Harissa Chickpeas

Braised Harissa Chickpeas recipe with side of Greek yogurt, pickled red onions and couscous. An easy vegetarian Mediterranean meal, ready in just 35 minutes. Perfect for weeknights or whenever you are craving a bold-flavor spiced and creamy vegetarian dinner. 

I'm always looking to serve vegetarian meal using chickpeas. If you like me, you will love many Chickpea Recipes I have on blog - Chickpea Quinoa Salad, Sweet Potato Chickpea Feta Salad, Vegan Chickpea Curry in Pressure Cooker, Chickpea Cauliflower Curry, and Apple Chickpea Salad.

Also including instructions to make Harissa Chickpeas on Stove Top or Instant Pot. Gluten free when served without couscous. Vegan when served with non-dairy yogurt. That's the magic of home cooking! Isn't it?

Harissa Chickpeas

This is a very simple yet bold-flavor recipe of braised Chickpeas with harissa and spiced herb stock. The resulting chickpeas come out melt-in-mouth tender with subtle heat of harissa, balanced with the sweetness of tomato paste and wine, and bursting with flavor of spices. When served with Yogurt, it gives chickpeas the creaminess that I highly recommend.

Harissa Chickpeas is also self-sufficient dish. Any given day, I love to have a bowl of Harissa Chickpeas with dollop of sour cream or yogurt for lunch. In-fact, I specially braise chickpeas with harissa over weekend and use it for at-least two meals on weekdays.

Harissa Chickpeas are great option if you following Mediterranean Diet. To serve as a meal, I recommend one or all of the following accompaniments:

1. Couscous (recipe in notes) or Cauliflower Rice (if looking for low-carb option)
2. Pickled Red Onion (recipe for quick pickled red onion in notes)
3. Greek Non-fat Plain Yogurt or Sour Cream

What Do You Need For Harissa Chickpeas?

The ingredients to make Harissa Chickpeas are easy to find in pantry-staples.

Here is what you need:

1. Chickpeas - Canned or cooked at home
2. Harissa Paste (including quick recipe and replacements)
3. Tomato Paste
4. Stock
5. Onion
6. Garlic
7. Olive Oil
8. Cumin
9. Thyme or Oregano
10. White Wine

Harissa Paste

The most important ingredient in this recipe is Harissa. Harissa Paste is a spicy chili paste made with chilies, spices such as cumin, caraway, coriander, lemon and olive oil.  If you can't find Harissa Paste, either make quick Harissa paste at home or use a Harissa Paste replacement.

To make Harissa Chickpeas, start by sweating the onion and garlic with spices. This helps build good flavor base. I also sauté the pastes to awaken the spices of paste, and for sweetness, good color.

Next, deglaze with wine, add liquids and drained chickpeas. Braise chickpeas in fortified liquid until chickpeas are tender. Taste for seasoning and fold in fresh herbs.

That's it! Harissa Chickpeas are ready to serve!

To serve as a Mediterranean Meal:

First, spoon couscous into a large serving platter and top it with few dollops of beaten Greek yogurt. Next, ladle hot braised Harissa Chickpeas on the top of yogurt. Garnish with herbs.

Best when serve immediately. Serve pickled red onions on the side. (yum!)

Quick Homemade Harissa

When out of Harissa paste, I often make quick Harissa Paste from powder chilies. To make Harissa from powdered chilies:

1. Mix equal part sweet paprika, and cayenne.
2. Add equal parts dry roasted and ground cumin and coriander seeds.
3. Add 1 minced garlic clove, 2 parts olive oil and 1 part lemon juice.
4. Mix to make a paste and use as desired.

TIP: Quick Homemade Harissa also works well to make Spiced Harissa Yogurt. Swirl a teaspoon of Harissa (or more per preference) in Greek yogurt. Add more lemon juice or salt to taste. Enjoy! You can thank me later.

Harissa Paste Replacement

Here are my favorite Harissa Paste replacements for this recipe:

1. Replace Harissa with equal amount of Chipotle Paste (tubed) or half quality of Chipotle Adobo. 
2. Replace with quick homemade Harissa (recipe above).
3. Replace with Asian Chili Garlic Sambal with 1/2 tablespoon of dry roasted and ground cumin and coriander seeds.

Harissa Chickpeas in Instant Pot

To make Harissa Chickpeas in Instant Pot, cook aromatics at Sauté Setting in Instant Pot (Step-2 and 3). Pressure cook everything in Step-4 in IP on high pressure for 5 minutes and quick release. Remaining recipe steps and serving suggestion stays the same.

Vegan Harissa Chickpeas

It is very easy to veganize this recipe. For vegan Harissa Chickpeas serve with non-dairy yogurt or non-dairy feta cheese. 

Tips for Success

1. Use low-sodium canned chickpeas, drain before use.
2. Braising time varies. For best result, braise until chickpeas are tender to your personal preference. I like chickpeas very tender, almost melting in mouth.
3. Even though this recipe is not spicy but if you don't like heat, use half of the suggested Harissa Paste.
4. I highly recommend serving with Greek yogurt or Sour Cream.
5. For more flavor, use chicken stock instead of vegetable stock. 
6. Adjust salt and lemon juice to taste. Since store bought harissa paste, stock and chickpeas can have varying amount of salt. It is always best to start with less salt and then adjust per taste before serving.

Friends, serve something different for dinner tonight! This delicious vegetarian Harissa Chickpea recipe is easy to prepare and makes a perfect comforting weeknight meal. Highly recommend the side of couscous and quick pickled onions (recipes in notes) and Greek yogurt. 

Happy Cooking! -Savita x