Nothing beats this Curried Chickpea Salad, complete with curry-seasoned chickpeas, a myriad of veggies, and the best dressing. This salad can be ready in 15 minutes or less and is delicious on its own and divine in some pita with lettuce.

We love a good chickpea salad! Try some of our other favorites: Chickpea SaladGreek Couscous Salad, or this Italian Couscous Salad.

Overhead image of Curried Chickpea Salad

This Curried Chickpea Salad is part of our Back-To-School Lifesavers — a series of recipes that are intended to have little (or no) veggie chopping, minimal prep time, around 10 ingredients, or less (not including pantry staples), and use kid-friendly ingredients. Click here to see all the recipes in the series!

Curried Chickpea Salad

It’s no secret we’re obsessed with using chickpeas as a sandwich filling — in fact, there are tons of fun flavor variations on this site:

Process shots-- images of the veggies being chopped together

Curry Chickpea Salad Ingredients

  • Chickpeas: also called garbanzo beans — they’re one and the same! See “quick tip” below.
  • Celery: To save time, pick already-washed celery stalks.
  • Red onion: A shallot or green onions can be used here instead.
  • Parsley: Make sure to get flat-leaf Italian parsley, as opposed to curly for this recipe. Flat-leaf parsley has a more robust flavor and curly parsley is used more commonly as a garnish. Cilantro is a great substitute here, as well.

Quick Tip

Thoroughly rinse and drain the chickpeas. Wet or watery chickpeas will dilute the salad mixture and make it less flavorful. I love using a salad spinner to completely dry the chickpeas before adding them to the food processor completely.

Process shots of Curried Chickpea Salad-- images of the chickpeas being added and pulsed together

Curried Chickpea Salad Dressing Ingredients

  • Mayo: Use good, creamy, full-fat mayonnaise. We recommend Hellman’s/Best Foods®.
  • Yellow curry powder: There is a lot of variation here, depending on the brand! Use a curry powder you know you enjoy with a heat level you can handle (we use McCormick®).
  • Honey: This helps set off heat from the curry while adding a nice balancing flavor
  • Lemon Juice: This delivers needed acid and vibrancy
  • Dijon: Make sure to use dijon, not yellow mustard here!

[variation] To make Curried Chickpea Salad Vegan, use vegan mayo! [/variation]

Process shots-- images of the dressing ingredients being added and pulsed together

Chickpea Curry Salad Tips

  • Don’t over-pulse the chickpeas. We still want some coarse texture and for the chickpeas to be pretty chunky.
  • To keep this recipe as simple as possible, we throw everything in the food processor. Pulsing the veggies and chickpeas in a food processor takes mere seconds! If you don’t have a food processor, the veggies will need to be finely chopped and then a potato masher or even a fork can break and crush the chickpeas.

Serving Suggestions

  • Prepare a naan-wich or pita sandwich. Layer the chickpea filling on toasted naan or pita with ripe avocado, lettuce, and a few thinly sliced red onions.
  • Make a Curried Chickpea Salad sandwich by toasting some hearty wholegrain bread. Spread mayo on the bread slices and then layer on some lettuce, a fresh, ripe avocado, and plenty of the curried chickpea filling.
  • Make a Curried Chickpea Salad wrap by adding some lettuce, ripe avocado, and this sandwich filling into a tortilla that has been spread with mayo. For a low-carb meal, replace the tortilla wrap with a lettuce wrap.

Image of the Curried Chickpea Sandwich on a plate

Quick Tip

Don’t forget the seasonings! Add additional salt, pepper (and even curry powder) until the filling flavors sing. Canned chickpeas contain different amounts of salt, so you may want less or more than what I’ve indicated in the recipe card.

More Chickpea Favorites:

5 from 2 votes

Curried Chickpea Salad

Nothing beats this Curried Chickpea Salad, complete with curry-seasoned chickpeas, a myriad of veggies, and the best dressing. This salad can be ready in 15 minutes or less and is delicious on its own and divine in some pita with lettuce.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients 
 

  • 1 can (15.5 oz.) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1/4 cup celery
  • 1/4 cup red onion
  • 1/4 cup parsley (or cilantro)
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons yellow curry powder (Note 1)
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise (Note 2)
  • 1 teaspoon each: honey and lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • salt andย pepper
  • For serving: warmed or toasted pita/naan, lettuce, avocado (optional)

Instructions 

  • Drain and rinse a can of chickpeas, then thoroughly dry them using a salad spinner for quick and easy prep. Chop celery into 1-2 inch pieces and red onion into 1-inch pieces for measuring.
  • Add celery, red onion, and parsley or cilantro to a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the drained chickpeas and pulse a few times to break them down. Add the remaining ingredients, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. I use 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, see Note 3. Pulse until the mixture is chunky but well combined, maintaining a coarse texture. Taste and adjust with additional salt or a squeeze of lemon for optimal flavor.
  • Warm or char naan or pita over a gas stovetop. Spread mayo on the bread, then layer with your favorite sandwich ingredients like lettuce, ripe avocado with salt and pepper, and thinly sliced red onion. Evenly divide the chickpea mixture between the naan or pitas. Enjoy immediately!

Video

Recipe Notes

Note 1:ย Use high-quality, creamy, full-fat mayonnaise. I recommend Hellmanโ€™s/Best Foodsยฎ.
Note 2:ย Curry powders vary in spice and flavor. Use one you enjoy at your preferred heat level. We recommend McCormickยฎ.
Note 3:ย Canned chickpeas vary in salt content. Start with a small amount, taste, and adjust as needed.
Nutrition facts are for the salad mixture only and do not include pita/naan/bread or additional veggies.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 160kcal | Carbohydrates: 16.8g | Protein: 5.9g | Fat: 8.1g | Cholesterol: 4.8mg | Sodium: 451.4mg | Fiber: 5.6g | Sugar: 0.6g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Meet Chelsea


Hello, and welcome to Chelseaโ€™s Messy Apron! Iโ€™m Chelsea, the recipe developer, food photographer, and writer behind the site. Iโ€™m passionate about creating simple, reliable, and delicious recipes that anyone can make.

Thanks for stopping byโ€”I hope you find something delicious to make!

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5 from 2 votes (1 rating without comment)

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2 Comments

  1. Lallie says:

    5 stars
    Beautiful simple and delicious
    I love chickpeas.,all the time
    Winter and summer
    Thank you for sharing this easy Yummycilious recipe

    1. Chelsea says:

      I am so happy to hear this! Thanks Lallie! ๐Ÿ™‚