Sweet, inviting, and made for sharing, Sweet and Sour Chickpeas Peppers Broccoli is a vegan, vegetarian Asian main made with sugar, apple cider vinegar, and rice vinegar in about 30 minutes. The recipe lays out the ingredients and each cooking step clearly, so you can adjust seasoning, texture, and serving size for your own kitchen.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 20 minutes
  • Total time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 2
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Asian

Ingredients

For the Sweet and Sour Sauce:

  • 1/4 cup sugar (I use 2 tbsp cane sugar and 2 or more tbsp coconut sugar)
  • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 2 to 3 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1.5 tbsp ketchup
  • 2 tsp soy sauce (use certified gluten-free tamari to make gf)
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 tbsp water

Chickpeas and Veggies:

  • 1 tsp oil
  • 3 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
  • 1/2 large red bell pepper (thinly sliced)
  • 1/2 green bell pepper (thinly sliced)
  • 1 cup small broccoli florets
  • 15 oz chickpeas (or 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas)
  • a generous dash of salt, (black pepper, cayenne)

To thicken

  • 2 tbsp water
  • 2 tsp cornstarch (or other starch)
  • sesame seeds, green onion for garnish

Method

  1. Mix all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside. You can also add them directly to the pan at step 5.
  2. Heat oil over medium high heat in a large skillet. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes or until translucent.
  3. Add the peppers and mix in. Cover and cook for 2 minutes.
  4. Add the broccoli and mix in. Cover and cook for 1 minute. (To keep the broccoli from over cooking, You can remove the broccoli and add it back into the saucy Chickpeas before serving)
  5. Add the chickpeas, sauce ingredients, a generous dash of salt, black pepper and cayenne. Reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook for 4 minutes.
  6. Taste the sauce carefully and adjust to preference. Add more sour, sugar or salt.
  7. Mix cornstarch in room temperature water and add the mixture to the pan. Mix in. Cover and cook for 2 minutes until the sauce thickens. (Fold in broccoli if you removed it earlier)
  8. Garnish with sesame seeds, red pepper flakes and scallions and serve with cooked rice or grains of choice.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.