Delicious and filling chickpea salad recipe spiced up with a bright Mediterranean dressing that is above your usual. Healthy, tasty and naturally vegan.
Red onion, tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper and parsley are all combined with chickpeas and seasoned to perfection. All the favorite fresh vegetables in just one delicious bowl. Packed full with big flavors, this salad is a great make ahead for parties and gatherings.
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❤️ Why You'll Love It
- Easy to make and comes together fast.
- Perfect for lunch or as a side dish.
- Great for picnics and potlucks.
A colorful salad that will brighten any dinner table, with leftovers great for lunch. This Mediterranean chickpea salad is hearty and very filling with my favorite spice combination. The dressing for this salad is extremely mouthwatering, I thought I could drink it on its own🤤.
📝 Ingredients
- Canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans).
- Red onions.
- Cucumbers.
- Tomatoes.
- Red bell pepper.
- Parsley.
- For the dressing you will need: extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, cumin, cardamom, dry mint and freshly ground black pepper.
🥄 Instructions
- In a bowl, add all the veggies and the chickpeas .
- In an empty jar combine salad dressing ingredients and shake well to combine.
- Pour dressing over, toss and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
💡 Expert Tips
- Persian cucumbers work the best for this recipe. They have thin skin and small seeds which make them better than any other.
- Ripe tomatoes are best used for this recipe, you can use cherry or grape tomatoes as well.
⌛ Make Ahead
This Mediterranean chickpea salad is great for make ahead side dish. Cut the veggies, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 6-8 hours. Pour dressing over and mix before serving preferably by 30 minutes.
🧺 Storage
Leftover chickpea salad can stay in the fridge for up to 3 days. Just cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate, drain any excess juices if you would prefer to.
👩🍳 Variations
- Swap out the veggies: this recipe is so versatile, you can use any sort of onions instead of red onions, any bell pepper or spice it up and use jalapeño peppers.
- You may consider adding one or more of these ingredients to play with the recipe more : feta cheese, tofu, tuna or black olives.
💬 Recipe FAQs
Chickpeas are a staple in the Mediterranean pantry, and it is a very affordable meat substitute for vegans and vegetarian people. This little chubby legume is an excellent source of protein, healthy fats, fiber, carbohydrates, and a long list of vitamins and minerals. Being packed with protein and fibers, chickpeas are considered an good food to promote weight loss.
My mom told me no, and I believe my mom end of the story😇. Researchers say that canned beans have almost the same nutrients as the dry one, may be a little bit less. But the problem is that canned beans have mush more sodium in them. Almost half of that sodium is washed away when we rinse the beans but take note that you are also washing away some of the nutrients. I always like cooking my own dry beans, but you know what? out of convenience I sometimes use canned chickpeas like in this recipe.
Here is my mom's method for cooking chickpeas. First you'll need to cover with cold water and add about half a teaspoon of baking soda for each cup of dry chickpeas. Soak overnight or in hot boiled water if you are in a hurry. Drain, place in a pot and cover with cold water ( almost 1 litre/1cup of soaked chickpeas), bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer until tender checking every now and then for the water level. Take about 75-90 minutes to cook.
🍽️ Serve With
- This salad makes a great meatless or vegan meal just add some freshly baked pita bread or flatbread crackers.
- Works great as a side with grilled meat like shish tawook, shish kebabs, and kofta.
This Mediterranean Chickpea Salad is an easy, healthy, gluten-free and vegan rainbow in a plate. It can stay in the fridge for several days, just drain and use if you wish. Personally, I like having this veggie water with my salad 😍. Works great as a side dish for your grilled meat or as a hearty filling lunch.
📣 More Recipes From the Blog
Are you a big fan of vegetable loaded salads? Get ready those fun summer cookouts with these
- Simple and easy white bean salad with Mediterranean flavors.
- This Middle Eastern eggplant salad is to die, textured and tasty.
- Enjoy this sweet and sour pearl couscous salad, so refreshing.
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Chickpea Salad
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 1 canned chickpeas (15.5 oz) drained and washed.
- 1 cup red onion diced.
- 1 1/3 cup cucumber diced.
- 1 1/2 cup tomato diced.
- 1 medium red bell pepper diced.
- 1/4 cup parsley chopped.
For the dressing:
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 Tablespoon dry mint
- 1 teaspoon Salt or to your liking.
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper optional
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine veggies and set aside.
- In an empty jar combine salad dressing ingredients and shake well to combine.
- Pour dressing over veggies and toss to coat everything well.
- Let it set for 30 minutes in the fridge before serving.
Notes
- Persian cucumbers work the best for this recipe. They have thin skin and small seeds which make them better than any other.
- Ripe tomatoes are best used for this recipe, you can use cherry or grape tomatoes as well.
- Make ahead:
- This Mediterranean chickpea salad is great for make ahead side dish. Cut the veggies, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 6-8 hours. Pour dressing over and mix before serving preferably by 30 minutes.
Storage: - Leftover chickpea salad can stay in the fridge for up to 3 days. Just cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate, drain any excess juices if you would prefer to.
- This Mediterranean chickpea salad is great for make ahead side dish. Cut the veggies, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 6-8 hours. Pour dressing over and mix before serving preferably by 30 minutes.
- Variations:
- Swap out the veggies: this recipe is so versatile, you can use any sort of onions instead of red onions, any bell pepper or spice it up and use jalapeño peppers.
- You may consider adding one or more of these ingredients to play with the recipe more : feta cheese, tofu, tuna or black olives.
- Serve with :
- This salad makes a great meatless or vegan meal just add some freshly baked pita bread or flatbread crackers.
- Works great as a side with grilled meat like shish tawook, shish kebabs, and kofta.
Nutrition
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First published Feb 2, 2019 . Last updated June 1, 2021 with important tips, clear step by step instructions and readability.
A light delicious salad!
Thank you Amira
I am enjoying the Familiar and the new recipes that you sharing with us
Thanks Albert for your sweet comment, I appreciate it.
My dear Amira I always love every recipe of yours. Thank you.
Thank you so much Anna ❤️.