Description
Smashed chickpea salad is the perfect delicious-in-a-hurry recipe for lunch, dinner, picnics, or meal prep. Made with all the traditional flavors of a classic tuna salad, but with chickpeas instead of tuna! Perfect on its own, in lettuce wraps, or for a sandwich. So versatile and ready in less than 20 minutes! Vegan / vegetarian, gluten free, dairy free, nut free, and soy free.
Ingredients
- 1 15 ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1/4 cup finely diced red onion
- 1/2 cup finely diced celery
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise of choice – vegan or regular avocado oil mayo
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice or white wine vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
Instructions
- Smash the chickpeas. Drain and rinse chickpeas and add to a large bowl. Using a fork, pastry cutter, or potato masher, or even the back of a sturdy wooden spoon, mash until a rough (but not too smooth) consistency is reached.
- Add remaining ingredients. Add diced red onion, celery, fresh herbs, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, paprika, black pepper, and salt. Stir to combine.
- Season and serve! Season to taste with more salt and pepper if desired. Serve by itself, over a bed of greens, in a lettuce wraps, with crackers, or on some toasted bread with your favorite sandwich toppings and enjoy!
Notes
See the section above titled “ingredients and substitutions” for lots substitution suggestions.
There are a few effective ways of mashing / smashing your chickpeas for this salad. I typically use a pastry cutter or a large fork, but you could also use a potato masher or even the back of a sturdy wooden spoon. I like leaving a fair amount of texture and a few whole beans to the chickpea mixture (which means not over mashing!), but feel free to tailor the texture to your preference.
While it’s delicious all on it’s own, this salad is equally tasty served with crackers, with cucumber slices or celery sticks, over a bed of salad greens, in a lettuce wrap, or (of course!) on a sandwich with your favorite sandwich toppings!
This garbanzo bean salad is quite sturdy and should keep well in the refrigerator in a covered container for up to 4 days.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Method: No cook
- Cuisine: American