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My bang bang chickpea bowls are creamy, sweet, and *just spicy enough*, with two cans of chickpeas warmed in a garlicky, ginger-spiked bang bang sauce and piled over rice with crunchy, fresh toppings. One saucepan, about ten minutes of cooking, and dinner is on the table.

A bowl with rice, sliced cucumber, chickpeas in sauce, edamame, pickled cabbage, green onions, and sesame seeds, with a red-handled fork.
These bang bang chickpea bowls are vegetarian, high in protein, and the ten-minute dinner that tastes like it came from a takeout menu.
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Bang bang sauce is usually reserved for fried shrimp or crispy cauliflower, but as the Chickpea Queen, I can confirm it was made for chickpeas.

If you’ve made my crispy bang bang cauliflower, this is the weeknight shortcut version: no breading, no oven, all sauce.

The Weeknight Bowl You’ll Put on Repeat

After years of turning chickpeas into just about everything, here’s why this bowl earns a permanent spot in the rotation:

  • Ten minutes of cooking in one saucepan
  • The sauce is so good you’ll want to drink it
  • Endlessly customizable with whatever vegetables you have on hand
A close-up of a colorful bowl with white rice, chickpeas in sauce, edamame, shredded red cabbage, cucumber slices, green onions, and sesame seeds.
A bowl with white rice, chickpeas in sauce, edamame, sliced cucumber, and shredded red cabbage, garnished with green onions. A fork is on the plate; small bowls of toppings are nearby.

Key Ingredients

  • Chickpeas: They go straight into the warm sauce and heat through in about five minutes, absorbing the flavor as they warm.
  • Mayonnaise: The creamy base of bang bang sauce. Full-fat holds up best to heat. Kewpie works beautifully here if you have it.
  • Thai sweet chili sauce: The sweetness and mild heat that defines bang bang flavor. You’ll find it in most grocery stores near the soy sauce.
  • Sriracha: One teaspoon adds gentle heat. Double it for a proper kick, or leave it out entirely for a kid-friendly bowl. (The sweet chili sauce still carries plenty of flavor without it.)
  • Fresh garlic and ginger: Both are cooked in oil before the sauce is built. Fresh grated ginger specifically – the tube paste works in a pinch.
Ingredients for a rice bowl recipe are arranged on a yellow tiled surface, including chickpeas, sauces, vegetables, rice, spices, and oil, each labeled with text.

What to serve with bang bang chickpea bowls

These are a complete meal on their own, but a batch of pickled red cabbage made ahead makes every bowl better and keeps in the fridge for weeks.

If you love the sweet-spicy chickpea direction, my sticky BBQ chickpeas scratch a similar itch with a completely different flavor profile, and my 15-minute Buddha bowls are the template for turning whatever’s in your fridge into a meal-in-a-bowl.

A bowl with white rice, chickpeas, edamame, sliced cucumber, shredded red cabbage, green onions, and a fork, on a yellow tiled surface.
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Bang Bang Chickpea Bowls

By: Sarah Bond
Prep: 3 minutes
Cook: 7 minutes
Total: 10 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
These bang bang chickpea bowls are creamy, sweet and just spicy enough with chickpeas in a garlicky bang bang sauce over rice. Ready in 10 minutes!

Ingredients 

Bang Bang Chickpeas

  • 1 Tbsp oil, 15 mL
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger
  • ½ tsp each salt, pepper, sweet paprika
  • ½ cup mayonnaise, can sub vegan mayo, 120 g
  • ¼ cup Thai sweet chili sauce, 60 g
  • 1 tsp sriracha, 5 g
  • 2 15-oz cans chickpeas, drained, 425 g cans

To Serve

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Instructions 

  • Flavor Base: In a medium saucepan, heat 1 Tbsp oil over medium heat. Add 2 cloves garlic (minced), 1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger, and ½ tsp each salt, pepper, sweet paprika. Cook until garlic is fragrant and soft, about 2 minutes.
    A gray pan on a yellow tiled surface contains oil, minced garlic, ginger paste, and various ground spices.
  • Sauce: Reduce heat to medium/low. Stir in ½ cup mayonnaise, ¼ cup Thai sweet chili sauce, and 1 tsp sriracha.
    A saucepan with a creamy white sauce, brown sauce, and red sauce being stirred together with a wooden spoon, on a yellow tiled surface.
  • Chickpeas: Stir in 2 15-oz cans chickpeas (drained). Heat just until warmed, about 5 minutes.
    A saucepan filled with cooked chickpeas in a creamy sauce sits on a yellow tiled surface, with a wooden spoon resting inside.
  • Serve warm over rice with all your favorite toppings (I've included my favorites in the ingredients section!).
    A bowl with white rice, chickpeas, sliced cucumber, edamame, and shredded red cabbage on a yellow tiled surface, with small bowls of toppings nearby.

Notes

Can I make this vegan? Yes, with one swap! Use a vegan mayonnaise in place of regular and the rest of the recipe is already plant-based. Check your sweet chili sauce label to be safe, though nearly all major brands are vegan.
How spicy is this? Mild as written. The sweet chili sauce leans sweet, and one teaspoon of sriracha adds warmth rather than real heat. For a spicier bowl, increase the sriracha to a tablespoon or add a pinch of crushed red pepper with the spices. For zero heat, skip the sriracha entirely.
Can I meal prep these bowls? Yes, and they hold up well. Store the chickpeas, rice, and toppings in separate containers in the fridge for up to four days.
Store the saucy chickpeas in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days. Reheat gently in the microwave in 30-second intervals or on the stovetop over low heat, stirring often, since high heat can cause the mayo-based sauce to separate.
Not recommended for freezing. The sauce breaks after thawing and the texture doesn’t recover.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving (chickpeas only) | Calories: 420kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 3.5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 13g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 680mg | Potassium: 380mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 120IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 70mg | Iron: 3mg

Nutrition information calculated by Sarah Bond, degreed nutritionist.

did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag @liveeatlearn on social media! I love seeing what you’ve made!
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