9 Creative Recipes For Your Spare Tin of Chickpeas

What self-respecting, frugal home cook doesn't eat a chickpea curry at least once a month? A tin of chickpeas is a cupboard staple for good reason – the legume with a mild, nutty flavour is used in a range of Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and Indian cuisines. Chickpeas can be comfortably relied on to bulk out meals, add bite and absorb flavour.

They are also very versatile. Chickpeas can be roasted, sautéed, cooked low and slow in a broth or blitzed into dips (hello hummus). Somewhat surprisingly, they also work in sweet recipes thanks to their mild flavour and even the liquid in the tin is useful; known as aquafaba, it has many similar properties to egg whites. This makes it an ideal surrogate for vegan baking and useful at times like these when eggs are scarce.

If you're bored of your well trodden chickpea and sweet potato curry recipe, we've pulled together some more creative ways to feed yourself during these very strange times. While none of these includes meat, many welcome the addition (though probably not the cookies).

Supermarket shelves may be lacking many of the supplies we've become accustomed to but it's likely you'll have a rogue tin lurking at the back of your cupboard, ready to be transformed into a feast.