Creamiest Coconut Chickpeas with Rice

Creamiest coconut chickpeas with rice. These healthy creamy chickpeas have been on my page for 6+ years. Recipes like this one are very common in Indian cuisine (and other parts of Asia) so this is my fun NON traditional take on Chana Masala. You can absolutely season to taste and season with your heart with anything you desire so feel free to add as much or as little seasoning as you wish. If you make this dish, please let me know what it’s called in your culture and how you like to make it as well. This dish is something I go to time and time again and I hope you give it a try because it’s outstanding. It makes the perfect lunch or dinner and it can be stored in the fridge up to 3 days. It reheats beautifully so you are more than welcome to take it for work. If you do not want rice on the side you can absolutely enjoy it with NAAN or pita of choice or even on top of cauliflower rice as a low-carb option. This dish is so incredibly easy and it will blow you away.

Creamiest coconut chickpeas with rice by the modern nonna creamiest coconut chickpeas with rice,easy,lunch

Creamiest Coconut Chickpeas with Rice

Themodernnonnathemodernnonna
4.36 from 34 votes
Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 10 mins
Servings 2

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups of cooked jasmine rice any rice you like
  • 1 tablespoon avocado oil or any
  • 1 small finely diced onion
  • 3 minced garlic cloves
  • 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas I used one 14oz can organic drained chickpeas
  • cup tomato sauce
  • 3-4 tablespoons of the cream that sits on top of a can of coconut milk
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2-1 teaspoon turmeric powder measure with your heart
  • 1 cup finely chopped spinach is optional or any greens
  • parsley or cilantro for garnish is also optional

Instructions
 

  • In a pan on medium-high heat start by sautéing the onion until translucent. This should take 1 to 2 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for another 30 seconds. You do not want anything to burn.
  • Add the chickpeas, tomato sauce, the cream that sits on top of a can of coconut milk and stir. Add the spices to taste and stir again. You are more than welcome to add the salt pepper and turmeric before you add the wet ingredients but in terms of taste it doesn’t make a difference to me in this dish.
  • Optionally add some chopped spinach, give it a stir and take it off the heat. Garnish with parsley, cilantro, or even basil it’s totally up to you. Top it off on top of rice and enjoy.

Notes

If you don’t like coconut milk you are more than welcome to use anything else such as cream cheese or even sour cream.
Cashew cream would be absolutely delicious in here as well.
If I’m using a can of chickpeas, I like to opt out for organic.
Feel free to adjust the spices or add your own.
I added one cup of dry jasmine rice in 2 cups of water in my rice cooker with a pinch of salt but feel free to use any rice you like.
Curry paste or chili powder is an option instead of Turmeric so please feel free to experiment.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
If you love one of my recipes, please leave a review. It would mean so much to me if you did. Thank you for being here and bringing me into your kitchen.

19 Responses

  1. 5 stars
    5 stars for this recipe with modifications. First the positive—this came together so easily and was very satisfying. Even my choosy husband enjoyed it. I’m talking dinner on the table in 30-40 min, which is everything when you’re parenting a toddler and are on the clock to make bedtime. The turmeric really turns up the flavors and marries the whole dish together. Onions require a much longer cooking time (5-10 min w/ stirring; undercooked onions are the WORST); I used half the coconut cream in the can and triple the amount of crushed tomatoes (the sauce is really the star here so more is more, ya know?); for garlic, 3-4 big cloves or 6-8 small; 2 cups chopped baby spinach at the end was great (really cooks down, as spinach does); and lastly, this also pairs well with basmati rice (put those Indian leftovers to good use!). Make sure everything is sufficiently salted and I’m actually a big fan of adding 1/2 tsp sea salt per cup of rice when making it fresh.

    1. I am now making this for the fourth time this week! I shared some with my sister and her family and they absolutely loved it! And Jasmine rice is my favorite, this dish is absolutely exceptional.

  2. I really like this recipe, but I also added some basil paste and thai seasoning paste. This gives it a lot more flavor for those looking for stronger taste.

  3. 5 stars
    My whole family loved this dish! I used a comment in the reviews to help modify it slightly. I used 2 cans chickpeas (one can would not have been enough for my family), 1 whole can of tomato sauce, 3/4 can of coconut milk, 1 1/2 teaspoons of turmeric, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, 3/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of pepper, and a splash of lime juice. Kept olive oil, onion, and spinach amounts the same as listed in recipe. Put a sprinkle of dries basil on top before serving. Mine turned out reddish, not yellowish like the licture because of additional tomato sauce. Yummy!!!

  4. So glad i saw this on instagram!! It was delicious!!!and so easy!!! I did add a little more garlic and i had a tumeric that had a hint of nutmeg and cinnamon. This will definitely be in weekly rotation! Thank you again! Excited to try more of your recipes

  5. 5 stars
    Tried this recipe last night and it was absolutely delicious! I added a pinch of chilli powder for some heat and used half a can of of organic coconut cream as well as a whole can of blended tomatoes to make extra sauce for the jasmine rice. 😀
    So so good!!

  6. i love chick peas and your recipe for the creamy coconut rice with chick peas was great the only addition was a little bit of curry powder to the chick pea mixture in my opinion it just brought it up to a different level but also liked your version.
    Many Thanks Steve.

  7. 5 stars
    This is so delicious and easy! I used sour cream in place of the coconut because I happened to have it in my fridge. I will definitely be making this again

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