Biena Snacks Review: Healthy, Delicious Chickpea Snacks
We here at Maple Holistics have recently been on the lookout for snack companies who produce crunchy, satisfying snacks, but with less sugar, fewer calories, and less artificial colorings and flavorings – in short, snacks that taste great, but don’t leave you feeling guilty about eating them. One such company is Biena snacks, whose entire product range focuses around one of our favorite plant proteins: the chickpea.
Chickpeas are famous for their high protein and fiber content and are a beloved part of many different cultures worldwide. Whether you like your own ground up in falafel, blended with tahini, olive oil, and lemon juice to make hummus, or just boiled or roasted and lightly seasoned with salt and pepper, there’s a way for everyone to enjoy these delicious seeds. But once you try one of Biena’s sweet, savory, spicy or chocolate-covered snacks, you’re guaranteed to have a new way to enjoy them!
What makes Biena’s snacks so wonderful? It’s simple. Their chickpeas are full of flavor and crunch, whilst still staying true to the chickpeas we all know and love. There’s a flavor for everyone, and you can feel confident that you are making a healthy snack choice. Their products strike the perfect balance of taste, texture, and nutrition – and that, my friends, is why they should definitely be a staple in your pantry.
What Are Chickpeas?
Chickpeas are what you make hummus out of.
You’ve probably seen these heart-shaped legumes before (and by heart-shaped, I mean the shape of the human heart, not the emoji). What are chickpeas? Chickpeas are seeds, generally tan in color, ranging from light to dark, and some even have black speckles. There’s one sort of chickpea that’s green, but those are likely not the kind you’re familiar with. You can make hummus out of chickpeas. Hummus and veggies are one of the healthiest and most popular ways to enjoy the seeds.
Chickpeas are also favored in salads and stews, and while it’s assumed that they originated in Turkey. You can find them all around the world today.
The Health Benefits Of Chickpeas Explained
Chickpeas are full of health benefits.
One of the reasons that chickpeas are so loved is because of all their health benefits – and there are many! Chickpeas have a lot of health benefits. They are a popular source of protein, especially among vegans, who can have a hard time finding plant-based proteins. They’re easy to add to many dishes and to snack on as they are. Besides protein, chickpeas are also a great source of fiber and contain nutrients like folate, phosphorus, iron, copper, and manganese.
While chickpeas are not exactly low-calorie, they are still a good snack choice for people who are watching their weight, because their high protein and fiber content keeps you feeling full, which in turn prevents snacking. They are also good food for diabetics, as they have a low glycemic index and therefore won’t cause your blood sugar to spike.
The fiber in chickpeas is not just good for your weight, it’s also good for your digestive system. Soluble fiber helps keep the good bacteria in your gut healthy and also prevents unhealthy bacteria from taking over. As a result, you’re less likely to develop stomach and gut-related health issues, such as IBS or colon cancer.
What Are Biena Snacks?
What are Biena Snaccks? Biena Snacks was founded by Poorvi Patodia. They recognized the need for a healthy but flavourful snack, which would satisfy her cravings for unhealthy snacks like chips and the like. Literally, all their products are chickpeas, and they have 3 ranges of chickpea snacks: classically roasted chickpeas, chocolate covered chickpeas, and variety packs.
Biena Snacks Varieties Breakdown
The first variety of Biena snacks is their Classic Roasted Chickpeas, which come in eight delicious flavors: Sea Salt, Organic Sea Salt, Rockin’ Ranch, Honey Roasted, Habanero, Barbeque, Cinnamon Crunch, and Sour Cream and Onion. Honestly, if you don’t find a flavor there that speaks to you, then I doubt you ever will!
Then there are Biena’s Chocolate Covered Chickpeas, available in four different flavors: Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, Salted Caramel, and Girl Scouts Thin Mints. You can also get some of the above-mentioned flavors in Variety Packs, such as the Chocolate Variety Pack, which includes a pack of Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, and Salted Caramel snacks. You can also choose the option of putting together your own pack of 6 flavors, which is a great way to try a few flavors and see which ones turn out to be your favorite.
Biena Snacks Chickpea Snacks Review
Firstly, these snacks use only non-GMO ingredients and are free of allergens like egg, soy, tree nuts, peanuts, and in most flavors, dairy as well. They are mostly vegan, although a couple of flavors don’t qualify. While nuts are great, healthy, and delicious to snack on, many people are allergic or have a family member who is allergic to nuts, and therefore need a different sort of snack to provide that satisfying crunch and keep them full between meals. Well, that’s exactly where Biena Snacks shines!
Personally, the flavors that immediately catch my eye are the milk chocolate-covered snacks and the thin mints. I often need something sweet to snack on after dinner, but chocolate-covered pretzels, while delicious, are not exactly the healthiest option. And while regular dark chocolate mints can have some health benefits, there’s often plenty of sugar in them, and nowhere near enough of the good stuff.
Biena’s chocolate-covered snacks are like chocolate-covered pretzels, only they’re a whole lot better for your body, providing you with fiber, protein, and unbelievable taste. While I’m not sure if they are ‘healthy’ (they are covered in milk chocolate, after all), they make the perfect treat when you just need the sugar but don’t want to completely blow your diet. They are low calorie, and because chickpeas have a low glycemic index, they won’t cause spikes in blood sugar levels, either (think ‘sugar rush’).
If you love garlic-y and barbeque flavored snacks, you should definitely give the Rockin’ Ranch and Barbeque snacks a try! They are delicious on their own. In a trail mix, or crushed as croutons over a salad. One thing I will tell you is that they are quite dry, so make sure to have some water with you when you eat these if you’re out of the house.
The Cinnamon Sugar snacks are perfect if you want something sweet but healthy. They work great as a topping for yogurt, ice cream, morning oatmeal, or added to a trail mix. All in all, I’d definitely say there is something for everyone, whether your needs are spicy, salty or sweet – and certainly yummy!
DIY Chickpea Snacks Recipe And Guide
DIY is always the way to go.
We always like to include recipes, so that you have the option of recreating your favorite snacks yourself. Some of us simply love to create our own food and other products. You should know what goes into your food. While we love Biena snacks, it’s also helpful to have a DIY option. It’s more economical, and also allows you to play around with flavorings and add different ingredients to create a dish or snack to your preferences.
You can use a simple recipe for crunchy roasted chickpeas, which are essentially what Biena snacks are all about. This version has chili powder, taco seasoning, and garlic salt. Feel free to experiment with the seasoning and come up with a version that works for you.
Recipe from itdoesnttastelikechicken.com
Ingredients
- 20 oz can chickpeas
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Sprinkle chili powder to taste
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp taco seasoning
- ½ tsp garlic salt
Method
- Bake your chickpeas on a baking sheet, spread and rinsed, at 175 degrees for 35 minutes.
- Make sure to roll the chickpeas two or three times throughout the baking process so that they bake evenly!
- Toss your baked, cooled chickpeas with your oil and spices. Return to your over for 5 minutes or until crispy, and voila!
You can eat these chickpeas warm, cold, or as a nice snack. What’s great about it is that it’s a basic recipe, with just enough seasoning to enhance the chickpeas’ natural flavor. If you like yours spicier or with different flavors, play around with different spices until you’re happy with the results.
Conclusion
Chickpeas are great as they are. But with a little sugar, spice and all things nice, they can be taken from ‘great’ to downright awesome and bursting with flavor. It’s always best to keep food products in their most natural form. But sometimes (or many times), we just need a snack. A snack that’s spicy, something salty, or something sweet, and raw fruits, vegetables, and seeds are not what we’re after.
And that’s why we love companies like Biena foods. They take something like the humble chickpea and turn it into a great snack. True, it’s not a chickpea in its simplest form – and that’s exactly why we love it. Because their snacks satisfy those unhealthy cravings, and yet, still offer us all the health benefits we love about chickpeas. Fiber. Protein. Iron. Manganese. Folate. They’re all in there, but with an even better taste.
There’s no better way to indulge than with something that tastes like it should be unhealthy. Having a clear conscience because you know that what you’re eating is good for you. And that’s what Biena snacks are all about.
