Main Dishes

Creamy Lemon Chickpeas with Coconut and Quinoa

Chickpeas fried with onion, ginger and lemon zest, simmered in broth and lemon juice, finished with coconut milk and turmeric and stirred with quinoa.

Back to Recipes More Recipes
Total 30 min
Prep 10 min
Cook 20 min
Marination —
Servings 4
Difficulty Easy

Ingredients

Quinoa

Creamy chickpeas

Watch the video

Instructions

  1. Bring a pot of water to the boil, pour in the quinoa and cook it for about 16 minutes, or as the package says, then drain it.

    Tricolour quinoa tipped from a glass bowl into a pot of boiling water
    Tip: Start the quinoa first: it cooks while you prepare and cook the chickpeas.

  2. Heat the oil in a non-stick pan and fry the onion (or leek) and the ginger until golden, about 6 minutes, then add the lemon zest and the chickpeas.

    Chickpeas just tipped onto softened onion slices and lemon zest in a speckled non-stick pan

  3. Sauté for a few minutes and season with the salt. Add the cornstarch, stir at once, then cover with the broth and the juice of half the lemon (as much as you like: taste and adjust).

    Overhead view of chickpeas and onion covered with broth in a black pan beside a chef's knife

  4. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring now and then. At the end add the coconut milk, then the turmeric and black pepper.

    A hand tipping turmeric and black pepper into chickpeas just stirred with coconut milk
    Tip: In our video it simmered for about 8 minutes, and we turned the heat up after about 4 so the liquid would reduce.

  5. Let it thicken to a creamy consistency, then stir in the drained quinoa and serve at once.

    Thick, creamy coconut sauce with chickpeas and onion in a black pan, seen from above
    Tip: You can also serve the creamy chickpeas alongside the quinoa instead of stirring it in.

FAQ

Can I use water instead of vegetable broth?

Yes, the recipe allows hot water instead of the broth. The sauce will taste milder, so taste it and adjust the salt. In this estimate it also lowers the sodium by about 300 mg per serving.

Is this recipe gluten-free?

None of the listed ingredients is made from wheat, barley or rye, but vegetable broth, especially from a stock cube, can contain gluten, and cornstarch and quinoa can be cross-contaminated. If you need it gluten-free, use products labelled gluten-free, or hot water instead of the broth.

Can I serve the quinoa on the side?

Yes. In the video the quinoa is stirred into the pan and plated as one mixture, but the creamy chickpeas can also go alongside the quinoa.

What does the nutrition estimate include?

All the listed amounts: the dry quinoa, the 2 tbsp of oil, the teaspoon of salt, salted vegetable broth, the coconut milk and the juice of half the lemon. It leaves out the fresh ginger and the lemon zest, which are not weighed and add very little. The chickpeas are counted at their drained weight.

Interactive Nutrition Map

Recipe ingredients

  • quinoa200 g
  • oil2 tbsp
  • onion0.5 medium
  • organic lemon1 whole
  • canned chickpeas240 g
  • salt1 tsp
  • cornstarch1 tsp
  • vegetable broth350 ml
  • canned coconut milk150 g
  • ground turmeric0.5 tsp
  • ground black pepper0.5 tsp

Per serving

431kcalCalories
12.9gProtein
51.6gCarbs
20.1gFat
8.3gFiber
Sodium1041 mg45% DV
Potassium636 mg14% DV
Calcium69 mg5% DV
Iron5 mg28% DV
Magnesium146 mg35% DV
Vitamin C5.2 mg6% DV
Vitamin A132 µg15% DV
Vitamin K7.5 µg6% DV
Folate205 µg51% DV
Vitamin B120 µg0% DV

Estimated per serving from ingredients with nutrition data. Ingredients excluded from calculation are not represented. Missing data may understate values. Daily Values (DV) are based on 2,000 calories.

The Story Behind This Dish

Chickpeas, lemon and coconut milk make a creamy pan sauce here. Onion and fresh ginger fry in oil until golden, then the lemon zest and the chickpeas go in, a teaspoon of cornstarch thickens the broth and lemon juice, and coconut milk, turmeric and black pepper finish it.

The quinoa boils in a separate pot while the chickpeas cook and is stirred in at the end, so the dish comes to the table as one golden mixture for 4 people. In the video each plate gets a few parsley leaves and a lemon wedge.

Essential

Needed for the site to work, such as remembering this choice. Always on.

Analytics

Google Analytics shows us which pages are read and how visitors find us, so we can make better recipes.