The Easiest Way to Make Chickpea Flour | Gluten-Free

Make your own chickpea flour in minutes with this simple process. Just one ingredient and five minutes needed to make homemade chickpea flour!

Did you know you can make your own chickpea flour at home? It's actually quite easy and much more affordable than buying pre-made chickpea flour at the store. Never overpay for chickpea flour again!

Have you heard of chickpea flour or garbanzo flour? It's similar to Gram flour or besan but made with white chickpeas instead of split brown chickpeas. Although it's found often in Asian and Middle Eastern dishes, it seems to be becoming more mainstream and trendy.

It's also incredibly affordable to make your own chickpea flour at home, especially if you already have a high speed blender or coffee grinder at home. We have a Ninja and love it. Dried chickpeas come in one pound bags for less than $2 in most places making it a much better deal than most organic flour prices. Might as well make your own chickpea flour at home that you can have ready in minutes!

Jump to:

• Why use chickpea flour?
• What does chickpea flour taste like?
• Benefits of chickpeas
• Store-bought chickpea flours
• What you'll need
• How to make
• How to use chickpea flour
• How to store
• Recipes that use Chickpea flour
• 📖 Recipe

Why use chickpea flour?

Chickpea flour is full of healthy nutrients and can be a great alternative to refined wheat flour. It's a gluten-free flour that's also lower in carbs but rich in protein and fiber.

It has a rich flavor that's perfect for savory dishes. In Indian cooking it's often used to make flatbreads, like socca, but it's also great for making savory pancakes and fritters. Chickpea flour is a great thickener, too, for adding to soups and stews. It can even be used to make egg-free vegan scrambles!

If you have a gluten intolerance or celiac disease, a gluten-free flour like chickpea flour is a great alternative.

What does chickpea flour taste like?

On its own, chickpea flour has a subtle nutty flavor with a slightly bitter aftertaste. Although usually added to savory dishes, it can definitely be added to sweeter foods too like pancakes and cookies.

The flavor is pretty mild overall, so it's a great flour to use for a variety of dishes. It's even great as a substitute of almond flour or oat flour if you need a quick gluten-free alternative.

Benefits of chickpeas

With over 15 grams of protein per cooked cup, chickpeas are a great source of plant-based protein! They're also rich in dietary fiber, which is beneficial for digestive health and weight control.

Chickpeas are also high in vitamins and minerals including folate (natural form of folic acid), magnesium, iron, phosphorus, zinc, and vitamin K.

Store-bought chickpea flours

If you do happen to be at the store and stumble across chickpea flour, here are common brands to look out for:

• Bob's Red Mill Chickpea Flour
• Anthony's Chickpea Flour
• Food to Live Garbanzo Bean Flour
• Vör Chickpea Flour

Prices vary quite a bit so make sure to check the price per ounce to ensure you're getting a good deal! If you have an Indian grocery store nearby, that's probably where you'll find the best deals. Otherwise, read on for how to make chickpea flour for an always affordable, budget-friendly option!

What you'll need

• dry chickpeas
• sieve or mesh strainer
• high-speed blender or coffee/spice grinder

How to make

No need to presoak or dehydrate. Dried chickpeas are already dry and you will be using the flour to cook or bake with so no additional cooking is necessary.

You may need to process in batches depending on how large your blender or coffee grinder is. For a coffee grinder, I recommend adding no more than ¼ cup at a time.

Blend on high for two to three minutes until a flour-like consistency forms. It's ok to still have larger pieces as we will sift these out.

Over a bowl, sift the flour using a fine mesh strainer to remove the large pieces. You should be left with a fine powder in the bowl. You can reprocess the larger pieces that you sifted out for another two to three minutes and sift again to maximize the amount of flour you get out of it. You can also use a coffee or spice grinder on these larger pieces to grind them even further but you may still need to resift.

How to use chickpea flour

Chickpea flour can be used in a variety of ways. One that is becoming more popular is a Chickpea Flour Scramble. It can also be used to thicken sauces or as a binder in veggie burgers.

You can even substitute it for regular white all-purpose flour. Use ¾ cup chickpea flour for every 1 cup of regular white flour. You can substitute up to half the amount of white all-purpose flour called for in a recipe with chickpea flour. This is best for things like quick breads and yeast breads but it can be used for so many recipe types: omelettes, bread, cake, cookies, pizza dough etc.

How to store

Store chickpea flour in an airtight container for up to 8 weeks in a cool dry place, such as a pantry or cabinet. For longer storage, keep in the refrigerator.

Recipes that use Chickpea flour

Now that you've got homemade chickpea flour, here are some delicious chickpea flour recipes to use it in:

• One of my favorites lately to use chickpea flour is in this Chickpea Flour Frittata. It's a very convincing vegan version!
• It's also great made into Vegan Scrambled Eggs.
• For something sweeter try these Chickpea Brownies
• Gluten-Free Crackers can also be made using chickpea flour and are great for serving at parties with your favorite dip!

If you enjoyed this recipe please leave a comment below and give it 5 stars! Or on Pinterest (don’t forget to follow me!) you can now add pictures into reviews, too, and be sure to help me share on facebook!

📖 Recipe

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This article for how to make chickpea flour was originally published August 6, 2020 and has been updated February 20, 2023 with additional information and tips.