‘Just one was enough to turn my middle-class worldview to dust’: tinned and jarred chickpeas, tasted and rated

I’ve gone disconnected publication present and rated jarred chickpeas and tinned/packeted ones separately, due to the fact that they’re specified antithetic beasts – and with a terms constituent to bespeak it. That said, I was pleasantly amazed by a fewer standouts successful the tinned section, 1 of which is astir to prevention maine a just magnitude of currency arsenic I commercialized successful my costly jarred chickpea wont for a much frugal, but nary little worthy alternative.

To sensation these fairly, I drained and rinsed each 1 separately, labelled them up successful bowls, past tasted them broadside by side. The ones I thought would payment astir from cooking each went into abstracted pans of malai sauce (albeit without cream) and were simmered, partially covered, for 25 minutes. The results were fantabulous successful each but 1 case.

The champion tinned and jarred chickpeas

Best all-rounder
Epicure chickpeas

_{£1 for 400g astatine Ocado
£9 for 12 x 400g astatine Amazon}
★★★★★

What a pleasant surprise! The smallest of each the tinned chickpeas I tried, but truthful brushed that they rivalled adjacent the jarred ones. They travel lightly seasoned, and they’re truly alternatively beauteous eaten conscionable by the spoonful. You could formal them with a small olive lipid and citrus foodstuff for a salad, and they’d beryllium fantastic lightly cooked with tamarind. I’m looking into wherever I tin bargain these successful bulk asap.

Best splurge
Brindisa Navarrico chickpeas

_{£4.50 for 700g astatine Ocado}
★★★★★

Heaven. Plump, perfectly seasoned and blissfully soft. Once drained and rinsed, they don’t adjacent request olive lipid to amended them – similar Bridget Jones, these are cleanable conscionable arsenic they are. They’ll elevate immoderate crockery that requires gentle cooking, specified arsenic a chickpea gratin, alternatively than a rolling boil. My children adored them, adjacent if it meant unsalted nutrient for the remainder of the week.

Best bargain
KTC chickpeas

_{44p for 400g astatine Asda
65p for 400g astatine Sainsbury’s}
★★★☆☆

The lone tin without a ring-pull, which is simply a hassle, due to the fact that I hatred tin-openers (though, obviously, I bash ain one). Otherwise I was precise impressed: these tiny chickpeas are precise lightly seasoned, and brushed capable that you could easy usage them successful a salad, marinated with oil, citrus foodstuff and a interaction much salt. They’d beryllium fantabulous cooked, too, successful a curry oregon roasted with spices for a snack oregon crockery topper. An fantabulous and precise economical all-rounder.

And the remainder …

Belazu chickpeas

_{£2.20 for 370g astatine Waitrose
£2.85 for 370g astatine Ocado}
★★★★★

A precise adjacent 2nd to the Brindisa jarred ones. Slightly little seasoned and with a fraction much texture, though inactive precise soft. You surely wouldn’t request to navigator them – they’d beryllium cleanable to apical a crockery oregon marque a ridiculously luxe hummus, though it would beryllium a shame to blitz them erstwhile they person specified a pleasing texture. Wait until they’re connected offer, though, due to the fact that they’re rather pricey for a tiny jar.

Bold Bean Co integrated chickpeas

_{£3.25 for 570g astatine Ocado
£4.70 for 700g astatine Riverford}
★★★★☆

Well seasoned, and lone somewhat little brushed than the different 2 brands of jarred chickpeas, but there’s hardly thing successful it. I’d happily devour these by the spoonful without dressing, successful a crockery oregon lightly cooked – they’d enactment good with the halloumi in this tabbouleh, due to the fact that they’re somewhat little salty than the different jarred offerings.

Cirio chickpeas

_{80p for 380g astatine Ocado
£1 for 380g astatine Morrisons}
★★★★☆

These medium-sized chickpeas travel successful a carton and are beauteous and soft, if unseasoned. I’d happily enactment them successful a room-temperature chickpea crockery with plentifulness of salt, though they’d beryllium fantabulous cooked, excessively – they’d enactment precise good successful an all-in-one oven-baked curry, for instance.

Napolina chickpeas successful water

_{78p for 400g astatine Asda
£12 for 12 x 400g astatine Amazon}
★★★☆☆

The ring-pull snapped disconnected erstwhile I tried to unfastened the tin, but that whitethorn person been much down to my ain ineptitude. Once drained and rinsed, these ample chickpeas are unseasoned and somewhat inconsistent successful texture – immoderate soft, immoderate a small crunchy. They were truthful akin to the M&S chickpeas that I recovered them hard to archer apart. But what a quality connected cooking! I’ve bumped them up from 2 to 3 stars because, aft being cooked for 25 minutes successful a spiced, seasoned sauce, they were superb, absorbing the flavours and improving successful texture nary end. I’d beryllium precise blessed to navigator with these again.

Cooks & Co chickpeas

_{£1.20 for 400g astatine Ocado
£10.17 for 12 x 400g astatine Amazon}
★★★☆☆

Largely brushed and small, these person a pleasant airy flavour, adjacent though they’re unseasoned. They’re surely bully capable to spell successful a room-temperature salad, oregon if you don’t caput utilizing tinned chickpeas alternatively than soaked dried ones for hummus, they’d enactment precise good too. Just don’t overdo the tahini: these were the lone chickpeas with a discernible flavour different than brackish oregon the deficiency thereof, truthful you wouldn’t privation to disguise that with a shedload of sesame.

M&S chickpeas successful water

_{60p for 400g astatine Ocado}
★★☆☆☆

These ample chickpeas were, similar the Napolina offering, a small inconsistent – immoderate were rather soft, others actively crunchy. I wouldn’t usage them successful a salad, but they were good erstwhile cooked for 25 minutes, absorbing plentifulness of flavour, if staying precise marginally firmer than the Napolina ones. A somewhat longer cooking clip would remedy that.

Waitrose Essential chickpeas successful water

_{65p for 400g astatine Waitrose}
☆☆☆☆☆

I emotion Waitrose. Like, really emotion it – the products, the lighting, the reassuring consciousness that thing atrocious could perchance hap determination (see besides John Lewis). But nary more. Just one of these chickpeas was capable to crook my middle-class worldview to dust. Because, wrong those flatteringly lit and reassuringly costly aisles, lurk these monstrosities – chickpeas truthful actively unpleasant that, by the 2nd taste, I was retching by the sink. Dry, chalky and, contempt my champion hopes, not adjacent redeemed by a 25-minute simmer. My husband, who is much measured, described them arsenic “comfortably the worst”. (And mildly suggested that if I didn’t emotion Waitrose truthful much, I mightiness person been marginally little upset by a tin of genuinely atrocious own-brand chickpeas.) Whatevs. They’ve mislaid their past prima for wasting a cookware of my fantabulous malai sauce.