Easy Vegan Chickpea Salad with Lemon Dressing

This fresh and vibrant chickpea salad – a.k.a. garbanzo bean salad – features crunchy veg, lemon, fresh herbs, and pumpkin seeds for a healthy summer side dish that's vegan, gluten-free, and bursting with flavour and texture.

Chickpeas are a central ingredient here, but you could swap these for virtually any cooked bean variety you like. By using canned chickpeas (or other beans), you'll have legumes that are already cooked and just need to be drained and rinsed before adding to the other salad ingredients.

For similar vegan recipes, check out this three-bean-salad, Mediterranean-style couscous salad, and vegan Waldorf salad.

Why you'll love this chickpea salad

• Ready in under 10 minutes, it's very easy to throw together
• It's packed full of healthy nutrients from the chickpeas and veg
• You'll get a nice variety of flavours and textures from the various ingredients
• You can prepare it ahead of time and store in the fridge for a few hours until needed

Recipe testing notes

• Lemon juice: I find that combining the onion, garlic, and lemon juice in a separate bowl helps to mellow the flavour of the raw aromatics before mixing through the other ingredients.
• Bowl: Using a large bowl makes it easier to mix everything together – you can always transfer the salad to another serving bowl once ready.
• Olive oil: For recipes such as this one, I'd recommend using a good-quality, extra-virgin olive oil.

Tinned vs. dried chickpeas

Some people are surprised to learn that you can add chickpeas straight from the can to a salad. This is because they've already been cooked as part of the canning process, and so you simply need to drain and rinse to get rid of any salt or additives.

If you're wanting to use dried chickpeas in this recipe, these will need to be cooked thoroughly before adding here. See my post on how to cook dried chickpeas for more info.

Is chickpea salad healthy?

Thanks to the healthy legumes, veg and seeds, this salad is packed full of nutrients including fibre, vitamins, and plant-based protein. One serving of this recipe provides:

• Calories: 254 kcal
• Vitamin C: 40 mg (48% of RDA)
• Fibre: 8 grams (33% of RDA)
• Protein: 9 grams (18% of RDA)

(Amounts based on a third-party nutrition calculator)

Want more healthy vegan chickpea recipes? Check out some of these: 👇

What you'll need

To make this easy vegan chickpea salad, you'll need:

• Canned chickpeas that are quick to drain and rinse
• Vibrant veg in the form of red onion, garlic, cucumber, red pepper, and fresh tomatoes
• Olives – I like pitted black olives that have been cut in half
• Lemon juice for flavour and zing
• Pumpkin seeds for added texture and nutrients
• Fresh parsley for herbal notes

How to make vegan chickpea salad

To a small bowl, add the chopped onion and garlic. Mix in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

The lemon juice helps to mellow the flavour of the onion and garlic before adding to the salad.

Once the chickpeas have been drained and rinsed, add these to a large bowl along with the diced cucumber, red pepper, olives, cherry tomatoes, pumpkin seeds, and parsley.

Mix well using a spoon.

To the smaller bowl with the onion and garlic, add the olive oil and stir well.

Add this to the larger bowl and mix everything together.

Adjust the seasoning if necessary, adding any extra salt, pepper, lemon juice, olive oil, or herbs.

Mix well, scooping some of the dressing to the top, and serve.

Serving suggestions

This salad is perfect as part of a summer meal or barbecue alongside the likes of grilled tofu skewers, grilled tempeh, or grilled king oyster mushrooms. I also find myself grabbing a bowl of the leftovers for an ultra-quick lunch or snack during the hotter months.

If you want even more texture, try adding cumin roasted cauliflower, roasted chickpeas, or other legumes such as roasted lentils or roasted black beans.

Recipe FAQ

Variations and tips for vegan chickpea salad

• Other fresh ingredients: Feel free to throw in other ingredients such as celery, corn, or avocado.
• Other beans: If you don't have chickpeas or would prefer not to use these, you could swap them for any canned beans in water that have been drained and rinsed.
• Fresh herbs: For a milder parsley flavour, omit the stems and just use the leaves. Other suggestions for herbs include fresh coriander, basil, or dill.

More vegan recipe ideas

If you liked this recipe, you might also enjoy:

You can also check out my full list of vegan side dishes and vegan BBQ recipes.

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