Easy Chickpea Salad with avocado, tomatoes, cucumber, and Mediterranean dressing. This protein packed garbanzo bean salad takes only 15 minutes to make.
Other affordable year round healthy salad recipes around here include easy avocado salad, avocado corn salad and mango black bean salad.
Table of contents
This is the best chickpea salad with avocado that I have ever made! It is super tasty and is based on traditional Ukrainian cucumber and tomato salad I grew up with, minus the garbanzo beans.
It definitely has Mediterranean flare to it. Juicy tomato, creamy avocado, crunchy cucumber and simple dressing with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and freshly cracked pepper.
This chickpea avocado salad is so filling, it can be lunch. Meal prep for a week, then serve alongside grilled chicken or grilled salmon. Sprinkle with feta cheese like traditional Greek salad, the possibilities are endless!
Ingredients For Chickpea with Avocado Salad
Chickpeas as known in the US or garbanzo beans as called in Europe are legumes of yellow color and round shape. Chickpeas are extremely high in protein and super good for you. They are used to make hummus.
- Chickpeas: I recommend to buy organic low sodium chickpeas in BPA free cans.
Can I use my own homemade chickpeas? Yes! A few years ago I learned how to cook dried beans and now I make Instant Pot chickpeas every few months. Thaw from frozen and make dishes like chicken chickpea stew, or cauliflower shepherd’s pie.
- Cucumber: Cukes can be seeded or not, cut into bite sized pieces.
- Tomato: Large or mini tomatoes work. When choosing large, best to pick not too soft fruit so it doesn’t leak too much. Also sharp knife helps a lot to cut through their skin.
- Avocado: Pick avocado with brown skin and slightly soft to the touch.
- Red onion: Red or white onion are sweet and less sharp than yellow.
- Fresh herbs: Any fresh herbs like parsley, cilantro, dill or basil will be great.
- Simple dressing: Olive oil, lemon (or lime), salt and pepper.
Love Mediterranean food? I highly recommend to try these Mediterranean baked zucchini sticks.
How Do You Make Chickpea Salad with Avocado?
- Chop veggies: No matter the size of vegetables, make sure to chop them into bite-sized pieces a bit larger chickpeas’ size for the maximum flavour in every bite.
- To dice avocado, using chef’s knife, cut avocado in half lengthwise. Hold half with a pit in one hand, gently tap sharp edge into the pit deep enough to twist the pit out, twist the knife and discard the pit. Remove with the spoon and dice. Follow step by step tutorial with photos.
- Make dressing by whisking olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
- Combine everything and stir gently. I like to use metal spoon so it doesn’t make veggies mushy. Also, do not stir too long.
Tips for the Perfect Salad
- Natural juices from tomato and cucumber are released as soon as you add salt, so dressing is best added right before serving.
- Slice red onion in larger pieces or just big enough for kids to pick out and adults to enjoy.
- Look for a ripe but firm avocado to avoid it becoming mushy when tossed with the salad ingredients.
Salad Flavor Variations
This easy chickpea salad is both healthy and delicious plus there are so many ways to switch up the flavors!
- Leafy greens: You could add chopped kale, romaine lettuce or spinach.
- Ukrainian flare: My aunt always added sliced radishes. And of course a little bit of freshly grated garlic adds more oumph.
- More Mediterranean: Add 1/4 cup crumbled feta but then reduce salt. Toasted pine nuts make this salad more Mediterranean.
- Mexican twist: Use lime in the dressing then add diced jalapeno and 1 tsp cumin.
Chickpea salad is perfect mid summer when days are hot and garden is abundant. Use what you have, I do in healthy cucumber salad!
What To Serve This With?
Chickpea salad goes well with any protein and side like bulgur, quinoa or brown rice.
Or pick one of five easy chicken marinades and serve along grilled/toasted pita. Below photo is of grilled chicken with fajita marinade.
FAQs
Yes, because they are cooked then canned. I prefer to rinse my chickpeas after draining them to remove the aquafaba (fancy word for chickpea liquid).
Yes! This chickpea salad recipe is packed with plant based protein, blood cleansing cilantro, vitamin C loaded tomatoes, heart healthy avocado, and cancer fighting red onion.
Yes! This is a great addition. Add with avocado right before serving.
Sure! This chickpea salad is so versatile, try any of these healthy salad dressings for a different flavor profile.
How to Meal Prep Salad?
You can make ahead garbanzo bean salad for up to 1 day in advance making it great meal prep for summer holiday parties or as part of your weekday healthy lunch ideas!
- Prep veggies: Add all ingredients except dressing and avocado to a salad bowl.
- Make dressing.
- Store: Cover and refrigerate both until ready to serve, up to 1 day.
- Before serving: Dice avocado before serving and combine. You might have to warm up dressing to melt the oil.
Storage Tips
Store leftovers for up to 1 day. Because there are no leafy greens like in lettuce salad, garbanzo salad holds up well. Do not freeze.
More Salad Recipes You’ll Love
- Mediterranean quinoa salad
- Quinoa and black bean salad
- Mexican bean salad
- Southwest quinoa salad
- Mexican street corn salad
- Tomato mozzarella avocado salad
Easy Chickpea Salad with Avocado
Ingredients
- 2 x 14 oz cans chickpeas drained & rinsed
- 1 long English cucumber cut into bite size pieces
- 3 medium tomatoes cut into bite size pieces
- 2 medium ripe avocados diced
- 1/4 cup red onion diced
- 1/2 cup parsley dill or cilantro, finely chopped
- 1 large lime or lemon juice of
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- Ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add chickpeas, cucumber, tomatoes, avocado, red onion and parsley.
- In a small bowl, add olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and whisk.
- Pour dressing over salad and gently stir to combine.
- Serve cold on its own or with grilled chicken breast, grilled salmon, or pick one of 5 easy chicken marinades and cook chicken.
Store: Refrigerate in an airtight glass container for up to 1 day.
Make ahead: You can make this salad up to 1 day ahead. Refrigerate beans and veggies except avocado in a bowl and dressing in a jar. When ready to serve, dice avocado, warm up dressing to melt the oil and combine.
Video
Notes
- Homemade chickpeas: I cook my own Instant Pot chickpeas. You can also learn how to cook dried beans on the stove.
- Leafy greens: You could add chopped kale, romaine lettuce or spinach.
- Other vegetables: My aunt always added sliced radishes.
- Feta: Add 1/4 cup crumbled feta but then reduce salt.
- Nuts: Toasted pine nuts make this salad more Mediterranean.
- Mexican variation: Use lime, add diced jalapeno and 1 tsp cumin.
Nutrition
Recipes and images are a copyright of ifoodreal.com. It is against the law to republish recipes without permission. Nutritional info is approximate.
Holy cow lady! I have spent a lot of time reading your recipes and have found them super interesting, hilarious, and relaxing. I was visiting my bro and pa in Vancouver and I googled healthy blueberry loaf. (I am from Manitoba) I have recently broken my leg badly and reading your site has been good for my soul and excellent to stock up my mind with inspiration for when I am more mobile.
I read your Ukrainian tomato ‘relish’ recipe at one point, but I am having difficulty locating it again. Where can I find it?
Many thanks
Hey girl. It’s is called Adjika. Search for it on the blog. Hope you feel better soon!!!
Super easy – and so delicious. Thank You.
You are so welcome, Annette! I’m making this salad with nutritional greens today.
Ahh mazing!! Just made this today… so refreshing! Thanks Olena for sharing all your wonderful, healthy & simple to make recipes! Enjoying your blog/site very much – so have people with whom I’ve shared your site with!! You make cooking fun!!
Hi Tricia. So happy to hear!!! And thank you so much for sharing the recipes and making our world healthier.:)
Delicious! Fresh, healthy ingredients combine to create amazing flavors and textures. I used mostly cilantro but had picked some fresh parsley from my mom’s yard so I chopped that up and threw it in too – so many beautiful, summer flavors together in one salad. I commented yesterday on the spinach strawberry salad that I added cubed chicken to fuel my husband’s meat preference and I used the other half of that cubed chicken (boneless skinless tenders baked in the oven with EVOO, fresh garlic, salt, pepper, and little hot chili powder) in this salad today.
You are quite on a salad kick, Kandi.:) Me too, with all this heat…
Lookin’ good!
Perfect response – we need to learn, at least myself I had to do this, how to just eat real food and trust that our bodies will get what they need. Go to Europe, most people will not even think about what kind of nutrition they need and how to calculate the food. They eat a steak because it tastes delicious, not to get a certain amount of protein. Since I stopped being aware of nutrition/calories, weight has gone done to my surprise. I recommend watching “In the defence of food” on netflix. Thank you Olena for being so clear. You are one of the leaders of this movement.
I have fallen a victim of the North American way to analyze our diets “under the microscope” and it has done nothing but bad things to my self esteem and life. So I will propagande against any type of diet for now. Thank you for sharing your voice!!!
Do you have the nutrition info posted regarding this recipe? I have seen it at the bottom on some of your others, but I can’t find it for the Chickpea Avocado Salad. Thanks!
Sorry, I don’t.
I wish you’d post the nutritional facts about recipes. I hesitate to try them without those as I watch both my fat and carb intake.
I stopped counting calories because they don’t mater if you eat healthy and real food. I have struggled so many years calculating and overthinking food which led me to a very unhappy place. I do not post calories to lead by example and to encourage mindful intuitive and healthy eating which should not lead to any overweight issues. I proved it myself once I stopped counting and am much happier person now. My mission is to make more women happy because so many of them are suffering and struggling. So no calories.:) I hope you try this delicious salad, it’s so good and healthy you can eat until you get sick of it and nothing will happen to your fat deposits, trust me.
I total agree.I’m trying to eat healthy as a way of life,not a diet of calorie counting and worrying.eat fresh,real foods and you’ll be ok.I’m making this salad today!Thanks again Olena
Very welcome, Shirley.:) Enjoy! Great time of the year for it.
Hii
I want to make this salad in my fireless cooking competition
Great!
I could eat this every day, so fresh!!
I agree.
I know you said wait to add salt, pepper and lemon juice until just before serving if I make this a day early but can I at least add the lemon juice to keep the avocados from turning brown? Thanks for the recipe!
Yes you can. It is mostly the salt that draws moisture from vegetables and makes salad soggy overnight.
This has to be the best salad creation I have ever had. In addition, its a great way to get rid of the things that spoiling in the refrigerator. I have made this recipe multiple times and its always a hit! I cant thank you enough for turning my life around and making me realize that healthy could also be delicious!
You are welcome! That is how we cook – use up what you have and anything goes in this salad. A bit of oil, vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper will make any salad delicious. My staple “dressing” LOL
So if I am making this salad a day ahead of time do I add the oil and salt before I store it for the night or right before I eat it.
You add salt, pepper and oil right before you eat it. Store just chopped veggies.:)