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.
Sharon’s Chickpea Salad or Sandwich Spread
Ingredients
- 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
Instructions
- 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.
Winter Harvey says
I 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 says
Winter, 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 says
Question: Do you drain the chickpeas before mashing?
Nava says
Oh, good catch. Yes, drained and rinsed. I just amended.
Lollie says
THANK YOU!!
Rebecca C. says
hi,
just wondered if you recommend peeling the chickpeas (canned) or just use them as they are?
Nava says
If there are loose hulls, you can discard them, but in general, no, you need not peel the chickpeas.
mshell says
Still not able to pin it.....
Paula says
This 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 says
For 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 says
since 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 says
please ignore previous comment! i just re-read the recipe! D'OH!
Nava says
No 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 says
Yum! 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 says
This 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 says
Looks delicious, anxious to try this yumminess. Tried your suggestions, but still couldn't pin it, so sad.
Nava says
Suzanne, do you see the Pinterest symbol when you hover over the photos? It should be working ...
Ellie says
Sounds 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 says
Love 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 says
This 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 says
I love this page!!! Thank Thee Carole for sharing this on Facebook for us♡♡♡
Nava says
Thank you, Diana! Please come back often ...
Martin says
Add a little powdered Dulse (seaweed)and you have a good mock Tuna salad as well.
Nava says
Thanks for the suggestion, Martin. Dulse has a lot of nutrients, too.
Cathy says
I don't like relish, what do you recommend instead of it?
Nava says
Cathy, 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 says
Is there anything I can use as a mayo substitute? I don't like the real stuff or the vegan kind.
Nava says
Kimberly, 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 says
I 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 says
I’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 says
I'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 says
Hi 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 says
This is my new favorite sandwich!