Chickpea Salad
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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
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- 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.
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Super simple to prepare and full of flavor. I usually follow a recipe the first time I make it and then ad-lib it from then on- mostly because I’m not a strict measurer, I get lazy and once I know the ingredients (except for baking!) I can usually make it taste the way I like. Last night I made this, but, completely forgot about the oil, added loads of parsley and onion, only had lime- so threw in a bunch of lime juice. It was close to Jenn’s- a bit different but delicious. I love that most of her recipes are forgiving and most seem adaptable to ingredients you have on hand.
This was indeed simple – and used ‘on hand’ groceries.
Now during the spring and summer of 2020 I have gained on Ms Segal‘s potatoes au gratin and I’m now “flattening the curve“ with these clean garbanzo beans!
LOL – glad you enjoyed!
WE LOVE THIS!!
My husband & I love love love this recipe. It is ridiculously easy to make & we’ve made this, maybe 10 or more times, since discovering earlier this year.
It makes a great & healthy addition to my husband’s lunches & re requests it often!
Just curious… is there a reason why you specify using both vegetable oil and olive oil? Your recipes are great… thank you!
Hi Katherine, Glad you like the recipes! I use both olive and vegetable oil because the flavor of olive oil can be pretty strong. Hope that clarifies!
Wonderful!
I made this recipe and shared some of the salad with a friend. It’s truly a great recipe and so easy to make. The marinated red onion is a must!
Instead of using 2 types of oil why not just try avocado oil
I use both olive and vegetable oil because the flavor of olive oil can be pretty strong. If you’d like to swap out both of those for avocado oil, feel free. Hope you enjoy!
Hi Jenn, would this work with a yellow onion?
Red onions have a slightly more mild flavor than yellow, but yellow will work here. Hope you enjoy!
Jenn, does this chickpea and red onion salad really have 488 calories per serving? or did I read that wrong? Judith
Yes, Judith, that’s correct (I just double-checked it). I believe that the 6 tablespoons of oil boost the calories in this one.
Add sour cream, garlic salt and dill and you’ve got a winner here!
This is a great salad as is but a bit high on the calorie count for a side dish. To lighten it up I like to substitute a can of water packed tuna (my favorite is Tonino) for one of the cans of chick peas…and the serve over a bed of arugula or watercress. I also cut the oil…to. 1T…adjust vinegar and lemon juice to 2 to 3 T in total….the great flavor remains and the dish is much lighter. I sometimes add a tablespoon or two of capers as well…and substitute the caper juice for the lemon juice.
It makes a great and very quick light lunch or dinner….served with a couple of breadsticks.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. It’s simple and very tasty. I didnt have parsley so I added some dried dill instead. We enjoyed it as an accompaniment with baked fish and couscous.