Chickpea Salad combines all of my favorite fresh vegetables in one delicious bite.
Chickpeas are combined with juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, and creamy avocados all tossed in an easy homemade lemon kissed dressing.
This easy salad recipe makes a perfect side dish for almost any meal or a great lunch. Add in some protein like grilled chicken breasts to make it a hearty dinner!
A Protein Packed Salad
- To create a salad that packs a protein punch without adding meat, add chickpeas!
- Use any combination of your favorite raw vegetables, this fresh version reminds us of Greek salad.
- Using canned chickpeas makes this extra quick.
- The dressing is fresh and healthy with just a few ingredients.
- Chickpea salad keeps fresh in the fridge for a few days (add the avocado to each serving if making ahead for lunches).
Ingredients in Chickpea Salad
I love fresh summery salads filled with a huge variety of produce.
Vegetables:
- Use English cucumbers or baby cucumbers as they have nice thin skins and don’t require peeling.
- You can use grape (or cherry tomatoes) or seeded and diced roma tomatoes.
- Bell peppers add crunch and flavor, use red or yellow bell pepper for a sweeter flavor.
- Avocado adds a great creamy buttery texture.
Chickpeas
Chickpeas are also known as garbanzo beans. This recipe calls for canned chickpeas to save time. Be sure to rinse them to remove excess salt.
You can use dried chickpeas (cook them before adding to the salad). If using dried chickpeas, you’ll likely want to add a little bit of extra salt to the recipe.
Fresh Herbs
This chickpea salad needs fresh parsley (dry parsley doesn’t have the same flavor for this salad). You can substitute cilantro or dill if you’d prefer.
How to Make a Chickpea Salad
- Cut a ripe avocado and toss with fresh lemon juice per the recipe below.
- Add remaining ingredients, including rinsed chickpeas.
- Whisk dressing ingredients in a small bowl and drizzle over the salad. Gently toss.
- Season with salt & pepper to taste.
This salad will last days in the fridge making for a great lunch dish! If you’re making this ahead of time, leave the avocado out and add it just before serving!
Chickpea Salad Dressing
This salad is full of fresh ingredients so I keep the dressing nice and light. A simple mixture of red wine vinegar and olive oil with a hint of seasoning is all that’s needed.
You can use as much or as little as you’d like and the leftovers will keep at least 1 week to drizzle over tossed salad or even grilled veggies!
Choosing Olive Oil Extra virgin olive oil is considered the least processed and most flavorful, while extra light is the most processed and has a much lighter flavor (but it isn’t lighter in fat or calories). We prefer a lighter version of olive oil in this recipe. Vegetable oil or avocado oil will also work in this recipe!
Recipe Tips
- Cut an avocado by removing the seed and cutting the flesh into squares right in the skin. Use a spoon to easily scoop the cubes into a bowl.
- Lemon juice adds flavor to the salad and keeps the avocado from turning brown. If you’re making this ahead of time, leave the avocado out and add it just before serving
- Chickpeas can be substituted with other canned beans like black beans. Be sure to rinse and drain them before adding to the salad.
- A sprinkle of feta is a great addition to this salad.
Variations
This chickpea salad recipe is so versatile. Swap in your favorite vegetables; red pepper for green pepper, white or green onion for red onion.
Try adding olives or a bit of feta cheese. Feta is quite salty itself, start with less salt when you add the seasonings.
Chickpea Salad is a complete meal that is low in fat, high in protein, and incredibly delicious! A superpower salad that is so satisfying, and …fun!
More Salads Without Lettuce
- Easy Panzanella Salad – Classic Italian tomato & bread salad
- Favorite Spaghetti Salad – Potluck favorite!
- Cucumber Onion Salad – Easy and delicious
- Greek Salad – Family favorite (without lettuce)
- Ramen Noodle Salad – Quick prep!
Chickpea Salad
Ingredients
- 1 avocado
- ½ fresh lemon
- 2 cups grape tomatoes sliced
- 2 cups cucumber diced
- 1 can chickpeas drained (19 ounces)
- ¾ cup green bell pepper diced
- ½ cup fresh parsley chopped
- ¼ cup red onion sliced
Dressing
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Cut avocado into cubes and place in a bowl. Squeeze the juice from the lemon over the avocado and gently stir to combine.
- Add remaining salad ingredients and gently toss to combine.
- Refrigerate at least one hour before serving.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Salad, Side Dish
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I’ve made this a few times so far and it’s amazing! In our house we put garlic on everything so my only addition was 1 minced fresh clove per serving and it’s perfect for us. We recently changed to the vegan lifestyle and this is good for a main dish too!
Trying this tonight for my dinner.
I can’t wait for you to try it Linda!
Good recipe easy to understand
This is the most delicious, healthy salad I’ve ever made or eaten. I love it so much that I’ve made it more than twice and it’s my favorite “go to”.
I never comment on recipes so this means something….
That’s a big compliment MB! I am so glad you enjoy this recipe.
I made this last night and just tried it this morning. Very beautiful salad, but I do think it needed more lemon or red wine vinegar. Maybe I needed to swap it for eevo? I was looking for a slightly sharper flavor; Nevertheless, I was still able to adjust the salad to my taste!
Why “add chicken for protein “ when chickpeas are the protein? Totally unnecessary.
You can leave it out, some folks have different dietary requirements or preferences.
Missy came out here today and chose violence for no apparent reason lol
seriously! plus adding chicken would be delicious. I made this and was amazing. I added feta though. Sub parsley with clintro
Add Jalapenos!
Could I add quinoa to this and it would still taste great?
I haven’t tried it but I think it would be great! If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
Can the fresh herbs be omitted or can a dry herb be substituted? I don’t ever have fresh herbs on hand. Thanks!
I recommend fresh parsley for this chickpea salad as dry parsley doesn’t have the same flavor Amy. You can substitute cilantro or dill if you’d prefer. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
I loved your Recipies, easy, simple, fast and tasty. I will make all the ones I saw starting with the coleslaw. Loved the tips too. Thank you.
I have seen this recipe two different ways. Adding the dressing before you eat the salad, or adding the dressing and then chilling and storing. I made it like your recipe and it’s amazing. I’m just wondering what the difference would be if you added the dressing as you ate it, like a regular salad.
Hi Dawn, I like to add the dressing and refrigerate for at least one hour to let the flavors develop. It would still be delicious if you ate the dressing as you ate it, but the flavor might be a little less.
i didn’t try it yet, but it better be good!!!!!!!
I am always looking for ways to add beans to meals. This salad was delightful. I am allergic to chickpeas, so I always change up the beans when I see them in a recipe. This time I used a 3 bean mix of red kidney beans black beans and pinto beans. Like another commented, not enough cumin for me, so I tripped it and added a dash of chili lime. Really nice salad. Thanks so much. I will now do this regularly. And I think it will be versatile with whatever I have in my crisper, such as red cabbage or carrots or zucchini, as well. Thanks.
I made this & absolutely loved it – I did take an additional can of chickpeas which I rinsed & drained & dried thoroughly & roasted in the oven to add for crunch. I didn’t have any green pepper so I just left it out. One thing I think I would do different next time is to add some additional cumin to the dressing. When I tasted it for seasoning it had a strong cumin taste but after I added it to all the vegetables & had it for dinner I couldn’t taste any flavor of cumin at all so I will add a smidge more next time but I really loved it!