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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.
Yummy! We had these tonight and my husband and I were blown away. These will definitely be a part of the weekly rotation. Thanks!!
Hey Veronica! I’m so glad you both loved this dish — it’s definitely one of my personal faves. Thank you SO much for taking the time to stop by with some feedback. This makes my day :)