Crispy Buffalo Roast Chickpeas (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Vegetarian)
Spicy Buffalo roasted chickpeas are a great healthy snack! You’ll love their bold, spicy flavor.
I’m back again with another spicy Buffalo-inspired snack recipe. Can’t stop, won’t stop. What more can I say? I hope you all like Buffalo sauce as much as I do!
This time, we’re making crispy roast chickpeas that are supercharged with bold, spicy flavor. If you know me, you know I’m a huge fan of roasted chickpeas. They’re a great healthy snack packed with protein and tons of crunch.
If you love Buffalo wings, you’ll definitely love these!
Buffalo Roast Chickpeas
Since chickpeas have a pretty neutral flavor on their own, you can get really creative with seasonings. I’ve flavored them with everything from salt and vinegar to turmeric to lemon and za’atar.
For this recipe, I spice things up with big Buffalo flavor.
Start with your favorite hot sauce. For me, that’s Frank’s Red Hot. Maybe you have some leftover from making my low carb buffalo chicken dip or buffalo chicken lettuce wraps. Or maybe you’re like me and always have a bottle (or two!) in your fridge.
Then, bump up the flavor even more by adding smoked paprika, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Did I mention these baked chickpeas are spicy? If you like spicy food, ½ teaspoon of cayenne is a good place to start, but if you can’t handle heat ¼ teaspoon of cayenne will be more your speed.
Tips for Making Crispy Chickpeas
Drain and rinse your chickpeas, then dry them thoroughly with a paper towel. The drier you can get them the better! This will help the seasonings stick and will also help them get super crunchy. Any water that clings to the beans will steam in the oven, which can make the chickpeas soft.
Spreading the chickpeas into a single layer will also help ensure they crisp up rather than steam. Use two baking sheets if yours are small. More space is definitely better!
Keep a close eye on the chickpeas as they bake – especially during the last few minutes. They can go from a delicious, crispy snack to a burnt mess pretty quickly if you’re not paying attention.
Can I Air Fry these Crispy Chickpeas?
Yes, totally! Air fry them at 370 degrees, shaking the basket halfway through.
I love making these in my air fryer, but the one downside is that you can’t fit as many in there as you can on a baking sheet. If you decided to air fry your beans, I recommend scaling the recipe down by half or working in batches.
How to Eat Roast Chickpeas
This chickpea snack is great on its own. I eat them like popcorn! They’re also great on a salad. A bed of romaine hearts or iceberg lettuce topped with these shredded carrots, cucumber, Buffalo chickpeas, and blue cheese crumbles would make a great vegetarian alternative to Buffalo chicken salad! They’re also great sprinkled onto soup. These spicy chickpeas are especially great when used to cut through rich soups, like potato soup or creamy chowder.
How to Store Crispy Chickpeas
Buffalo chickpeas will stay crispy for about a week when stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
Spicy Buffalo Roasted Chickpeas
Ingredients
- 2 15 ounce cans chickpeas beans (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
- 3 Tablespoons hot sauce
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- ¼ -1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Pat the chickpeas dry with paper towels. Add them to a large bowl, then stir in the hot sauce, oil, and spices. Stir well so the chickpeas are evenly coated.
- Arrange the chickpeas in a single layer on the baking sheet. Sprinkle generously with sea salt and pepper.
- Bake 40 minutes, stirring halfway through, or until crisp.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely – the chickpeas will continue to crisp as they cool.
Can you do these in an air fryer instead?
Great recipe! I will be making this again, and again. I like it more than similar sriracha flavored recipes. This one has more of a kick. I added a little garlic powder and onion powder to the seasoning blend.
Tasty, but at 30ish minutes, a lot of mine were pretty burned! I did rub/pop the skins off of the chickpeas before seasoning and roasting, so that may have affected roasting time. But the not burned ones were lovely crispy!
Oh no! Your oven might run a little hot?
You never say where/when to use the oil? Do you add with spices or is the sheet pan coated with it?
Thanks for pointing that out – I just updated it. The oil should be added along with the spices.
Thaank you for sharing this healthy and quick recipe!