One of the first recipes that I wanted to try to make in my rice cooker is Spanish Chickpeas and Rice, and I finally got a chance to do so this week. This simple mix of rice, chickpeas, artichoke hearts, and TONS of smoky spices is one of my favorite vegan meals, and perfectly suited for making in a rice cooker. The original stove top version was already pretty simple, but when you add in the ease of a rice cooker, it’s pretty much fool-proof. You just dump all the ingredients in, press go, and about 30 minutes later you have a totally killer meal. This Rice Cooker Spanish Chickpeas and Rice is seriously as easy as it gets!
Check out my other Rice Cooker Recipes: Rice Cooker Teriyaki Shrimp and Rice, Rice Cooker Mac and Cheese, Rice Cooker Chili.
Do I Have to Use a Rice Cooker?
Nope! You can make this same dish on the stove top in a deep skillet with a lid, or a Dutch oven. You can find the original stove top instructions here: Spanish Chickpeas and Rice.
Rice Cooker Adaptations…
I did have to make a couple of changes from the original for this Rice Cooker Spanish Chickpeas and Rice. First, I had to reduce the quantities of ingredients a bit because I was afraid that it wouldn’t all fit in my 8 cup capacity rice cooker. I reduced the amount of artichoke hearts and chickpeas, and swapped out the diced onion for onion powder. Swapping the fresh onion and garlic for powdered versions also served to make this version of the recipe even easier more beginner-friendly. The only chopping you need to do is slicing the lemon, and chopping the parsley garnish at the end! I also reduced the broth slightly, to account for the fact that less evaporation occurs in a rice cooker compared to a skillet on the stove top.
What Rice Cooker am I Using?
I chose to work with one of the most popular and most basic rice cookers on the market to make sure the rice cooker recipes I develop have the broadest compatibility. That being said, every model rice cooker is slightly different, and may yield slightly different results, so you may have to tweak the recipe to work with your equipment. I’m using the Aroma Housewares 8 cup cooked/4 cup uncooked Digital Rice Cooker (affiliate link).
Can I Make This in an Instant Pot?
The “rice” function on the Instant Pot cooks food in the same manner as a rice cooker, so this recipe should work just fine in an Instant Pot, providing you are using the rice function and not a pressure cooking function. That being said, I have not had a chance to actually test this recipe using an Instant Pot.
Rice Cooker Spanish Chickpeas and Rice
Servings 4 1.5 cups eachIngredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 1 cup long grain white rice ($0.39)
- 1 tsp smoked paprika ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp dried oregano ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp onion powder ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 1 15oz. can chickpeas, drained ($0.55)
- 1 15oz. can petite diced tomatoes, with juices ($0.49)
- 1 6oz. jar quartered artichoke hearts, drained ($1.79)
- 1 cup vegetable broth ($0.13)
- 1/4 bunch fresh parsley, chopped ($0.22)
- 1 fresh lemon ($0.43)
Instructions
- Combine the olive oil, rice, smoked paprika, cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and some freshly cracked pepper (about 10 cranks of a pepper mill) in the bowl of the rice cooker. Stir until the rice is coated in oil and spices.
- Next add the chickpeas (drained), diced tomatoes (with juices), artichoke hearts (drained), and vegetable broth. Give everything a brief stir, then closes the rice cooker and turn it on to the white rice setting (or the basic “cook” setting).
- Let the rice cooker cook the mixture until finished, then once the cook cycle has completed let it rest on the “keep warm” setting for at least 5 minutes. After resting, open the cooker and gently fluff and stir the mixture to make sure everything is evenly mixed.
- To serve, spoon the chickpea and rice mixture into a bowl, sprinkle chopped parsley over top, and serve with a couple wedges of lemon. Squeeze the lemon over top just before eating.
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Equipment
Nutrition
How to Make Rice Cooker Spanish Chickpeas and Rice – Step by Step Photos
The spices you’ll need for this dish are 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp oregano, 1/8 tsp cayenne, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp onion powder, and some freshly cracked pepper.
Add 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1 cup of long grain white rice, and all of the spices listed above to the bowl of the rice cooker. Stir until the rice is coated in oil and spices.
Next, add one 15oz. can of chickpeas (drained), one 15oz. can of petite diced tomatoes (with the juices), and one 6 oz. jar of artichoke hearts (drained).
Finally, add 1 cup vegetable broth to the rice cooker and stir briefly to make sure everything is combined.
Close the rice cooker and set it to the white rice setting, or if your rice cooker just has one basic “cook” function, choose that. Once it has finished the cook cycle, let it rest on the “keep warm” setting for at least 5 minutes. This helps the rice absorb any excess steam and makes everything cooked a little more evenly.
After resting for at least 5 minutes, open the cooker and it will look a little like the photo above.
Gently fluff and stir the mixture to make sure everything is evenly combined.
To serve the Rice Cooker Spanish Chickpeas and rice simply spoon the rice mixture into a bowl, top with chopped parsley, and serve with a couple wedges of lemon. Squeeze the lemon over the rice just before eating. Enjoy!
This sounds so good! Would I be able to make it in a slow cooker?
Rice doesn’t do well in slow cookers, in my opinion, but I do have a rice cooker version.
I was so skeptical about this recipe, especially using my rice cooker. I just finished making it and my house smells so good. The rice cooker did the job well and the rice dish is SUPERB! I didn’t have smoked paprika, only regular so I used that. I don’t like spicy food so I skipped the cayenne and didn’t have artichoke hearts either. My husband is a picky eater but he liked the dish as well. That’s always a HUGE plus when he likes things. Thank you so much for sharing and this will be a regular dish that I serve.
This was very easy and tasty. I doubled up on all the seasonings (which I often do with many recipes), and I still found myself adding some of the sauce I made for baked chicken to the rice dish. This is the only reason I wouldn’t give it a 5, but I will make it again. Thanks!
This was a hit with my family! Made it with brown rice and just added extra cooking time accordingly. I used half smoked paprika and half regular, since I’m not a huge fan of smoky flavor. Will make again. Thank you!
Definitely not making this one again. It didn’t cook right in my rice cooker. I had to hold the switch in the cook position with tape because the rice cooker thought it was ready when it wasn’t. I had to manually check if the rice was cooked, which defeats the whole purpose of using a rice cooker. It ended up burning. It still tasted good, though, which is why it gets two stars instead of one.
Turned out great! More rice cooker recipes please! We added a chopped raw scallion in before cooking and omitted cayenne for the kids. Will make again.
Hi Beth,
I just wanted to say this is one of my favorite quick family recipes. My kids love it, it’s super fast set up for a frantic weeknight, and healthy. We usually add 2 cans of garbanzos, and go lightly on the cayenne for the kids but it’s so good! Thank you for all the wonderful recipes, your site is one of my favorites!
I made this and was impressed at how easy it was, just dump and press the button. The artichoke hearts really added a nice flavour kick.
This recipe was so easy, especially during a heat wave! I bought the same rice cooker as the one Beth used. With a yield of 4 servings, it came out to about 3 meals total for us. To bulk it up some, I used a whole 14-15 oz can of artichokes, some sliced up shishito peppers, and fresh avocado when serving. I was concerned about over filling the rice cooker, but everything came out great. Would recommend some extra veggies (hardier ones, nothing watery like squash) to make it more filling, if meant as a one-pot meal.
Would this work with jasmine rice?
Yep!
This is so good! I made in pressure cooker with brown rice. I doubled the recipe and used 1 can of chickpeas, 1 half of tofu, and used zucchini instead of artichoke because Aldi’s doesn’t have artichokes. Pressure cooked for 22 minutes on rice cooker setting and 10 minutes natural release. It was perfect. Thank you Beth!
I wonder if cabbage would pair well in this dish if added. I have some cabbage and want to use before it goes bad. Also, if I don’t use broth but just water will it be as flavorful?
This was delicious! It cooked perfectly in the InstantPot. I think black beans and chicken would be great in this. The artichokes were fine, but I don’t think they are necessary. The recipe says this makes 4 servings, but it we ate it in 2 in my house (my fiance had thirds lol)!
My husband is a hungry vegetarian and this is maybe his favorite dish. He has requested it at least ten times in the pst year. We usually chop some tomatoes and cucumbers on the side into king of a poor mans Mediterranean salad, then douse the whole dish in balsamic for some zip. Also I usually omit the artichoke hearts and parsley because I don’t have it on hand, and he likes it better without. Terrific and easy vegan dinner!
Very tasty and super easy! I made this in the instant pot. I used the rice function, which is just 12 minutes at low pressure, but it’s fun to push just one button and walk away. I waited 15 minutes for a natural pressure release. I will definitely make this again – especially on hot summer days when I don’t want to heat up the kitchen.