Easy Oven or Air Fryer Snack

Air fryer ranch chickpeas are a delicious treat you’ll want to serve for a variety of occasions. Enjoy them as a game day munchie or place them alongside a cheese ball with crackers, a platter of deviled eggs, and some refreshing fruit kabobs with yogurt.

I like to make this treat as a game-day snack or to put on the appetizer table before a special dinner. All you need are a can of chickpeas, ranch dressing mix, and olive oil. Sometimes I even add more ingredients to change the flavor.

Ingredients You’ll Need for Crispy Ranch Chickpeas

As always, I find the quickest and easiest ways to make food, including these chickpeas. Instead of breaking down the ingredients and adding them individually, I use ready-made ranch dressing mix.

Here are the ingredients to make this delicious, crispy treat:

• Canned chickpeas, drained. Some people rinse them, but I don’t. That’s completely up to you.
• Ranch dressing mix
• Olive oil

You can even add salt and pepper if you want. I just think the ranch mix has plenty of salt, at least for me.

Easy Directions

After draining the chickpeas, pour all of them into your air fryer basket. Give the basket a good shake to spread them out into a single layer.

Air fry the chickpeas for 15 minutes on 375 degrees F. Halfway through the cycle (at about 7 or 8 minutes), pull out the basket and shake it again. This helps flip the chickpeas so all sides can get good and crispy.

After they finish this first cycle, pour them into a medium-size bowl. Drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle the ranch dressing mix over them. Stir gently to make sure all of the chickpeas are coated with the olive oil and ranch mix.

Pour them back into the basket and air fry at 350 degrees for another 2 minutes. Make sure you turn the temperature down from 375 to 350, or you might wind up with burned chickpeas.

After 2 minutes, check on them to make sure they’re the crispness you like. You can return them to the air fryer for 1-minute increments until they’re perfect.

Oven Roasted Chickpeas

If you prefer your oven to an air fryer, you can certainly enjoy this treat. It will take just a little longer, but they come out just as good.

Cover a sheet pan with parchment paper. Place the chickpeas on the pan in a single layer and roast them for about 20 minutes in a preheated 375˚ F oven.

Remove them from the oven and stir them around. Return them to the oven and roast for another 10 minutes.

Again, remove them from the oven. Drizzle them with the olive oil and ranch seasoning mix. Roast for another 5 minutes.

Note: Some ovens are hotter than others. So if you’re not sure, check on them about 5 minutes before the end of each cooking cycle to prevent burning the chickpeas.

Vary the Flavors

If you want to try a variety of air fryer chickpeas, try making some seasoning blends of your own. Next time I make them, I might use a curry mixture.

Or you can use a taco seasoning mix for south-of-the-border flavor. Sprinkle the mixture over the chickpeas before putting them in the air fryer.

For a sweet air fryer chickpea, try mixing cinnamon and sugar. Or you can even add some cocoa powder.

There are so many different ways to make crispy chickpeas in the air fryer. If you like a little bit of heat, you can use buffalo sauce instead of ranch dressing mix.

Just keep in mind that some sauces burn more quickly than others. So I recommend crisping them up after you drain them. Then add the seasoning for the last couple of minutes.

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