Mi abuela prepara garbanzos los domingos, y a mí me gustan los garbanzos con un poco de sal.

Both are possible, but they mean slightly different things.

• Mi abuela prepara garbanzos = My grandmother makes/cooks chickpeas in a more general sense.
• Mi abuela prepara los garbanzos = it can sound more specific, like the chickpeas in a particular context.

In Spanish, when talking about food or things in a general way, the article is often omitted after verbs like preparar, comer, or cocinar.

So prepara garbanzos sounds very natural here.

Los domingos means on Sundays or every Sunday.

This is a very common Spanish way to talk about habitual actions:

• Los domingos = on Sundays / every Sunday
• Los lunes = on Mondays
• Los fines de semana = on weekends

By contrast:

• el domingo usually means on Sunday = one specific Sunday, depending on context.

So here, los domingos shows a repeated habit.

Because Spanish usually does not use a preposition here.

English says on Sundays, but Spanish normally just says:

• los domingos
• los lunes
• el martes

So the Spanish structure is different from English. You should think of los domingos as the normal Spanish way to express on Sundays / every Sunday.

This is very common with gustar.

• me is the indirect object pronoun and is the core part needed with the verb.
• a mí is optional and adds emphasis, contrast, or clarity.

So:

• Me gustan los garbanzos = I like chickpeas
• A mí me gustan los garbanzos = I like chickpeas / As for me, I like chickpeas

The phrase a mí is often used when you want to stress me, especially if there is contrast with someone else.

Because the verb agrees with los garbanzos, which is plural.

With gustar, Spanish works differently from English. The subject is the thing that is liked, not the person who likes it.

• Me gusta el garbanzo = I like chickpeas / I like the chickpea dish (singular idea)
• Me gustan los garbanzos = I like chickpeas

So gustan is plural because los garbanzos is plural.

Because gustar literally works more like to be pleasing.

So:

• Me gustan los garbanzos literally means something like Chickpeas are pleasing to me.

That is why:

• me = to me
• gustan = are pleasing
• los garbanzos = chickpeas

This is one of the biggest differences from English, and it is completely normal in Spanish.

This is a very common pattern.

After gustar, Spanish often uses the definite article when talking about things in a general sense:

• Me gusta el café
• Me gustan las manzanas
• Me encantan los perros

So me gustan los garbanzos is the normal way to say I like chickpeas.

But after preparar, Spanish often leaves out the article for general food items:

• prepara garbanzos
• cocina arroz
• come pasta

So the difference is not random; it comes from how these verbs usually behave.

Yes. In Spain, garbanzos is the standard everyday word for chickpeas.

You may also hear other terms in different Spanish-speaking regions, but garbanzos is the normal and expected word in Spain.

Here prepara means something like makes, prepares, or cooks, depending on context.

So:

• Mi abuela prepara garbanzos could be understood as:
  • My grandmother makes chickpeas
  • My grandmother cooks chickpeas
  • My grandmother prepares chickpeas

In food contexts, Spanish preparar is often broader than the English verb prepare and can sound very natural where English might prefer make or cook.

Spanish often uses the simple present to talk about habitual actions.

So:

• Mi abuela prepara garbanzos los domingos = My grandmother makes/cooks chickpeas on Sundays

The idea of usually or habitually is already understood from los domingos.

This is very similar to English, where the simple present can also describe habits:

• She makes chickpeas on Sundays.

They are similar, but not identical.

• con un poco de sal = with a little salt
• con poca sal = with little salt / with not much salt

Un poco de sal sounds more neutral and often a bit more natural in everyday speech when talking about adding some salt.

Poca sal emphasizes that the amount is small, sometimes almost not very much salt.

So in this sentence, con un poco de sal suggests with a little bit of salt added.

Yes, absolutely.

• Me gustan los garbanzos is perfectly correct and very common.
• A mí me gustan los garbanzos adds emphasis or contrast.

For example:

• A mi hermano no le gustan, pero a mí me gustan.
  My brother doesn’t like them, but I do.

So a mí is not required, but it is often used for emphasis.

Yes. Spanish word order is flexible.

These are all possible, depending on emphasis:

• A mí me gustan los garbanzos con un poco de sal.
• Me gustan los garbanzos con un poco de sal.
• Los garbanzos con un poco de sal me gustan. ← less neutral, more marked

The version in your sentence is very natural because it highlights a mí slightly.

It describes los garbanzos: the speaker likes chickpeas with a little salt.

So the meaning is:

• I like chickpeas when they have a little salt
• I like chickpeas with a little bit of salt

It does not mean that the speaker likes salt in general; it is specifically about the chickpeas.

In short coordinated sentences, Spanish often does not need a comma before y, especially when the sentence is short and simple.

So many writers would write:

• Mi abuela prepara garbanzos los domingos y a mí me gustan los garbanzos con un poco de sal.

However, a comma can appear if the writer wants a slight pause or clearer separation between the two ideas. So it is not shocking, but without the comma is often more standard in a simple sentence like this.