This chickpea salad recipe is super easy and completely delicious; it takes only about 15 minutes to make, and there are so many ways to serve it — as a sandwich, appetizer, or dolloped into a lettuce leaf. The hint of sweet pickle relish really gives this preparation a great flavor! See suggestions following the recipe. Recipe contributed by Sharon Nazarian, from Big City Vegan. Photos by Hannah Kaminsky.
- 15-oz can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
- ½ cup carrots, shredded (about 2 medium carrots)
- ½ cup celery, finely chopped (1 large or 2 average-size stalks)
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice (from about 1 lemon)
- 2 tablespoons vegan mayonnaise, or as desired
- 2 tablespoons chives or scallion, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish, or more, to taste
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast, optional but highly recommended
- 1 to 2 tablespoons minced fresh dill or 1 to 2 teaspoons dried, to taste
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon sea salt (or to taste, optional, see Note)
- Mash chickpeas in a bowl with a potato masher until there are no whole chickpeas left. A potato masher works best but if you don’t have one, you can use a fork (or for the totally lazy, place the chickpeas in a food processor and pulse on and off until finely chopped).
- Combine the mashed chickpeas with the remaining ingredients and mix together. Serve as suggested below.
Note: Depending on what brand of chickpeas you use, you may or may not need to add additional salt. Some canned beans have more salt than others. You can buy no-salt added chickpeas for complete control over your sodium intake. You could also soak and cook your beans instead of buying canned. This requires a little extra work but can be more economical.
Serving Ideas
- Serve as a sandwich with toasted bread. Try it on Food for Life Ezekiel bread with sliced tomatoes, or your favorite multigrain bread over a bed of greens, like baby spinach, baby kale, or romaine lettuce.
- Or make romaine lettuce boats. Just scoop some chickpea salad onto a romaine lettuce leaf – so good and refreshing.
- This is also delicious on whole grain crackers or stoneground tortilla chips served as an appetizer.
- Explore more of VegKitchen’s Vegan sandwiches and wraps.
33 Comments
Winter Harvey
June 17, 2013 at 12:56 pmI get posts for so many amazing looking recipes on facebook, but when I follow the link and go to this sight, it won’t let me pin it. Somehow the picture that is posted with the recipe doesn’t transfer to pinterest and I guess they won’t let you post it without a picture. I notice that other people are posting these on pinterest. Can you give a me a tip on how to do this?
Thanks, Winter
Nava
June 17, 2013 at 1:12 pmWinter, so sorry about this. We do have intermittent trouble getting things posted on Pinterest, and will continue to try to resolve the issue. Thanks for your interest!
Lollie
June 17, 2013 at 1:58 pmQuestion: Do you drain the chickpeas before mashing?
Nava
June 17, 2013 at 2:02 pmOh, good catch. Yes, drained and rinsed. I just amended.
Lollie
June 17, 2013 at 2:05 pmTHANK YOU!!
Rebecca C.
June 18, 2013 at 12:23 amhi,
just wondered if you recommend peeling the chickpeas (canned) or just use them as they are?
Nava
June 18, 2013 at 2:24 amIf there are loose hulls, you can discard them, but in general, no, you need not peel the chickpeas.
mshell
October 30, 2013 at 3:37 pmStill not able to pin it…..
Paula
November 4, 2013 at 4:59 pmThis recipe is a stroke of brilliance! I made it exactly as written, and it is satisfying and delicious. I ate it on a bed of lettuce. Yum! Thanks so much.
Todd
February 7, 2014 at 12:25 pmFor Pinning on Pintrest hover your curser or arrow over the image. The Pintrest Icon will show up on the picture. Do Not use the icons above the pictures, they aren’t working.
Taza
February 7, 2014 at 12:47 pmsince i am sooo totally lazy, i’m adding a small scallion to the food processor! i think it will be a delicious addition.
thanks for the inspiration! 😉
Taza
February 7, 2014 at 12:50 pmplease ignore previous comment! i just re-read the recipe! D’OH!
Nava
February 7, 2014 at 1:04 pmNo worries, Taza — despite all my recipes, I’m totally lazy, too. That’s why I like recipes that are really simple and quick the best!
Shirley Polkowske
February 7, 2014 at 2:42 pmYum! I used to love tuna salad and had been missing it. This fits the bill very well! I was out of lemons, so I used a lime. It is winter here, no chives untill spring, so I used a leek. It was tasty on romane leaves, seaweed rice crackers, and even pear slices! My picky autistic son loved it! What a nice light lunch, extra for a later snack! Thank you!
Suzanne
February 7, 2014 at 9:09 pmThis looks delicious. I tried to pin it. It shows the picture on my computer pin-it box, but when I attempt to finalize a new box pops up that says they can’t fetch the picture. So sad. But I did make a copy on my computer. Anxious to try this yumminess.
Suzanne
February 7, 2014 at 9:14 pmLooks delicious, anxious to try this yumminess. Tried your suggestions, but still couldn’t pin it, so sad.
Nava
February 8, 2014 at 10:28 amSuzanne, do you see the Pinterest symbol when you hover over the photos? It should be working …
Ellie
February 8, 2014 at 6:44 pmSounds delicious! As an aside, fresh-cooked chickpeas (or chickpeas that you have cooked and then frozen) have a much nicer flavour than out of a can. So say my tastebuds 🙂
DJD
February 8, 2014 at 9:27 pmLove this!!! Just followed the recipe to a “T” except I didn’t rinse my beans, because I cooked them fresh with rosemary and garlic. Drained and kept the juice to use as a vegan soup broth base. Fresh chickpeas just taste so much better than canned. Plus I don’t buy canned foods.
The salad actually tastes almost exactly like tuna salad and even the texture is similar. I am so thrilled with this recipe.
I’ve been looking for something I can take to work for lunch and not need to heat in a microwave. And I’ve also been trying to eat more protein, so for all these reasons this recipe is perfect!
Sharon at Big City Vegan
February 9, 2014 at 2:35 pmThis is such an easy, delicious and satisfying recipe. Thank you Nava for sharing it with your fabulous readers. Suzanne, I’m using Firefox and didn’t have a problem pinning either photo. Maybe try a different browser. I used the Pinterest share button at the top of the post just under the title as opposed to the pinterest button on the photo.
Diana
April 1, 2014 at 1:33 pmI love this page!!! Thank Thee Carole for sharing this on Facebook for us♡♡♡
Nava
April 1, 2014 at 1:39 pmThank you, Diana! Please come back often …
Martin
April 2, 2014 at 4:31 pmAdd a little powdered Dulse (seaweed)and you have a good mock Tuna salad as well.
Nava
April 6, 2014 at 10:15 pmThanks for the suggestion, Martin. Dulse has a lot of nutrients, too.
Cathy
June 4, 2014 at 4:39 pmI don’t like relish, what do you recommend instead of it?
Nava
June 4, 2014 at 4:43 pmCathy, there’s so little relish in this, you can just skip it. But if you want a little something pungent, you can add a few chopped olives or sun-dried tomatoes.
Kimberly
June 24, 2014 at 11:26 amIs there anything I can use as a mayo substitute? I don’t like the real stuff or the vegan kind.
Nava
June 24, 2014 at 11:29 amKimberly, you can use your favorite salad dressing, or some well-mashed avocado. Depending on the texture of the chickpeas (some canned or cooked chickpeas are a bit dry and crumbly, some are more moist), you do need some kind of moistening in this. Hope you enjoy it!
Diane
April 27, 2015 at 3:23 pmI have a similar recipe, but instead of mayo, some tahini and miso give it a great flavor, although I love the avocado idea.
I do get lazy , so throw not only chick peas, but also carrots and onions in a small food processor . When the beans are a little more chopped , it all stays together.
It makes such a satisfying meal. Thanks !
[email protected] cookware online
June 2, 2016 at 1:31 amI’m a big fan of ceasar salad and even more so now that you’ve shared this recipe. It’s such a great twist on a classic recipe. Sharing and pinning for later. Thanks so much for sharing this with us on #shinebloghop this week!
Sarah
October 5, 2016 at 12:16 amI’m making a bunch of easy meals for my mom who is trying to go vegan for health reasons and I’m wondering if anyone has ever frozen this or if you know how long it will last in the fridge? I make most of my food the day I eat it unless it’s a veggie burger or soup. But she doesn’t cook a whole lot and I’d like to come up with a week worth of food that’s already prepared for her. Thanks for the help. 🙂
Nava
October 9, 2016 at 7:32 pmHi Sarah, this particular recipe always gets eaten so fast that we’ve never had occasion to freeze it! It will last several days in the fridge, but I can almost guarantee you that it will be devoured quickly.
Leslie
October 25, 2017 at 2:58 pmThis is my new favorite sandwich!