Seven pantry spices and a handful of simple ingredients come together in this savory chickpea stew. The thick, slightly creamy tomato base is so flavorful. Every bite is tangy, perfectly seasoned, and perfectly toothsome from the canned chickpeas.
One of my keys to fast and tasty weeknight meals: eating some kind of canned tomato-based concoction over starch at least once a week. Whether that’s basic tomato sauce and spaghetti, or a simple vegan stew like this one. I always have canned tomatoes on hand and pretty much everything I make with them is a smash hit with the family.
The quality of the tomatoes and the freshness of your spices are important here. There are so few ingredients in this dish, so we really want to make the best of them!
When I was working on this recipe, I found that I enjoyed the taste of light coconut milk a lot more in this combination. Typically I’m all for the full fat version, but found it too strong here. In this chickpea stew, the light coconut milk helps the tomato and spices come through a bit stronger.
We ate this recently with some millet polenta and it was just the thing for a cold winter night. Crusty no-knead whole wheat bread would also be great on the side!
Seven Spice Chickpea Stew with Tomatoes and Coconut
Ingredients
Spice Blend
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried chili flakes
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Stew
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil (could also use olive!)
- 1 medium yellow onion, small dice
- spice blend (see below!)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 cup jarred/canned diced tomatoes
- 1 cup light coconut milk
- sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- ⅓ cup chopped flat leaf parsley or cilantro (or a combination)
Notes
- This stew has very few ingredients, so it’s ideal to use good quality tomatoes and fresh spices.
- I made this during the day for the purpose of photographing/sharing it here, but when I reheated it for dinner, I added about 1 cup of chopped Swiss chard for an extra hit of greens.
Instructions
- Make the spice blend. In a bowl, combine the cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, turmeric, dried oregano, chili flakes, and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In a deep cast iron skillet or a small soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Once the oil is lightly shimmering, add the onions to the pan. Cook and stir the onions until translucent and quite soft, about 5-6 minutes. You want the onions to be quietly sizzling while they cook, so lower the heat if necessary.
- Add the spice blend to the skillet and stir. Once the spices are quite fragrant and fully integrated with the onions (about 1 minute), add the tomato paste, mashing it with the back of your spoon into the spices and oil. Add the garlic and chickpeas and stir the mixture for 30 seconds.
- Add the balsamic vinegar and tomatoes to the pan and stir, using the back of your spoon to scrape up any brown bits that may have formed on the bottom of the pan. Add the coconut milk to the skillet and season the stew with salt and pepper.
- Bring the seven spice chickpea stew to a boil, and then lower the heat to a light simmer. Cook the stew for about 10-15 minutes, or until the flavours have melded to your liking. Garnish the top of the stew with the chopped parsley/cilantro. Serve stew hot with polenta, brown rice or any other accompaniment you like.
*This post was created in partnership with Muir Glen Organic. All opinions/endorsements are my own. Thanks for supporting!
I LOVE this recipe ♥️ beautifully balanced, complex, vibrant flavour. I doubled the spices & balsamic, added a carrot, used a whole
Can coconut milk and made it with half a bunch of kale & white navy beans. Thank you so much