Chickpea Salad “Chicken” – fresh, simple and plant-based

Chickpea Salad “Chicken” will trick your taste buds in the best way. This easy chickpea recipe is a fabulous plant-based, high-protein lunchtime option!

Guys, we’re giving cauliflower off the day (You’re welcome, cauliflower). It’s time for chickpeas to shine in it insane delicious, plant-based, vegan substitute for chicken salad.

Chickpea Chicken Salad will trick your taste buds in the best way ever. It tastes just like chicken salad but is meat-free, foolproof, fresh, high in protein and can be made ahead of time so you can have healthy, filling lunches on hand all week long.

If you’re looking for a vegan or vegetarian lunchtime idea, this easy recipe is a MUST TRY!

Chickpea Salad = Vegan substitute for chicken salad

Last year, I worked with a nutritionist friend to create an e-book of plant-based recipes for her clients, and this chickpea salad, aka a vegetarian version of the classic chicken salad, was one of my all-time favorites. When she shared the concept, I thought there was no way I could use chickpeas to create a dish that not only resembles, but THE TASTE like chicken salad…

I’ve never been happier about being wrong!

Chickpea “chicken” salad is not only a healthy idea for work or school lunch that’s packed with protein and fiber, but it’s delicious too incredible! Fresh, crispy, crunchy, creamy, tart – everything included. It hits all the right flavor and texture notes and is oddly irresistible?

ingredients required

This creamy chickpea salad takes about 10 minutes to make using fridge and pantry clips. Also, since it’s plant/bean based, it keeps well all week. Here’s what you need:

• Chickpeas: I use canned chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans) as opposed to cooking dried beans, so the recipe stays in the Quick and Easy Lunch category. I like to puree the chickpeas fairly well, but you can leave as much or as little whole to achieve the “chicken” salad texture you want.
• Celery: creates an irresistible crunch. I don’t like celery in my chicken salad, but it’s a must in the chickpea version!
• Pickles: provide a spicy crunch. Use whatever you have in the fridge – spears, slices, gherkins, etc.
• Shallot or Onion: provides more spicy crunch. Do you sense a theme here? I love the creamy/crunchy texture of this salad! Feel free to use red onions or scallions instead if you have any on hand.
• Mayonnaise: For Gwen, who is allergic to eggs and dairy, we have vegan mayo that I use in this chickpea salad. I like Hellman’s vegan mayonnaise of all the types we’ve tried. Feel free to use regular mayonnaise, but remember that most regular mayonnaise is made with eggs.
• Fresh lemon juice: a drizzle really wakes up and brightens this salad.
• Dijon mustard: provides a nice depth of flavor. In a pinch, you could use yellow mustard.
• Fresh dill: I really love fresh dill in this Chickpea Chicken Salad. You can use dried dill if you must, but try fresh dill at least once – it’s a treat!

Put your own spin on it

As previously written, this is a fantastic basic chickpea salad recipe. That said, feel free to dress it up and make it your own. Here are a few ideas:

1. Add dried cranberries, sliced ​​grapes, or chopped apple for a little sweetness.
2. Add chopped fresh bell peppers or roasted red bell peppers.
3. Substitute drained capers, chopped green olives, and/or chopped Kalamata olives for the cucumbers to add a Mediterranean twist to the chickpea salad. A pinch of feta cheese would be divine too!
4. Add nuts like chopped pecans, chopped almonds, or slivered almonds for extra crunch and flavor.
5. Leave it clunky. Like I said, I like to puree the chickpeas fairly smooth, but feel free to puree less chickpeas for a chunkier salad.

How to serve chickpea chicken salad

Just like the chicken salad, this vegan chickpea salad is super versatile to prepare. Here are my favourites:

• On toast. I love Canyon Bakehouse GF bread which like most gluten free breads is best toasted. Place the chickpea salad on a piece of toast or between two toasted slices. Sliced ​​tomato is beautiful on the inside!
• In salad cups. Use butter lettuce cups or romaine hearts to enjoy this salad as a lettuce wrap.
• pita bread. I like gluten free flatbreads from MyBread or BFREE.
• In the wrap. I love Mission GF tortillas and I love EggLife protein wraps too!
• With crackers. Simple Mills Almond Crackers are a great way to turn this salad into a delicious dip.
• About greens. Scoop over a bed of veggies for a high-protein salad.

Ideal for preparing meals

Because this Chicken and Chickpea Salad is plant-based, it keeps very well in the fridge for 5 days/the typical work week. However, feel free to portion the vegan chicken salad into custom-sized storage containers and refrigerate to take with you to lunch.

This recipe also makes for AWESOME mason jar salads! Pour the mashed chickpea salad into the bottom of a 16-ounce wide-mouth mason jar and fill the rest of the jar with veggies (arugula is super delicious.) When it’s time to eat, pour the mixture into a bowl and dig in a.

How to make Chickpea Salad “Chicken”.

Begin by adding a drained and rinsed can of chickpeas (also called chickpeas) in a large bowl.

Use the back of a fork or potato masher to mash them up. I like to mash almost all of the chickpeas, but feel free to leave some whole/chunky if you prefer.

You’ll see the skins fall off the beans as you mash them – it’s FINE. Resist the temptation to pull them out – you won’t notice them in the finished salad!

Add to the pureed chickpeas chopped onion or shallot, chopped celery, chopped pickles, fresh dill (dried dill pictured here), vegan mayo, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt, and pepperthen mix the ingredients well to combine them.

As you can see, all of the crunchy ingredients are finely chopped, so every bite is crunchy!

That’s all she wrote – told you this was an easy dish! My advice is to RUN in the kitchen, raid the fridge and pantry, and make this easy, vegan version of chicken salad asap. Let me know what you think – enjoy!

More easy lunch ideas

Photos by Ashley McLaughlin