This Mediterranean chickpea salad is one of my favorite summer salad recipes.
It is SO easy to make and has simple ingredients that really bring a lot of flavor to your meal.
I use this salad in so many ways. It’s a wonderful every day summer salad. It comes together in just a few minutes and is a wonderful summer addition to the dinner table.
Chick pea salad is a great addition to your picnics and barbecues. It’s also a wonderful salad to bring to pot luck dinners and lunches.
I often serve it when I have company for lunch. In the summer I really like to serve a lunch that’s a variety of salads. This chickpea salad recipe is a nice choice.
Raw vegetable salads are always welcome, especially in the summer. Everyone loves the crunch of fresh vegetables and it’s even nicer with the addition of the protein in chickpeas.
Chick pea salad is made with a can of chickpeas plus vegetables you probably already have on hand in your fridge.
Ingredients for Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
Let’s look at what you need to make this delicious salad.
First of all, you need a can of chickpeas. My recipe calls for a 19 ounce can of chickpeas but you can use more or less, depending on the size of the salad you want to make.
That’s what I love about cooking. Most of the time you can adjust recipes to your taste and your needs. (Not baking. That’s a whole other world).
For example, the beans. If you don’t like chickpeas or don’t have them on hand, use another bean.
This recipe also tastes great if you use black beans or cannellini beans (white kidney beans).
Try it with a can of mixed beans or pinto beans too.
You can adjust the herbs you use too. If I make the salad with black beans I would probably use parsley and cilantro to give the salad that southwest flavor.
If you use cannellini beans, add some fresh chopped basil for that Italian take on the salad.
You can also add in or change the vegetables you use. I give you some suggestions below the recipe.
How to Make this Mediterranean Chickpea Salad Recipe
Once you have your ingredients assembled, it’s pretty easy to put this chick pea and raw vegetable salad together.
Open the can of chickpeas and drain them very well. You don’t want the canning liquid to be part of your dressing. Place the drained chickpeas into your salad bowl.
Clean and chop each of the vegetables. Add them to the salad bowl as you prep them. Mix it all together well.
Chop the herbs you will be adding to the salad. I suggest you use fresh herbs if you possibly can.
This salad is mostly used in the summer (although it’s great year round) and fresh herbs are readily available in most areas so use them if you can.
If you can’t use fresh herbs for some reason, don’t let that stop you from making this lovely salad. Use a smaller amount of the dried versions of the herbs you choose. It will still be good.
One tip of you are using dried herbs. Make the salad a few hours before you need to serve it. That will allow the dried herbs to soften and open up a bit in the lemon and olive oil dressing.
For the dressing I just juice a lemon and pour it right over the salad ingredients.
I have suggest two lemons for this salad, but that’s something you have to judge. Is the juice of one lemon enough or do you need two? It will depend on the size of your lemons and how juicy they are.
I will often use olive oil for this salad. It is supposed to be a Mediterranean salad after all and I do love olive oil.
If you prefer you can use a lighter oil. I love avocado oil or grape seed oil, but use what you have and love.
The picture of this salad has chunk of feta cheese in it. I do like feta cheese and will use it sometimes.
I also love summer salads with pieces of goat cheese sprinkled though it and that is what I often use.
Again, your salad your choice of cheese – or no cheese at all if you prefer.
This salad recipe is pretty simple as you can see, but it packs a lot of nutrition, including protein. And it serves up a lot of flavor for just a bit of effort.
I hope you enjoy this chickpea salad recipe.
Let me know how it works for you in the comments section below the recipe. And sign up for our newsletter if you want me to send you recipes as they hit the website.
Enjoy.
Mediterranean Chickpea Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 19 ounce can chickpeas
- 1/2 red onion, sliced, then chopped
- 1 carrot, medium, or 2 very small carrots
- 1/2 cucumber, chopped
- 10 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- 2 ounces feta cheese, or goat cheese, crumbled
- 2 lemons, juiced
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, or avocado oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup parsley, cilantro, basil or dill
Instructions
- Open the can of chickpeas and drain them well in a strainer. Place them in a medium size bowl.
- Chop the red onion into small pieces and add them to the bowl.
- Scrape the carrots to clean them and chop them into small pieces. Cut the cucumber into small chunks. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Add them all to the bowl.
- Mix the vegetables and chick peas together. Pour the lemon juice over the mixture and mix together.
- Pour the oil over the salad and mix it in. Add salt and pepper or leave it out.
- Add the finely chopped fresh herbs (either one herb alone or a mix of parsley and dill or parsley and cilantro work well).
- Add the crumbled feta cheese or goat cheese on top and serve. The salad can sit in the fridge for several hours before serving it.
- Makes 6 servings.
Notes
Add sliced black olives or green olives if you like the flavor.
Add 1/2 of a bell pepper, chopped. I like to use a colorful pepper, like red or orange.
Add 1 stalk of celery, slicedHere is another variation on chickpea salad. It’s my quinoa salad with vegetables and chickpeas. It’s yummy too.
You can browse all of my favorite salad recipes here.
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