Fresh, hearty, and ready in 10 minutes, this chickpea salad recipe is a keeper! With herbs, tomatoes, roasted red peppers, cucumber, and avocado, it’s perfect for make-ahead lunches.
We are big bean salad people in the Mediterranean. We eat them all year long, in fancy restaurants, hosting friends and family, and for simple lunches with other mezzes. So when it came to making my own Mediterranean chickpea salad recipe, I had a lot of inspiration to pull from!
I’ve shared many chickpea salad recipes over the years, from my version with fried eggplant and za’atar to classic balela. This recipe has to be one of my all-time favorites. Every bite bursts with layers of crisp vegetables and fresh herbs. A peppery lemon-Dijon dressing infused with the bold Mediterranean flavors of my childhood brings it over the top!
It’s colorful, satisfying, and comes together in minutes. Plus, it keeps beautifully, making it perfect for meal prep, a light lunch, or a side to share at your next family gathering.
Chickpea Salad Recipe Ingredients
This chickpea salad recipe is very customizable. It uses Mediterranean pantry essentials, but you can substitute many of the ingredients with what you have on hand.
- For the dressing: Essentially a Dijon vinaigrette with an added kick from the Middle Eastern spices. You’ll need Dijon mustard, lemon, garlic, Aleppo pepper, sumac, salt, pepper, and high-quality extra virgin olive oil.
- BEST SWAPS: Swap the sumac for lemon zest, and the Aleppo pepper for red pepper flakes.
- Chickpeas: I use canned chickpeas, but you can cook them from scratch if you prefer.
- Cucumber: Use English or Persian cucumber, as they’re sweet with tender skin. If you have a standard slicing cucumber, peel its waxy skin.
- Grape tomatoes: Substitute with any tomatoes you like, just make sure they end up about bite-sized.
- Roasted red peppers: I love to roast my own, and it’s so much easier than you might think. But a jar works here too.
- Red onion: Substitute with shallot or green onion.
- Avocado: Adds creaminess and a good dose of healthy fats, but feel free to skip it. This salad is delicious without.
- Parsley and mint: Substitute with other tender green herbs, like dill, cilantro, or basil.
How to Make a Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
If you’d like to get ahead, hold off on adding the dressing and avocado until the final moments. Here are the steps to make this chickpea salad recipe:
- Make the dressing. Mince 1 garlic clove and add to a large bowl. To the bowl, add 1 teaspoon each Dijon mustard, Aleppo pepper (or red pepper flakes), and sumac (or lemon zest). Squeeze in the juice of one lemon and season with salt and pepper to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon each). Whisk, and while whisking, drizzle in 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil. Continue to whisk until emulsified.
- Prep the salad ingredients, adding to the dressing as you go. Drain, rinse, and dry 2 (15-ounce) cans of chickpeas. Chop one large cucumber. Halve 2 cups of grape tomatoes. Chop 2 roasted red bell peppers, discarding the seeds. Chop enough parsley leaves and tender stems to yield 1 cup, and enough mint leaves to yield 1/2 cup.
- Finish and serve. Slice the avocado in half, remove and discard the pit. Then roughly chop the flesh, discarding the skin. Add the avocado to the salad mixture and toss very gently until everything is well mixed. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking and serve immediately.
Getting Ahead and Storage
Avocado doesn’t age gracefully! If you’d like to prep ahead or enjoy leftovers, don’t mix the avocado into the salad. Instead:
- Portion out the avocado as you go, and add it to the salad just before serving.
- Store remaining avocado in a tightly sealed container with its pit, and plastic wrap pressed against the flesh. It will keep for about 3 days.
- Without the avocado, this chickpea salad recipe will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days. The tomatoes might lose a little texture, but they will still be perfectly delicious.
Mix it Up!
Here are some ways you can make this chickpea salad recipe your own:
- Add chicken: Rotisserie chicken is perfect, or you can shred poached chicken.
- Add crunch: Sprinkle on chopped walnuts, broken pita chips, or crispy quinoa.
- Change the dressing: Any of these healthy salad dressings would be delicious.
- Add cheese: Toss in creamy feta or sprinkle goat cheese on top before serving.
What to Serve with Chickpea Salad
Rich in protein, this vegan chickpea salad can hold its own as the main event. If you’d like to serve it as a side, though, here are some recipes that go well:
- For a vegan feast: Cauliflower Steaks with Chermoula or Mushroom Shawarma
- Vegetarian lunch: Spinach and Cheese Turkish Borek.
- If you’re a meat-eater: Alongside simple proteins, like Lemon Garlic Chicken or this Poached Salmon.
Making the Most of Chickpeas
Don’t limit yourself to chickpea salads! There are so many delicious ways to use this fiber and protein packed Mediterranean super-ingredient. Here are a few ideas, but be sure to check out my round up of easy chickpea recipes for more:
More Chickpea Salad Recipes
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Ingredients
For the Dijon Dressing
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper (or red pepper flakes)
- 1 teaspoon sumac (or lemon zest)
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- 1/4 cup Extra virgin olive oil
For the Salad
- 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 large English cucumber, chopped
- 2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
- 2 roasted red peppers, seeded and chopped (or a 16-ounce jar roasted peppers in oil)
- 1 small red onion or 2 shallots, finely chopped
- 1 cup chopped parsley leaves
- 1/2 cup chopped mint leaves
- 1 avocado, pitted and roughly chopped
Instructions
- Make the dressing. In a large bowl, whisk together the Dijon, lemon juice, garlic, Aleppo pepper, sumac, and salt and pepper (about 1/2 teaspoon each). Whisk, and while whisking, drizzle in enough olive oil to make it nicely glossy and well-balanced. Continue to whisk until emulsified.
- Mix. To the bowl with the dressing, add the chickpeas, cucumbers, tomatoes, roasted bell peppers, onion, parsley, and mint. Toss gently. Add the avocado and toss very gently once more.
- Enjoy! Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking and serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- Shop this recipe: Visit our shop to browse quality Mediterranean ingredients, including the olive oil and spices used in this recipe.
- Leftovers: Avocado doesn’t age gracefully to say the least! So if you’d like to enjoy leftovers, portion out just what you need and add half the avocado on top. Leave the pit on the second half, which will prevent it from browning. Wrap the leftover avocado tightly and store separately in your refrigerator. Both the salad and avocado will keep for another day or so.
Nutrition
The Mediterranean Diet Starter Kit
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*This post has recently been updated with new information for the readers’ benefit.
Delicious! Even without the Avocado it was amazing. Thank you!
Hi Suzy,
This salad looks delicious? Does your ground Sumac contain salt in the ingredients list?
Thanks.
Hi, Lina. Yes, it does contain a bit of salt.
Love this salad! So easy to make.
Thanks, Cindy!
Hi Suzy. My husband and I decided to go the Mediterranean way of eating at the beginning of this year. I bought your book as I have enjoyed a few of your recipes I found online. EVERYTHING I have made from your book is easy, delicious and thoroughly enjoyed by both of us. We have each lost a few pounds and feel this is a very easy and sustainable way of eating going forward. Thank you so much !!! 🇨🇦
Yay! Love hearing this! Thank you so much for your support!!
It was delicious! I sent the recipe to my sister.
I would like to say that I enjoy your vegetarian dishes, they’ve become my go to
most of your recipes have tomatoes and peppers (two of my favorite veggies) but they can be problematic for people with arthritis. I would like to see more without these two veggies.
Thanks
Delish. Note that your video includes a green bell pepper as well?
You are correct! Green peppers are also delicious here. This is one of those very forgiving types of recipes where you can play with the ingredients a bit according to what veggies you have on hand. So glad you enjoyed it!
I made this with a changed, but loved it. I didn’t have the tomatoes or 2 of the seasonings for the dressing & put 1 can of chickpeas & 1 can of black beans. It was awesome!! We all loved it. It is going to a go-to recipe.
Thanks for sharing, Jill! So glad this was a hit for you!
Absolutely delicious!
I made this today and it’s very very good. I’m not a Vegan but I’m trying to eat more healthy foods. This is healthy and tasty. I follow you on FB and get your recipes in my email.
Wonderful, Patricia! Thank you for being a part of our community!
This is a wonderful recipe that lends to cutting it in half with excellent results. I made the recipe for my wife and me so I cut it in half, used cannellini beans versus chickpeas, and added some chopped olives. Served with homemade bread and a glass of wine, this was a nice light dinner.
I made this recipe, beautiful to look at and delicious too. I didn’t have parsley in my garden so I added basil and oregano along with the mint. I felt like it needed just a little extra something and tried fresh grated ginger, perfect! Thank you. Perfect summer salad for us here in Australia.
Thanks for sharing you adaptations, Catherine.
I made this last night and it was very tasty & a great success
This salad is easy to prepare, tasty and light in oil! Thank you!!
Thanks, Lois!
Inspiring information. Excellent
Delicious! I did not make it real herby but I thoroughly enjoyed this! I served it up with some grilled naan. It is very satisfying my daughters will love it!
Thank you for sharing 😋😋😋
So glad you enjoyed it, Debra!