Avocado Chickpea Salad is a vegetarian “chicken” salad you can make in 10 minutes with smashed chickpeas, grapes, toasted almonds, celery, and herbs in a creamy avocado Greek yogurt dressing — no mayo. Quick lunch and great weekly meal prep recipe.
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You’re Going to Love This
Avocado chickpea salad is like a vegetarian chicken salad or tuna salad recipe , except it’s made from chickpeas and avocado. No chicken. No tuna. No mayo. It’s so fresh, healthy, and delicious — and easy to make.
It’s a salad, sandwich, snack and dip! Make an avocado chickpea salad sandwich on whole grain bread, in a pita, tortilla or lettuce wrap. Or scoop it up with crackers.
Bright and fresh flavors. Juicy grapes, crisp celery, floral tarragon in a lemon Dijon dressing, YUM!!
Fast and easy meal prep. In 10 minutes, you can make a quick lunch, or whip up a double batch to meal prep for the week.
Crunchy and creamy. All the textures are reporting for duty in this avocado chickpea salad with toasted almonds, juicy grapes, crisp celery, and velvety dressing
Pretty for parties and baby or wedding shower. If you need an elegant vegetarian salad for a birthday or baby shower, serve this on croissants or in store bought phyllo cups.
Tarragon. Fresh tarragon adds the most exquisite flavor to this chickpea salad with avocado.
Ingredients
Greek yogurt. My favorite Greek yogurt for dressings and dips is nonfat plain Chobani. It’s smooth and creamy and not chalky at all.
Avocado. Make sure your avocado is ripe so it will blend into a velvety smooth dressing — or you can easily smash it with a fork.
Dijon. Dijon adds a deep, rich flavor to the avocado salad dressing
Parsley. Parsley is a bright and slightly peppery herb that brings tons of fresh flavor.
Tarragon. Tarragon adds floral, fresh, elegant flavor, with a touch of licorice — in the most delicious way.
Chickpeas. Chickpeas are the perfect base for this vegetarian chicken salad because you can lightly mash them to get both creaminess and chunky texture.
Grapes. Fresh, juicy red grapes add just the right amount of sweetness to the chickpea avocado salad.
Almonds. Sliced almonds add a nutty crunch. To intensify the flavor, use toasted nuts. You can either toast them yourself in the oven, on the stove top or even in the microwave. You can also buy them toasted.
Variations
The beauty of this avocado chickpea salad recipe is that you can completely customize the flavors to your taste — and what you have in your pantry and fridge. Use your favorite beans, fruits, nuts, and herbs to whip up your very own creation.
Chickpeas. Use black beans, white beans, or even black-eyed peas.
Green onion. You can also use finely chopped red onion.
Fresh lemon. Use fresh lemon or lime juice if you can. Bottled citrus juice just doesn’t taste as fresh.
Grapes. Use pineapple, mandarin oranges, your favorite berries — or any dried fruit to add flavor and a satisfying chewiness.
Almonds. Macadamia nuts, walnuts, or cashews would be so awesome in this salad!
Parsley and tarragon. If you have a bumper crop of fresh herbs, use whatever you have and love. To substitute dried herbs for fresh, use 1 teaspoon of dried for every tablespoon of fresh.
Add some feta cheese. Make a delicious chickpea avocado feta salad by adding a little salty feta.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1
Make the avocado Greek yogurt dressing.
Place the avocado, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, Dijon, pepper, parsley, and tarragon into a food processor or blender. I use a mini chopper like this one.
Process until the dressing is smooth and creamy.
You can also smash the avocado with a fork and whisk in the remaining ingredients for a chunkier dressing.
Step 2
Drain and rinse one can of chickpeas and place them in a large bowl. Lightly mash some of the chickpeas with a fork, leaving some of them intact so you still have chunks of chickpeas.
Step 3
Add the chopped celery, halved grapes, sliced green onions, and toasted almonds to the chickpeas.
Add the avocado Greek yogurt dressing. Stir to combine.
Step 4
Serve this avocado chickpea salad on whole grain bread, crackers, in lettuce or tortilla wraps, or stuffed in a tomato.
Store your Avocado and Chickpea Salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3- 5 days.
Expert Tips
Light mash the chickpeas to add both creaminess and chunky texture to this vegetarian chicken salad.
If you don’t have a blender or food processor, mash the avocado with a fork really well and whisk it in with the rest of the avocado yogurt dressing ingredients.
Use fresh lemon and herbs to pack the most flavor into salad.
Vegetarian chicken salad is a great meal prep recipe to save time making weekday lunches.
Recipe FAQs
Yes. Canned chickpeas, or garbanzo beans, are already cooked, so technically, they’re not raw. Which means you can eat them right out of the can — tossed in lettuce or pasta salads, blended into hummus, or smashed into a delicious chickpea avocado salad.
I recommend draining and rinsing chickpeas to reduce the sodium content. But you may want to keep the garbanzo bean liquid, called aquafaba. Oddly enough, it can be used similar to egg whites as a easy vegan egg substitute. Aquafaba can actually be whipped up into meringues or mouses or used as an egg replacement in baking recipes.
Absolutely! In fact, this smashed chickpea salad is a little better the next day after all the flavors have had time to mingle together. You can store it in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
Serving suggestions
This avocado chickpea salad is a fast and fresh weekday lunch idea or side dish for picnics and potlucks. There are so many delicious ways to serve it!
Whole grain bread or croissants. Make a chickpea chicken salad sandwich
Pita. Fill a pita with smashed chickpea and avocado salad, greens, and veggies
Lettuce wraps. Roll it up in lettuce for a naturally gluten free option
Crackers. Delicious scooped up with whole grain crackers
Bed of spinach. Toss together a quick chickpea avocado spinach salad.
Wrap sandwich. Roll it up in a tortilla with lettuce and tomato slices
Phyllo shells. Make fancy little tartlets by scooping this vegetarian chicken salad into mini phyllo shells.
Endive leaves. Fill endive leaves with a little dollop of chickpea salad.
Fresh veggie slices. Scoop up this delicious salad with carrot slices and celery sticks.
Zucchini, or cucumber boats. Hollow out zucchini or cucumber halves and fill them with avocado chickpea salad.
Bring it to a party! Serve it alongside Kale Apple Slaw, Healthy Potato Salad, and Southwestern Pasta Salad at your next outdoor barbecue or party.
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Chickpea “Chicken” Salad
Ingredients
Avocado Yogurt Dressing
- ½ avocado
- ⅓ cup Greek yogurt
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh tarragon, chopped
Chickpea "Chicken" Salad
- 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 rib celery, chopped
- 1 cup green or red grapes, halved
- 2 green onions, sliced
- ¼ cup almonds, toasted
Instructions
Avocado Yogurt Dressing
- Place the avocado, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, Dijon, pepper, parsley, and tarragon into a food processor or blender. Process until the dressing is smooth and creamy. You can also smash the avocado with a fork and whisk in the remaining ingredients for a chunkier dressing.
Avocado Chickpea Salad
- Drain and rinse one can of chickpeas and place it in a large bowl. Lightly mash some of the chickpeas with a fork, so there are some still left intact. This will add both creaminess and texture to your salad.
- Add chopped celery, halved grapes, sliced green onions, and toasted almonds to the chickpeas. Add avocado dressing. Stir to combine.
- Serve this avocado chickpea salad on whole grain bread, crackers, in lettuce wraps, or stuffed in a tomato.
- Store this salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3- 5 days.
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