This healthy Greek-inspired chickpea salad is packed with fresh flavor, made with nutritious ingredients and super easy to prepare. It’s a delicious mix of tomato, cucumber, olives, red onion, chickpeas and feta cheese, all tossed in a Mediterranean style vinaigrette. Serve this chickpea salad at your next cookout, potluck or picnic!

This easy chickpea salad recipe makes the perfect side dish for burgers or steaks or turn it into a complete meal by adding in grilled chicken breasts!

chickpea salad with tomatoes and cucumber in a large white serving bowl

I absolutely love this chickpea salad! 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.

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

Ingredients in Chickpea Salad:

The ingredients I choose 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.

  • 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 summer time! Depending on the size, 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 chickpea salad. 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 if those are your preference.
  • Bell pepper. Diced bell pepper adds a sweet, colorful crunch to every bite. The recipe calls for fresh red 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 has got to be crumbled feta cheese. If you want to make this salad vegan, you can omit the feta.
ingredients for chickpea salad in small bowls

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 Do You Make Chickpea Salad?

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

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.

Now, dice and chop up all of the veggies and drain the canned ingredients. Add all prepared ingredients to a large serving bowl.

Pour the vinaigrette over the salad ingredients and toss well until all ingredients are well coated in the vinaigrette.

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, but it’s not anything close to terrible if you want to eat it right away.

adding ingredients for a chickpea salad in a large white serving bowl

Tips For The Perfect Salad:

  • 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.

  • 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 such as marinated artichoke hearts, grilled zucchini or corn.
  • 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.
large Greek chickpea salad in a large serving bowl

How To Serve Chickpea 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.

What Goes With Chickpea Salad?

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 3-5 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.

Greek chickpea salad served in a small white bowl with a fork

More Favorite Picnic Sides

Greek Pasta Salad

Grandma’s Potato Salad

Best Deviled Eggs

Creamy Coleslaw

If you try this chickpea salad recipe, let me know! Leave a comment and if your family loves it as much as mine does, be sure to give it a five star ⭐️ rating! Also, tag @kimscravings on Instagram with a picture of your creation. It’s so fun to see what you’re cooking! Be sure to subscribe to our mailing list to receive more healthy delicious recipes straight to your inbox.

chickpea salad with tomatoes and cucumber in a large white serving bowl
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Healthy Greek Chickpea Salad

Yield: 16 servings (1/2 cup each)
Prep Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 15 mins
The perfect light lunch or summer side dish! This chickpea salad is fresh, flavorful, and has the perfect balance of healthy fats, carbohydrates, and protein! 

Ingredients

Salad

  • 1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 1 medium red bell pepper, finely diced
  • 1 small red onion, finely diced
  • 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved (or about 10 ounces Roma tomatoes, chopped)
  • 1 (4 oz) can sliced black olives
  • 1 English cucumber, cut into quarters and sliced
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Dressing

  • 3 tablespoons olive or avocado oil
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper + more to taste

Instructions 

  • To make the salad, place all of the ingredients for the salad into a large bowl.
  • To make the dressing, place all of the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl, (or jar w/ lid) and whisk/shake to combine. Pour dressing over salad, and toss salad in dressing until salad is evenly coated in dressing. Enjoy, or chill salad (covered) in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Notes

 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 3-5 days. Before serving again, give it a good stir and taste + season again as needed.
Photos by Sasha at Eat Love Eats.
Author: Kim
Course: Appetizer, Salad
Cuisine: Greek, Mediterranean
Serving: 0.5cup, Calories: 76kcal, Carbohydrates: 6.9g, Protein: 3.2g, Fat: 3.9g, Saturated Fat: 0.4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2.5g, Cholesterol: 0.8mg, Sodium: 123.5mg, Potassium: 72.7mg, Fiber: 1.2g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 450IU, Vitamin C: 22.2mg, Calcium: 36mg, Iron: 0.4mg

Did you make this recipe?

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This recipe was first published May 2018 and was updated with new content July 2020.