Vegan Sticky Sesame Chickpeas
Easy, flavorful, and packed with plant protein, these sesame chickpeas are a vegan chickpea recipe that make for a quick and delicious dinner the whole family will love. They’re ready in just 15 minutes and are great to meal prep for the week.
I have a thing for super easy dinners. These sticky sesame chickpeas, sesame noodles, chana masala and these Mexican stuffed sweet potatoes are my favorite easy dinners at the moment.
But I’m partial to these vegan sesame chickpeas because they literally take 15 minutes to make and have so much flavor your taste buds are going to explode.
Plus, this sesame sauce can be used on so many things. From chickpeas, to tofu, tempeh, salmon, sesame chicken, noodles, cauliflower, or any kind of buddha bowl! It’s a versatile recipe that is loaded with flavor.
Orange Chickpeas, General Tso’s Chickpeas, Peanut Chickpeas, I just love chickpeas!! This is the perfect recipe to use up those canned chickpeas that have been sitting in your pantry for months on end! Try my sesame chickpea meatballs, chickpea scramble or tortilla soup next!
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Easy to make- 15 minutes!
- Vegan and gluten free
- Packed with flavor
- Plant based protein
How to make vegan sesame chickpeas
Drain and rinse the chickpeas until no bubbles remain. Set them aside as you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Mince the garlic (I like using this garlic press so it’s very finely minced) and add to a pan with 1 tablespoon of oil. Saute until the garlic is slightly golden brown and very fragrant.
Whisk together the arrowroot powder and 2 tbsp vegetable broth in a bowl and set aside. We’ll be using this in a minute to help thicken the sesame sauce. You can also use chicken stock or water instead.
To the pan with the garlic, add the sesame oil tamari (or soy sauce if not GF), maple syrup, ginger, rice vinegar, and the remaining vegetable broth. Whisk together.
Re-whisk the arrowroot mixture to make sure no clumps formed at the bottom and add to the saute pan with the rest of the sauce. Whisk together.
Cook over medium/low heat until the mixture starts to bubble. Once it is bubbling around the edges, give it a quick stir and add in the chickpeas and carefully fold the sauce over the chickpeas until they are well coated.
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The sauce will start to thicken, keep stirring so the sauce covers the chickpeas. Let the chickpeas cook until the sauce is nice and thick. The chickpeas will also darken as they absorb the sauce, this is good since it yields major flavor!
After 5 or so minutes or once the sauce is thick, turn off the heat and allow all of the flavors to blend together for an additional 5 minutes. Enjoy and try my marry me chickpeas next!
Serving Suggestions
My favorite way to have this vegan chickpea recipe is with my instant pot rice, steamed broccoli, and scallions or chives to top it all off!
It’s also delicious with quinoa, bok choy, sautéed spinach and a sprinkle of sesame seeds on top. You really can’t go wrong. This sesame sauce can also be reused for chicken, salmon, tofu, cauliflower, or any other protein. You can even add it to my peanut noodles, or sesame noodles with extra veggies of choice. Make it into a stir fry with tons of veggies, rice, quinoa, cauliflower rice, or anything you have on hand.
How to store
Once prepared, this vegan chickpea recipe will keep in the fridge for about 3 days. To reheat, add it to a pan with a splash of veggie broth or oil so it gets nice and saucy.
Beans and legumes unfortunately don’t keep for too long, you’ll notice it’s gone back when it starts to smell!
Are chickpeas gluten free?
Chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans, are a legume that are naturally gluten free, and so is this whole recipe! Be sure to use tamari (gluten free soy sauce) if you have a gluten intolerance or allergy. I suggest low sodium tamari so this recipe isn’t too salty! The full strength stuff is just a bit too much in my opinion.
What sweetener is best for sesame sauce?
This sesame sauce does need a bit of sweetener to really round out the flavors. I usually opt for maple syrup or honey, but you can also try brown sugar or coconut sugar.
If you want a lower sugar option, you can cut back to 1-2 tablespoons in place of 3. I don’t recommend cutting out the sugar entirely because it does help make the sauce sticky and really balances the flavors of the dish.
Try these recipes next!
- Mushroom Broccoli Rigatoni
- Easy Dairy Free Pesto
- Sesame Tofu
- Sweet Potato Falafel Bowls
- Spicy Ramen Noodles
- Lemon Chickpea Soup
- Spicy Chili Garlic Noodles
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Vegan Sticky Sesame Chickpeas
by: claire cary
Ingredients
- 2 15 ounce cans chickpeas
- 3-4 large cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or olive oil
- 1.5 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- ⅓ cup low sodium tamari or soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon tapioca starch
- ¼ cup low sodium vegetable broth or water divided
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes optional for spice
Instructions
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas and set aside.
- Mince the garlic and add to a sauté pan with the avocado or olive oil.
- Sauté over medium for a few minutes or until the garlic is very fragrant.
- In a small bowl combine the tapioca starch and half of the vegetable broth and mix until no clumps remain. Set aside.
- To the sauté pan with the garlic, add in the low sodium soy sauce, sesame oil, maple syrup, rice vinegar, ginger, and the additional 2 tbsp of vegetable broth. Whisk together.
- Add in the tapioca mixture and stir.
- When bubbles start to form, add in the chickpeas and stir until they are well coated.
- Cook on low heat until the sauce becomes thick and sticky, about 5 minutes. stirring occasionally.
- Remove from the heat and let sit to allow the chickpeas to absorb all of the flavor.
- Serve with steamed broccoli, quinoa, or rice.
Notes
Comments
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This is my second time making this dish. It is seriously soo good!!! I played with it this time and did it with mushrooms instead and it came phenomenal! I also doubled the sauce and put it over noodles. Very versatile and the sauce is so yummy! Thank you for this!!
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Oh yum, I love it over noodles! So happy you’re enjoying it.
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My go to when I am wanting Chinese and then regretting it the next day – this you will not regret – I make enough for several meals. Tastes just as good when reheated.
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A gem!!!
We knew we’d love it so we doubled the recipe from the start! Served on soba or ramen noodles with toasted sesame seeds, sliced green onions, fresh sliced matchstick carrots and steamed Broccoli. To add more heat we top with Okazu Spicy Chili Miso. This recipe is the BEST!!!-
That sounds perfect! Love the ramen noodle idea!
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I’m confused. It’s called sticky sesame chickpeas, but sesame seeds aren’t listed in the ingredients, in the cooking or as something you add at the end. I’ve read the recipe a few times.. what am I missing? I was trying to see if they are toasted?
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The sesame comes from sesame oil! You are welcome to add sesame seeds when serving.
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Loved it and SO easy to make! Will definitely make again.
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Love, Love this recipe! Another RN shared this recipe with me and I will be forever grateful!! Thank you for putting this savory concoction together. 🙂 Trying to add more beans in my diet for the nutritional benefit and this recipe made it easy to do just that!
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Thanks Lynn! And thanks to your friend for sharing it with you!
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I’ve been experimenting with black chickpeas lately, so made this recipe with half brown and half black. Nice visual! I love how little time it took to prepare. My taste is not as sensitive as it used to be, so I added 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper flakes to punch it up. Big hit with both my spouse and I. Thanks for sharing!
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I’m 11 years old and I’m a very picky vegetarian and when I tried this recipe it was amazing!
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Aww thank you Maya! I was a very picky eater when I was your age too, so I understand the struggle of finding recipe to enjoy 🙂
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This was very good but a bit too salty for me. Next time I will sub half of the tamari with coco aminos.
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And just be sure to use low sodium tamari as well! The full strength stuff is way too salty!
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This was good! I made it with half the amount of garbanzo beans and added cauliflower; apple cider vinegar instead of rice vinegar; and cornstarch instead of arrowroot. I had it over a bed of quinoa and cooked spinach. My kids had it with rice. I sauteed zucchini and eggplant to toss into the bowl too. We all definitely think the recipe is a keeper.
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Made this recipe for dinner tonight and it was SO good! I halved the recipe since I was only cooking for me, and it was the perfect amount for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow. I finished it off with some cilantro, lime, and sriracha and it was delicious! I will definitely be making this super easy recipe again. One note: next time I make this, I will probably double the sauce recipe so that I have enough sauce to coat my rice and broccoli well too. (Also, I used cornstarch instead of arrowroot and it was just fine!)
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More sauce is always a good idea! So happy you enjoyed it!
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It doesn’t mention when you add the sesame oil in the recipe. Could you please clarify? Thanks in advance!
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Sorry about that! It’s been updated now.
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oh my GOODNESS. This is our new favorite! I subbed honey for the maple syrup and cornstarch for the arrowroot and it was perfect. Everyone, even my picky “meat and potatoes” husband liked it. My son added siracha because he likes spicy food. We all had seconds. THANK YOU for a healthy, easy, quick, recipe!!!
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Perfect! So happy you were able to make it work for everyone! Thank you for your sweet comment 🙂
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Not sure what I did wrong. I left out the regular oil but kept the toasted sesame oil, used liquid aminos instead of soy sauce. The rest of the recipe was followed exactly, and it was so salty, even after I poured out the majority of the sauce and replaced with veggie broth to try to cut the salt. The baseline flavor once you get past all the saltiness is tasty, so I will definitely try it again with maybe 2Tbsp of soy sauce. Otherwise it was quick and easy!
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Hi Sharon, this recipe calls for low sodium soy sauce, and liquid aminos often has twice as much sodium as low sodium soy sauce, hence the really salty flavor. If you try this again, I’d cut the liquid aminos in half, or use a low sodium version.
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This looks so good! Can the sesame oil be substituted with tahini?
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I don’t recommend it! They have very different flavors and the tahini wouldn’t give the same sesame flavor that the oil gives. It would definitely still taste good so it’s worth a try, but wouldn’t have the same sesame flavor as the original recipe!
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