Chickpea Salad

You'll love the combination of colors, flavors, and textures in this Mediterranean-inspired chickpea salad recipe.

Take this blog post as a guideline and change the veggies based on your availability.

We recommend sticking to 4 to 6 different vegetables with different colors and textures for best results.

For the dressing, we use a creamy mustard dressing with tangy, zesty, and fruity notes. We think its bold flavor is delicious with chickpeas and fresh veggies.

Note: This chickpea salad recipe is made with whole chickpeas, not mashed. For our chickpea salad sandwich recipe with vegan mayo, check out our vegan tuna salad that you can put in a sandwich, lettuce wraps, or crackers.

Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

Chickpeas

Chickpeas, or garbanzo beans, are the main ingredient for this easy chickpea salad recipe.

You can use drained and well-rinsed canned chickpeas or dried ones that you cook yourself.

To cook dry chickpeas, first, soak them in cold water with a teaspoon of salt for 12 to 24 hours.

Then, change the water and boil them until tender; it'll take 1 to 3 hours, depending on how dry and large they are. Taste them to check for doneness.

Substitute cannellini beans, kidney beans, black beans, pinto beans, borlotti beans, or lentils for chickpeas.

Tomatoes

Use ripe tomatoes, such as Roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, plum tomatoes, and grape tomatoes.

We use cherry tomatoes because they are available all year round, have a pleasant sweet taste, and all you have to do is cut them in half.

Substitute red bell pepper for 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, but that's a personal preference.

Substitute fresh zucchini for cucumber.

Onion

Finely chopped red onion adds a pleasantly spicy taste to the salad.

Substitute shallots or spring onions for the red onion.

Olives

Olives add healthy fats and umami (a bold, savory taste), which makes the salad more delicious.

Use pitted black or green olives. For an even more flavorful chickpea salad, go for Kalamata olives or Taggiasche olives.

Corn

Canned corn is perfect for this salad. It adds color and sweetness.

You can replace it with diced yellow bell pepper.

Fresh Herbs

Pick your favorite, or mix more than one fresh herb for an even more flavorful chickpea salad.

We use fresh flat-leaf parsley as it goes very well with chickpeas.

Substitute fresh basil, mint, chives, fresh dill, and cilantro for parsley.

Avocado

It is optional but recommended as it adds creaminess and healthy fats to this delicious dish.

Add diced avocado shortly before serving the salad because avocado turns brown quickly once it's out of its shell.

Our mustard dressing with maple syrup or honey is perfect for this salad for several reasons.

First, the chickpeas are pretty slippery, so you'll need a creamy dressing that coats them properly.

The mustard and maple syrup in this dressing do just that.

Second, the dressing is tangy, fresh, light, creamy, and sweet. It fits deliciously with fresh veggies.

You can make it with extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice (substitute apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar), mustard, maple syrup or honey, salt, and black pepper.

Add one teaspoon of ground cumin or garlic powder to spice things up.

Drain and rinse the chickpeas and the corn kernels.

Cut cherry tomatoes and olives in half. Dice the cucumber. Finely chop the red onion and parsley. Add everything to a large mixing bowl.

In a small bowl, whisk extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar), mustard (American or Dijon mustard), maple syrup (or honey), salt, and black pepper.

Optionally, you can add a teaspoon of cumin or garlic powder.

Note: As an alternative to the bowl, add all ingredients to a small mason jar, close it, and shake it until combined.

Pour the dressing over the veggies and toss well with two spoons.

Add diced avocado shortly before serving the salad.

Avocado Salad with Chickpeas

Avocado fits this salad perfectly because it adds creaminess and healthy fats. Add avocado shortly before serving the salad, then give it a quick toss and serve.

For example, if you bring this to potlucks or make it for meal prep, don't add the avocado until ready to serve or eat the salad because it will turn brown due to oxidation.

Check out our avocado salad recipe.

Chickpea Pasta Salad

Add your favorite short pasta to turn this chickpea salad into a complete meal.

All you have to do is boil ½ pound of pasta in plenty of salted boiling water, drain it, cool it down under running tap water, and toss it in with the other ingredients.

Check out our chickpea pasta salad recipe.

Farro and Chickpea Salad

Have you ever had chickpeas and farro together? Oh gosh, they are amazing!

With similar ingredients to our chickpea salad, you can make a delicious, fulfilling, and nutritious chickpea farro salad that everyone will love.

Check out our farro and chickpea salad recipe.

Chickpea Quinoa Salad

In this recipe, we combine chickpeas and quinoa to create a simple and healthy chickpea quinoa salad with fresh, seasonal veggies.

This recipe is a nutritious, naturally vegan, gluten-free meal that will please the pickiest eaters.

Check out our chickpea quinoa salad recipe.

Rice salad with chickpeas

Rice salad is probably the most popular salad during spring and summer and for a good reason. It's delicious, affordable, and packed with veggies and flavor.

Add chickpeas to make it even more nutritious and turn it into one of the best recipes for picnics, potlucks, and meal prep.

Check out our rice salad recipe.

Couscous Salad with Chickpeas

Another Mediterranean-inspired dish, couscous salad with fresh veggies and chickpeas, is quick to make, crunchy, refreshing, and fulfilling.

Check out our couscous salad recipe.

Other Add-ins

Use our recipe as a guideline, and change it based on your preferences and availability of ingredients. Other delicious ingredients we often add to our chickpea salad are:

• Green, yellow, or red bell peppers (diced)
• Fennel (thinly sliced or diced)
• Celery (chopped)
• Red cabbage (thinly sliced)
• Eggplant (diced and roasted)
• Sun-dried tomatoes in oil (chopped)
• Artichoke hearts in oil (chopped)
• Lettuce
• Arugula
• Feta cheese or non-dairy feta

When swapping veggies, consider their texture, color, and flavor. For example, you want a salad with different colors and mixed textures, resulting in better taste and nutrition.

You can also substitute the mustard dressing for one of our delicious pestos.

Try arugula pesto, artichoke pesto, and basil pesto; they are good flavor pairings with chickpea salad.

Turn it into a complete meal with couscous, pasta, rice, or a slice of our focaccia bread.

Make ahead: Chickpea salad is an excellent make-ahead recipe as it lasts several days. We recommend it for meal prep, potlucks, and picnics.

Refrigerator: Keep the salad in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 - 4 days. Take it out of the refrigerator 15-30 minutes before serving, as it will taste better at room temperature.

Freezer: We don't recommend freezing this recipe.

Looking for more refreshing salad ideas? Check out these top recipes:

• Greek salad
• Tomato salad
• Tomato cucumber salad
• Zucchini salad
• Watermelon salad
• Panzanella salad
• Artichoke salad
• Mango salad

These are some of our favorite all-year-round salads:

• Broccoli salad with a creamy yogurt and mayo dressing
• Cauliflower salad with creamy lemon tahini dressing
• Mediterranean lentil sweet potato salad
• Fattoush, a Levantine salad with crunchy pita chips
• Pear salad with oranges and ricotta.
• Creamy dill potato salad.

For many more salad ideas, check out our salads category page.