Garbanzos Fritos is a delicious and flavourful Cuban dish. Easy to prepare, this chickpea-based meal is adaptable: skip the chorizo to make it a vegetarian meal. This recipe uses pantry ingredients and is ready in about 30 minutes.
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This recipe is ideal all year round for a weekday night and it is also a great option for leftovers. It can be enjoyed on its own or with my Instant Pot basmati rice. I'm all about simple recipes for busy nights such as my salmon and broccoli pasta or my super easy quinoa fried rice.
🥘 Ingredients
Chances are you have most of your ingredients in your kitchen:
From your pantry, you'll need:
- A can of chickpeas
- A jar of tomato sauce
- Spices: Oregano and chorizo
From your fridge:
- 2 big tomatoes
- a bell pepper (does not matter the colour but I prefer the red, yellow or orange ones for their fruity taste)
- Chorizo, we always have one in the fridge, it is great for a quick cheese board, added flavour in a dish or this recipe!
And also: an onion
See recipe card for quantities.
🔪 How To Prepare It
First, wash and chop all your produce. Dice your onion, tomatoes, and pepper. Now, drain your chickpeas and slice your chorizo.
In a hot pot, big enough to welcome all your ingredients, sauté the garlic, pepper, and onion in a little olive oil on medium-low. Once, they are golden and fragrant, about 2 minutes later, add your fresh tomatoes and juice that came out when cutting them. Nothing goes to waste, it is flavour! And all the other ingredients actually.
Also, this is a good moment to add some salt. Now, let it simmer for 20-25 minutes.
📋 Substitutions & Variations
If you wish to cut some corners and reduce the prep time a little, go for it! Life is busy.
- No fresh tomatoes? no problem, grab some canned crushed tomatoes.
- Garlic: use garlic salt if this is what you have on hand.
- Chorizo: Garbanzos fritos con chorizo are yummy but you can substitute it with some ham or some pork sausage, it is as delicious!
VEGETARIAN & VEGAN VERSION:
Simply skip the chorizo or ham and you still have authentic garbanzos cubanos.
HOT TIP: Do you know how to cut your pepper in 30 seconds? How about your onion? Let me teach you: I have video tutorials: How to cut a pepper and How to cut an onion
💭 FAQ
Absolutely, the flavours come together even more on the next day. Once cooked, allow to cool down completely before transferring in an air-tight container and place in the fridge. You can store it for 2 to 3 days.
Absolutely. I would suggest thawing them out overnight in the fridge and then warming them up on low on the stove or in the microwave.
More Cuban recipes? Try this ones.
Pastelitos de Guayaba: a flaky puff pastry with guava and cream cheese!
Cuban Flan: if you like custards, this is the recipe for you!
Picadillo and using the leftovers of Picadillo
Puerco Asado: a marinated pork super moist and delicious
📖 Cuban Garbanzos Fritos
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tomatoes medium size, diced
- 1 pepper red, yellow or orange
- 10-15 slices chorizo
- 1 can chickpeas 250g or dried chickpeas previously soaked and cooked
- 1 cup tomato sauce plain
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon Oregano
- ½ teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- First, wash and chop all your produce.
- Dice your onion, tomatoes, and pepper. And drain your chickpeas and slice your chorizo. Set aside
- In a hot pan, sauté the garlic and onion in a little of olive oil - big enough to get all your ingredients in.
- After about 2 minutes, once, the onion, pepper and garlic are golden and fragrant, add your fresh tomatoes, chorizo, tomato sauce, chickpeas, oregano, cumin and salt.
- Reduce the heat and let it simmer for 20-25 minutes.
- Serve alone or with some rice and enjoy!
Notes
- Great make ahead recipe: 2-3 days in the fridge in an air-tight container
- Versatile: skip chorizo to make it vegetarian
- Spice it up with some pepper flakes!
everybodylovespretty says
Love this little dish! Super cute
bonappeteatdotca says
Thank you! Guess what?... Dollarama!
Gloria says
I always have chickpeas. This looks like an easy and delicious recipe for any night of the week.
Claudia Lamascolo says
I love chickpeas I always have dried ones in the house and make them overnight in a crockpot. This is a perfect for us!
Juli says
I was looking for a unique dinner idea for the family and stumbled on this one. This is so delish with such rich flavor and easy to make. A total winner!
Padmajha V says
We are a huge fan of Garbanzo beans and I make an Indian dish [Channa masala] similar to this one to go with Roti.I will def. be trying the vegetarian version of this dish!
Mélanie says
So you will enjoy this for sure :)
Gail Montero says
I love that this is so simple yet packed with so much flavor! Pass on the rice.
Mélanie says
I do pass on the rice but some like it with it too :) Thanks Gail for stopping by!
Natalie says
Wow, that looks healthy and so delicious. I'm going to give it a try tonight for dinner. Such a simple recipe and done in no time. Perfect for busy weekdays!
Mélanie says
Let me know how you liked it Natalie!
Dan says
I noticed you are missing some ingredients in the list. Chorizo and peppers. Also you refer the tomato sauce as tomato juice? Anything else missing? Otherwise good recipe.
Mélanie says
Hi Dan! Thank you so much for pointing it out! I added the pepper and chorizo. Yes, I was referring to tomato sauce, I also corrected it, it was misleading. Happy cooking!