Thai Chickpea Pasta
I stumbled upon an easy Thai pasta recipe and knew it’d be perfect for our family…except for the chicken. One of my favorite whole food chicken substitutes to use is simple cooked chickpeas. No, unlike so many other things, chickpeas do not “taste like chicken”…but they’re a great stand-in for chicken to soak in tasty sauce and top pasta. This dish is really incredibly fast, with everything done in the time it takes to boil your noodles. And between the nutty-flavored multi-grain noodles and the sweet and savory flavor of the peanut sauce, it’s sure to tingle your tastebuds.
Thai Chickpea Pasta
Author/Source:
Kristi @ Onceamonthmom.com Adapted from Thai Chicken Pasta
Ingredients:
- 6 ounces multi-grain linguine
- 1 cup salsa
- 1/4 cup peanut butter, creamy
- 2 tablespoons orange juice (I squeezed mine out of about half an orange)
- 1 tablespoon honey (maple syrup or agave nectar to veganize)
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 2 cups chickpeas, cooked
- 2 tablespoons peanuts, unsalted, chopped
- 2 tablespoons cilantro, fresh, minced
Directions:
Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile combine all other ingredients except peanuts and cilantro in a large bowl and
Easy Thai chickpea sauce
microwave for 1 minute or until heated through. Mix sauce with pasta, garnish with peanuts and cilantro and serve.
Freezing Directions:
BEFORE mixing, divide cooked pasta among quart bags and freeze. Divide cilantro and peanuts among pint bags and freeze. Mix remaining ingredients and divide among quart freezer bags and freeze. To serve: Thaw all bags. Heat sauce in microwave for 1 minute; pasta in microwave for one minute and combine. Garnish with peanuts and cilantro.
Alternate directions: Freeze sauce and garnish only. On serving day, prepare pasta, heat sauce and mix. Garnish with cilantro and peanuts.
Servings: 4
**conversion chart image provided by Erik Spiekermann
This was SO good! Made it last night–doubled the sauce (and used chunky peanut butter!) and made a whole box of pasta. Even better as leftovers the next day. THANK YOU!
I LOVE it with chunky peanut butter, too. I’m so glad you liked it as much as I do. Now I need to whip up another batch. Yum! Thanks for letting us know.
I made this last night with sauteed zucchini, squash, onion and pepper. Used Japanese rice noodles instead of whole-grain ones…Super yum. Added some chicken to satisfy the carnivorous husband, but I was OK with just the chickpeas. Thanks so much for sharing, I have had this bookmarked for months but was too scared to try, the ingredients seem so odd together, but it was perfect!
I’m so glad you liked it, Michelle. It does seem weird at first, but when you break down the ingredients of a more traditional Thai peanut sauce, it’s pretty similar. And this is so much easier to throw together! Glad the carnivorous hubby was able to enjoy it, too!
I made this exactly as called for except I subbed Japanese soba noodles and added red pepper flakes for heat. Loved it!!!! So good -thank you!
I made this and it was great! Any ideas for side dishes that go well with it for a dinner party? Or dessert ideas?
I think some spring rolls would be great with this. Maybe these Vegan Thai-Style Dumplings http://veggieconverter.com/2011/04/vegan-thai-style-dumplings-recipe.html or these Baked Chicken (with chopped chickpeas subbed in for chicken) and Vegetable Spring Rolls: http://onceamonthmom.com/baked-chicken-and-vegetable-spring-rolls/
Rice pudding or Thai sticky rice would be a great dessert, maybe in some fancy little tea cups for your guests!
I’m so glad you liked the recipe, let us know how the dinner party goes.