This Greek Chickpea Salad is a great vegan side dish that's packed with garbanzo beans, bell pepper, cucumber, onion, olives, and plant-based feta!
One of my favorite things to keep on hand is a salad of some sort to quickly add to bowls during the week for easy meals. A recent favorite is this healthy Greek Chickpea Salad recipe!
I love adding this chickpea salad to Greek bowls with some marinated Greek tofu and red pepper hummus. I typically keep a batch of Instant Pot White Rice or Instant Pot Brown Rice on hand in the refrigerator for creating quick and easy vegan meals during the week. To go with this Greek Chickpea Salad recipe I would serve it with my Greek Rice. The recipe for the Instant Pot Rice and the Greek rice is coming soon!
This salad is also great for cookouts, potlucks, and picnics! No mayo = travel-friendly salad 🥗
Let's chat about the specifics on how to make Greek Chickpea Salad!
Ingredients
- Chickpeas - you can use either canned or freshly cooked chickpeas. I like cooking chickpeas in the Instant Pot, no soaking required. If using canned, be sure to rinse and drain well.
- Cucumber - the recipe is written with English cucumber but I really love Persian cucumbers in this Greek Chickpea Salad too, they have a bit more crunch than English but sometimes aren't as easy to find depending on the type of grocer you're shopping at. Really though, any cucumber will work just fine.
- Red bell pepper - in theory you could use another color pepper but I love the distinct red pepper flavor in this recipe
- Red onion diced
- Kalamata olives - you can opt for pitted whole olives or use sliced ones, it doesn't make a difference in taste. Although, I do like the appearance of the whole olives in the salad.
- Vegan Feta - I love using Follow Your Heart Feta in this but Tofu Feta would also be great!
- Sea salt
Lemon Herb Vinaigrette
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Red wine vinegar
- Lemon juice - always freshly squeezed, the bottled kind is g-r-o-s-s.
- Fresh herbs - I used a mix of parsley, mint, and basil. Oregano would also be great.
- Red pepper flakes
- Sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper - freshly ground pepper makes a world of difference in taste. Did you know that pepper loses most all of it's flavor after a few days of grinding? Opt for an inexpensive pepper grinder and thank me later 😉
See the recipe card for quantities.
🔪 Instructions
Dice the onion, tomato, and cucumber.
Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a small jar or bowl.
Next, all you have to do is mix everything together in a large mixing bowl. Easy peasy!
Hint: You can use either canned or freshly cooked chickpeas, your choice!
📖 Variations
There are a couple of changes that come to mind that you could make!
- Make it a main dish - To make the Greek Chickpea Salad into a main dish, throw in some of the Greek Tofu I mentioned above.
- Add tomatoes 🍅 - Diced Roma tomatoes or cherry tomatoes are delicious in this recipe.
- Add preserved lemon 🍋 - I find preserved lemons swoon-worthy, if you do too, add a tablespoon or two of mashed or diced preserved lemon to the dressing. Maybe use the brine in place of the fresh lemon juice too!
🍽 Equipment
All you need for this recipe is:
- Chef's knife
- Cutting board - I adore this wooden cutting board from Public Goods as it's dishwasher safe!
- Large + small mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Mixing Spoon
Storage
Store the leftovers in a glass container with an airtight seal in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
💭 Top tip
I find that as the salad sits, it gets even more flavorful as the chickpeas and veggies get basically marinated in the dressing. This makes this salad perfect for meal prep!
Did you make this recipe? Rate the recipe below via the ⭐️ + leave a comment. We love hearing from you! If you share a snap on social, be sure to tag @plantsapalooza and use the hashtag #plantsapalooza so that we can follow along!
📖 Recipe
Greek Chickpea Salad
Ingredients
- 2 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup diced English cucumber
- 1 cup diced red bell pepper
- ½ small red onion diced
- ½ cup pitted kalamata olives
- ½ cup crumbled vegan feta optional
- Sea salt to taste
Lemon Herb Vinaigrette
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- Juice of half a lemon
- 3 tablespoons fresh herbs I used parsley, mint, and basil, finely minced
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Place all of the ingredients for the vinaigrette in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Place all of the ingredients for the chickpea salad in a large bowl. Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and toss to combine. Season with additional salt if necessary.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
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