Chickpea Salad

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This super-simple chickpea salad makes a delicious lunch or side dish to grilled shrimp or chicken.

Wooden bowl of Chickpea Salad.

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

Salad ingredients including olive oil, red onion, and lemon.

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

Finely diced red onion on a cutting board.

Begin by finely dicing the red onion. Next, place the diced onions in a small bowl and cover with cold water.

Bowl of red onion in 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).

Red onion in a sieve.

Combine the onions with the remaining ingredients.

Unmixed chickpea salad ingredients.

Toss well, then taste and adjust seasoning with more lemon, salt, and pepper, if necessary.

Glass bowl of Chickpea Salad.

Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Enjoy!

Wooden bowl of Chickpea Salad.

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Chickpea Salad

This super-simple chickpea salad makes a delicious lunch or side dish to grilled shrimp or chicken.

Servings: 4

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

  1. 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.)
  2. 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.
  3. Make-Ahead: The salad can be made and stored in a covered container in the refrigerator up to 2 days ahead of time.
  4. 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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Comments

  • We have a couple of vegans in our family and I am always looking for great recipes fore them – this was a big hit! I did substitute the veg oil with grapeseed oil as it is nice and light on flavor – worked perfect 🙂

  • This was so easy and delicious. I made a batch and we each had a bowl to snack on, while waiting for dinner to emerge from the oven.
    Your recipes are easy to follow, delish and visually appealing. Thanks!

  • All of your recipes are amazing, and this was no exception! So delicious and versatile. Thanks, Jennifer!

  • Hi…Pleased to be one of your followers, and share most of your recipes to my social media accounts…With due respect to you i do not recommend canned foods especially chickpeas,they are not healthy ..We make almost the same salad and more chickpeas dishes but always we use dry Chickpeas and cook them at home..Have great day.Zouhair

    • There’s literally nothing wrong with eating food from BPA free cans.

      • — Holly D on January 1, 2024
      • Reply
  • This was my dinner tonight. I added a chopped orange, and some diced dates. Oh my!

  • Can you use only olive oil? If so how much total? Thanks

    • Sure, you’ll need a total of 6 tablespoons. Enjoy!

  • This was such a simple delicious salad. the 2nd time I made it I added cucumber and tomatos and feta cheese.

  • I have fallen in love with this salad! I add feta and raw corn off the cob. Delicious and easy.♥️

  • healthy and yummy

    • — Fügen Türkyiliz
    • Reply
  • Very good, but I didn’t follow it exactly… I didn’t use pepper, replaced sugar with honey, used 2 tablespoons and didn’t use vegetable oil. Still came out good and didn’t seem like it needed more oil.

    • I meant to say I used 2 tablespoons olive oil!

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