Pasta with Chickpeas and Swiss Chard
on Sep 17, 2020, Updated Apr 25, 2025
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With lemon and garlic, this pasta with chickpeas and swiss chard is a simple vegetarian meal that’s filling and ready in about 15 minutes.
There are two things my pantry is never without, at least one box of pasta and a can of chickpeas.
They are staples around our house, but I usually don’t cook them together.
When I think pasta, it’s garlic, olive oil, tomatoes and sometimes mushrooms or olives.
For chickpeas, I love spreading them out on a sheet pan and roasting them with sweet potatoes until the chickpeas are golden and crispy and the sweet are browned at the edges.
Last week was another busy one, and I didn’t do my regularly scheduled grocery run.
Instead I used what I had left in my weekly veggie box and raided my cabinets.
I figured why not pair pasta and chickpeas. Except it had to involve one cooking apparatus. There would be no preheating the oven.
I kept everything on the stove for this pasta with chickpeas and swiss chard.
A skillet and a splash of olive oil all that I needed to cook the garbanzo beans.
When I roast chickpeas in the oven, it takes about a half hour for them to get crunchy.
Spending that kind of time on an ingredient for a quick pasta dish just didn’t make sense. They needed to be fast, too.
After I opened the can of garbanzo beans and rinsed them off in a colander, I patted them dry with a paper towel and removed any loose skins.
This helps the chickpeas crisp up in the skillet. I love that texture contrasting with the spaghetti and the wilted chard.
How To Make Pasta with Chickpeas and Swiss Chard
To start, I put a pot on the stove and cooked the spaghetti.
On the next burner, I heated olive oil in a skillet.
Then I added the chickpeas and sauteed them gently shaking the pan, so they would brown on all sides. Some were darker than others in spots, but I didn’t mind.
After the chickpeas, I squeezed in the juice of a lemon and added a couple minced garlic cloves.
It took less than a minute for the garlic to become fragrant.
I put the swiss chard into the skillet. Soon it wilted.
By then the spaghetti was al dente, so I folded it with the rest of the ingredients.
With a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper and shaved Parmesan, my pasta with chickpeas and swiss chard was ready for dinner.
Looking for more ways to use chickpeas? Check out my roundup of easy chickpea recipes perfect for quick dinners, healthy lunches and pantry meals. Also, if you love pasta for dinner, don’t miss my easy seasonal pasta guide for inspiration all year long.
Pasta with Chickpeas and Swiss Chard
Ingredients
- 12 ounces spaghetti
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1-15 ounce can chickpeas drained, rinsed and patted dry
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 8 ounces swiss chard stems removed and torn
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- Shaved Parmesan for serving
Instructions
- Cook the spaghetti until al dente according to package instructions.
- While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chickpeas and sauté, periodically shaking the pan and letting the chickpeas turn crispy and golden, about 5-6 minutes.
- Add the lemon juice and garlic cooking until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Sauté the swiss chard until it wilts, about 3-4 minutes.
- Use tongs to transfer the spaghetti from the pot to the skillet. Tossing with salt, pepper and parsley.
- Sprinkle with Parmesan before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe is delicious and very quick and easy to prepare. I didn’t change a thing which is very unusual for me. Instead of pasta I used Trader Joe’s Hearts of Palm Pasta. My husband loved it! Should have doubled the recipe. It’s a keeper 🙂
Love this twist with hearts of palm pasta!!! I have to try that next time I’m at Trader Joe’s.