Chickpea Salad
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
This super-simple chickpea salad makes a delicious lunch or side dish to grilled shrimp or chicken.
Whenever we drive up to visit my husband’s family in Long Island, NY, we stop somewhere along the Long Island Expressway for a late-night meal at a Greek diner; you literally can’t go more than a few miles without passing one. One of our favorite spots serves a simple marinated chickpea salad to nosh on while you wait for your meal. This is my copycat version. It makes a great picnic or potluck salad, and it’s delicious with sandwiches, grilled flank steak, grilled shrimp kebabs or grilled chicken. Feel free to add feta cheese crumbles to bulk it up, if you like.
What you’ll need to make Chickpea Salad
As you can see, I use both extra virgin olive oil and vegetable oil to make the dressing for this salad. Sometimes the flavor of olive oil can be too strong, so I like to cut it with vegetable oil.
How to make Chickpea Salad
Begin by finely dicing the red onion. Next, place the diced onions in a small bowl and cover with cold water.
Let sit for 10 minutes, then drain. This step tames the bite of the raw onion, which can be overpowering (at least for raw onion-phobes like me).
Combine the onions with the remaining ingredients.
Toss well, then taste and adjust seasoning with more lemon, salt, and pepper, if necessary.
Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Enjoy!
You may also like
- Creamy Cucumber Salad
- Antipasto Salad
- Moroccan Carrot & Chickpea Salad
- German Potato Salad
- Bulgur Salad with Cucumbers, Red Peppers, Chickpeas, Lemon, and Dill
- Classic Coleslaw
Chickpea Salad
This super-simple chickpea salad makes a delicious lunch or side dish to grilled shrimp or chicken.
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup finely diced red onion, from 1 small red onion
- 2 (15 oz) cans chickpeas (preferably Bush's or Goya), drained and rinsed (see note)
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1½ tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, from 1 lemon
- ⅓ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- Place the diced onion in a small bowl and cover with cold water. Let sit for 10 minutes, then drain. (This step tames the bite of the raw onion.)
- Combine the onions with the remaining ingredients and toss well. Taste and adjust seasoning with more lemon, salt, and pepper, if necessary. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Toss well before serving and adjust seasoning again, if necessary.
- Make-Ahead: The salad can be made and stored in a covered container in the refrigerator up to 2 days ahead of time.
- Note: Different brands of chickpeas contain different levels of salt, so if using a different brand than the one specified, add salt to taste.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
Powered by 
- Per serving (4 servings)
- Calories: 379
- Fat: 25 g
- Saturated fat: 3 g
- Carbohydrates: 31 g
- Sugar: 1 g
- Fiber: 10 g
- Protein: 11 g
- Sodium: 599 mg
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
See more recipes:
Comments
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
This was good, but I prefer a version with more veggies. I like to add red bell pepper, celery and cucumbers in addition to the onion. I also add a dash or two of hot sauce. I guess I prefer a higher veggies to chickpea ratio.
This is my go-to lunch – it’s delicious if you add chopped avocado, and even some chopped arugula!
My Italian family makes a similar version except it uses one can of garbanzos and one can of kidney beans. I add quite a bit more of garlic and more of sugar. And I use green onions instead.
It is a wonderful second dish and thank you for posting this version – every recipe I’ve tried of yours has been very, very successful
I have made this a couple of times, but in the summer added fresh garden tomatoes, seeds removed. Yum
What diner? I live on Long Island and would love to go there for the chickpeas.
I love getting your recipes. They are without fail delicious.
Hi Jetty, I just asked my husband and he said it was Celebrity Diner in Syosset.
I also add some chopped tomatoes. Delicious.
This salad is delicious. I do add the addition of feta along with some toasted chopped almonds and Greek olives. If I don’t have parsley, I add cilantro.
I do not care for parsley, could this be made with any other type of herb? Thank you!
Sure, Kim – cilantro or dill would both be very good.
Former Long Islander here. Bars were open until 4 am then you hit the diner & many times went straight to work.
And when we walked home we went to the bagel store that was open. A warm bagel for the walk home at 430 am.
Back to the recipe – I grew my own parsley & it really makes a difference with the chick pea salads. I also add cucumbers, no seeds.
Ha! Agree – this would be great with cucumbers. 🙂
Takes me back, Carol, thank you.
Are the nutritional values and calories per serving, or for the whole salad?
Hi Sandy, It’s per serving, but the servings are large.