Does anyone else crave creamy salad sandwiches in this gorgeous summer weather? I know I do! However, as I try to avoid the consumption of animal products, chicken or tuna salad sandwiches is not really in the cards for me. Instead, I swap out the chicken for chickpeas. It’s actually easy and delicious to make chickpea salad for your sandwiches, cracker topping, and more.
I’m blessed to have some pretty good cooks in my family. My brother-in-law, Josh, has a knack for playing around with the spices and ingredients to make traditional foods even better. I have shared his recipe for guacamole before in my post about Vegan Tacos. So when I heard he had the best chicken salad recipe, I had to try it out myself (veggie-style, of course).
I love the kick of the cayenne
Smash the chickpeas with a potato masher or fork. Or, skip the smashing if you place to serve it on salad greens.
What I like most about this recipe is that I can make a batch of it on Sunday and continue to enjoy it throughout the week. Plus, I can totally change up how I want to eat it – on a toasted sandwich, topped on a green salad, or serves on some crackers for a snack.
This recipe is also designed to be one that you taste ad your go, adding more of the ingredients you like, cutting back on the ingredients you don’t. For example, I love the spicy flavor, so I make sure that the cayenne and stone ground pepper are strong. You may like to focus on more mayo and garlic. Play around with it!
Such a yummy sandwich!
Creamy and Delicious Chickpea Salad
Vegan options
Reminder – this recipe is really easy to adjust to your own taste buds, which is why the recipe gives a range of how much of each ingredient to add. I would start on the low side and add a bit according to what tastes good to you and how creamy you like it.
Ingredients
- 15oz can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas), smashed
- 1/4-1/2 cup mayo (or vegan mayo)
- 3-6 tbs stone ground mustard
- 1/4-1/2 cup dill relish
- 1 tps dry dill
- 1 tps cayenne pepper
- 1 tps garlic powder
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 1/4 red onion, finely chopped
- 1-2 celery stalks, finely chopped
- 1/3 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans are my fave)
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- Optional: sandwich bread, wrap, lettuce, tomato, cheese, etc. (also good on crackers)
Directions
-
- Smash the chickpeas using a potato smasher or similar.
- Add mayo, mustard, relish, and spices to the chickpeas. Mix thoroughly. Taste test and add additional spices and wet ingredients as needed.
- Add the onion, celery, nuts and dried cranberries. Stir well.
- Serve: It’s delicious on toasted sandwich bread with a little lettuce and tomato. Similarly, add it to the inside of a wrap, on top of a green salad, or on some yummy crackers.
I love the extra crunch of the celery
How does this compare to the chicken/tuna/chickpea salad recipe that you make? Did I miss any ingredients that you absolutely love in yours? I would love to experiment with it!
Comment below and let me know what you think.
Any recipe requests? Let’s chat!
Have an epic day!
Taryn
