Healthy Greek Chickpea Salad

I absolutely love this fresh and flavorful salad recipe! It’s definitely my go-to side dish all summer long. I find it’s truly one of those salads that everyone enjoys. If there are any ingredients you’re not fond of, simply leave them out. And if you’d like, add some chopped grilled chicken to make this salad even more hearty. Or keep it vegetarian and add quinoa or bowtie pasta. So many options!

Whether you’re cooking for yourself or your family or need a dish for a party, this colorful, delicious salad will do the trick!

Loved this salad served at our cookout last weekend! The perfect side for burgers and steak!

— Annie

Ingredients needed:

The ingredients I chose for this salad are ones I often associate with Greek cuisine, like red onion, tomato and feta. With this type of salad recipe, just think of the ingredient list as a guide. Feel free to use as much or as little of the suggested ingredients, and if you don’t like one or more of them, you can leave it out or swap it for something else. Here’s the lineup:

• Red onion. Red onions are great for salads because they have a beautiful color and a more mild, sweet flavor than other onion varieties.
• Chickpeas. Chickpeas are the same as garbanzo beans and can be used interchangeably in this recipe. You can use them straight out of the can, no cooking required.
• Cherry or grape tomatoes. I love tomatoes and they’re especially delicious in the summertime! Depending on the size of your cherry tomatoes, cut these in half or quarter them. You can also use chopped Roma tomatoes – I’ve done it many times.
• Cucumber. Diced cucumber makes an amazing addition to this recipe. Cucumber is light, refreshing and has that perfect crunch.
• Olives. I feel like some type of olive is necessary in a Greek salad. I personally prefer black olives, so that’s what I used, but feel free to use Kalamata olives if those are your preference.
• Bell pepper. Diced bell pepper adds a sweet, colorful crunch to every bite. The recipe calls for fresh red bell pepper, but you can use roasted red pepper from a jar, if that’s what you have on hand.
• Feta cheese. Another must in a Greek salad recipe has got to be crumbled feta cheese. If you want to make this salad vegan, you can omit the feta.

Easy vinaigrette recipe

The vinaigrette is a simple mix of olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon and seasonings, and can be tossed together in minutes. If you have a bottle of store-bought bottled Greek vinaigrette that you like, you can use a cup of that instead.

How to make this recipe

Side dishes like this one are so easy to toss together! The most time consuming part about making this salad recipe is cutting up all the vegetables.

1. Make the dressing. Start the recipe by combining all of the vinaigrette ingredients. You can whisk them in a small bowl or, if you have a jar with a tight-fitting lid, add the ingredients to the jar, screw on the lid and shake the jar vigorously to fully mix the ingredients.
2. Prep the veggies. Now, dice and chop up all of the veggies and drain the canned ingredients. Add all prepared ingredients to a large serving bowl.
3. Toss and serve. Pour the Greek salad dressing over the salad ingredients and toss well until everything is well coated in the dressing. Enjoy!

So fresh and flavorful!! And the best part is that it takes minutes to throw together and lasts several days. I like it best once it’s sat in the fridge for a bit, so all the flavors can marry and intensify, but it’s not anything close to terrible if you want to eat it right away.

Tips for recipe success

A few tips for the perfect Mediterranean chickpea salad every time!

• Make ahead! This salad can be made several hours before you plan to serve it.
• The vinaigrette for this salad can be made up to 3 days in advance. Store it in the fridge until you’re ready to make your salad.
• I prefer to buy a block of feta cheese and crumble it myself. I find that the block feta has more flavor than the tubs of pre-crumbled cheese.
• Since feta is quite salty itself, start with less salt when you add the seasonings. You can always add more!

Make it your own!

This salad is delicious as-is, but you can absolutely add other ingredients to the mix to customize the flavors to your tastes. Here’s some options:

• Protein. Make it a meal by serving chickpea salad alongside cooked chicken, fish, shrimp or smoked sausage.
• Beans. You can use a blend of different types for beans for added flavor and texture. Some great choices include kidney beans or Great Northern beans.
• Veggies. Feel free to add other vegetables to the mix, such as marinated artichokes, grilled zucchini or corn.
• Fresh herbs. Have some fresh herbs on hand? The addition of fresh parsley or fresh dill would be delicious!
• Dressing. The homemade vinaigrette is super easy to mix up and adds the perfect tang, but feel free to swap it out with 1/2 to 1 cup of your favorite bottled Greek vinaigrette.
• Vegan chickpea salad. This salad can easily be made dairy-free and vegan by omitting the feta cheese.

Serving suggestions

Here’s a few of my favorite ways to serve this salad:

• Right out of the bowl. The chickpeas and all of the veggies make this salad plenty filling for a light meal. You could also add diced grilled chicken or shredded rotisserie chicken for a little more oomph.
• With fresh greens. If you wanted to up the veggies even more, you could toss this chickpea salad with fresh greens, then add on a bit of extra vinaigrette to create a green salad.
• As a side dish. The way I usually serve this salad is as a side dish to grilled meats, burgers or sandwiches.

Pairing options

• Chicken. This salad pairs wonderfully with this grilled chicken breast.
• Fish. Serve this salad with Grilled Salmon or Parmesan Baked Cod for a healthy, light meal.
• Burgers. A turkey burger, salmon avocado burger or black bean veggie burger would all be tasty with this salad.
• Pizza. Chickpea salad is the perfect addition to pizza night!

Make ahead + storage recommendations

• Make ahead. This salad is great to make several hours in advance of serving it because it gets tastier over time. You can also mix the vinaigrette together up to 3 days in advance, and store it in the refrigerator.
• Storing leftovers. Store leftover salad in an airtight storage container in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days. Before serving again, give it a good stir and taste + season again as needed.

I hope y’all LOVE this salad as much as my family does! It’s:

Satisfying
Flavorful
Hearty
Fresh
Customizable
Quick + Easy
& Super delicious

It makes for a tasty lunch to pack along for work or enjoy for dinner when you’re craving something fresh, yet satisfying. It’s wonderful on its own, but it also pairs well with a variety of entrees.

I especially love bringing this along to serve at gatherings, like summer barbecues or pool parties. When there’s lots of yummy desserts and other heavy dishes to chow down on, it’s nice to have a healthier alternative too.