Chickpea Salad with Avocado Dressing
Is there a meal more refreshing than a bowl of fresh salad on a hot summer day? Added to that, there’s the simplicity and how effortlessly you can prep it in just a few minutes.
This vegan chickpea salad features easy-to-find ingredients like chickpeas, tomatoes, carrots, yellow peppers, olives, and a 5-minute homemade avocado dressing that transforms any boring salad into a creamy flavorful delight.
The rich, buttery texture of the avocado adds a satisfying creaminess to the salad, while its subtle, zesty, and spicy notes complement the veggies perfectly for a light and refreshing meal.
👍🏻 Why This Recipe Works
A fresh, creamy salad that is perfect for a warm day
You can make a salad surprisingly delicious but still make it incredibly healthy, which I’ve done by taking an extra 5 or 10 minutes to prepare an avocado dressing that is zesty, creamy, and incredibly delicious despite only containing a handful of ingredients. More importantly, no processed ingredients have been used!
Takes 10-15 minutes to make and uses budget-friendly ingredients
If you want something that’s easy and really quick to make, this vegan chickpea recipe uses less than 10 ingredients, most of which are pretty easy to find in a local grocery store or supermarket, and they’re all pretty cheap.
There are no complicated steps.
Apart from soaking your chickpeas overnight and cooking them to a desirable consistency, there are no overly complicated steps in this recipe. All you need is a sharp knife to chop your ingredients and a large bowl where you can season and incorporate everything.
🗒️ Ingredient Notes
Chickpeas: A mandatory staple for any vegan or vegetarian, chickpeas are high in protein, fiber, and carbohydrates. By adding chickpeas to a salad— you elevate it to a main dish by making it nutritionally richer and more fulfilling.
Onions: The pungent taste and crunchiness of onions contrast well with the tangy sweetness of the tomatoes and the plain sweetness of the carrots and yellow peppers.
Tomatoes: No salad can go wrong with tomatoes, particularly cherry tomatoes, which confer salads with a powerful acidity followed by a sweet taste.
Carrots. They add a sweet crunchiness to the salad that contrasts beautifully with the acidity of the tomatoes.
Yellow Peppers: These peppers make your salad more colorful, but feel free to use whatever peppers you have at your disposal (red, orange, or green).
Olives: Being from a Mediterranean country, olives are present in many of my favorite foods, and I found that adding some to this salad adds an interesting layer of flavor that is uniquely flavorful.
Avocado Dressing: I call the avocado dressing the secret sauce. It certainly upgrades this salad to the next level, and I would definitely consider following our 5-minute recipe.
Seasonings: A touch of salt and black pepper brings out the intensity of the flavors naturally present in the veggies.
Fresh Parsley: A final touch of fresh parsley brightens your salad and adds an interesting, herbaceous taste.
👨🏻🍳 Step-by-Step Instructions
Soak your chickpeas
Although you can use canned chickpeas, I like to use dry chickpeas, soak them and cook them at home. Why? Because it improves digestion and nutrient absorption.
If you choose to use dry chickpeas, let them soak overnight or ideally for about 24 hours (changing the water once or twice). If not possible, using canned chickpeas is also a viable option, of course! Consuming legumes, whether canned or not, is essential for a healthy diet.
Cook them until soft
If you decide to go with dry chickpeas, once they’re done soaking, you can start by boiling them.
Make sure you boil them to the point where they’re soft and their transparent, outer layer starts to peel itself off.
You can check for softness by pressing them slightly with your fingers. If they’re soft, turn off the heat, and strain them to remove the water.
Since this is a salad, you can drain them in water to cool them down.
Chop all the veggies
The next natural step is to chop all the veggies into smaller pieces and pour them into the salad bowl.
I like to chop harder veggies like carrots into much smaller pieces so that they’re easier to bite on. You should also do the same for the onions as they have quite a pungent taste that can be quite overwhelming if you bite down on a big chunk of it.
Add the avocado dressing
The secret ingredient in this recipe is the avocado dressing.
Although you can perfectly use a store-bought avocado dressing, you can easily whip up a delicious homemade version in five minutes if you’ve got some avocados and limes lying around.
That’s what I’ve done, and the result was pretty delicious. It really upgraded this salad, and I’m sure it would work for others, too.
Season to taste
Even though the avocado dressing already confers so much flavor to the salad, a sprinkle of salt and black pepper will highlight the flavor of the veggies even more.
Be a little conservative as you don’t wanna make the salad too salty. Just a sprinkle!
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Why soak chickpeas?
Soaking the chickpeas will help reduce the cooking time and it will improve texture and digestibility. It can also help remove some of the naturally present sugars that may cause intestinal discomfort.
Are canned chickpeas bad for you?
No. Some people may not digest canned legumes as effectively. One solution is to purchase dried legumes, soak and cook them at home.
However, it is always worth eating legumes, whether they are canned or not.
How long can you store the salad for?
A salad will often last 1 or 2 days, though you can stretch the time to 4 days if you store it properly in the fridge in an airtight container.
This is especially true due to the acidic nature of the avocado dressing.
However, don’t expect it to have the same fresh taste it once had.
Chickpea Salad with Avocado Dressing
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This amazing chickpea salad recipe shows you how you can turn an otherwise bland side dish into a main dish that is incredibly convenient and delicious.
Ingredients
- 3 cups chickpeas
- 1/2 onions (finely diced)
- 7 cherry tomatoes or 1 tomato
- 1 carrot (finely chopped)
- 1 yellow pepper (chopped)
- 1/2 cup olives
- avocado dressing (to taste)
- salt and black pepper (to taste)
- fresh parsley (to taste)
Instructions
- Chop all the veggies, making sure the carrots and onions are finely chopped.
- Pour the chickpeas and all the veggies into a salad bowl.
- Dress the salad with some delicous vegan avocado dressing. (Don’t forget to check out our homemade 5-minute recipe)
- Season the salad to taste. Use salt, black pepper, and fresh parsley.
- Serve and voilá! Enjoy your delicious chickpea salad.
Notes
- If you’re not using canned chickpeas, you must first soak the dry chickpeas. This is very important as it will reduce their cooking time, and will make them more digestible. Soak them overnight or ideally around 24 hours.
- Cook your soaked chickpeas for around 1 to 2 hours or until they’re soft. If you have a pressure cooker, it should take 1 hour tops. Strain them to remove the foamy bits, and to cool them down.
- Be generous when adding the avocado dressing. It will surely upgrade the flavor of your salad.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Main Course, Salad
🙏🏻 Before you go, I’ve got a favor to ask!
I’d love to get your feedback on this recipe! Feel free to leave a comment below detailing your experience— and let others know how you feel about it!
Of course, you can also ask any questions you may have about the recipe— and we’ll try to respond ASAP.
