Cheesy Chickpeas and Farro

This easy bowl of Cheesy Chickpeas and Farro is a delicious last minute pantry meal loaded up with veggies, spices and parmesan. It takes just 20 minutes to prepare this quick dinner, perfect for busy weeknights! Make a bunch and you’ll have several meals for the week prepped, too!

This pantry filled meal is my recent obsession! With most of the ingredients coming from common pantry items, you can throw together this weeknight dinner in no time. Plus, it’s so easy but looks so fancy, you can fool anyone to thinking you worked hours to prepare this! You’ll easily be able to pair it with some red wine for an at-home date night (perhaps with some Chocolate Almond Hearts for dessert?) or if you’re having friends over for dinner.

This recipe makes a bunch so great if you’re serving the family or prepare it and have it for a couple meals during the week. I love it heated up again for both lunch and dinner. This can easily be reheated in the microwave but best if eaten within 1-2 days of making! Just make sure to cool it and store it in a sealed container in the fridge. I like these ones!

I don’t think you’ll get sick of this one, filled up with delicious flavors & coming together easily on the stovetop. This Cheesy Farro recipe is just like a risotto packed with chickpeas and veggies you can get year round like mushrooms & spinach, but much quicker & easier to make!

What you need to make Cheesy Chickpeas and Farro:

You’ll need your preferred brand of farro, light olive oil suitable for frying, garlic, mushrooms (whichever you usually buy), yellow onion (but brown or white would work too), veggie broth (again, your fave brand!), canned chickpeas, salt, pepper, ground cumin, spinach, shredded parmesan (though you can substitue any other cheese if you don’t have any or if you want to make sure this dish is vegetarian!), and red pepper flakes to finish the dish.

Can I substitute the farro?

If you don’t have farro in the pantry, switch this out for brown rice! It will be just as tasty and easy to prepare! And if you have any other nutty pre-cooked or ready to cook grains, those will work too! Just make sure they’re cooked and cooled before you get started.

Can I substitute the parmesan?

Yes! I love parmesan but any cheese you can shred & melts well will work here. Parmesan is not always vegetarian so if that matters to you you might want to switch it out for whatever you happen to have in the fridge.

Can I prep any of this recipe ahead?

Yes! You can cook the farro in advance, & you can chop the onions and mushrooms when you’re doing meal prep. This substitution is ideal if you’ve already got lots of brown rice cooked and you don’t want yet another tub of grains in the fridge!

If you love this recipe, you may also enjoy these recipes on One Balanced Life:

• Curried Cauliflower and Farro
• Cold Sweet Potato Chickpea Salad with Maple Tahini Dressing
• Harvest Grain Bowl
• Balsamic Caprese Orzo Salad
• Apple Arugula Salad
• Loaded Mini Potato Bite
• Mediterranean Farro Salad

Save and Pin for later!

Make sure to save and pin this recipe for later! Are you following me on Pinterest yet? You can also follow me on Instagram & Facebook, and make sure to leave a star rating and tag me if you make this recipe! xx

Cheesy Chickpeas and Farro

Yield: Serves 5

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

This easy bowl of Cheesy Chickpeas and Farro is a delicious last minute pantry meal loaded up with veggies, spices and parmesan. It takes just 20 minutes to prepare this quick dinner, perfect for busy weeknights!

Print

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 cup yellow onion, chopped
• 1 cup mushrooms, chopped
• 1/4 cup veggie broth
• 2 cups cooked farro
• 1 can chickpeas, drained
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 1/2 cups spinach
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese (or any desired cheese!)
• red pepper flakes, to serve

Instructions

1. If you don't have some already prepped, cook farro according to package.
2. In pan, add olive oil, minced garlic, onion and mushrooms to saute.
3. Turn heat down to medium and add in veggie broth and cooked farro and stir.
4. Add in chickpeas and seasonings to mix. Add in more seasoning to taste if needed.
5. Stir for a couple minutes and add in spinach to wilt.
6. Turn heat down to medium low and add in shredded parmesan cheese.
7. Continue to stir until cheese completely melts.
8. Top with red pepper flakes!

Notes

Make sure the parmesan you use is vegetarian if that matters to you!

until next time...