Chickpea, spinach and tomato stew

Some of the best weeknight food comes out of cans. Chickpeas hold their shape through simmering, soak up flavour and make a stew filling without any meat. Add tomatoes, smoked paprika and a lot of green, and you have a dinner that costs little, keeps well and asks almost nothing of the cook.

Why it works

The flavour is built in the first ten minutes. Onions cooked slowly in oil turn sweet as they soften and brown at the edges. Ground spices fried briefly in that oil release far more aroma than spices stirred into liquid, and a spoon of tomato purée cooked for a minute loses its raw edge and deepens. After that the stew mostly looks after itself.

Canned chickpeas are what make it fast. They have already been soaked and boiled, which also makes them safe to eat straight from the can; it is raw or undercooked dried beans, especially red kidney beans, that contain a natural toxin and must be boiled thoroughly¹.

About the cans

Two cans of chickpeas and one of tomatoes are the backbone of this recipe, so it is worth storing them well. Canned tomatoes are a high-acid food and keep their best quality for 12 to 18 months; canned chickpeas, being low-acid, keep for 2 to 5 years, as long as they are stored somewhere cool and dry². Discard any can that bulges, leaks or is deeply dented². Our guide to the weeknight pantry covers the rest of the cupboard.

Rinse the chickpeas in a sieve after draining. It removes the starchy, salty liquid, which gives you more control over the seasoning. (If you like, keep that liquid, known as aquafaba, for baking.)

Choosing the pot

A wide, heavy pot gives the onions room to soften without steaming and lets the sauce reduce evenly. Enamelled cast iron, stainless steel or a good nonstick saucepan all work.

One note on stainless steel: tomato is acidic, and a 2013 laboratory study found that nickel and chromium from stainless steel rose in tomato sauce as cooking time increased, with the highest amounts from new pans and a lower, steadier level after about six uses³. The authors point out that this matters mainly for people with a nickel allergy³. A 30-minute stew is a short cook, but if you have a nickel allergy, enamelled cast iron is the better choice. Either way, move leftovers into a container rather than storing them in the pot.

Variations

• Richer: stir in a 160 ml can of coconut milk with the stock, and finish with lime instead of lemon.
• Smokier: add a chopped roasted red pepper from a jar with the tomatoes.
• With eggs: make four hollows in the finished stew, crack an egg into each, cover and cook gently for 6 to 8 minutes until the whites are set.
• With greens: use kale or chard instead of spinach, shredded and simmered for 5 minutes.
• Heartier: add a diced potato or sweet potato with the tomatoes and simmer until tender, adding a splash more stock if needed.

Leftovers and freezing

This stew is better on the second day, but treat leftovers with care.

• Cool quickly. Spread the leftovers into shallow containers and get them into the fridge within one to two hours of cooking⁴.
• Eat within two days, which is the UK Food Standards Agency's advice for leftovers, or freeze them if you will not manage that⁴. The US Department of Agriculture allows three to four days in the fridge⁵.
• Freeze in portions. Frozen leftovers keep their best quality for three to four months⁵. Leave a little headroom in each container, and label it with the date.
• Reheat until steaming hot. In a pan with a splash of water, stirring, until it bubbles and is hot all the way through. The USDA's target for reheated leftovers is 74 °C (165 °F)⁵.

The full set of rules, from cooling to thawing, is in our guide to leftovers in the fridge or freezer.

Serving ideas

• With crusty bread to wipe the bowl.
• Over rice, couscous or bulgur for a more substantial meal.
• Topped with crumbled feta, a spoon of yoghurt and chopped parsley or coriander.
• Inside a warm flatbread with a little extra lemon and some sliced red onion.

A note on the method: this recipe follows a standard home stew technique and the published food safety guidance cited above. Cooking times will vary a little with your pot and hob, so judge by the thickness of the sauce rather than the clock.