Bacon Roasted Chickpeas

Our summer is usually filled with cookouts, pool parties and birthday parties. This summer is especially celebratory with weddings and some big 30th birthdays coming up (Eric’s included). When we host or attend cookouts, I like to have some kind of snack on hand for people to munch on while food is on the grill. Enter these crunchy, bacon roasted chickpeas.

If there’s a way to make snack food better, it’s by adding bacon. These chickpeas are addictive little bites that you can grab by the handful and pop in your mouth, and the bacon makes them even more flavorful. Meant to be a pub or bar snack, they work equally as well for outdoor gatherings because they don’t wilt/melt/otherwise get gross sitting in the heat. The key to getting them crunchy is to dry the chickpeas really well before roasting. The chickpeas roast in the bacon fat, giving each bite a hint of smoky bacon flavor. They’re good with a simple seasoning of salt and pepper, but the Old Bay adds a bit of a kick that really takes them over the top.