How to roast beans

Crispy, spicy roasted chickpeas on a sheet pan

Howdy, team bean. Got an easy one for y'all today. Maybe something to forward to your friends who are merely bean-curious?

My first encounter with roasted beans was at an excellent pub in... Dubuque, I think? Anyway, fresh from the (I'm gonna guess toaster) oven, they were hot and crispy and salty and spicy and just perfect with a cold beer.

At that pub the crispy beans were chickpeas (a.k.a. garbanzo beans), but I've been roasting different kinds beans for a while now, and they're all pretty great. Black beans, especially so.

But chickpeas are a proven winner, and popular for a reason — they're quick and easy, from a can! Here's how I make them.

Ingredients

  • 2 regular-sized (15 ounce-ish) cans of chickpeas, or half a batch of home-cooked beans
  • Olive oil
  • 1/2-ish teaspoon paprika
  • 1/2-ish teaspoon garlic powder or granulated garlic
  • Black pepper
  • (Or your spice mix of choice)
  • Salt (fine-grained, if you've got it handy)

Tools

  • Mixing bowl
  • Colander
  • Salad spinner and/or paper towels (optional)
  • Sheet pan
  • Oven

Steps

First, cook a pot of beans (or don't!)

I prefer to use dried beans, cooked simply if I've got the time, but canned beans roast up very nicely. I keep canned chickpeas in the pantry for pretty much solely this purpose.

Rinse and dry

If you're using canned beans, dump them into a colander and rinse off the can goo. Then, if you want to be sure they're extra crispy, give them a whirr in a salad spinner or pat dry on paper towels. (I skip this step all the time, but it helps!) If you're using beans cooked from dry, I usually just scoop them from the broth with a slotted spoon.

Taste, toss with oil and flavor, and taste again

Give those beans a taste. Are they already salty? Then skip the salt for now. Otherwise, add salt, plus paprika, garlic and black pepper, and enough olive oil to give them a nice coating. Toss and taste. Adjust seasoning to your liking. Cumin would be an excellent addition. Or chili powder if you like 'em hot! (The ingredients list calls for 1/2t-ish of each spice, though I never measure, just season and toss and taste and adjust.)

Spread, roast, shake, roast

Dump your now-flavorful beans onto a sheet pan and spread around evenly. Slide the pan into an oven, set to 350F. Cook for 30 minutes and pull. Give the pan a shake and put them back in until they're crispy on the outside, maybe another 15 minutes. I like my roasted beans crispy outside, but soft and pillowy in the middle. But they're also super if you give them some extra time in the oven to get really crunchy.

Salt, toss, and serve

Like any good hot, crispy, oily food (popcorn, french fries, etc.) a final salting does a lot of good. This is when you might change your salt up. Kosher isn't gonna be bad, but it's chunky. If you've got some fine sea salt, or just table salt, that's gonna be the best. Give them a taste and salt those beans right on the sheet pan, then toss the beans with a spatula and serve.

What next?

Just eat 'em! I've started calling these “popcorn beans” — I put them in my kid's lunchbox all the time. And they make a tasty appetizer/beer snack, especially warm from the oven. But roasted beans really shine when you put 'em to use with some contrasting textures and flavors. For example, tossed with a vinegary tomato and cucumber salad.

I'll often roast some beans the day I cook a pot, serve them in a salad or as a snack, and reserve the remainder of the batch, with the full pot of bean broth, for a soup or stew later in the week.

Stay tuned for some of my favorite roasted bean recipes, but here's a couple good ones to get you started:

Try out your own spice mixes, or even a different flavorful fat. And don't forget, this technique works great with other kinds of beans too, not just chickpeas!