Chickpea Spread with Caramelized Onions

Party season is just around the corner so it’s time to start bookmarking all the good appetizer recipes to bring to holiday gatherings! When I saw this simple but elegant (and budget-friendly!) Chickpea Spread with Caramelized Onions in Michal Korkosz’s new book, Polish’d: Modern Vegetarian Cooking from Global Poland, I knew I had to try it because I l-o-v-e turning a humble can of beans into something special. And guess what? This dip was every bit as delicious as it looked. So big thanks to Michal and his publisher for letting us share this amazing recipe with you today, just in time for the holidays!

What’s in This Chickpea Spread?

The base of the chickpea spread is simply chickpeas brightened up with a little lemon juice and puréed until smooth with cold water. To give the spread a boost of flavor, caramelized onions and fresh parsley are added to the mix. The caramelized onions give the chickpeas a subtly sweet and savory flavor, while the parsley adds a breath of freshness. The combination of flavors is absolutely divine and it will definitely have you coming back for dip after dip!

How to Serve the Chickpea Spread

This appetizer is best served with a variety of crackers or bread for dipping, but I think it would also make an amazing spread to add to sandwiches or even just a slice of toast. Michal notes in his book to serve with bread and dill pickles. Yum!

Storing Leftovers

The chickpea spread will stay good in the refrigerator for about 3-4 days, but the presentation is definitely best on the day it’s made when the caramelized onions are at their most beautiful. Caramelized onions do tend to get a little cloudy when refrigerated as they absorb moisture.

Recipe by Cook Good Recipes

This simple but elegant chickpea spread combines sweet caramelized onions with a creamy, savory puréed chickpea spread, the perfect appetizer for any occasion!

Servings: 6 (¼ cup each)

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 25 minutes

Total time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, bay leaves, ½ teaspoon of the salt, and the brown sugar. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and caramelized, about 25 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and discard.
Place the chickpeas in a food processor with the cold water and remaining ½ tsp salt. Blend until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the caramelized onions (save some for the garnish) and the lemon juice and parsley. Pulse once or twice to combine. Season with pepper.
Transfer to a serving bowl. Top with the remaining caramelized onions and season with more pepper. Serve with your favorite bread and dill pickles.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.25cup Calories: 175kcal Carbohydrates: 17g Protein: 4g Fat: 10g Sodium: 589mg Fiber: 5g

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How to Make Chickpea Spread with Caramelized Onions

Start caramelizing the onions first, as they’ll take about a half hour to cook. Slice one pound of white onions and add them to a skillet with ¼ cup olive oil, 3 bay leaves, ½ tsp salt, and ½ tsp brown sugar.

Cook the onions over low heat, stirring occasionally, until they deep golden brown and caramelized. You can increase the heat to medium-low if they are taking too long, just make sure to stir often. Discard the bay leaves.

Drain one 15oz. can of chickpeas and add them to a food processor with ½ tsp salt and ⅓ cup cold water.

Purée the chickpeas until smooth. If the chickpeas seem dry, you can add a little extra water or olive oil until they blend smoothly.

Add 1 Tbsp lemon juice, half of the caramelized onions, and about ¼ cup fresh parsley to the food processor.

Pulse the chickpeas to combine with the parsley and caramelize onions. Give it a taste, season with pepper, and adjust the salt, lemon, or other ingredients to your liking.