This easy chickpea salad makes a delicious, low-calorie filling for wraps and sandwiches. Perfect for vegan, whole foods plant-based (WFPB) diets. Zero Weight Watchers points on Purple and Blue plans.
Somewhere right now one of my longtime readers is saying, “Another chickpea salad???” And they’re right. I’ve done chickpea salads before: Thai chickpea salad, “tuna” chickpea salad, 3-minute chickpea salad, herbed and curried chickpea salads. So why do I need to post an easy chickpea salad?
The simple answer is this is how I make chickpea salad now. I started adding more veggies, cutting down on the number of seasonings, and using a food processor to do all the mashing and mixing. As a result, the current incarnation of my chickpea salad may be even quicker than my 3-Minute Chickpea Salad–and it’s sugar-free.
I wasn’t planning to post the recipe, but after my last post, when I mentioned I’ve been following Weight Watchers, I received a lot of questions about what I eat from other Weight Watchers. I don’t have a set menu that I follow, but there are two things that I make for lunch just about every week: Instant Pot Vegetable Soup and this chickpea salad. Rather than type up the recipe every time someone asks me about it, I decided to post it here.
The beauty of this easy chickpea salad from a nutritional perspective is it is about one third vegetables. And it’s great for Weight Watchers and anyone watching their intake of sugar because instead of sweet pickle relish I used unsweetened dill relish.
Adding roasted red pepper adds moisture, so you really only need about a tablespoon of vegan mayo (for speed, I often skip the peppers and just add a tablespoon of the chickpea liquid or aquafaba.) When I make it with my homemade Tofu-Cashew Mayo it’s zero points, but even if you were to use a packaged vegan mayo, it’d still be only 1 point per serving. I eat it wrapped in two 1-point tortillas with lettuce and tomato for a very filling 2-point lunch.
And if you’re following a salt-free diet, you can easily eliminate most of the sodium by replacing the Creole Seasoning with any sodium-free seasoning blend. I like to use just a few pinches of poultry seasoning (made with thyme, sage, and black pepper) to give it a vegan “chicken” salad flavor.
The recipe is below…right after some good news!
New Recipe Box!
Some of you were disappointed when the software that used to let you save your favorite recipes stopped working. The good news is I’ve finally found something to replace it. It’s a little more complicated to use at first glance, but it also has more features that I’m just starting to figure out. It allows you to not just save recipes but also arrange them in collections and print out a shopping list. In the future, I could possibly use it to create weekly meal plans or suggest side dishes to go with a featured recipe.
To get started, click “Add to Recipe Box” in any recipe you want to add. To see your recipe box, go to the top menu and hover over Recipe Index (click + on mobile) and choose “Recipe Box.” Note that the recipes you save are in your browser’s cache, so you can’t save them on mobile and find them on desktop–you will have a separate recipe box on each device.
On this post, I’ve used the feature to recommend some of my other favorite light lunches, and you can save them all to your recipe box by clicking the Add to Collections button below the recipe.
Easy Chickpea Salad Sandwich Filling
Ingredients
- 3 ounces baby carrots (about 3/4 cup)
- 1 rib celery cut into 3-4 pieces
- 1 15-ounce can cooked chickpeas drained and liquid reserved
- 1 tablespoon vegan mayo see notes
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon Creole Seasoning or to taste (see notes)
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened dill relish
- 3 tablespoons chopped roasted red bell pepper optional
Instructions
- Put the carrots and celery into a food processor fitted with a chopping blade. Pulse until they are mostly finely chopped; a few larger pieces won’t make a difference.
- Add most of the chickpeas to the processor, along with the mayo and seasoning. If you are not using the roasted red pepper, add a tablespoon of the chickpea liquid. Pulse a few times until the chickpeas are in pieces.
- Add the remaining chickpeas and the roasted red pepper and dill relish. Pulse once or twice just to blend the ingredients. Check the seasoning and add more to taste. Serve in a wrap or on bread with lettuce and tomato.
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
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Please let me know how you like the recipe. And if you don’t already, follow me on Facebook and Instagram, where I remind you of recipes you’ve probably forgotten and post photos of whatever I happen to be eating.
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Maria Theresa Maggi
February 25, 2019 at 9:39 pmHahahaha!! Guilty! I DID think, “another chickpea salad recipe?” But I love the crunchy vegetables in here and that you use the food processor. I make what I call a “confetti salad’ in a similar manner–it’s so easy! And also I like to roast peppers and add for moisture and flavor. This looks really good Susan! Glad to see you are inspiring other Weight Watchers to try this for lunch. When I followed it back in the day I would have loved this one. Thanks! xo
Susan Voisin
February 25, 2019 at 10:49 pmHa! Thanks, Maria! I was SO close to not posting it, even after I took all the photos. And then I thought, “Why not?” If even one person can use it, it’s worth it to add another recipe to the chickpea salad archives. 😀
BJ Ledyard
February 26, 2019 at 12:00 amI don’t know if it is PC but you look fabulous in your new picture. Thanks for the inspiration.
Vikki
February 26, 2019 at 6:30 pmI was thinking the same thing, she does look fabulous!
Susan Voisin
February 27, 2019 at 7:58 amThank you both! All the credit goes to the photographer, who worked some kind of magic.
Cheryl gulvin
February 27, 2019 at 7:40 amI say you can’t have too many chicky salads! And the new recipe box sounds great too…thank you!
Jill in SF
February 27, 2019 at 11:17 amDon’t ever apologize for chickpea salad recipes! I eat chickpea salad probably x 2-3 every week because it’s so easy. I love the Creole seasoning idea!. This dish works so great with whatever you have around – I’ve added chopped walnuts, broccoli and daikon confetti, diced cucumber, and even some diced cooked sweet potato. I soften corn tortillas on my oven rails and make tacos with it and put it over butter lettuce. Versatile!
Congrats on the weight loss. I did WW 20 years ago to lose about 20#. Back then it was only meetings, there was no on-line side, but if I had to do it again, the on-line support sounds fantastic. I’m sure the program has changed, but WW is consistently the top rated diet program out there. What I always liked about them is their evidence base and using the current science (except for the animals part), and they are always trying to push you to eat more fruits and veggies and it appears at this point even more whole plant foods in general. Back when I did it, everything had points except for non-starchy greens, so a banana or a portion of beans and rice and some equivalent points “junk food” would be the same on your daily tally. It makes more sense to me to reward people for eating healthier food. You should be very proud of your accomplishment, it is not easy and it takes incredible mindfulness to do.
My condolences on the loss of your pet. 🙁
Kathleen
February 28, 2019 at 10:01 amLove this!! Just made this for lunch. Super fast and easy. Under 5 minutes to make, even with making the tofu cashew mayo. Tasted great. I did not have the relish so I thew in some of my home made dill pickles. Will definitely make this again. Thank you for a great recipe. Five stars!
Susan Voisin
February 28, 2019 at 10:47 amThank you, Kathleen! I’m so glad you liked it!
Marge Evans
March 1, 2019 at 1:01 pmis there a particular brand of wraps that you like?
Susan Voisin
March 1, 2019 at 1:11 pmI use these because they’re only 50 calories each: https://amzn.to/2UfzeER. I find them in the local grocery store.
Rachel Grubbs
March 7, 2019 at 4:47 pmYou may give me 100+ chickpea anything recipes, Susan!
Susan Voisin
March 7, 2019 at 6:13 pm👍😀
cesare di angelo
March 12, 2019 at 9:20 pmWhilst my physicians by their love are grown
Cosmographers, and I their map, who lie
Flat on this bed, that by them may be shown
That this is my south-west discovery,
Per fretum febris, by these straits to die,”
– John Donne
“Per fretum febris,” by these dire straits I was in, did not die but lived. (as did John Donne)
Hello Susan,
Just wanted to let you know how appreciated you are, even by your less known followers such as yours truly. You were my introduction to whole food cooking and my resource in learning how to cook to where I’m now quite accomplished in improvising to the point that its rare I pay attention to any recipes (except baking ones). You taught me how to stock a pantry and the joy of mirepoix and aromatic spices as the point of departure for wherever I might want to go. As a single man on the go that was quite the feat!
As that funny Carl’s Junior commercial of a young man illustrated in stating. “without us some men would starve” – that was me before I met you..
Like you despite the seemingly physical good health your cooking provided I was struck with something quite unexpected, a viral cardiomyopathy that sent my heart and kidneys into failure and almost took my life at a fairly young age. By the grace of God, the care of great physicians and for what they said was an otherwise strong and healthy constitution I was able after 3 weeks in intensive care, rebuild and remodel my heart, restore my kidneys and return to my life without any foreseeable need for a transplant. Had I had any arterial blockages or suffered from elevated blood pressures my prognosis would not have been so rosy. My nutritionist believes my diet and life style was the most contributing factor that preserved me. Other than being on a normal low sodium regime I resumed my whole food approach to eating and can again look forward to your innovations and ideas. Thank you for being one of those ”Cosmographers'” that led me through the narrow straits and saved my life. I wish and hope your continued good health and happiness.
Lisa Headley
April 30, 2019 at 2:08 amSuch a delicious and healthy recipe! It’s a perfect lunchtime snack for tiffin boxes in schools.
Full of protein and fiber, it will keep the stomach full for a long time, and provide essential energy as well.
Carol Skon
May 2, 2019 at 6:57 amHi Susan,
I just noticed that the spice linked to the post for Creole seasonings is a product that is not vegan (ingredients may contain wheat, soy or milk).
Do you by chance have a simple blend of spices you could advise?
Tamara Hanel
July 10, 2019 at 12:14 pmI made the Spanish Roasted potatoes (very good) so I had a can of chick peas left over. I made this recipe. Man it was tasty. Made it exactly as described with 1 tsp of creole seasoning.
kim
November 2, 2019 at 11:40 amChickpea salad is my ‘go to’ lunch. This sounds really good, Susan