An oldie but goodie, Dreena’s Chickpea Ratatouille has a been a reader favorite for years! This is a whole foods plant-based recipe.
Anyone remember this Chickpea Ratatouille?
This popular recipe comes from my second book and was featured on my site a while back. However, when my site was updated and an old recipe software phased out, this beloved Chickpea Ratatouille was displaced.
Chickpea Ratatouille: Oldie but Goodie
This is one of those “oldie but goodie” recipes.
Often I hear from people about recipes they just truly love from my first cookbooks.
It’s funny, because most of us eagerly await new products: new cookbooks, new technology, new appliances, new clothes.
But sometimes, those oldies are truly the goodie. Like that cherished comfy blanket that has been passed down from your parents… those soft pajama pants fraying at the bottom… a classic movie or song.
Recipes are like that too. We anticipate the arrival of the new ones, when sometimes there are real jewels in the pages of cookbooks from ten years ago – or beyond.
Not that the new recipes aren’t great too! Of course they are.
Unfortunately, we just sometimes push those old reliables to the back burner. (Punny, Dreena) Hey, I do it too!
So I give back an old reliable to you today, this delicious, nutritionally-abundant Chickpea Ratatouille.
The original version of this recipe calls for oven-baking. You can also cook in an instant pot or stovetop. In fact, the saute of the onions might offer an even better flavor to the dish!
Either way, this is a pretty simple recipe. The ingredients might look a little long, but it’s mostly spices. Not an abundance of chopping.
Serving Ideas: Chickpea Ratatouille
These are my favorite ways to serve up this dish, and I’d like to know if you guys have other ideas. If so, please comment.
- Over brown rice or quinoa: This is how we eat it most often. Especially easy if you batch-cook the rice or quinoa ahead of time, and then just reheat.
- With pasta: Why not toss it into cooked pasta much like a marinara? In fact, if you have leftovers, you can combine some of the ratatouille with marinara to craft a heartier pasta sauce.
- Ooooh, I just thought of this one. Heat up leftovers to top a creamy pasta sauce like my Creamy Fettuccine. YUM!
- Greens, baby: As I say, “it’s all about those beans ‘n greens”… so why not serve up over a bed of wilted kale or spinach. Some crusty bread on the side, I call that delicious!
- Leftover wraps: Wraps are always a good way to use leftovers, and this ratatouille is no exception! Roll up with some of the cooked grains, or with extra veg, greens, cooked sweet spuds – your call!
- Your ideas?…. please share in the comments!
Alright, we have everything in place but the recipe. Here it is, friends. Enjoy, and share your thoughts!
x Dreena
Chickpea Ratatouille
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 –4 cups cooked chickpeas roughly 2 – 14 oz cans if using canned, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup finely chopped red onion
- 3 –4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 28- ounce can diced organic tomatoes see note
- 1/2 cup diced organic red or orange bell pepper
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup or date syrup optional, can omit
- 2 teaspoons mustard seeds
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 dried bay leaves
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 400°F.
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In a large, deep casserole dish, combine all ingredients except bay leaves
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Stir through until well combined, then embed bay leaves in the mixture.
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Cover and bake for 30 minutes.
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Stir through, cover, and bake for another 35–45 minutes until onions are tender and translucent (stir through once more during baking).
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Remove bay leaves and serve over quinoa or brown rice.
Recipe Notes
Chef’s Notes: Tomatoes Note: Try fire-roasted tomatoes for extra flavor.
Ideas: Have leftovers? Tuck that ratatouille into a tortilla with your favourite grain, bake for 10-15 minutes at 375 degrees for an amazing burrito!
Susan
I love your recipes…every single one of them. I’m hoping that you update recipes like this to the IP as I believe more of us are using IP over baking and heating up the whole house, (or it’s sure nice to have both options)
Dreena
Hi Susan, thank you very much! I plan to update that recipe, with new photos as well. Thanks for reminding me!
Lena
I sure remember this recipe! I think it was one of the first recipes of yours that I tried when I went vegan about a decade ago. Boy it takes me back thinking about it, my (now) husband and I in that tiny apartment behind the post office… 🙂 Funny how nostalgic cooking memories can be, remembering certain kitchens, certain recipe rotations in different seasons of your life.
Anyway as for this recipe, looove it. The smell is like this warm, comforting, Christmas-y spaghetti. It is hard to describe how wonderful it smells, you just have to experience it. And I love the chop-n-bake style. While it takes longer than say, the Thai Chickpeas to bake on account of the onion, the actual prep is fairly quick and easy. And hey that just means more baking-smells-time. 🙂 I make it almost exactly as is, the seasonings are perfect, and I say that as someone who might look at some of them and want to preemptively swap them. But the flavors altogether are just perfect. The only swap I make is either all or half of the diced tomatoes swapped for some crushed tomato or puree, to up the sauciness. We eat it with either brown rice or some crusty bread also. And usually some simple steamed broccoli on the side.
I’m thinking this may be dinner tonight. As it happens recently I’ve been trying to think of meals I can prep at least mostly in advance, e.g. prep them at lunchtime, and then quickly either throw it together or bake it at dinner time. I’ve started working from home, and it would be nice to get things done on my lunchbreak and have some more flexibility in the afternoon, either to get more work done, or do something for myself like take a walk, which always seems to get put on the back burner. Dreena, if you wanted to put a blog post together of meals that might fit that profile, I for one would love to read it! Thanks for all you do, for your generosity in sharing so much, and for all the years of wonderful recipes that my family has enjoyed because of you.
Dreena
Lena, I wish you could see how much I’m smiling reading your beautiful note. The memories you’ve shared, and how food does indeed connect us to phases and moments in our lives. It’s so special. Thank you.
And… I’m delighted the recipe has been a favorite for you for so long. Really true, the ingredients come together in a way that is more than the sum of the parts.
That’s such a great idea, it’s how I cook most days – partially prepping and then reheating or finishing the dish closer to dinner. I will put my thinking cap on for that!
So kind of you, thank you Lena.
mary
This looks so delicious. I LOVE dishes like this – full of flavor but not super hard to make! My family is finally beginning to love chickpeas!! yay!
Cindy Bartel
Im sorry i didnt read the post I just jumped to the recipe! disregard my previous comment! i am making this tonight!
Dreena
Hi again 🙂 No worries, I was teaching yoga today so just catching up on comments. Hope you love the recipe!
Cindy Bartel
Looks awesome! What is the benefit to baking? Can this be cooked in an instant pot?
Dreena
Hi Cindy, yes, give it a go in the IP! I’m estimating about 4-5 minutes top to cook (using cooked chickpeas) and then natural release. IPs weren’t around when I developed the recipe, but it’s a great way to go!