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Greek-Style Braised Chickpeas with Tomatoes and Orange
On the Greek island of Ikaria, Diane Kochilas introduced us to an ultrasimple yet remarkably delicious dish of chickpeas layered with tomatoes, herbs, orange and honey that is baked for a couple hours to fuse and concentrate the flavors. Our version simmers canned chickpeas on the stovetop with many of the same ingredients and is ready in under an hour, yet the flavors are equally rich and complex. We liked this dish made with a strong, dark honey, such as buckwheat, but a milder variety works, too. Orange blossom honey is a good option, as it echoes the citrus notes of the orange zest and juice. Serve with crusty bread, and perhaps some briny feta alongside.
4
Servings
Tip
Don’t forget to reserve ¼ cup of the chickpea liquid before draining. The liquid lends the dish body and flavor that water cannot.
45 minutes
Ingredients
-
¼
cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
-
2
tablespoons tomato paste
Directions
-
01In a large Dutch oven over medium, combine the oil, tomato paste and 1 tablespoon of honey. Cook, stirring often, until the tomato paste begins to brown, 6 to 7 minutes. Stir in the chickpeas, then stir in the tomatoes with their juices. Bring to a simmer over medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated, 10 to 12 minutes.
Reviews
October 7, 2025
Delicious
I mistakenly bought a 14. 5-ounce can of diced tomatoes. Since I had some Roma tomatoes on hand, I diced 2 of them and added them to the Dutch oven along with the canned tomatoes. I don't know that the finished product tasted any differently. Anyway, it was delicious. Also, the cookbook version of this recipe, which was my original source for this recipe, doesn't call for 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh oregano. Since I had some fresh oregano on hand, I used it. I think the dish was better than it would have been without the oregano. Anyway, I would definitely make this again
January 24, 2024
Even Better Left Over
Delicious, easy recipe. The orange became intense the next day which was great. Next time I will cut the onion slices into shorter lengths.
September 25, 2022
a family favorite!
Our family - my husband and I plus four children ages 14-21 - absolutely adores this dish! We have made it more times than I can count and have served it to guests many times. I love that I can purchase my canned ingredients ahead of time and pull this off at the end of a week or when my fresh ingredients are running low.
September 13, 2022
Awesomeness! So easy. So delicious!
It was so incredibly easy and EXTREMELY tasty. My husband wolves chickpeas (hummus) but wasn’t sure he’d like a main course of it. Well, well. He did! Served over farro….scrumptious! I’ve made it several times and just got “all” the ingredients to make it at my parent’s house. Mom is VERY skeptical. Dad will try everything. I’ll post when after we’ve had it….sometime this week.
October 2, 2025
Bright, Satisfying, and Easy to Adapt
This Greek-style orange chickpea recipe was very satisfying! Even though I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand, it still turned out delicious. I skipped the red onion and substituted sugar-free mandarin orange juice, and I didn’t have parsley — but the flavors still came together beautifully. I served it with warm pita, and it made a hearty, refreshing meal. I’m already looking forward to making it again, next time with all the ingredients as written. A wonderful recipe that proves flexible and forgiving, while still delivering bright, balanced flavor!
If you were to make this with dried but soaked beans, how would you modify the recipe? Could you bake in the oven for 1 or 2 hours after you add the onion and other seasonings? Thanks!
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This is a great recipe. The concentrated flavors and copious herbs make this seemingly ordinary chickpea dish a big surprise!