gluten-free (since gluten is a type of lectin), it's crucial to highlight that many popular gluten-free flours and mixes, like oat, potato, rice, quinoa, and chickpea flours, are heavy in lectins.

Are there differences in nutrients between chickpeas and garbanzo beans? No, chickpeas and garbanzo beans do not have a nutritional difference, as they are the same type of legume.

Is chickpea flour better than egg protein? ›

3 Tablespoons (about 2 ounces) of chickpea flour packs slightly more folate than half of your daily needs, more than 3 times the amount of iron found in one egg, provides about 6 grams of dietary fiber (which eggs don't carry any of) and about 13 grams of protein (an egg only contains 7).

While you can easily buy pre-made chickpea flour (also known as garbanzo bean flour), you'll find that making your own homemade flour is definitely cheaper, especially if you use a lot of this gluten-free flour.

But chickpea flour, Love explains, "is a naturally dense flour, and because of that denseness, and its innate binding tendencies, it lends baked goods a sturdy yet tender texture when mixed with other gluten-free flours. So, for quick breads, muffins, and cakes, it holds up extremely well."

This fine yellow flour is milled from whole organic chickpeas and is perfect for making pancakes, light batters and flatbreads. It is gluten free, high in fibre and protein and can be used as an egg replacer in vegan recipes.

Chickpea flour is gluten-free, so it won't rise or form a light, spongy crumb like bread made with wheat flour, but it is suitable for pikelets, pancakes and muffins or to thicken a stew or gravy.