Our Favorite, Simple “No Tuna” Chickpea Salad

This easy “no tuna” chickpea salad is so healthy and filling, but you can also take it in so many flavor directions.

Yeah…yeah….yeah… Chickpea salad is simply a delicious meal for real people. It’s loaded in actually healthy protein, fat, and carbohydrates and all kinds of real vitamins and minerals.

Chickpeas or Garbanzo Beans? It’s All the Same!

Just in case there’s any confusion, chickpeas and garbanzo beans are the same, so either name on the label is perfectly fine.

We, of course, love delicious food, and budget-friendly meals definitely get our attention. Right now, the Kroger 4-can pack is the best price, aside from dry beans which are always the best buy.

Aside from the great price, beans are such a smart and filling meal option. And when you combine them with a variety of fresh vegetables, like in this recipe, you’re also getting access to two powerfully big characteristics of the food we try to focus on too:

• nutrient-density
• healthy

If I can focus on serving my family easy and delicious meals, that are loaded with the exact ingredients (fuel) that their bodies need to be healthy and happy, it ends up saving me more money, as well as time in the long run.

Our Favorite Ingredients

I usually make a batch from 2 cans of chickpeas, or about 30 ounces homemade, one of our favorite ingredients because they’re so versatile and easy on the budget.

While they are high in fiber, like other plants in general, garbanzo beans also tend to be high in molybdenum, manganese, protein, and iron.

Since I prefer mashed chickpeas for this recipe, I usually like to remove the bean skins, but you don’t really need to. Plus you tend to find a high level of antioxidants in the skin, so that’s something to keep in mind too and maybe not remove them.

Also you might prefer just throwing your garbanzo beans and other ingredients into your food processor for a quicker, smoother version of this recipe.

But since I really like the different textures, and a little crunch, we usually chop up our vegetables.

Print

Simple "No Tuna" Chickpea Salad

Prep Time

30 mins

Total Time

30 mins

 

We love this low cost, plant based, chickpea salad recipe. It's so good, so easy to make, and so healthy with lots of awesome flavor possibilities.

Servings: 6

Author: Elaine Watkins | Food and Living Coach

Ingredients

• 2 Cans Chickpeas (rinsed)
• 1/4 Cup Tahini
• 1-2 Tbsp Mustard (either Dijon or Spicy Brown)
• 2 Stalks Celery (chopped)
• 2 Dill Pickles (chopped)
• 1/2 Red Pepper (chopped)
• 1/3 White Onion (chopped)
• 1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
• 1 Tbsp Smoked Paprika
• 1/2 Tbsp Dill weed
• 1/2 Tbsp Turmeric
• 1/4 Tsp Pepper
• 1/2 Tbsp Cumin
• 1/2 Tbsp Cayenne * (if you prefer a little spicy heat)
• Salt (to taste preference)
• Pure water (if you need more moisture)

Instructions

1. Combine chickpeas, tahini, and mustard and mash beans to preferred consistency

2. Fold in chopped vegetables and seasonings except water and salt

3. Add water until you reach preferred consistency

4. Sprinkle in salt to preferred taste

5. Serve immediately or refrigerate and serve later.

Recipe Notes

1. Depending upon whether you choose to chop your ingredients or toss everything in your food processor, this recipe will take as low as 5 minutes or up to 30 minutes.
2. You might prefer to remove the chickpea skins before adding to other ingredients
3. I've included our preferences but other options include dried onion flakes, celery seeds, mashed avocado, chopped hot pepper, nuts (like sliced almonds or chopped pecans), and halved cherry tomatoes
4. Capers can easily replace the pickles if you prefer

Chopped Vegetables

There are so many possibilities for a recipe like this. Today I’m going for what you might call a basic flavor combo. Add some cut up dried nori early in your ingredient combining for a bit of a seafood flavor.

Or maybe your variation is choosing to use capers rather than pickles.

It’s your chickpea salad.

And the same goes for your seasonings.

We like ours a little spicy and usually add some cayenne pepper if we don’t have a fresh jalapeno or serrano pepper.

How to Serve Your Chickpea Salad

You can definitely enjoy this recipe in a sandwich, using your favorite gluten free bread of course. We usually eat ours as a wrap or part of a salad, and it’s so yummy on combined with avocado, but I’m thinking next we’ll try stuffing a few hollowed out, roasted red peppers with this chickpea salad as a new variation.

It also tastes great, maybe even better, on the second day and after the ingredients have had a little time together.

We love this recipe, and I LOVE that I can get it ready quick for a delicious meal that everybody enjoys.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do.

And while you’re checking out chickpea recipes, don’t miss these two too: