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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Made this salad 2 days before planning to serve it to company. Must say not only easy & quick, but fantastic. Also very forgiving. followed the recipe with the a few additions and changes, used only olive oil, added more lemon juice & replaced the parsley with chopped cilantro. The left overs were awesome as well. Thank you for a great recipe.
Simple but delicious! I make this and the bulgur salad on Sundays for lunches during the week. Both keep beautifully in the fridge.
So simple, yet so tasty! And love the tip about soaking the onions for a bit. Thanks.
This was really good!!!! I added a can of wild planet tuna and some celery and it was really really good!
I was just about to post the same! Delish!
This recipe is on my phone. Even though there are few ingredients, I often make sure I have the ingredients when I’m dragging and I don’t want to cook at home.
The only adjustment is that if I plan to eat it over a couple of days, old style curly parsley will hold up perfectly.
This was absolutely delicious! Completely unexpected flavours and textures. I’m Canadian, so chick pea can sizes are totally different. To compensate, I added some herb infused EVOO and some freshly ground salt. I served it with #Onceuponachef Naan bread and Greek yogurt. Incredible! Thank you!
I thought this recipe was just very tasty, I did reduce the oil quantity to two tablespoons of each oil instead of three. I may cut down to one each next time. I did not soak the onions but I love the flavor of red onions, I may have even added extra than what the recipe called for. I followed the rest of the seasoning quantities and although others complained of needing more seasoning, I felt this was perfect and not overwhelming. Would be great alone or as a side dish.
I LOVE this! Love it on its own, over greens or added to your ratatouille!
Hi, Jenn!
I am currently out of red onions, could I substitute shallots instead? If so, would the proportions still be the same, or would I need to reduce the amount?
Thank you!
Bethany
Can I use cilantro instead of parsley?
Sure, Debbi — it will lend a slightly different flavor but will still be delicious!