Chipotle Orange Chickpeas
Sautéed chickpeas and peppers coated in a savory, smoky sweet sauce made with chipotle peppers and a hint of orange zest. The perfect quick and easy vegan dinner meal.
Quick and Easy Vegan Dinner
Even when it’s warm out, I still prefer cooked meals. I will say though, I don’t enjoy the temperature it makes my home, so when I can, I try to focus on quick meals that don’t involve too much cooking. That can encompass any of my favorites like my easy balsamic tofu or curried red bean skillet.
But, quick cooking also comes in handy anytime of year as far as I’m concerned. There are days when I don’t really want to mess around too much in the kitchen, so recipes like these Chipotle Orange Chickpeas come in handy.
Why You’ll Love These Chickpeas
This dish is simple to make and utilizes minimal base ingredients. Minimal ingredients typically also means minimal chopping, which further simplifies this dish.
The perfect combination of savory, smoky and slightly sweet. The combination of the coconut milk, orange zest and chipotle peppers is so luxurious. It’s one of the easiest and tastiest sauces I’ve enjoyed in a while.
Great source of plant based protein and nourishing vegetables. When meals can still be tasty and still fit in nourishing ingredients like protein rich chickpeas and vitamin rich vegetables like peppers, it’s always a win-win.
Key Ingredients
- Chickpeas: To make this come together quick, use canned chickpeas for your main plant protein. You can control the sodium by opting for no salt added cans.
- Coconut Milk: Use canned full fat coconut milk for this dish as it will make the sauce ultra creamy and compliment the savory taste of the chipotle peppers.
- Chipotle Peppers: Make sure they are canned in adobo sauce. These peppers will add in a great deal of savory and smoky flavor to the dish.
- Orange Zest: The natural oils in the zest are such a beautiful balance in this sauce. Not overpowering, but enough to really make this dish special.
- Vegetables: Our vegetables for this dish are peppers. Choose whichever color you like. Peppers are a great vegetable to include more of as they are loaded with great antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.
How to Make These Chipotle Orange Chickpeas
Start by blending your sauce ingredients in a high speed blender until smooth, making sure there are no big chunks of pepper or garlic left.
Sauté your onions and peppers until softened, then sauté your chickpeas to lightly brown them. Once cooked well, pour in your sauce and sauté to coat. Allow sauce to heat through and then serve as desired.
Tips for the Perfect Bowl
- After you rinse and drain your chickpeas, pat them dry with a clean kitchen towel to help remove some excess water. This will help them sauté and brown better when added to the pan, which will improve their texture.
- Blend your sauce well until creamy. We don’t want chunks of garlic or pepper in the final sauce if possible.
- Make sure you are using canned full fat coconut milk. Do not use coconut beverage for this dish as it is not creamy and won’t result in a velvety sauce.
What to Serve Your Chickpeas With
Since this dish is saucy and is a play on savory sweet, I like pouring these chickpeas over rice and enjoying them with a few slices of roasted sweet plantains. It’s the perfect energizing and comforting meal when combined with all of these elements. If you happen to love cilantro, I also recommend a sprinkle of cilantro overtop when enjoying.
If you’d like to use these chickpeas for meal prep, you can serve your chickpeas and peppers with some rice or quinoa and a side of oven roasted vegetables.
Storing your Chickpeas
If you’d like to make these chickpeas to store for later, note that you can save this recipe in air tight containers in the fridge for up to 5 days. You may also freeze this dish, but note that the texture of the chickpeas and peppers will be a little softer when thawed and reheated compared to when made fresh. This dish can stay well frozen for up to 3 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
If substituting the coconut milk, note that this may impact the texture and taste of the final meal. For those with a coconut allergy, I would recommend subbing for a creamy milk like Oatly’s oat milk or making your own cashew cream using soaked cashews and water. For other alternatives, you can take a look at this guide for vegan cream replacements.
While I didn’t find this recipe spicy at all, if you are sensitive to spice, you might find chipotle peppers spicy. You can reduce the heat by removing the seeds of the chipotle peppers used in the sauce. You can also opt to just use the adobo sauce that the peppers sit in to help flavor the sauce instead.
You can always use my baked tofu recipe in place of the chickpeas and add them in at the time you add the sauce. You can also sub the chickpeas for lentils, white beans or black beans if desired.
If making the sauce without a blender, crush and mince the garlic and just use a few tablespoons of the adobo sauce in place of the whole chipotle peppers or mince the peppers finely to mix with the remaining sauce ingredients.
More Quick and Easy Vegan Dinner Ideas
- Quick and Easy Spiced Lentil Bowl
- Peanut Miso Chickpeas
- Vegan Garlic “Honey” Tofu
- Cilantro Lime Chickpeas
Chipotle Orange Chickpeas
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 3 servings 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Sautéed chickpeas and peppers coated in a savory, smoky sweet sauce made with chipotle peppers and a hint of orange zest. The perfect quick and easy vegan dinner meal.
Ingredients
- 1 cup full fat canned coconut milk
- 1–2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (for less spicy, opt for 1 pepper)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp soy sauce or coconut aminos for gluten free
- 4 cloves garlic
- ½ tsp cumin
- 1 tsp sazon or smoked paprika
- Zest of one orange
- 1–2 tsp neutral oil
- ½ red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1, 15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- To a blender, add in your coconut milk, chipotle peppers, maple syrup, soy sauce, garlic, cumin, sazon and orange zest. Blend until completely smooth, then set aside.
- Heat up your oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat and add in your onions with a pinch of salt and sauté them for about 2 minutes.
- Add in your sliced peppers and continue to sauté along with the onions until your peppers are softened.
- Pat your chickpeas dry with a clean kitchen towel, then add to your pan with the peppers and sauté to lightly brown for a few minutes.
- Pour in your sauce and stir into the chickpeas and peppers to fully coat then allow to cook for about 2-3 minutes and then remove from the stove top. Add salt and pepper to taste, then serve.
Notes
After you rinse and drain your chickpeas, pat them dry with a clean kitchen towel to help remove some excess water. This will help them sauté and brown better when added to the pan, which will improve their texture.
Blend your sauce well until creamy. We don’t want chunks of garlic or pepper in the final sauce if possible.
Make sure you are using canned full fat coconut milk. Do not use coconut beverage for this dish as it is not creamy and won’t result in a velvety sauce.
Use coconut aminos or gluten-free soy sauce to make this dish gluten-free.
If you tried this recipe or any other recipe on the blog, then let me know what you thought in the comments below! And if you loved it, don’t forget to rate it too. Feel free to follow on Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok for the latest nutrition tips and recipe videos.
★ Catherine
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Delicious. Quick, easy and with a real depth of flavour. Another great recipe.
Makes my day to hear! Thank you so much for making this Kate. 🙂
The flavors in this dish are outstanding. My family really enjoyed it. Thank you.
Fantastic recipe! I used only 1 bell pepper and added in cubed sweet potatoes as well, and it turned it so delicious. Flavorful and easy and leftovers were even better.
Wow! This was so delicious! I doubled the recipe and added mushrooms since I had to use them up. It had such a great flavor with the chipotle, orange. and coconut milk. This meal will definitely be on repeat at our house. Thank you for such an amazing recipe!