This vegan chickpea salad is an easy and nutritious dish. Make it in just 15 minutes with simple, fresh ingredients and a refreshing lemon vinaigrette.
Serve it as quick lunch or dinner with couscous, pasta, quinoa, or simply on a bed of arugula with a slice of bread.
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Our vegan chickpea salad is a Mediterranean-inspired salad made with simple seasonal vegetables such as cucumber, tomato, and red onion. We dress the salad with a simple lemon vinaigrette and plenty of fresh herbs.
You can put this dish together in just about the time it takes to chop the ingredients. You'll love this recipe because it is fresh, colorful, crunchy, nutritious, and fulfilling. This recipe is dairy-free and naturally gluten-free.
This chickpea salad recipe is made with whole chickpeas, not mashed. For our mashed chickpea salad that you can put in a sandwich, check out our vegan tuna recipe.
Ingredients
Chickpeas: sometimes known as garbanzo beans are the main ingredient for this vegan chickpea salad. You can use canned chickpeas or dried ones, that you cook yourself.
Tomatoes: you can use any ripe tomatoes. Try Roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, plum tomatoes, and grape tomatoes.
Cucumber: English cucumber, American cucumber, Persian cucumber, or Kirby cucumber are all perfect for this garbanzo bean salad. We like to keep the peel on.
Onion: finely chopped red onion to add some tanginess to the salad. Shallots and spring onions are great too.
Olives: to add healthy fat and that umami boost so typical of olives. Use pitted black or green olives. For an even more flavorful chickpea salad, go for kalamata olives.
Corn: to add sweetness and color. Canned corn is perfect for this. You can replace it with yellow bell pepper.
Fresh Herbs: they are key for this salad. We use fresh flat-leaf parsley as this is the most common herb used in the Mediterranean region and goes very well with chickpeas. You can replace or supplement parsley with fresh basil, mint, chives, fresh dill, and cilantro. Pick your favorite, or mix more than one.
Lemon vinaigrette: make it with extra virgin olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice or vinegar, salt, and pepper. If you like, you can even add a clove of garlic, a dash of Dijon mustard, and a touch of maple syrup.
Instructions
Drain and rinse the chickpeas and add them to a large mixing bowl.
Add chopped tomatoes, chopped cucumber, chopped olives, finely chopped onion, corn, and finely chopped parsley.
In a smaller bowl, prepare the lemon vinaigrette. Add the extra virgin olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, salt, pepper, a grated clove of garlic, maple syrup, and mustard. Whisk well till the ingredients are combined.
Add the lemon vinaigrette to the bowl with the vegetables and mix well.
Taste and adjust for salt, then serve this vegan chickpea salad on its own, or with quinoa, pasta, rice, or simply on a bed of arugula salad and a few slices of bread.
Variations
Use our recipe as a guideline to make a chickpea salad. You can make this recipe yours by changing the veggies based on the season and on where you live. Other vegetables that work particularly well with this salad are:
- red bell peppers
- avocado (only add shortly before serving the salad)
- fennel
- celery
- red cabbage (thinly sliced)
- eggplant (diced and roasted)
- sun-dried tomatoes in oil (chopped)
- artichoke hearts in oil (chopped)
- lettuce
- arugula
When you swap veggies, think texture, color, and flavor. You want a salad with different colors, and mixed texture, which will result in better flavor and nutrition.
Substitute the dressing for vegan pesto and get healthy fats and vitamins. Arugula pesto, artichoke pesto, and basil pesto are all good flavor pairings with chickpea salad.
Make it a complete meal by serving it with couscous, pasta, rice, or focaccia bread.
More vegan salad recipes
Looking for more vegan salad ideas? Check out these top recipes:
- Winter and holiday favorite with this red cabbage slaw
- Fennel and orange salad for a crunchy and vitamin-rich side dish
- This creamy tofu salad with a homemade vinaigrette and crunchy fried tofu
- A raw vegan salad with this shaved Brussels sprouts salad
- Our picnic-friendly vegan couscous salad
- An easy and healthy vegan pasta salad that makes a complete and protein-rich meal
- Or any of our best 25 vegan salad recipes
Storage
Our vegan chickpea salad keeps well for up to 48 hours in the fridge, best if in an airtight container. Take out of the refrigerator 15 minutes before serving. Not suitable for freezing.
Recipe
Vegan Chickpea Salad
Ingredients
For the salad
- 1 can (15 oz) chickpeas or 1½ cups of cooked chickpeas (drained)
- 1 cup tomatoes cherry, Roma, or plum (chopped)
- 1 cup cucumber (diced)
- ½ cup olives (sliced)
- ½ cup red onion (chopped)
- ½ cup corn
- ⅓ cup parsley (finely chopped)
For the lemon vinaigrette
- 3 tablespoons olive oil extra virgin
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon salt or more to taste
- 4 twists black pepper
- 1 clove garlic grated (optional)
- ½ teaspoon mustard (optional)
- ½ teaspoon maple syrup (optional)
Instructions
- Drain and rinse chickpeas. Transfer them to a large mixing bowl. You can use canned chickpeas or dry chickpeas that you cook at home.
- Add chopped tomatoes, chopped cucumber, sliced olives, corn, finely chopped onion, and finely chopped parsley.
- Make the lemon vinaigrette by mixing together olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Optionally you can add mustard and maple syrup.
- Add the lemon vinaigrette to the bowl, mix well, taste, adjust for salt, and serve.
Notes
Nutritional Values
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