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This Taco Grain Bowl with Crispy Chipotle Chickpeas is nourishing, filling, and packed with the flavors that every taco lover wants.
Hey! Just wanted to sneak in here real quick and update this oldie-but-goodie of a recipe. It’s remained one of my most popular posts to date, thanks to this Buzzfeed roundup. I figured it was time for a touch up with better, brighter photos ;)
Bowl meals were all the rage when I wrote this post two-ish years ago. It seems like the “trendiness” of them has died out, but I think people are still enjoying them. They’re pretty handy! Especially for people like me, who tend to multi-task while they eat. Working from home has helped me form a bad habit of working through what should be my lunch break. Having a meal that I can safely hover over my laptop or walk around with is crucial.
My love for crispy chipotle chickpeas started with these vegetarian tacos; at one point, I was eating them weekly. But messy tacos aren’t the best thing to be mowing down while tapping away on your laptop. For obvious reasons. With that, I decided to dump all of these fab taco toppings into a bowl with some healthful quinoa and call it a meal.
You can do this with ANY type of taco leftovers you might have kicking around after taco night. It’s such a great way to use up all of those delicious leftovers.
You can use any grain you want.
For this recipe in particular, if quinoa isn’t your jam, you can replace it with your grain of choice. It would work wonderfully with brown rice, farro, freekeh, couscous, or bulgur!
I like crisping up my chickpeas in my air fryer (it’s probably the only thing I’ve done in my air fryer in years—woops). If you don’t have an air fryer, you can crisp them up in the oven with a few extra steps, which I’ve provided in the recipe card.
Whichever way you eat this, I hope you freakin’ love it :)
Some other bowl meals I’ve been eyeing are these Thai Quinoa Bowls with Peanut Sauce and this stunner of a Grilled Shrimp Taco Bowl (yum).
If you try this recipe or create your own variation, let me know in the comments! I love connecting with you. Then snap a photo and tag me on the Insta @killing__thyme to be featured in our newsletter.
Taco Grain Bowl With Crispy Chipotle Chickpeas
Ingredients
Cooking the grains.
- 1 cup dried quinoa, or your grain of choice
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander (optional)
Crispy Chipotle Chickpeas.
- 15 oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 tsp olive oil or avocado oil
- 1/4 tsp chipotle or chili hot sauce, more or less to your taste
- 1 tsp of chili powder
- 1/4 tsp chipotle chili powder
- 1/3 tsp of cumin
- 1/3 tsp garlic salt
Toppings.
- 1/2 cup Grated cheddar cheese, divided
- 1 cup Chopped/shredded lettuce, divided
- 1 cup Diced tomatoes (or halved grape tomatoes), divided
- 1 Avocado, sliced
- Fresh chopped parsley or cilantro
- Plain Greek yogurt (optional)
- Lime wedges, for fresh lime juice drizzle
Instructions
Chickpeas.
- Drain the chickpeas and transfer them to a medium-sized bowl. Add the oil, hot sauce, chili powder, chipotle chili powder, cumin, and garlic salt; stir until evenly coated.
Roasting chickpeas in air fryer.
- I cook my chickpeas in the Actifry Fryer for about. 15-20 minutes. If you're using a different brand/model, go by that model's instructions. Once the chickpeas are crispy, remove from the fryer and set them aside.
Roasting chickpeas in the oven.
- Preheat oven to 350º F.Very lightly grease a baking sheet with cooking oil.
- Drain the chickpeas and transfer them to a clean kitchen towel or a few paper towels. Gently pat them dry. The dryer they are, the better.
- Transfer them to a medium-sized bowl. Add the oil, hot sauce, chili powder, chipotle chili powder, cumin, and garlic salt; stir until evenly coated.
- Transfer them to the prepared baking sheet in an even layer and bake them, shaking the pan halfway through baking time, until the chickpeas are crunchy. This will take about 50 minutes to 1 hour.
- Once ready, let them cool for at least one hour. The chickpeas will get crunchier as they cool.
Cooking your grains.
- Prepare the grains as per the packages instructions using vegetable broth instead of water. This will add a lot of flavor to your grains. Once the grains are cooked, sprinkle the ground coriander into the grains and mix well. Taste, and season more if desired.
Assembly.
- Once the grains are ready, transfer them to a bowl and top with some chickpeas. You might have some leftover for snacking, and that's totally ok :)
- Add the other toppings to each bowl; top with some fresh parsley or cilantro, and sour cream, if desired.
Can I ask what kind/brand of quinoa you used here? It looks so tasty!
Hi Amy! Absolutely. This is the Lundberg Farms brand. I hope you can find it where you are — it’s delish!
This looks wonderful! How much protein punch does this actually have? Thanks!
I like tacos, but I like this bowl better! It looks pretty, colorful, healthy and delicious! Food is so comforting in hard times and this taco grain bowl would sure make me smile and warm me up from the inside. P.s. So sorry about your uncle, Dana!
I’m sorry about your pot stickers, and even sorrier about your Uncle. Condolences :-( I’ve never gotten around to roasting chickpeas, and I love them. This bowl looks so freaking good that I just might do that right now! Thanks for posting.
Thanks so much, Colleen <3
Haha, I love roasted chickpeas! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! I used to get pissy when I'd make them as a plain ol' snack because they don't get as crisp as say a chip, BUT, as an addition to a bowl like this or tacos, ah-mazing.
I wouldn’t blame you if you screamed on the outside too. This looks amazing, fresh, and satisfying. And I LOVE the chickpeas. I always like chickpeas but they can be a little unimpressive from a texture standpoint when you get a big ol’ mouthful of them. But crispy chickpeas? HECK YES. The Actifry idea is an interesting one too – I’ve never tried one (I tend to resist kitchen gadgetry for a while, then cave in and fall in love). But man… I could so go for a big ol’ soul-soothing-tummy-filling bowl right now.
Haha, thanks Sean! The thought of me shoving this stuff into my mouth while screaming out loud is making me giggle pretty hard right now. What a visual.
It’s funny, we got an Actifry for Christmas in 2015 and it took me until late 2016 to bother with it, but now I use it on the regular! It’s amazing for crispy tofu and, of course, chickpeas. You’d probably love it.
I’m pretty much living on bowl food during the winter months (I just can’t get quite as excited about months of the same winter produce) and eating it under a blanket is pretty much my life now lol. That’s too bad your potstickers didn’t stick, but this looks like a great alternative!
I hear you, Alex. When fall comes around, I get so stoked about squash and root veggies; but after Christmas, I’m just like, “GTFO”.
Oh no, the problem was that my potstickers DID stick. And tore right open. Haha. I was so mad; definitely dropped a lot of F-bombs in my kitchen :D
Love that you were able to find a silver lining. So very sorry about your uncle. I read your FB post about his chowder recipe. I’m sure he’d love this, too, and would probably have his own creative spin on such a dish.
Thanks so much, Tiffany. Haha, oh man. That chowder recipe – one of my fave stories. He probably would love this because he loved anything us kids did. He was our biggest cheerleader and sadly stumbled onto a dark path two years ago. Thanks for the kind words <3
I agree, bowl meals are simply the best! A great way to use up whatever we have in the fridge too, but this one looks SO good!
Aha, yeah. Anything that helps me clean out the crisper is a win with me. Thanks, Gaby!
That looks SO GOOD! I loooove grain bowls so this is my kinda meal. My husband and I are also obsessed with tacos so I definitely have to try this recipe. And I’ve been meaning to try crispy chickpeas, these ones look delicious!
Thanks, Mel! Haha, the taco obsession is REAL. Even if one of us is insinuating skipping out on Taco Tuesday due to extra work load or just being kind of tired, the other is there to call shenanigans and make it happen. It’s a serious weekly tradition.
Crispy chickpeas are fab. Kind of a pain in the arse to prep (which is why I love love love doing them in the Actifry) but oh-so-worth it.
I love when a “disaster” turns out to be a hit!! This looks like a seriously healthy and tasty dish, I love all the colourful veggies! So key during these dark winter months. Great recipe!
I’m with you on that! It’s such a pleasant (and usually much needed) surprise. Thanks, Hilary. It truly is the perfect pick-me-up for a dreary February afternoon.