This one-pan Marry Me Chickpeas recipe puts a vegan twist on the viral comfort food, Marry Me Chicken! Get ready to fall in love with this indulgent 15-minute meal.
For more easy ways to use the canned chickpeas in your cupboard, check out my Chickpea Salad Sandwich, Italian Chickpea Soup, Chickpea Burger, and Biscuit Topped Chickpea Pot Pie recipes!
The viral Marry Me Chicken recipe is no match for my vegan-friendly Marry Me Chickpeas. It’s as creamy, indulgent, and family-friendly as the original, but made without dairy or meat!
What’s better is that this one-pan meal is totally foolproof. Just simmer the protein-packed chickpeas in the dreamy Tuscan sun dried tomato cream sauce for 15 minutes, then enjoy it for family dinners or date nights at home. Don’t forget the hunks of crusty bread for scooping up every luxurious bite!
Why you’ll love this easy plant based recipe
- Rich Tuscan-inspired flavors – Like my Tuscan Vegan Gnocchi, vegan marry me chickpeas feature incredible Italian-inspired flavors that will keep you going back for more.
- Packed with protein – Two cans of chickpeas pack this dish with about 30 grams of plant-based protein!
- An easy one-pan meal – The everyday ingredients in this dish are cooked together in one pan in just 15 minutes.
How to make marry me chickpeas
Find the complete recipe with measurements in the recipe card below.
Warm the olive oil in a large pan over low-medium heat. Once hot, add the garlic and sauté until fragrant. Stir in the sun dried tomatoes, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt, and ground black pepper.
Add the chickpeas, vegetable broth, tomato paste, vegan cream, and spinach to the pan. Simmer until the sauce is warmed through and the spinach is wilted.
Garnish the Tuscan chickpeas with chopped fresh basil and vegan parmesan. Scoop up every bite with crusty bread or serve it over rice, pasta, or baked sweet potatoes. Enjoy!
Frequently asked questions
Marry Me Chicken is a dish that combines cooked chicken with a sun dried tomato and garlic cream sauce. The original recipe is made with heavy cream and chicken breasts, but in vegan marry me chicken recipes, they’re swapped for vegan cream and canned chickpeas.
It’s simple: the silky smooth cashew cream sauce, Italian flavors, and hearty chickpeas in every bite are so good that you’re bound to get a marriage proposal from anyone you serve it to!
Canned cannellini beans or another white bean will work well. For a meatier dish, you can use my Vegan Chicken recipe, homemade seitan bites, or baked tofu.
I recommend making the cream sauce with cashew cream for a thick and luxurious consistency. While store-bought vegan cream (I love Ripple’s dairy free half and half) or coconut milk also work, they’ll make the sauce slightly thinner. To help thicken it, stir a cornstarch slurry (made by mixing 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 3 tablespoons water in a small bowl) into the sauce at the end and gently simmer until it thickens.
The leftovers will keep for up to 5 days when stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Enjoy them for quick and easy meals or meal prep throughout the week! To reheat, zap the chickpeas and sauce in the microwave or warm them in a saucepan on the stove until heated through.
Marry Me Chickpeas
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- (2) 15-ounce cans chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 cup vegan cream See Notes
- 2 cups baby spinach sliced
- 4-5 fresh basil leaves chopped
- optional: 1/2 cup grated vegan parmesan cheese I used Violife
Instructions
- In a large sauté pan over low-medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently, until fragrant.
- Stir in the sun dried tomatoes, oregano, red chili flakes, salt and black pepper. Cook for 1 minute.
- Now add the chickpeas, broth, tomato paste, cream and spinach and stir well. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat and cook for about 5 minutes, until warm and the spinach has wilted. Taste; add more salt, pepper or red pepper flakes as desired.
- Remove from heat and stir in the fresh basil and grated parmesan. Serve immediately with crusty bread for dipping, or on to of cooked rice, pasta or even a baked sweet potato. Enjoy!
Notes
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For vegan marry me chicken, try substituting the chickpeas for any vegan chicken you like, including my homemade seitan chicken. Or make my crispy baked tofu and use that instead.
- For the cream, you can use any store bought dairy free creamer (I love Ripple’s Half and Half), full fat coconut milk, another unsweetened plant milk or best of all, homemade cashew cream.
- To make cashew cream for the cream – Bring 2-3 cups of water to a boil (I use my tea kettle). Pour the hot water over ¾ cup raw cashews and let soak for 5 minutes or up to an hour. Drain the cashews and add to a high powered blender with 1 cup of fresh water and blend until creamy and smooth.
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If you use a store bought cream or coconut milk, you may want to thicken the chickpeas as the sauce won’t be as thick. To do this, mix 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 3 tablespoons water in a bowl, then stir it into the chickpea mixture at the end. It should thicken up nicely.
Just made it… ok this was amazing. Seriously this is a lovely recipe
Hi Ellen. I’m so glad you loved the recipe! Thank you for your stellar review and feedback!
Made it – ate it – loved it. I went with the cashew cream option (first time trying!). Another fantastic Nora Cooks recipe! Thank you!
You bet, Adina! Thank YOU for taking time to share your terrific review and feedback! I’m so glad you loved the recipe!
BEST EVER chickpea recipe ive tried. I could get addicted to this!!
Thank you 💚
You are welcome, Sheena! I’m so glad you are loving the recipe! Thanks for your fantastic review feedback!
Thank you so much for your service, Nora. We love your recipes, especially this one! Very quick and simple to make, too.
Hi Bianca. Thank YOU for sharing your inspiring feedback and stellar review! I am so glad you are enjoying the Marry Me Chickpeas! I appreciate you using my recipes! Wishing you happy cooking!
It was delicious. I made this with coconut milk so instead of adding cornstarch at the end, reduced it till it had thickened and added the spinach in the last few minutes. I had seared some Field Roast Italian Sausage beforehand, so I sliced it up and cooked it along with the chick peas.
Hi Samuel. Yumm – your addition sounds delicious! I’m thrilled that you loved the recipe! Thank you for sharing your stellar review and feedback! Wishing you happy cooking!
DELICIOUS!!!!
I love it!
I made this for my husband and he said it was the best thing I’ve ever made him! So yummy and so easy
I’ve made with chickpeas and with your bake tofu recipe in the notes. Original version (Chickpea) is my preference. This recipe is next level. Thank you for creating! I served with banza pasta for a lil extra protein and it was amazing!!!
This deserves its name. All said. Thank you for this delicious recipe!
You are welcome, Heidi! Thanks for your fabulous review! I’m glad you loved the recipe!
This is so so simple and yet somehow amazing. I saw the ingredients and thought there was no way it’d be flavorful enough and yet I’ve made it a few times now.
Hi Dana. I appreciate you trying the recipe! I’m thrilled you love it, and thank you for your glowing 5 star review! Wishing you happy cooking!
this is a favourite in our house! I always add onions, some sort of other beans like kidney or black and put it over spaghetti.
thanks for sharing this recipe with us!
A word of caution to others, DO NOT use Silk half and half creamer. It turned out way too sweet and coconutty. (If you already did, try more spices, salt, nutritional yeast and finish with lemon juice. It was edible, but slightly “off.”)
I will definitely retry with some cashew cream in the future and give a rating then. 🙂
Just made it for the first time tonight. Thank you! Wondering if anyone’s tried adding shallots?
I add onions every time!! its so good
Thanks for your great feedback, Audrey! I’m so glad you are loving the recipe!
I LOVE this recipe! Super easy and delicious!
Hi Janna. I appreciate you using my recipe, and am so glad that you love it! Thank you for your stellar review! Happy cooking!
made as directed but added added soyrizo, potato gnocchi, & mushroom (inspired from your tuscan vegan gnocchi recipe)! crowd pleaser in my house. even my meat-eater loved ones enjoyed it!
Hi Ezra. Your meal sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing your stellar review and ideas! I’m glad the meal was a hit! Wising you happy cooking!
Just made this and I love it ❤️ Immediately added it to my ‘Favorite recipes’ list.
We personally like a lot of salt and a bit of a crunch in our dishes, so I added vegan chicken and more vegetable stock cubes. I also added more spinach.
Will definitely make this recipe again. Thank you for sharing!