Low carb snack of Crunchy Roasted Chickpeas

So many of the current low carb snack items that you can order online or buy in the grocery store are basically processed food. This recipe for crunchy roasted chickpeas satisfies the craving for a salty, filling snack that is still slow carb and doesn’t use overly processed ingredients.

Jump to: RECIPE | Why Chickpeas? | How to Make Them Crunchy | Mexican Low Carb Snack with Tajin

Low Carb Snack with Crunchy, Salty Flavor

Roasted chickpeas are quite popular as a low carb snack and can satisfy that crunchy, salty flavor that is sometimes missing from a low carb or keto lifestyle. It can also be an extremely versatile snack to make, as you can roast them with your favorite blend of spices.

Parmesan adds a umami flavor to the chickpeas, and the recipe below is a blend of parmesan, herbs and Worcestershire sauce. It is a robust flavor bomb that hits all the salty, crunchy, spicy notes.

Another favorite chickpea snack is roasted chickpeas with a Moroccan spice blend called harissa.

Tips for making the chickpeas “crunchy”

Sometimes roasted chickpeas can look crunchy, only to bite into a soft “beany” center. They’re still good that way, but we’re going for the crunch that you might be missing from the lack of tortilla chips in your low carb lifestyle.

So, here are a few tips to promote the crunch:

• After rinsing the chickpeas let them drain in a colander or on paper towells for quite a while. Dab them with a dry paper towel after draining. You want to get them as dry as possible.
• Fold the chickpeas inside of a kitchen towel and gently rub the skins off. The skins keep the moisture in and this helps make them more crunchy. Don’t worry if some skins are still left on.
• Cook the chickpeas without any oil for the first half of the roasting process. Add the oil and seasonings for the second half. A lot of recipes mix the chickpeas with oil and seasoning before roasting and the coating prevents them from crisping up as much
• Bake (or roast) at 350 degrees F for about 45 minutes rather than a high temperature for shorter time (they will burn), or a lower temperature for a longer time (they won’t get crispy).
• After roasting, let them cool inside the oven for a bit with the oven door open and the heat turned off.
• Store them in a breathable container rather than a tightly sealed container.

A Popular Mexican Low Carb Snack

A classic chile lime salt sprinkled over fruit or vegetables is another low carb snack that is really popular as a Mexican street food.

It is a basically a blend of chile peppers, salt, and dehydrated lime juice or lime peels. The resulting powder is tangy and spicy and is used to enhance the flavor of a huge variety of fruits and vegetables.  

Probably my favorite way to use chile lime salt is sprinkled on cool cucumbers. A squeeze of lime juice on the cucumber slices before sprinkling the spice on them can add more tang and mute the heat of the spice a bit if that is your preference.

The Tajin seasoning is widely available in Mexico and at many US grocery stores, and is commonly used as a condiment on the tables of many Mexican restaurants, to season mango, melon or other fruits. You might also see it as a rimming salt for a Michelada (a beer cocktail).

If you want an alternative to buying the Mexican brand, try this tajin spice blend using pink himalayan salt, organic chipotle peppers and dehydrated lime peels. It is similar ingredients, but is a bit more spicy because the chipotle peppers are grown and smoked on our small organic farm and the resulting chile powder is quite hot.

Another alternative is to make your own chile lime salt.

Recipe for Crunchy Roasted Chickpeas (with Parmesan)