Mediterranean Chickpea Casserole with Spinach and Feta

This one pot vegetarian dinner is delicious, satisfying, and easy to make. It's bursting with flavor too—thanks to the red onion, tomatoes, herbs, feta, and a squeeze of fresh lemon. Lately, this meal has been our favorite way to eat protein-rich chickpeas. The bright flavors of this cozy casserole hits the spot when we're craving comfort food but also want to eat healthy!

You can serve this chickpea tomato casserole with a side of bread or bread for dipping; spoon it over cooked rice or other grains; or eat it just on its own! This recipe makes for yummy leftovers too— it reheats nicely in the oven or microwave.

Jump to:

• Key ingredients
• How to make
• How to store / reheat
• 📖 Recipe

Key ingredients

• Chickpeas: Chickpeas (garbanzo beans) are not only great sources of protein, but they're also extremely versatile and inexpensive. For this recipe, you'll need cooked chickpeas—you can either use canned chickpeas or home cooked. See here for some of the health benefits of chickpeas.
• Red onions: This dish has a lot of big flavors going on, so red onions work best here. You could substitute with yellow onions in a pinch.
• Passata (strained tomatoes): Passata is typically sold in tall glass jars with a screw top lid. It's made from strained uncooked tomatoes. If you can't find any, you can use crushed tomatoes in a can instead. Don't use tomato paste or tomato sauce, since both of these are already cooked and won't have the same flavor or consistency.
• Spinach: We usually toss in few handfuls of boxed baby spinach at the end, for some greens. You could substitute the baby spinach with thinly sliced kale instead.
• Feta cheese: The crumbled feta adds a creamy, salty tang. The whole dish gets quickly broiled so that the feta gets golden brown. If you want to keep this dish vegan, you can leave out the feta or use vegan feta instead.

How to make

This dish comes together in a single pot, first on the stove and then finished in the oven. Here's how to make it:

1. Saute the aromatics: Cook olive oil, onion, and garlic together in a Dutch oven or skillet until fragrant and golden brown.
2. Combine and simmer: Add passata, vegetable broth, and dried herbs. Simmer for the flavors to develop.
3. Add chickpeas: Stir in the chickpeas and cook until the mixture is reduced by one-third, so that the sauce is very flavorful and the chickpeas have absorbed some flavor.
4. Finish seasoning: Stir in the spinach, sugar (optional, but helps to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes), fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper.
5. Broil: Sprinkle with feta and broil until the sauce is bubbling and feta is golden brown. Dig in and enjoy!

How to store / reheat

Storage instructions

You can refrigerate extra chickpea casserole directly in the pot (covered with a lid) or transfer to an airtight container.

Reheating instructions

Oven: Reheat the food, with the lid off, at 275°F (140°C) until warmed through.

• If you stored the food and are reheating it directly in the pot: Let the pot come to room temperature while the oven preheats. Putting a fridge-cold cast iron pot directly into a hot oven creates a risk of thermal shock, due to the extreme temperature changes. Thermal shock could result in warping or cracking, which would damage the pot. Read this post for more details on caring for cast iron.

Microwave: Reheat the mixture in a microwave-safe container until warmed through.

Stove: Reheat the food, with the lid on, over medium-low heat until warmed through.

📖 Recipe