Made with crispy chickpeas and a creamy cilantro yogurt sauce, these chickpea tacos are the perfect quick vegetarian dinner. These tacos are a go-to recipe for me when I need a quick and delicious dinner – they come together in about 15 minutes and are so filling!
I love tacos. I mean from my vegan breakfast tacos to my top-rated vegetarian roasted cauliflower tacos, I don’t think I could ever pick a favorite.
But any recipe with chickpeas holds a special place in my heart. And these chickpea tacos…they *might* be my favorite.
Why you’ll love it
- Incredibly quick but packed with so much flavor thanks to some simple, pantry staple spices.
- It can be vegetarian or vegan by just swapping the yogurt (in the sauce) with a plant-based one.
- It’s just as good on day two, so any leftovers can double as lunch the next day.
Ingredients for Chickpea Tacos
Making garbanzo bean tacos is super simple. But, you need good ingredients to really make them shine. Here’s what you’ll need.
- Cilantro Sauce: For the sauce, you’ll need fresh cilantro, yogurt, red wine vinegar, olive oil, mustard, garlic, smoked paprika, cumin, and black pepper.
- Chickpea Filling: Chickpeas and garbanzo beans are the same thing, so either works great! I like to use canned for convenience but you can also use dried chickpeas that have been cooked. They get tossed in some basic spices and oil.
- For serving: I like to serve mine with mini flour tortillas, diced white onion, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime juice. Shredded cabbage or pico de gallo are delicious too!
want to make these gluten-free?
Chickpeas are naturally gluten-free. So to make the tacos gluten-free simply use corn tortillas. Corn tortillas tend to break though, so heat them up to make them more pliable.
How to make vegetarian tacos
- Make the cilantro sauce in a blender.
- Cook the chickpeas in a saucepan with oil and spices until crispy.
- Assemble the tacos with the sauce, cilantro, and onions.
Serving Tip
I love dinners where everyone can make their own plate! I’ll put all the different components in bowls on the table, along with any other taco toppings we’re feeling (like pickled red onions, pico de gallo, or fresh sliced veggies – tomatoes, jalapenos, lettuce, etc).
Storage
I often make a double batch of the chickpeas and sauce to store in the fridge. Each will keep in the fridge for 5 days in an airtight container. When you want to eat them, simply reheat the chickpeas in the air fryer, stove top, or microwave, and then use as desired with the cilantro sauce!
Why this Recipe Works
I’ve made this recipe many times when I just don’t know what else to have for dinner. With so many test runs under my belt, here’s why the recipes works.
- Crispy chickpeas can be hard to achieve on the stovetop. But, the trick here is to heat the oil first THEN add the chickpeas, THEN add the spices. This allows the chickpeas to soften and then fry with the spices to get crispy.
- Sometimes vegetarian, sometimes vegan because sometimes I can’t decide what I’m feeling. Because of this, I wanted to make sure the sauce was delicious with dairy yogurt and plant-based yogurt.
- While the chickpeas cook, you can blend the sauce meaning everything is ready to eat in 15 minutes. Have I mentioned vegetarian cooking is really fast?
what To Serve with Tacos
Tacos go with everything – margaritas, chips, guacamole, a good playlist. To narrow it down, here are my favorite things to serve with tacos.
- Mexican Street Corn Salad is a fresh dish that can be eaten as a salad or served as a salsa on top of tacos.
- Vegan Refried Beans are a Mexican staple that again, are delicious as a side dish or on a taco.
- Healthy Guacamole because what taco Tuesday is complete without guac? Straight avocado is good too!
Reader rating
“I knew I had to try this. It was very quick and easy and inexpensive to make. I really like the sauce option because I’m allergic to avocado so this was something I could eat. Keep them recipes coming!” —Adrienne
Ingredients
Cilantro Sauce*
- 1 cup cilantro thick stems removed
- ½ cup plain yogurt can use dairy-free, 120 g
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar 60 mL
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil 60 mL
- 2 tsp mustard
- 2 clove garlic
- ½ tsp each smoked paprika, cumin, black pepper
Chickpea Tacos
- 2 15-oz cans chickpeas drained and patted dry, 425 g cans
- 1 Tbsp oil 15 mL
- 1 tsp each salt, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, smoked paprika
- To serve: tortillas (4 large or 8 mini), diced white onion, cilantro, lime
Instructions
- Sauce: Blend all Cilantro Sauce ingredients until smooth.
- Cook Chickpeas: Drain and pat dry the 2 15-oz cans chickpeas. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large saute pan over medium/high heat. Add chickpeas and cook for about 7 minutes, until they begin to brown.
- Flavor Chickpeas: Add 1 tsp each salt, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, smoked paprika to the chickpeas. Stir well and continue cooking for 5 minutes, jostling the pan often, until crispy.
- Assemble: Spoon chickpeas onto tortillas and top with the Cilantro Sauce, diced white onion, fresh cilantro, and a squeeze of lime juice.
Adrienne Wallace says
After trying her smashed brussel sprouts recipe, I knew I had to try this. It was very quick and easy and inexpensive to make. I really like the sauce option because I’m allergic to avocado so this was something I could eat. Keep them recipes coming! Thanks
Sarah Bond says
So happy to hear you loved it, Adrienne! Enjoy! 😀
Haley says
I am looking forward to making this, what type of mustard do you use for this recipe?
Sarah Bond says
Any kind works! I like dijon 🙂
Emily says
I loved this recipe! It was so easy and I never realised you could roast chickpeas like that, they were so full of flavour. My family loved eating it and it felt so healthy. The only thing I would suggest is that you should be careful adding the red wine vinegar to the cilantro sauce because it is quite strong-I had to add more yoghurt and cilantro to even it out. Other than that, awesome recipe!
Emily says
Also, I have some leftover cilantro sauce, can I freeze it to use it later?
Sarah Bond says
Yes that should work! 😀