Whether you’re preparing a silky bowl of hummus or a crunchy, salty snack, culinarians looking for chickpeas might be confused when they only see cans of garbanzo beans on the shelf. Before you fret over these legumes, don’t. These beans aren’t close substitutes; they’re the same exact product. That’s right, these plant-based powerhouses actually have two names: garbanzo beans and chickpeas. Here’s why.
To put it simply, these legumes have two names because different regions started calling them distinct terms at the same time (almost as confusing as the difference between legumes and beans). For starters, the name chickpea is likely derived from the Latin name for the chickpea plant Cicer arietinum. Originating in the Middle East, this title was gradually passed around the world as people traveled. Over time it took on different iterations as the legumes spread. From the French “pois chiche” to the English “chich-pease” (pease meaning pea in Old English), sometime in the 17th century the term chickpea finally came about and stuck.
The title of garbanzo bean, on the other hand, comes from the former Basque region at the border of northern Spain and France. Before the term chickpea reached Europe from the Middle East, another name was already circulating for the plant here: garbantzu. This word means dry seed in Basque, and when the term reached Spain, it became garbanzo, the Spanish word for chickpea, instead.
Another distinction to make with these beans
Chickpea is the most common term for these legumes and is used worldwide, while garbanzo beans is the title more often seen in the United States. These beans might go by two names, but that’s not the only difference seen in this product. These legumes also come in different varieties, too: kabuli and desi chickpeas.
Kabuli beans are large and round and lend a nutty flavor, a staple in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine. While both varieties are grown in the United States, the canned garbanzo beans you see at the store are the kabuli variety. The other variety, desi beans, are smaller and darker and are available in a range of colors from brown to yellow. These are more often found in South Asia and India — which produces the most chickpeas out of any other country.
While these variations exist, there is no specific term used to indicate their distinctions. Just know if you’re in the U.S., you’re probably going to see these legumes referred to as garbanzo beans, and they’ll most likely be the soft kabuli variety. (And hint, if you want to make them extra soft, add a pinch of baking soda to the can.)
