Charred Broccoli and Za’atar Chickpeas with Yogurt Sauce is a restaurant-worthy meal made with a short list of simple, wholesome ingredients. Better yet, it only takes 20 minutes to put together!
You can easily call this a vegan’s dream meal. Each bite is packed with plant-based protein, the gourmet flavors are bold and bright, and it’s well-balanced nutritionally! Turn to it on lazy weeknights or when you’re simply craving a medley of outstanding flavors.
PS: If you’re looking for even more quick dinner recipes with show-stopping flavors, be sure to try my Tahini Pasta and 15-Minute Chili Garlic Noodles. And if you want more fun uses for broccoli, my not-so-average Vegan Broccoli Salad is a must-try.
Table of Contents:
1. Why this recipe works
2. Ingredient notes
3. Step-by-step instructions
4. Tips for making this recipe
5. Frequently Asked Questions
6. Recipe Card
Why this recipe works
A little bit of everything in every bite.
Well-balanced is the name of the game here. The yogurt sauce is creamy and bright, the spiced chickpeas and charred broccoli will fill you up without weighing you down, and the pickled chile peppers add complex and slightly sweet-and-spicy bites (which the yogurt helps to cool).
It’s also balanced nutritionally. Protein? Complex carbs? Healthy fats? Check. Check. Check.
It’s surprisingly quick and easy.
When all is said and done, this meal only takes 20 minutes to prepare. It features 4 layers but each one comes together in no time. Plus, you can save time by multitasking and preparing some of the elements ahead of time (for instance, the quick pickled peppers can be made a couple weeks ahead of time).
Hello, wholesome!
Yep, it’s true. This deceptively indulgent meal is made with wholesome ingredients only! You get healthy fats and gut-healthy probiotics from the vegan yogurt, complex carbs and protein from the chickpeas, anti-cancerous properties from the broccoli, as well as vitamins and antioxidants from the chile peppers.
Ingredient notes
Yogurt. Think of the vibrant lemon yogurt sauce as a bed for the broccoli and chickpeas, so you’ll want to pick out the best vegan yogurt you can find and afford. If you have my cookbook, The Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook, the Homemade Coconut Yogurt in there is an excellent option.
In general, thicker and tangier yogurts will help the sauce feel more substantial and creamy rather than watery, as well as more flavorful. For store-bought alternatives, my favorites are Culina, CocoJune, GT’s CocoYo, and Kite Hill Greek Yogurt.
Chile peppers. A fresno or jalapeño pepper is best. Attention spice lovers: feel free to use a serrano pepper if you can handle the heat!
Broccoli. Both the broccoli florets and stalks taste delicious, especially when charred. You’ll be surprised that you can get perfectly browned and tender broccoli in just 5 to 7 minutes (the secret is a rippin’ hot cast iron skillet and a glug of oil).
Chickpeas. Canned chickpeas are a quick and easy solution here (make sure you save the aquafaba for vegan baking!). However, if you prefer the flavor of freshly cooked beans, feel free to make them in the Instant Pot or on the stove ahead of time.
Za’atar. This fragrant Middle Eastern seasoning blend tastes citrusy, herbaceous, and slightly nutty. It should be easy to find in well-stocked grocery stores, Middle Eastern shops, and online. You can also make za’atar yourself using a handful of spices.
Looking for more easy broccoli recipes? Try this seriously creamy Vegan Broccoli Soup!
Need more creative ideas for canned chickpeas? Try this Actually Good Quinoa Salad featuring tangy marinated chickpeas.
And for other uses for Za’atar, try it as a great topping for classic hummus or beet hummus!
Step-by-step instructions
Pickle the peppers. Combine the chile pepper, vinegar, maple syrup, and salt together in a small jar or ramekin. The pepper will macerate and soften up while you work on the rest.
Prep the broccoli: chop off the woody bottom inch or so of the stalk, then peel the first layer, and slice the stalks thinly into rounds. Cut the florets into medium-sized pieces.
Cook the chickpeas. Heat some oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the chickpeas and cook in a single layer (undisturbed) until they begin to brown. Toss and cook until they’re golden brown and blistered.
Sprinkle salt, cumin, coriander, and Za’atar on top. Toss to combine for a minute or two, then take them off the heat and squeeze on a little lemon juice.
Cook the broccoli. Meanwhile, heat some oil in a large cast iron skillet until lightly smoking. Add the broccoli florets and stems in an even layer. Cook undisturbed until they start to char. Flip and continue until both sides are charred.
Make the yogurt sauce. Combine the yogurt, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper together in a bowl. Stir to combine and season to taste.
Time to assemble. Smear some yogurt sauce onto your plates. Add the chickpeas and broccoli on top of each. To finish, spoon the pickled peppers and a few spoonfuls of the pickling brine on top. Enjoy with the bread or grains of your choice.
Tips for making this recipe
Have (a little) patience.
Achieving a beautiful char on the broccoli is all about patience. First, you need to wait for the oil to get really hot in the skillet (you’ll know it’s ready when you start to see light wisps of smoke).
Lay the broccoli in an even layer to prevent it from steaming. You can carefully do this by lowering the broccoli into the pan with a spider or slotted spoon. Give it time and don’t stir it around! That perfect char will come when the broccoli is left undisturbed.
A cast iron pan is the absolute best tool for charring the broccoli (and most foods). If you don’t have one, use another heavy-bottomed frying pan and make sure it’s over high heat.
Dry the chickpeas.
Once they’re rinsed, dry the chickpeas really well by patting them with a clean kitchen towel. Any water left on them will cause the oil to splatter in the pan and prevent the beans from crisping.
Multitasking is key.
You’ll have this meal ready in no time when you multitask efficiently. Always start it off by pickling the peppers so they have time to soften up and “pickle.” They’re fine to sit on the sidelines while you prep the broccoli and cook the chickpeas.
Get the charred broccoli going on a seperate burner from the chickpeas. While you wait or after the chickpeas and broccoli are done, make the yogurt sauce (it takes 2 minutes). It’ll be done before you know it!
Frequently Asked Questions
Bread! While this meal is surprisingly filling on its own, you can stretch it further by serving it with hunks of toasted bread from your local bakery, or with pliable flatbread, like naan, pita, or roti.
Alternatively, if you already have cooked grains in your fridge, serve the meal with them.
Yes, this recipe is naturally gluten free as long (as it’s served with gluten free bread/grains).
Each component can be stored in separate airtight containers in the fridge. The yogurt sauce will last for 5 to 6 days, the chickpeas and broccoli for 4 to 5 days, and the pickled peppers for 2 weeks.
First of all, make a double batch of the yogurt sauce so you have extra to spare. It stores really well in the fridge for 5 to 6 days. Enjoy it as a refreshing and cooling dipping sauce for Gobi Manchurian or Dal Makhani, drizzle it over vegan kebabs or grilled corn on the cob, as a dressing for a green salad or potato salad, use it as the base for a smashed cucumber salad or roasted eggplant, and anywhere else you need a creamy sauce.
If you love this broccoli and chickpea plate as much as we do, please be sure to leave a rating and review below :) And as always, I love seeing your remakes on Instagram!
Charred Broccoli and Za’atar Chickpeas with Yogurt Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 Fresno chile or jalapeño pepper, thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 12 ounces (340g) broccoli
- 3 ½ tablespoons avocado oil or high-heat oil, divided
- 1 (15-ounce) (425g) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to season
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons of Za’atar*
Yogurt Sauce
- 5 ounces (140g) plain-flavored vegan yogurt (ideally, a creamy and thick variety with a tart flavor)**
- 2 garlic cloves, grated or crushed with a press
- 1 medium lemon, zested + 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
- Salt and pepper to taste
For serving
- A few slabs of bread or cooked grains of choice (optional)
Instructions
- In a ramekin or very small jar, combine the chile pepper, vinegar, maple syrup, and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and set aside to macerate, for 10 minutes (or longer), stirring once or twice (or shaking the jar up and down a few times).
- Prep the broccoli: Cut off the tough one or two inches from the bottom of the broccoli stalk. Use a vegetable peeler to peel the first layer of the broccoli stalk. Cut the broccoli into small-to-medium sized florets. Slice the stems thinly into rounds.
- Cook the chickpeas: Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Once hot, add the chickpeas and spread out in a single layer. Cook undisturbed for 2 to 3 minutes to allow some browning. Toss and cook for another 3 minutes, or until brown and blistered in spots. Add ½ teaspoon kosher salt, cumin, coriander, and Za’atar, and toss well to coat the chickpeas. Cook for 2 minutes to allow flavors to blend, then take off the heat and hit with a squeeze of lemon juice.
- Meanwhile, cook the broccoli on a different burner: In a large cast-iron skillet, heat the remaining 2 ½ tablespoons of the oil over high heat. Once you start to see light wisps of smoke, add the broccoli florets and stems in an even layer as much as possible. Season with a bit of salt. Cook undisturbed for 2 to 3 minutes to char, then stir/flip, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes more until broccoli is nicely charred. Turn off the heat and squeeze just a bit of lemon juice on top.
- Make the yogurt sauce: Mix together the yogurt, garlic, lemon zest, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, cumin, coriander, a few pinches of salt, and pepper to taste. Taste, adding more salt, pepper, or lemon juice as desired.
- To serve: Smear some yogurt sauce on the bottom of two or three plates, plate some chickpeas and broccoli on top of each, and spoon some of the pickled peppers on top along with a few spoons of the pickling liquid. Scoop up with bread of choice.
Notes
** Recommended vegan yogurt brands that fit the bill: Culina, CocoJune, GT’s CocoYo, and Kite Hill Greek Yogurt.
*** If using a stainless steel pan, you might need a touch more oil to prevent the chickpeas from sticking.
Once again, another delicious recipe from Nisha and team. I adore rainbow-plant-life and have spent the last month cooking meals almost exclusively from this site so it was pretty funny when, scrolling through 50 broccoli recipes on another website, this is the one that caught my eye! I clicked on the link and chuckled when it brought me to my favorite place on the www.
This recipe is simple to make. I was wary of topping the meal with the pickled pepper juice, but it adds the perfect amount of tang to balance the earthiness of the chickpeas. This would be a fantastic dish to bring to a potluck or serve at a party. Thanks again so much RPL!!!
Hi Danielle, thank you so much for the amazing review! Too funny that you found your way back to the website from another roundup of vegan recipes :) Thanks for being a loyal reader.
I am trying to improve with my multitasking skills but this was so easy and so flavorful! I ate a huge plate of this and didn’t feel full since this was packed with goodness. Amazing!
Thank you for your lovely comment, Eileen! It makes us happy to know that you enjoyed the recipe.
This meal was everything! It’s rare for me to ever make a recipe more than once. I have to really love it! This will definitely be in my rotation. Served with toasted pita bread.
Joy, Thank you for your thoughtful review! We’re so happy to hear that you enjoyed the recipe.
A fantastic weeknight meal for two:)
Hi Tyler, thank you so much for your kind review!
Lovely, easy and delicious. The yogurt sauce is very well balanced. I’ll keep this one in my back pocket.
Erika, So glad to hear you loved this recipe!
Holy heck! This recipe is amazing! I came across you on YouTube a couple of weeks ago and this is the first recipe I’ve tried. I am impressed by how easy and quick, yet flavourful it is. Looking forward to trying more of your recipes!!
Welcome to the RPL community, Tegan! We’re delighted to hear you found the recipe tasty :) We can’t wait for you to try more recipes either! Might I suggest you start with these fan favorites: red lentil curry, tofu scramble and these deliciously rich brownies!
We had this for dinner tonight! I found it as I searched for broccoli on your page.
I cooked the chickpeas from scratch and have roasted the broccoli in oven (20 min @400F), just so that I would not to wash an extra pan. We didn’t have the chilis, but nonetheless this fish tasted awesome! Really nice and if I were more hungry, I would have had it with a toasted slice of sourdough bread! I highly recommend it! Thanks for sharing this simple yet yummy recipe with us!
We’re so happy that the recipe turned out well for you, Flavia. Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment and for trying out the recipe!
I love this and have made it several times, but I’m very concerned about the amount of oil (saturated fat). How can I char the chickpeas and broccoli without the oil?
From Nisha: “Hi Jan, the oil I use (avocado oil) has a fairly small percentage of saturated fat (it’s 70% monounsaturated; 14% saturated). You can also try olive oil, which has a similar ratio and is widely regarded as the healthiest oil. I cook with oil for the best flavor and texture here, and I don’t cook oil-free so I’m probably not the best person to give advice on this. That said, you can try roasting the broccoli on parchment paper and use just a small amount of oil and see if that works for you instead of pan-frying it (the recipe will also take longer, as broccoli takes 20-25 minutes to roast in the oven).”
This is such a flavourful and quick dinner! Even my meat-eater husband loves it, every time I prepare it. A true treasure!
Hi Julia, it’s great to hear you’ve had success with the recipe. Thanks for the review!
I love this recipe! It’s very quick, easy, and tasty! I have made it a few times with different kinds of yogurt, and I definitely recommend using coconut yogurt if you possibly can. I’ve tried oat, soy, and almond-based yogurts as well and the coconut has by far the creamiest texture and least intrusive plant milk under taste. Obviously I’ve made this recipe multiple times- it’s becoming a go-to for weeknight dinners.
Lindsay, Thank you for your thoughtful review! We’re so happy to hear that you enjoy the recipe.
Sooo delicious! Thank you!! Browsing you site new to me, for more recipes!
It makes us happy to hear you enjoyed it, Camille :)
I made this for lunch and was really surprised how good this tasted. It’s so simple but the flavour is incredible!
Hi Wren, thank you so much for your kind review!
So easy and quick yet so much flavor and balanced. This recipe is definitely a keeper!!
Hi María, thank you so much for your kind review!
I made this last night and loved it! I was so surprised how quickly it all came together! So much flavor and very simple. I made without bread or any carbs it was so good!
Jenn, Thank you for your thoughtful review! We’re so happy to hear that you enjoyed the recipe :)
Nisha, where in San Diego do you get your Fresno chilis? I’ve tried Sprouts, Trader Joe’s, H-Mart, Vons, and Stater.
I live by the 15 and 56 intersection.
Hi Nancy, sorry to hear you’re having trouble finding them! You can usually use a jalapeno in place of them. They’re slightly grassier and less fruity, but overall a good sub. Nisha typically buys them at Whole Foods and Sprouts (the closest ones to her are in Hillcrest) as well as Vons (North Park), though they’re not in stock 100% of the time. If you have a Mexican grocery store near you, they should also sell them. Hope that helps!
Nisha you are a genius!!! I love the combination of yogurt and green chili from Indian food, but this mix of yogurt, pickled chilis, and salty spicy chickpeas is THE BOMBBBBB!! Threw this together in a few minutes at 11 at night after getting home tired and it hit the spot so so perfectly.
We’re over the moon to hear you enjoyed the recipe, Sonu. Thanks for your kind words!
So pretty to look at and tasty too! A picture of this dish posted on a friend’s IG page was my introduction to this amazing site. The charred broccoli by itself is a terrific way to liven up some veggies and is something I’ll make again with other meals.
WOW! One of the best things i have made in a while. I added crispy roasted potatoes to this to make a bit more substantial instead of bread or a grain. All the flavors were on point and melded so well! YUMMY!!
Oooof, crispy roasted potatoes are a welcome addition to anything I eat, that’s for sure! It makes us happy to know you truly enjoyed the recipe. Thanks for sharing, Holly!
It’s taking every bit of my willpower to stop myself from eating the entire pan!
It may not sound too exciting, but the textures, spices and tanginess of the yoghurt combine to make a delicious and satisfying main course.
I used a shriveled up Serrano pepper and replaced za’atar with garam masala.
Thank you for another winning, nourishing recipe!
We’re over the moon to hear you enjoyed the recipe, Kristen. Thanks for your kind words!
Nisha, this was fantastic! The chickpeas are so good :)
I used a microplane to grate the garlic like you did with ginger in a previous recipe. Helped it meld into the yogurt. The leftovers are not going to last!!
Hi Ali, it’s great to hear you had success with the recipe. Thanks for the review!