Chickpeas

I enjoy a falafel as much as the next person and hummus has always been the obligatory dip at a get together, but individual chickpeas didn’t officially enter my radar until circa 2017 when I found out they were top of the list of vegan ingredients that I’d have to endure for the rest of my life. I had no idea there were so many options. I’d buy a tin and slip them into what would turn out to be an underwhelming chickpea curry and think nothing of it. That was until I realised I could enjoy something other than an angry beige bullet doing nothing for my taste buds and getting stuck in my teeth. There are a lot of options, so many that I had to limit the number I tested so they would fit into my camera frame. I’ve hopefully tested a broad enough range for people to lose sleep over at night like I did.

 HERE GOES…

Aycan

Cost: 89p for a 540g jar. 16.4p per 100g.

Stockist: Middle eastern supermarkets and online including ASDA, though online the delivery charge for most places hoiks the cost up significantly.

Look: Plump, happy and very confident in themselves for being the cheapest jarred chickpeas around.

Taste/Texture: Soft with a little bite. A very slight aftertaste that I only noticed because I sampled so many brands in one go. There is an antioxidant; disodium calcium EDTA added which might explain it. Salt too.

Overall: In this day and age, it’s extremely satisfying finding something both cheap and delicious.

Rating: 4/5

Sainburys Organic

Cost: £1 for a 380g box. 26p per 100g.

Stockist: Sainsbury’s in store and online.

Look: Perfectly proportioned and slightly darker than some of the others.

Taste/Texture: Not the softest or most flavoursome chickpeas but they were adequately non-threatening.

Overall: I used to buy this brand purely because they were organic and came in a box. I’ve since ventured out of my comfort zone and discovered other varieties to add to my list of Acceptable Garbanzo Beans. I like the fact there are no additives and are on the cheaper end of the spectrum.

Rating: 3/5

Napolina

Cost: £1.05 for a 400g tin. 26.3p per 100g. 

Stockist: All major supermarkets.

Look: If such a thing as a baby chickpea exists, this tin is full of them. They are very tiny and look desperately lonely.

Taste/Texture: Tiny, flavourless and extremely underwhelming.

Overall: I keep testing Napolina products and I keep being disappointed.

Rating: 1/5

Mr Organic

Cost: £1.50 for a 400g tin. 37.5p per 100g.

Stockist: Most major Supermarkets and online.

Look: I was very pleasantly surprised at the size of these, they were almost as big as some of the more expensive jarred options.

Taste/Texture: Slightly nutty in flavour and still had a little texture which I didn’t mind at all. Nothing else is added.

Overall: As a brand I’ve grown to love Mr Organic and could taste the quality, even if it was in my mind (it wasn’t). The fact they have no aftertaste was a huge win too and the tin being BPA free made me enjoy them even more.

Rating: 4/5

Borum/dried

Cost: £3.50 1kg. 35p per 100g.

Stockist: My local middle eastern supermarket but this isn’t about the brand, this is about the fact they’re dried and you can get dried chickpeas from a lot of places.

Look: Like they needed a lot of love, care and attention that I had neither the time nor inclination to give.

Taste/Texture: Still as tough as old boots after an hour of cooking. They tasted like they lost all hope as they cooked unevenly leaving an unappetising smell in my kitchen that stayed in my nostrils for days.

Overall: This is only the second time in my life I’ve bought dried chickpeas and the first time was by accident. I’ll be using these dried little pellets of sadness solely for making falafel, which I am now an expert at.

Rating: 2/5 for falafel making ability alone.

Belazu

Cost: £3.75 for 660g jar. 56p per 100g.

Stockist: Ocado & directly from Belazu’s website.

Look: Like they were extremely satisfied with themselves despite the fact they could barely move. The stock they were sitting in, made specifically from ‘soft water’ was extremely thick.

Taste/Texture: Melt in the mouth delicious. I barely had to exert any energy eating these and when I’ve had a long hard day, the last thing I want to do is chew my food. Or season it, which is perfect as salt was already added.

Overall: These didn’t actually make it to a dish, I ate them all from the jar.

Rating: 4.5/5

Bold Bean Co Queen chickpeas

Cost: Around £3 per 325g jar. 92p per 100g OR £4.00 for a 700g jar. 57p per 100g. I already had a 325g jar in the house so sampled that but the 700g jar would usually be my go to.

Stockist: Waitrose/Ocado/Local stores and online.

Look: Like they know how to party. I’ve never been so excited looking at a pulse, they were huge and looked extremely happy with their lot in life.

Taste/Texture: Giant, creamy and delicious. These were a lot of fun to eat and incredibly soft given how enormous they are. Some serious effort was put into these.

Overall: These were kick you in the crotch spit on your neck fantastic.

Rating: 5/5

Navarrico

Cost: £3.95 700g jar 59.8p per 100g.

Stockist: Ocado & other online stores including from Brindisa themselves.

Look: Perfectly proportioned and the jar was crammed full to the brim.

Taste/Texture: The softest of all the jarred chickpeas I tried. The salt content was perfect too (for my tastebuds).

Overall: Other than the fact these have added sulphites, they were absoloutely delicious.

Rating: 4/5

Oddpods

Cost: £1.75-1.95 200g 97.5p per 100g

Stockist: Sainsbury’s/Ocado and other online stores.

Look: Like tiny orange bullets.

Taste/Texture: These are very complicated and uniquely seasoned with chicory extract, carrot extract, onion powder, tomato powder, salt, yeast extracts, sunflower oil, natural flavouring. To top it all off they were cooked in vegetable stock. I was momentarily taken aback by how hard they were compared to the others. But I remained optimistic.

Overall: Great to have as another option. They’re not at all comparable to the others as they come in a pouch and are the most expensive I’ve tried but with 85% more fibre and 15% more protein than their counterparts you can throw these on top of anything and you’re good to go.  Though for me, a tiny bit aggressive in flavour and expensive for every day use.

Rating: 3/5

East end

Cost: 70p. 17.5p per 100g.

Stockist: Most supermarkets in store and online.

Look: Like they know something you don’t.

Taste/Texture: I am at a loss for words as I ate these straight from the tin. Happily.

Overall: I had every intention of tasting these with all the others but completely forgot and found them lurking in the back of the cupboard a week later. Hence the lack of an actual chickpea photo. The lack of ring pull on the tin is the only drawback. These chickpeas with added ascorbic acid (vitamin c) were almost as good as some of the jarred options. But a whole lot cheaper

Rating: 4/5

TO SUMMARISE:

I am tired of eating chickpeas. I have eaten many, many chickpeas recently and I am beginning to look like one. I am done. I have very much enjoyed my chickpea education but I need a break. When I eventually reintroduce them into my diet I will be in favour of an East End or Mr Organic tin. With a bougie Bold Bean Co or Belazu soft water enthusiast thrown in for good measure.