Vegan Chickpea Salad (No Mayo!)

• chickpeas – To make this recipe really quick and easy, I usually use canned chickpeas and just rinse them. You can also cook dry chickpeas to save some money.
• togetherni – Tahini is what gives this vegan chickpea salad that nice, creamy texture you usually get from mayo in tuna salad. When you add lemon juice and vinegar to tahini, you get a rich, tart, creamy sauce.
• Vinegar – White vinegar is my personal favorite vinegar to use in this chickpea tuna salad. It’s super fresh and tart and really brightens this salad.
• lemon juice – Lemon sherbet and tahini are made in heaven. I like to add lots of fresh lemon juice to this salad. Using my lemon squeezer.
• Celery – I personally like chopped celery in this salad because most chicken and tuna salads contain celery. But if you prefer a different vegetable or just want to omit the celery, you can always do so.
• red onion – Red onion It adds a little pop of color to an otherwise fairly neutral salad.

See recipe card for full list of ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions and Alterations

🔀 tahini – If you’re not a fan of tahini or can’t find it where you live, you can also use vegan mayo. However, if you use mayonnaise, you may want to cut back on the lemon and vinegar a bit.

🔀 Vinegar – White vinegar is my favorite vinegar in chickpea salad, but if you don’t have it, you can use apple cider vinegar or use more lemon juice.

🔀 Celery and onion – Use crisp, vibrant vegetables of your choice or omit them all together.

Whenever I make chickpea salad, I like to use my food processor. Pulse the chickpeas, lemon juice, tahini and vinegar together in a food processor makes the whole process much easier.

Another tip is to start this whole recipe by mincing your garlic in a food processor. Then add some coarsely chopped celery and red onion and pulse again until the vegetables are chopped. Remove the garlic, celery, and onion from the food processor, and then add the chickpeas, lemon juice, vinegar, and tahini and pulse until combined. Then mix both batches together!

storage

Thanks to fresh lemon juice, vinegar, and salt, this Vegan Chickpea Salad stores beautifully. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. Leftovers should last about a week.

Expert tips

1. If you hate mincing garlic and chopping vegetables and have a food processor, let your processor do all the work! Place your garlic cloves in the processor and process until finely minced. Then add the celery and red onion and pulse until finely chopped. Pour this mixture into a bowl and then proceed to add the chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice and vinegar to the already messy processor and pulse until all the ingredients are combined. Stir the two mixtures together and you’re done! No cutting involved!
2. This vegan chickpea salad tastes best the longer it sits in the fridge, so I like to make a double batch earlier in the week to have on hand for sandwiches and wraps whenever we need a quick and easy lunch.