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This colorful and crunchy chickpea salad is full of Mediterranean-inspired flavor. I love loading up my salads with vibrant ingredients that are visually appealing, nourishing and filling.
I originally created this recipe for my Plant-Based Cleanse. It is one salad that always surprises people, so if you’re on the fence about salads loaded with toppings, I’m ready to change your mind.
Ingredients in Chickpea Salad
I love using Mediterranean-inspired flavors and ingredients since the Mediterranean contains blue zones, places on Earth known for longevity. You can definitely add in the vegetables of your choice, or add even more cucumber, pepper or carrot to this chickpea salad. Chickpeas are also called garbanzo beans, so look for either name on the label. Drain and rinse well before using.
The Key to the Perfect Dressing
To brighten up the veggie-fest that is this crunchy salad I created a Citrus Tahini Dressing. The tamari and apple cider vinegar brings the zing while the orange sweetens. The tahini wraps it all up in a creamy package.
Depending on how thick your tahini is, you may need to add a bit of water to ensure this dressing is perfectly pourable. Use coconut aminos if you need a soy-free option in place of the tamari. The dressing tastes great yet also adds extra healthy fat to my chickpea salad.
Crunchy Chickpea Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup spinach fresh
- 1 cup chickpeas canned (drained and rinsed)
- ½ carrot diced
- ½ cucumber diced
- ¼ cup red bell pepper diced
- ½ cup raw pepitas
- ½ cup raw sunflower seeds
Citrus Tahini Dressing
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 2 tbsp orange juiced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp tamari
- ½ garlic clove minced
Instructions
- Whisk together Citrus Tahini Dressing ingredients. Add extra olive oil or water if dressing is too thick.
- Place spinach, chickpeas and veggies on a plate. Pour dressing on top and sprinkle with seeds.
Notes
- Swap spinach with the leafy greens of your choice.
- Feel free to load this salad up with as many veggies as you want.
- Chickpeas add healthy protein, swap with black beans if you aren’t a fan of chickpeas.
- Swap seeds with chopped cashews and almonds.
- Swap tahini with the nut butter of your choice (though texture + thickness will change depending on the nut butter used).Â
- Use coconut aminos instead of tamari to make this soy-free.
Nutrition
Chickpea Salad FAQs
They can be! Chickpeas are a wonderful plant protein, healthy fat and high in fiber. They are loaded with nutrients, like manganese and folate, so they are filling as well as nutritious.
Nope! Chickpeas should be cooked before eating. Canned chickpeas are already cooked, just rinse well before using.
I paired chickpeas with spinach, carrot, red bell pepper, cucumber, pepitas and sunflower seeds and topped it all with a bright tahini dressing. It’s loaded with protein, healthy fat and 100% plants.
Another great one. Loving everything so far.
So glad you are loving the 10-Day Salad Challenge!
Love this salad the dressing is a keeper!!!!
I have made this salad multiple times – it’s that good! Tasty, easy to make and satisfying!
This salad is a flavour combination I do quite often in the summer when a powerbowl meal outside on the deck is in order. Love, love, raw spinach with chickpeas.
Score one for the Sweet & Crunchy Chickpea Salad!
Really enjoyed this one. I added some different veggies that I had in the house and kept everything else. The dressing really makes this one wonderful.
This is delicious! I love the dressing and will make it again. The serving size is too large and it’s too filling—especially for petite females. Therefore, I suggest that this reflect 3 servings (providing roughly 400 kcal each) instead of just 2.
I’m allergic to chickpeas so I made this with white beans. I also didn’t use the oil in the dressing I just added a tiny tiny bit of water to thin it out. I thought the tahini was enough. It was great, really great. I loved the addtition of the seeds, that was my fav part!
Great idea to sub in white beans!
I was very unsure about this salad. I don’t care for chickpeas. But I made it and then I tried it. Sorry I still don’t care for chickpeas. For me a alternative would be great.
Thanks for this creation though.
The nuts added in this salad were tasty, but this dressing wasn’t for us. If we were to do it
over, we would try another dressing.
Something I already make. Love garbanzo beans on Mt salad. Scale back.the nuts.
Def make any changes to the recipes that would make it more enjoyable for you! 🙂
I always buy Tahini but never know what to do with it. The dressing was delicious. The Sweet and Crunchy salad was just what it claimed to be. I was amazed with how easy it came together. We will have this again.
Sweet And Crunchy Chickpea Salad: I decided to jump to salad number five today because I hadn’t prepped some of the things for the other two days. I sure was not disappointed in the sweet and crunchy chickpea salad! I love the tahini and orange combination in the dressing. It was delicious and I know I’ll make it again. Also the combination of crunch and color made the salad particularly enticing.Since I didn’t have sunflower seeds I used slivered almonds instead and they were also just fine. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
Way to still move forward and keep rawkin the 10-Day Salad Challenge!
I liked the crunchiness and flavor variety of this salad but might like to try substituting pepitas with cashews next time. Also thinking I’d like the cashew cream with this as well!
Ooooo! I can see a little cashew cream mixed into this one, for sure! Let us know what you think if you try it!
Looks so yummy all my favorite things can’t wait to try this
Looks so yummy can’t wait to try this
Can’t wait to hear what you think!
What can you sub for orange juice and cashews? I can not eat either. I want to try a lot of your recipes but a lot have oranges and cashews.
I did see it doesn’t have cashews in it.
You can def swap in your favorite citrus for the oranges. I would think lemon would go well in this recipe. Let us know what you think.
Oooh I LOVE the way this salad looks! The colors and the flavors are perfect for a full day of classes! I cannot wait!
The more colorful, the better!
Pepitas are not my favorite and I think just doubling the sunflower seeds will become overpowering. Any other suggestions for replacing the pepitas? Thanks!
Hey Erin,
Sure! I have a couple!
You could def use pine nuts or chopped up almonds and/or cashews. If those options don’t sound appetizing, you could def just omit the pepitas from the recipe and try it that way.
Absolutely love this dressing!!