Chickpea Salad has everything—crunchy chickpeas, fresh chopped veggies, and a bright lemon dressing you’ll want on everything.
Author’s Notes
This Chickpea Salad > Everything Else Right Now
I’ve been having a moment with couscous salads. It started with a Greek version, then came the Italian one, and later this summery one joined the mix.
But this Mediterranean Chickpea Salad? I am convinced it’s the best one on the internet. I know there are a lot of versions out there, but this one hits all the boxes—crispy chickpeas, a bright lemony dressing, and the perfect mix of textures.
It’s fresh, filling, and the kind of salad I keep craving again and again.
Chickpea Salad Ingredients
The full recipe is below, but here are a few quick notes:
- Chickpeas: Rinse, drain, and dry well so they roast up nice and crisp.
- Spices: A few simple spices bring big flavor—skip the cayenne if you don’t want heat.
- Pearled couscous: Bigger than regular couscous with a chewy bite, kind of like orzo.
- Veggies: Chop everything small and even so it mixes in well.
- Lemon dressing: My favorite—just the right balance of sweet and tangy.
Variations
Simply skip the feta to keep this Chickpea Salad vegan.
How To Make Chickpea Salad
- Prepare the chickpeas and toss in olive oil, spices, and cook until they are crisp.
- Prepare the couscous according to package instructions.
- Chop the vegetables and toss them together.
- Prepare the dressing by adding everything to a jar, sealing it, and shaking.
- Top with feta cheese. Serve as a salad or meal prep it.
Quick Tip
To meal prep: Divide couscous and chopped veggies into containers, keep dressing and olives separate, and add lemon, feta, and dressing just before eating.
Chickpea Salad Goes With:
- Grilled Chicken or Salmon: Light proteins that match the fresh flavors.
- Falafel or Hummus with Pita: For a full Mediterranean-style spread.
- Crusty Bread or Pita Chips: Great for scooping.
- Stuffed Sweet Potatoes: Spoon the salad right on top for a fun meal.
- Greek Meatballs or Kofta:For a warm and savory side or a hearty salad add-in.
Featured Comment
“This salad is DELICIOUS! I made it for my lunches as a stay at home mom. Even my 1 year old enjoyed it! It’s sweet, tangy, spicy, crunchy, smokey. It’s everything all in one! Even my boyfriend (who is notorious for disliking cold salads) loved it!”
– Bela
Storage
Keep salad and dressing in separate containers. Store in the fridge and enjoy within 3–4 days.
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Strawberry Salad
Chickpea Salad
Equipment
- Sheet pan (15" x 10") lined
Ingredients
- 1 can (15-ounces) chickpeas rinsed, drained, and dried
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper optional
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup pearled couscous see note 1
- 1-1/2 cups chopped cucumber
- 1-1/2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 cup chopped Kalamata olives
- 1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1/2 cup jarred roasted red bell pepper diced, optional
- Crumbled feta cheese optional
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Dijon-style mustard
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 large lemon
Instructions
- Roast Chickpeas: Preheat oven to 400°F. Thoroughly dry the rinsed chickpeas—using a salad spinner works great. Add the chickpeas to a bowl with oil and spices. Toss to coat. Spread on a lined sheet pan and roast for 18–22 minutes, shaking halfway. I like them best at 20 minutes—crispy but not too hard.
- Couscous: Prepare according to package directions or according to method in note 3.
- Dressing: Zest a lemon for 1/2 tsp and juice it for 3 tbsp. Add everything to a jar, then season to taste (I use 1/2 tsp salt & 1/4 tsp pepper). Seal and shake well. Taste and adjust if needed.
- Assemble: Add cooled couscous to a large bowl then add in the veggies and cooled chickpeas. Drizzle on dressing only to what you’ll eat that day—salad doesn’t sit well once dressed. Sprinkle feta on each serving, if desired.
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I never comment on recipes, but I have made this as a meal prep lunch for the past 4 weeks of work and I am not sick of it! I love how healthy and filling it is. I don’t add feta to make it a vegan meal. Thank you so much!
Yay!! Love hearing that! Thanks for the comment and review Stevie 🙂
Just made this today. Mixed the olives in when I should have separated for meal prep (oops!) but that’s ok. I love kalamata olives.
This was really delicious. I really love the dressing! I’m a huge fan of lemons so this was perfect for me. Even my husband enjoyed it. I’ll be making more of this in the future!
Thanks for the recipe!
So happy to hear it!! Thanks so much for the comment and review Ayrx 🙂
Loved this recipe! Have made it twice. Only issue is that the chickpeas gets a little hard and soft when meal prepped in advanced ?
Glad you’ve enjoyed! Have you tried storing the chickpeas separately in a separate container?
I made this past night and it was great! Only issue was the I put the dressings in the fridge over night and it formed chuncks ?
It’s just the olive oil solidifying- it does that at cold temps. Take the vinaigrette out of the fridge about 20-30 minutes or so before you need it to bring it back up to temperature then shake it up or remix it 🙂
Sooooooo good! My husband and I love eating Mediterranean inspired meals. The only change I made was adding 2 cloves of fresh garlic to the dressing because we are garlic fanatics. Will definitely be meal prepping this recipe again.
Ahh I’m soo happy you guys enjoyed this! I also am a total garlic fanatic so I definitely need to try it with extra garlic! Thanks for your comment! 🙂
This was excellent! I was skeptical when I tasted the dressing by itself, but when mixed in, all the flavors came together really well. Thank you!
Yay! I’m soo glad you enjoyed! Thanks Elyse! 🙂
Excited to try this recipe! What can I use as a substitute for red wine vinegar? Also, is there a store bought dressing I could use to replace homeade?
I hope you love it! I don’t know of any lemon store bought dressings unfortunately. You can use white wine vinegar in place of red wine, although it will taste slightly different.
I replaced the couscous with quinoa and it was fantastic. The whole family loved it.
Ooh that sounds awesome! So glad you guys enjoyed! 🙂
I just made this and it is so good. I didn’t have couscous, so I used quinoa. I’ll definitely be using this in my meal prep rotation. Thank you!
So happy to hear that!
So glad I saw your comment, I only have orzo on hand
I meal prepped this last night. Great for lunches. Wasn’t a fan of the dressing. Tasted too much like lemon. I used a olive oil vinegrette instead and it worked well.
Sounds awesome! Thanks Amanda! 🙂
Did you add the 4 tablespoons of olive oil? It doesn’t mention it in the actual list of ingredients but explains to add the remaining olive oil in the directions. I was confused at first.
Thanks for pointing that out Jo! I updated recipe to make it more clear 🙂
This looks so good! Perfect for meal prep, oh and I LOVE chickpeas.
Thank you so much for the comment Amy! 🙂