Ugh, the word purée in a title really does sound pretentious, doesn’t it? But I feel like “mash” doesn’t hold the same weight? And these Oven Chili Chickpeas with Preserved Lemon Carrot Mash deserve it! Ok, so I guess I’m keeping it as mash…I just wouldn’t be able to handle purée.
BUT ANYWAYS, this recipe is oven-only, supremely easy, and fully plant-based. It’s great for meal prep (it makes four servings!) and is even better for an easy weeknight dinner that you’ll want to assemble and then not think too much about. It’s packed with flavor, has just a hint of spice, and is filling enough to keep you running for days. I like to only use one can of chickpeas if I’m feeling like I want a heavier sauce, but I easily switch to two if I want to bulk it up a bit more. It’s customizable! I’ll talk more about this oven-only dinner in the blog post, so read on for how best to make it.
Table of contents
- So, what is going into these oven-only chickpeas?
- Combining and roasting the ingredients for these oven chili chickpeas
- While the oven-only chickpeas roast, add in the carrots
- How to use the food processor in this oven chili chickpeas and preserved lemon carrot mash recipe
- Making the carrot mash
- Putting this oven chili chickpeas recipe together
- Looking for similar recipes?
- Watch the recipe here
So, what is going into these oven-only chickpeas?
This is my favorite kind of dish, the type where everything goes in one baking dish and you kind of forget about it while the oven takes over.
For just the chickpea component of this recipe, we’re using:
- 1 head of garlic 10-12 cloves, peeled
- 2 small red onions, peeled and quartered
- 2 medium Birdseye chilies, thinly sliced, seeds removed if you are sensitive to heat
- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 (13.5-ounce) can light coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 2 (15-ounce) cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Combining and roasting the ingredients for these oven chili chickpeas
It’s so easy to start this recipe. Just add the garlic and onion to a high-sided baking dish, then whisk together all the spices, tomato paste and coconut milk and pour that over the top of the garlic and onion.
You want to make sure the garlic is covered and the onion is just peeking out, and don’t worry about it being soupy, the liquid will reduce! See the image below for what I mean.
What this is doing is it is allowing the aromatics to cook, but also letting the spices slowly mingle and simmer with the coconut milk. As this happens the garlic and onion are releasing their flavor into the coconut milk, the spices are doing the same, plus the tomato paste is reducing its sugars and becoming more concentrated and vibrant. And most importantly, as water evaporates from the coconut milk, the milk becomes more concentrated and sweet, which both thickens the mixture and balances the flavor.
This is why we love an oven.
While the oven-only chickpeas roast, add in the carrots
The other component of this recipe is the preserved lemon carrot mash, which roasts right alongside these oven chili chickpeas. You just need to peel the carrots, drizzle them with a bit of olive oil, and add them to the top rack of the oven while the chickpeas are going. They both take about the same time, so it’s two birds, one stone.
How to use the food processor in this oven chili chickpeas and preserved lemon carrot mash recipe
The food processor is our FRIEND in this recipe. I always recommend getting a small one, since they are way less of a hassle to clean than a big one. If you are in a pinch, a blender works fine here, too.
What you want to do is scoop out the garlic cloves and four of the onion wedges, plus a bit of the cooking liquid from the chili mixture. Pulse this in the processor until it is a chunky-soup texture. Add this back in with the remaining sauce, breaking up the remaining onion wedges so that you have roasted onion slices throughout. Then add the chickpeas, mix together and pop it back in the oven for ten minutes.
Making the carrot mash
Don’t wipe out the food processor, we end up using that for the carrot purée. Slice or break up the roasted carrots, and add them into the food processor with the preserved lemon and a big pinch of salt. Add 1/2 cup of water and pulse until it’s as smooth as possible. Add more water as needed, and then add the herbs and mix again.
Taste and season with more salt as you prefer, and then we are almost done!
Putting this oven chili chickpeas recipe together
By now, the chickpeas are out of the oven. They should look all deep red and delicious.
To plate everything, I like to make a scoop of the lemony carrot mash the base, then pile the chickpeas on top. Garnish with more cilantro and mint, and that’s it!
Looking for similar recipes?
Here are a few favorites from the blog!
And that’s everything for these Oven Chili Chickpeas with Preserved Lemon Carrot Mash!
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And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you <3
Watch the recipe here
The video may not fully represent the recipe. For best results, follow the instructions as written.
Oven Chili Chickpeas with Preserved Lemon Carrot Mash
Equipment
- 1 high-sided baking dish 9"x 13" is preferred, but anything larger than an 8"x 8" pan will work
- 1 half sheet pan
- 1 small food processor or blender
Ingredients
For the chili chickpeas
- 1 head of garlic 10-12 cloves, peeled
- 2 small red onions peeled and quartered
- 2 medium Birdseye chilies thinly sliced, seeds removed if you are sensitive to heat
- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 (13.5-ounce) can light coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 2 (15-ounce) cans of chickpeas drained and rinsed
For the carrot mash
- 2 pounds carrots peeled
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium preserved lemon halved and seeded
- 1/2 cup mixture of tender herbs, such as cilantro and mint plus more for garnish
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt
Instructions
- Position a rack at the top of the oven and one at the center. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- In a high-sided baking dish, add the garlic cloves, onion quarters, and sliced chilies.
- Use a mortar and pestle to grind up the cumin, coriander and black peppercorns into the texture of coarse sand.
- In a medium bowl, add the ground up spices, the paprika, the tomato paste and the coconut milk. Whisk together until combined. Pour this into the baking dish so that the garlic cloves are covered and the red onion is just peeking out.
- Drizzle over two tablespoons of olive oil and season with a few big pinches of kosher salt. Place this on the center rack of the oven and roast for 55-60 minutes, or until everything is bubbling and has darkened to a deep red.
- While that is roasting, add the carrots to a sheet pan. Drizzle with just a bit of olive oil and toss to coat. Put this on the top rack of the oven and roast for 45-50 minutes, or until the carrots are very soft.
- When the chili and red onion mixture is out of the oven, scoop up the garlic cloves, four of the onion quarters and a bit of the liquid and add it into a food processor. Process for 15 seconds or until you have a chunky but broken-down mixture. Add this back to the baking dish, and mix and break up the remaining onion pieces so that there are red onion slices throughout.
- Add the chickpeas to the baking dish and stir to coat. Place this back in the oven to cook for another ten minutes, or until the chickpeas are bubbling and the edges of the dish have caramelized a bit.
- Don't wipe out the food processor. When the carrots are cool enough to handle, chop them into large pieces and add them to the food processor with the preserved lemon, 1/2 cup of water and a large pinch of salt. Pulse until smooth, then add the herbs and purée again. Taste and season with salt as needed.
- To serve, put a large scoop of carrot mash on a plate, then top with a generous scoop of the chickpeas. Garnish with more herbs and eat!
Do you have recommendations for preserved lemons? This looks amazing!
I have a recipe on this blog, but if you are going to store-bought route, I like Mina’s and I find they are widely available in the US!
Looks amazing but I don’t like coconut flavor- do you taste the coconut milk?
Not overtly! The tomato paste and the spices really own the show on this one 🙂
Would you say the preserved lemons are an integral part to this recipe? Or could you sub lemon juice and get by?
I always give people a preserved lemon sub of one tablespoon of lemon juice and one teaspoon of salt. It doesn’t mimic the preserved lemon entirely, but it does the job when you’re in a pinch!
Any recommendations for what can be used instead of the preserved lemon and coconut milk?
The preserved lemon can be swapped for 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1 teaspoon salt (plus adding more salt to your taste preference), but I’d try not to skip it if you can! I don’t at this time have a substitute for the coconut milk. Vegetable broth would be a useable sub, but it would really limit the broth’s richness and flavor.
I can’t seem to find cumin or coriander seeds in my area. What measurements of already ground would you recommend?
I recommend reducing the amount by 1/3 when using the ground versions!
Hey Justine,
Thanks for this wonderful recipe. What’s the recommended cooking time and temperature for the Oven Chili Chickpeas, and how do you ensure they achieve the perfect level of crispiness without overcooking?
Hi there! This is more of a stew consistency, so no crispiness is achieved! The oven temperature is 375°F and the chickpeas go in for only ten minutes at the end 🙂 Hope this helps!
Delicious! It took a while to ground the spices together, but I’m glad I used a mortar and pestle as it ground the coriander fine enough that it doesn’t have the annoying chunks that I often get when I use an electric grinder. I used lemon peel and salt instead of preserved lemon. Delicious balance of spices!
So thrilled you enjoyed it!
Excellent recipe! Highly recommend! I had some harissa with preserved lemons from New York Shuk so did 50/50 that and the preserved lemons and it turned out nicely. That addition is definitely not mandatory because the chickpea onion concoction is SO dang flavorful it’ll knock your socks off. I would recommend just going with a standard sized food processor for the carrot step (9) and downsizing to a small one for the onion blending step (7). We served it with some crusty toast, but pita would have also been nice. Enjoy!
So thrilled you liked it! Also…love love love NY Shuk.
This was the first recipe I made from your blog and it was great. So well explained, easy to follow and a delicious filling outcome! I didn’t have preserved lemon, so while the vegetables were in the oven, I thinly sliced half a lemon, marinated it with a lot of salt and lemon juice, put it in the microwave for 1:30 and used it in the purée. I think that worked very well to mimick the elevation of the puree provided by the preserved lemon! Looking forward to trying out more recipes!
I’m so glad you liked this one! And I’ve never heard of that lemon hack but I love it! I’m glad it worked out for you, and I’m beyond happy you liked this recipe! Thank you for taking the time to leave such a nice comment, they always make my day.
Justine has done it again! I subbed a few ingredients for what I already had in the kitchen, like coconut cream instead of milk, thai chilis instead of birdseye, and a regular half lemon instead of preserved (my bf broke the food processor and we lost half the lemon juice lol), and it turned out still amazing. Also did not use any fresh spices, pre ground, but they def still shone through. I am so in love with these flavors and I’m so happy to have taken a risk on this recipe as a non-carrot girlie. I foresee myself making this recipe again and again forever. 😭💕✨
Ahhhhh this comment makes me so happy! Thank you for taking the time to leave such a lovely review!!