Smashed Chickpea Salad
Published Sep 16, 2024
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When it comes to make-ahead lunches, it’s hard to beat a smashed chickpea salad. While this easy salad often gets typecast as the vegetarian counterpart to tuna salad, every time I make it, it gets praise from non-vegetarians too. Pickle juice in the mix gives this salad extra tangy flavor!
I was recently talking to a friend about the joys of a packed lunch as an adult. Opening a delicious lunch up makes you feel inherently cared for, even if you packed that lunch yourself. So, although I know you may also be packing lunches for other (possibly small) people in your house, be sure to pack yourself something delicious from time-to-time too. And if you need an idea, put smashed chickpea salad at the top of the list. Serve it in a sandwich, rolled into a wrap, over a salad, or with crackers for scooping.
Recipe writers on the internet love to call every recipe easy, but there’s no way around it – this one really is. It takes less than 15 minutes with almost all of that time spent on finely chopping red onion, pickles, and dill. Those ingredients are what give this pantry favorite a lot of fresh flavor.
What You’ll Love About Chickpea Salad:
- Easy
- Healthy (packed with protein and fiber)
- Make-Ahead Friendly (store it in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days)
- Gluten-Free
- Naturally vegetarian, easily vegan (with vegan mayo)
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Pin It NowHow to Make It
- Start by mashing the chickpeas with a potato masher or dough blender. You want every chickpea to be broken up into pieces with some pieces remaining and some fully mashed.
- Dice aromatics – red onion, pickles, and dill. You want these fairly small.
- To the chickpea mash, add red onion, pickles, dill, mayo, and Dijon mustard. To give it extra tangy flavor, and pickle juice (more dill flavor) or fresh lemon juice (more tart lemon-y flavor)
- Add some salt and pepper.
Celery – To add it or not?
If you’re making your smashed chickpea salad as a replacement for tuna salad and want it to be reminiscent of the original, you’ll want to add some diced celery. See the recipe below for amounts if you’d like to add that. I like the pickle and dill flavor to shine, so I skip the celery here. Personal preference.
Variations and Substitutions
- Add celery – As I noted above, feel free to add ¼ cup of diced celery if you want that flavor and crunch.
- Use shallots instead of red onion – Red onion has a bite. If you’d like a more mild flavor, use shallots instead.
- Make it vegan – Be sure to use vegan mayo for a vegan version.
- Use lemon juice and / or pickle juice – To add the tart flavor to the salad you can use lemon juice for more tart lemon flavor or pickle juice for more of that pickle-y flavor.
How to Store Smashed Chickpea Salad
Store salad in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
More Easy Vegetarian Lunch Ideas
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Smashed Chickpea Salad
Equipment
- Strainer
- Potato Masher or Dough Blender
Ingredients
- 1 14-ounce can chickpeas / garbanzo beans
- 1/3 cup pickle slices (I like a sweet and tangy variety, but any type will work)
- 1 tablespoon diced shallots or red onions (measured after dicing)
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh dill
- 1-2 tablespoons mayonnaise (use vegan mayo if desired)
- 2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice or pickle juice (see note)
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Drain and rinse the beans.
- In a shallow bowl, mash the chickpeas with a potato masher or dough blender until you've broken apart all of the chickpeas. You want some pieces that are about the size of half a chickpea and some pieces that are truly mashed into a rough paste.
- Finely dice the pickles, shallots / red onion, and dill.
- To the bowl with the chickpeas, add the pickles, shallots / red onion, dill, mayo, lemon juice / pickle juice, mustard, a pinch of salt, and a few twists of black pepper.
- Gently stir everything together.
- Store the salad in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
- Serve the mashed chickpeas in wraps, sandwiches, or over salad (with crackers for scooping).
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
