Instant-Pot Italian Chickpea Stew With Pesto (2024)

For the pesto:

1 1/2 packed cups fresh basil leaves (about 3/4 ounce)

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus additional if needed

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 ounce)

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoon toasted pine nuts

For the chickpeas:

1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

1 quart water

12 ounces dried chickpeas

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 small onion, chopped (about 3/4 cup)

2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped (about 3/4 cup)

1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained

4 cups chicken stock

1/4 cup grated Parmesan or similar cheese

PER SERVING Calories: 592; Fat: 30g; Sodium: 1234mg; Carbohydrates: 63g; Fiber: 18g; Protein: 24g

Leave a Review

• I had a lot of homemade walnut pesto that I needed to use up and was looking for an easy recipe to use it in- besides pasta. I don't have an instapot or pressure cooker so used two cans (small to medium size) of chickpeas to the 14 ounce can of tomatoes/4 cups stock. The texture was like stew, though I also blended part of the mixture and added it back in to thicken even more. The pesto works really well as an added flavour and the dish had good reviews from the elderly couple I make meals for. This is a nice tasting dish and was easily enough for 4 people.

  • Jurnee

  • Vancouver, BC

  • 8/30/2021

• This is very delicious and satisfying. I couldn't resist putting a little quenelle of yogurt in my bowl.

  • ChefEwell

  • Southern Illinois

  • 12/10/2020

• A keeper! I did make a couple of changes, though. First, I rarely plan far enough in advance to soak beans overnight, so I pressure cooked everything using unsoaked beans for about 1 hr with a 40 minute natural release. Since beans come in 1 lb bags, I used the whole bag and upped the broth to 6 cups. I also subbed celery for carrots because that's what I had. Following other reviews, I used 2 onions and added 1 tsp Aleppo pepper and 2 Tbl tomato paste. Last, I did use an immersion blender for a whirl or two at the end and used store-bought pesto. YUM!!

  • nnirl

  • Metrowest Boston

    See Also

    Simple German Oven Fried Chicken – Oma's Brathendl (Hähnchen)

  • 10/2/2020

• My husband loved this so much he asked for it to be a staple. I used a low sodium vegetable broth and a 14 oz box of tomoatoes.

  • ladybronx

  • Fairfield NJ

  • 7/17/2020

• So delicious! I don't have an instant pot so tried it with a crock pot, cooking the chickpeas first for about 4 hours, then added the rest of the ingredients and cooked for an additional 2 hours. The chickpeas didn't break down so it was more of a soup than stew. I just put a couple of cups of the whole soup mixture in the blender then added it back into the mix.

  • zester

  • San Diego, CA

  • 5/13/2020

• This recipe was fantastic! I followed it almost exactly with the only change being that I crisped up some bacon in the instant pot first, then removed the bacon and sautéed the onion in the bacon fat (instead of oil). I found this added a nice smoky flavor to the stew. I used a store bought pesto and jazzed it up by mixing it with some fresh lemon juice/zest. Overall this recipe was a winner. Very satisfying!

  • lysslax

  • Kennebunk, ME

  • 5/5/2020

• Excellent recipe! Love the consistency of the garbanzo beans after soaking and a shorter stint in the IP. We used Costco pesto and it was still delicious.

  • zirepieg

  • Anchorage, AK

  • 2/23/2020

• Easy, tasty. Cheap aside from the pesto.

  • Anonymous

  • Chicago, IL

  • 2/3/2020

• Delicious soup, cooking times very accurate -- chick peas and vegetables were cooked perfectly to my liking. I added a small bit of pancetta cooked first in the olive oil before proceeding with the recipe. Added 2 stalks of chopped celery along with the carrot. Skipped the broth and eyeballed about 14 oz of water, which made the right amount of liquid. When the soup was done cooking, I added chopped kale to the pot. Used store-bought pesto. Delicious -- flavor amped up with red pepper flakes, dried basil and oregano added while browning the onion would make this outstanding. Mostly I'm impressed with the accuracy of the cooking times and the perfect texture of the vegetables and beans -- this has been hard for me to accomplish with many instant pot recipes.

  • sujatha92

  • Slingerlands NY

  • 1/18/2020

• Quick and tasty soup! I didn’t have carrots so I subbed celery and added a parmesan rind and tomato paste (plus a splash of red wine). I did make shortcuts and used canned chickpeas and store bought pesto. It’s a light soup but substantial!

  • icarly089716

  • Gainesville, Fl

  • 12/6/2019

• Very good. Especially the pesto. I ran out of pesto and now have made an a double batch for the left overs. The pesto really makes the stew a #1!

  • kstocke1188

  • Liverpool, New York

  • 2/27/2019

• This was great! I used fire roasted tomatoes and added some garlic to the onions and TJ's fresh frozen basil cubes at the end instead of making the pesto- turned out delicious! I only had time to soak for about 6 hours and ended up just cooking longer (20m).

  • simonecahill

  • Ramsey, NJ

  • 2/7/2019

• Pesto is always great but the soup itself is super mild--it definitely needs loads more flavor.

  • trent880

  • Denver. CO

  • 10/23/2018

• This was a big hit. Added in some sausage that I cooked separately and added to bowls for the carnivores... with or without meat, it was so tasty! I agree with below reviews. Don't skip the pesto!

  • kncookspnw

  • Seattle

  • 10/1/2018

• This was delicious! I did cook the chickpeas for 14 mins. instead of ten and they were perfectly firm on the outside, but creamy on the inside. Also, following other reviewers, I zapped it a couple of times with the immersion blender to thicken it a bit. Don't skip the pesto - it makes the dish. I used a good quality pre-made and it was still great.

  • woosterek

  • Virginia

  • 9/11/2018

TagsStewSoup/StewSoupItalianEuropeanChickpeaBean and LegumeVegetableCanned TomatoTomatoBasilParmesanCheeseDairyMainDinnerGluten FreeVegetarianEasyMake AheadOne-Pot MealsWeeknight MealsSimmerInstant PotSlow CookerWinterFallCookbooks