Balela salad is an all-time favorite nutrition-packed power salad. It's fresh, satisfying, and totally festive. This is not your basic chickpea salad recipe!
Let's start with a simple definition. In Arabic, the word “balela” means “cooked chickpeas.” Balela salad is an ancient Middle Eastern chickpea salad. It is simple, wholesome, bright, and flavor-packed. A winner on all fronts!
There are many variations of balela salad, but this recipe is closer to what you'd find in the restaurants and food joints of Alexandria, Egypt.
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Balela Salad My Way
The gist: cooked chickpeas, chopped veggies, copious amounts of fresh herbs, and Mediterranean favorites like olives and sun-dried tomatoes. A zesty salad dressing with garlic and sumac brings everything together.
Tip: to allow the flavors to meld, make the balela salad ahead of time, at least a half hour before serving!
Turn Your Balela Salad Into a Meal!
Clearly this beautiful and festive salad can be served as part of a special dinner. But with nourishing and satisfying chickpeas, being the star ingredient in balela salad, it can really stand alone as a meal. You can also serve it in warm pita pockets with a drizzle of tahini, or add it to an impressive vegetarian mezze platter with baba ganoush and roasted red pepper hummus.
Have You Heard About the Half Cup Habit?
I get excited when I see balela salad at my local deli. Good on them! It's one brilliant way to pack lean protein and plant-based nutrition into your diet! And if there were a list of textbook Mediterranean diet recipes, Balela salad would make the top!
As you know, one of the powerful secrets of the Mediterranean diet is in nutrition-filled pulses, like dry chickpeas, lentils, peas, and beans. Pulses pack a lot of protein, and they are rich in complex carbohydrates, fiber and B vitamins!
If you don't already eat a good portion of pulses, a simple goal would be to add to your diet just ½ cup of pulses three times per week (a total of 1 ½ cups of pulses per week, which is what USDA recommends). This is what USA Pulses and Pulse Canada call the Half-Cup Habit! Check it out here. And, I've included some more of my favorite recipes below!
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Balela Salad
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 3 ½ cups cooked chickpeas (or 2 15-ounce cans chickpeas), drained and rinsed
- ½ green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 jalapeno, finely chopped (optional)
- 2 ½ cups grape or cherry tomatoes, halved if you’d like (or you can leave them whole)
- ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes
- 3-5 green onions, chopped (both white and green parts)
- ⅓ cup pitted Kalamata olives
- ¼ cup pitted green olives
- ½ cup chopped parsley leaves
- ½ cup chopped mint or basil leaves
For the Dressing
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 teaspoon sumac
- ½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Mix the salad. In a large bowl, mix the chickpeas, bell pepper, jalapeno (if using), tomatoes, green onion, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, and herbs.
- Make the dressing. In a separate bowl or jar, add the oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, sumac, Aleppo pepper, and red pepper (if using). Season with salt and pepper to taste and whisk to combine.
- Dress. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and mix gently to coat. Ideally, leave aside for 30 minutes before serving, or cover and refrigerate until you’re ready to serve.
- Serve. When ready to serve, give the salad a quick mix and taste to adjust seasoning if at all needed. Enjoy!
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Notes
- Turn your babela into a meal! This wholesome, nutrition-packed salad can easily be turned into a meal. Serve it in warm pita pockets with a drizzle of tahini. Or add it to an impressive vegetarian mezze platter with baba ganoush and roasted red pepper hummus.
- Recommended for this recipe: Early Harvest Greek extra virgin olive oil (from organically grown and processed Koroneiki olives). And from our all-natural spice collection: Sumac and Aleppo Pepper.
- Visit our shop to browse quality Mediterranean ingredients including olive oils, honey, jams, and spices.
Nutrition
*This post has recently been updated with new information for readers’ benefit.
I usually roast the chickpeas with cumin and coriander seeds, and add them to the tomatoes and other ingredients afterwards. The contrasting textures are appealing: crunchy chickpeas and soft juicy tomatoes, enhanced by the dressing and other spices.
Oh, Yum! Love that!
5
So Good and a great presentation.
Thank you!
Delicious and colorful but no way does it take 15 minutes to make!!! I'm no slouch in the kitchen but this took 1.5 hours to prep.
How is that possible? Do you have a huge number to cook for, perhaps?
How on earth did that take you 1 1/2 hours to prep?? My child could make it in 20 mins.
I was also born and raised on the shores of the Mediterranean, in Malta. I’ve lived in the US since the mid 1980’s and have always preferred the Mediterranean way of cooking and eating, as opposed to the typical American diet. I love your recipes and this version of balela is delicious!
This is fantastic. I used mint because I had it on hand. Will try with basil once it grows! Definitely making often this summer.
The amount of chickpeas seemed too much for my taste, so I used half the amount. It was a great salad. Thanks for sharing.
How do you choose the right olive oil for different dishes?
Hi, Kerry! You'll find that of our olive oils can be used for dressings, marinades, baking, frying, etc. The one you choose for a particular dish will depend on what you're personally going for, flavor-wise. Each olive oil has its own flavor profile. Some, like our Arbequinia California EVOO, are a bit more fruity or neutral-tasting, so they would be better for dessert baking (as you see in our olive oil cake recipe). Others, like our Early Harvest EVOO are a bit more robust or peppery, so they work better on more savory recipes. If you check out the olive oil section of our online shop, you'll find flavor descriptions of each, so that can help guide you a bit.
This. Was. Delicious! I made it for dinner tonight. Sadly, I didn’t have sumac or Aleppo on hand, but I added a generous spoonful of harissa and it was amazing. We put it in toasted pita and drizzled with tahini as suggested. It was just so good! I can’t wait to have leftovers tomorrow.
this salad is so delicious and refreshing. I made this last week and everyone asked for the recipe.
I made this salad a few days ago and it was so tasty!!! I will be making it again for a holiday party. Thank you for sharing!!!!
Our pleasure, Isa!
My friends and family EXPECT and request that i bring this dish. THIS recipe is a knockout every time! THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS AND ALL THE WORK YOU DO.
YAY! Love it!
This was fantastic! Even better than the Trader Joe’s balela salad. I skipped the jalapeño and parsley (simply because the jalapeño was optional and I forgot the parsley). I couldn’t find Aleppo pepper near me so I substituted 1.2 teaspoon of paprika and I made sure to include the 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper that was optional to make up for the missing subtle heat. Overall this recipe was a keeper and it is going to be in my regular lunch rotation now! I’m also going to save this recipe for whenever I have vegan guests over or for times I need to bring a salad or side to a potluck— thanks so much for putting this recipe together!
EDIT: 1/2 a teaspoon of paprika (not 1.2….)
Thanks, Laura!
Whatis the saturated fat content? And monosatyrated fat
The recipe does not say to slice, chop, dice etc. the olives nor the sun dried tomatoes, but the photo appears to show that they are chopped or sliced? Thank you.
Hi, Maria. Chopping these is optional. It depends on your personal preference and how large they are to begin with.
I make this all the time. Love it!