This Creamy Vegan Chickpea Salad is delicious, protein-packed and a great alternative to tuna mayo salad. Perfect for filling sandwiches, wraps, and baked potatoes, or for piling on a bed of greens, bagels, toast, or crackers.
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Tuna mayo salad, move over. There's a kinder, plant-based, and just as delicious option in town - Vegan Chickpea Salad!
This creamy vegan salad uses smashed chickpeas instead of tuna, creamy vegan mayo, and mix-ins like diced celery and pickles for a really nice texture.
I love it piled on a bed of greens or in a thick sandwich with greens, sprouts, and tomatoes for lunch. It's also really good piled on a buttery baked potato for an easy dinner or used as a filling in my Stuffed Cucumber Cups!
Mel x
P.S. Love a bit of spice? Give my spicy chickpea smash a try!
Ingredients
Here is what you need at a glance, along with some important ingredient notes & substitution ideas:
- Chickpeas - I use canned chickpeas, but you can use home-cooked chickpeas if you prefer.
- Onion - Yellow, white, red, or green. Choose your onion depending on how strong you like the raw flavour. I use yellow because I love raw onion and like quite a strong flavour.
- Pickles - Any type of pickles will do. Dill pickles, sweet pickles, spicy pickles, sour pickles, bread and butter pickles, or gherkins in the UK. Use whatever you enjoy. I've been using jalapeno pickles lately, and they add some lovely bites of heat!
- Celery - For texture and flavour. If you don't like celery, you can omit this or use something else instead. Grated raw carrot would be a great alternative!
- Mayo - Any vegan variety. I used Hellman's for these photos and the video.
- Mustard - This adds some depth to the flavour. Dijon or wholegrain is fine. I wouldn't use yellow mustard in this recipe as it's too strong. If you like a bit of spice, sriracha makes a great alternative!
- Garlic powder - For some extra flavour. It's not as bitey as raw fresh garlic, so it works better in this salad.
This recipe is endlessly customizable, though. Feel free to get creative and make it your own with any mix-ins and seasonings you love!
Let's Make Creamy Chickpea Salad!
Can't wait to make it? The full printable recipe is below, but first, let me walk you through the steps to set you up for success in your kitchen. I recommend watching my recipe video if you're more of a visual learner:
1 - Smash the chickpeas. You can pulse them in a food processor or use a fork or potato masher.
2 - Add the rest of the ingredients, reserving a tablespoon of mayo for now. Mix really well.
3 - Add more mayo if you feel it needs to be a little creamier (this will vary depending on how soft or hard your chickpeas were), then ideally, leave it to sit for at least 15 minutes before using so the flavours can meld.
I highly recommend making these stuffed cucumber cups as a vehicle for your chickpea salad. They are so delicious!
Recipe FAQs
I am working on a homemade vegan mayo recipe, but in the meantime, you could use a few tablespoons of this creamy avocado dressing recipe instead of vegan mayo. It will change the flavour profile, but will still be very delicious!
Yes. Any white bean will work instead of the chickpeas in this recipe, but the texture of the salad will be softer, and it will have more of a beany flavour.
Recipe
Creamy Vegan Chickpea Salad
Author:WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Ingredients
- 1 x 15oz can (about 1½ cups) chickpeas , (398ml can in Canada or 400g can in the UK)
- 4 to 5 tablespoons vegan mayonnaise
- 4 tablespoons diced pickles , sweet or spicy (gherkins in the UK)
- 4 tablespoons very finely minced onion , red, yellow, white, or green depending how strong you want the flavour
- 1 stick celery , diced finely
- 1 tablespoon Dijon or wholegrain mustard
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
- Smash the chickpeas. I like to put them in my food processor or blender and pulse them until they are broken down into small pieces, then transfer to a medium mixing bowl. Or add them to a mixing bowl and mash/break them up with a potato masher or fork.
- Add the mayo to the smashed chickpeas. Start with 4 tablespoons and add another dollop if necessary at the end. How much you need varies every time, depending on the particular batch of chickpeas and how hard or soft they are.
- Then add everything else and stir really well. Add a little more mayo if you'd like it creamier and check the seasoning. Add a touch more if necessary.
- Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
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Julia Tanenbaum says
This was great! I found I only needed 1/4 tsp of salt. I also added a diced bell pepper.
Melanie McDonald says
Diced bell pepper is a great addition. Glad you enjoyed it, Julia!
Patricia G says
Forgot to add. I did not have any vegan mayo on hand, so used about a tablespoon of vegan salad dressing, and it came together perfectly.
Patricia G says
I've wanted to try something like this for a while, and made this recipe on short notice, looking for a different sandwich for my husband's weekly hospital volunteering lunch. It was super easy and fast, and tasted delicious!
Five stars for sure!
Angie says
Perfect! I served it with a jacket potato, salad and corn on the cob. what more could you want for a summer meal
Thank you Mel :)
Karen Becker says
Delicious! Just made some for lunch and my husband and son liked it as well.
Gee says
This is delicious. Perfect for sandwiches or pasta, stuffing a baked spud or just with a salad. It's not a million miles off sandwich spread, which I LOVE, but this is so much healthier. I'm looking forward to your take on the vegan mayo too. I didn't have pickles, but will get for next time I make this - which will be a regular thing from here! Nice work and thanks so much for all your fantastic recipes - loads of these are my staple dishes! Toodles from freezing Sydney
Melanie McDonald says
You’re welcome, Gee! So pleased you enjoyed it. You’ll love it even more with the pickles!