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Sweet and Sour Chickpeas Peppers and Broccoli. 1 Pot Weeknight Protein Meal. Serve over rice, grains or noodles. Chickpeas and veggies cooked in Easy Sweet and Sour Sauce. Vegan Gluten-free Nut-free Recipe
Chickpeas and lentils work beautifully as a tofu or meat sub in flavorful Asian sauces. The spicy kung pao, the deep Teriyaki or a addictive sweet and sour sauce. Veggies and chickpeas in the sweet and sour sauce make it one hearty meal. The veggies get cooked over high heat, then simmered in a tangy and sweet sauce till it thickens. A good dash of black pepper and cayenne brings out the strong sweet and sour flavors even more.
2016 is almost here! What are your plans for the next year? I haven’t thought of the food front yet. But some things we hope to do more of next year is research deeply on ethical and fair trade clothing and switch to using those options. We probably shop once or twice a year for some new additions that are really needed, and I would like to have the options ready for that time. Another thing we want to reduce is the amount of packaging and plastic. Though this might be difficult with the many shipments we get from Amazon. Each small object in one big box with loads of plastic packing.
More Asian recipes from the blog
- Massaman Curry Veggies GF
- Celery Black Pepper tofu GF
- Kung Pao Lentils GF
- Lentils & Veggies in Thai Peanut Sauce GF
- Chickpeas in Firecracker sauce with crunchy salad. GF
- Chickpeas in Teriyaki sauce in steamed Bao bun.
Video:
Sweet and Sour Chickpeas Peppers Broccoli
Ingredients
For the Sweet and Sour Sauce:
- 1/4 cup sugar, I use 2 tbsp cane sugar and 2 or more tbsp coconut sugar
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 to 3 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1.5 tbsp ketchup
- 2 tsp soy sauce, use certified gluten-free tamari to make gf
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp water
Chickpeas and Veggies:
- 1 tsp oil
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 1/2 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1/2 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 cup small broccoli florets
- 15 oz chickpeas , or 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas
- a generous dash of salt,, black pepper, cayenne
To thicken
- 2 tbsp water
- 2 tsp cornstarch , or other starch
- sesame seeds, green onion for garnish
Instructions
- Mix all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside. You can also add them directly to the pan at step 5.
- Heat oil over medium high heat in a large skillet. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes or until translucent.
- Add the peppers and mix in. Cover and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the broccoli and mix in. Cover and cook for 1 minute. (To keep the broccoli from over cooking, You can remove the broccoli and add it back into the saucy Chickpeas before serving)
- Add the chickpeas, sauce ingredients, a generous dash of salt, black pepper and cayenne. Reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook for 4 minutes.
- Taste the sauce carefully and adjust to preference. Add more sour, sugar or salt.
- Mix cornstarch in room temperature water and add the mixture to the pan. Mix in. Cover and cook for 2 minutes until the sauce thickens. (Fold in broccoli if you removed it earlier)
- Garnish with sesame seeds, red pepper flakes and scallions and serve with cooked rice or grains of choice.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Reading for the day.
This article with photos on the terrible plight of tourist and temple elephants in India. Chained to one spot for decades to break their spirit. What can we do? As consumers, we can refuse to tour with companies that associate with elephant tourism, refuse to visit places where elephants are used in any kind of festivities, events, parades etc. Any and all elephants endure the training of breaking their spirit using torture. If you see them being abused, document it and pass it on to many wildlife organizations working to help these elephants. Write to Wildlife SOS site or on their facebook, asking them to step up for the 57 elephants in this training camp on the article above.
I am not a “officially” a vegan but gave been trying to reduce consumption. This dish was AMAZING! I followed the directions to the tee and it came out perfect. So flavorful and the texture of the chickpeas made it complete. Thank you for the great recipe!
Awesome!!
Hello Richa,
I love this recipe! It is so easy and satisfying! I was wondering if I could make a batch of the sauce, and keep it in a jar in the fridge ? How long would it last ?
Thank you !
yes you can mix up the sauce ingredients in a jar and refrigerate them for upto a month. Toss in the veggies and add the cornstarh slurry to thicken.
WOW this was so amazing. Made some adjustments like adding tempeh and using mixed stir fry veggies, and also the sauce somehow got tastier as it cooked. Tastes so authentic!
Hi Richa;
I made this tonight and used 2T of maple syrup in the sauce instead of sugar. Thanks for the heads up to use less, I’m sure a 1/4 cup of maple syrup would have made the sauce too sweet. I added pineapple chunks at the end and it was amazing. Thank you so much!
Do you think I could use Maple Syrup or Honey to replace the sugar? I can’t eat processed sugar at all. =(
yes you can use maple syrup. You might need less of it too.
Great and incredibly easy recipe! The sauce turned out wonderful and the chickpeas add a nice twist. Thank you ❤️
Hey 🙂
Could I use tofu instead of chickpeas?
yes, totally. You can crisp it up in a pan or bake before using.