The chickpea salad is a fresh summer recipe, rich in flavor, easy to prepare, and requires no cooking. Especially using canned cooked chickpeas, to prepare this salad we don’t even have to turn on a stove! In fact, just gather all the ingredients and mix them together to get a tasty, healthy, and nutritious salad. To prepare it, in addition to chickpeas, we also use many seasonal vegetables such as tomatoes, arugula, and lettuce which will give color and flavor to this dish. Furthermore, tuna in oil, which is a very present ingredient in summer salads, can be omitted if you prefer a completely vegan salad. The dressing is very simple and is an emulsion of oil, lemon juice, oregano, rosemary, salt, and pepper.
The preparation is very simple: gather chickpeas with lettuce, tomatoes, arugula, tuna, a sliced onion, and salt in a salad bowl, and then dress it all with oil, lemon juice, oregano, salt, and pepper.
Perfect for lunch and dinner in summer but also in other seasons of the year, this chickpea salad is practical because we can prepare it in five minutes at the last minute or in advance by storing it in the fridge. We can also prepare it to eat at home or away for a lunch box at the office or for lunch at the beach or on a day trip. You just have to try it!
Also discover:
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Economical
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 4 People
- Cooking methods: No Cooking
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons, Summer
Ingredients for Making Chickpea Salad
- 18 oz cooked, boiled chickpeas
- 1 1/3 cups tomatoes
- 6.3 oz tuna in oil
- 5.3 oz lettuce
- 3.5 oz arugula
- 1 onion
- salt
- extra virgin olive oil
- lemon juice
- dried oregano
- rosemary
- pepper
Tools for Making Chickpea Salad
- 1 Salad Bowl
- 2 Spoons
How to Make Chickpea Salad
We start making the chickpea salad by rinsing the chickpeas well from the storage water, a crucial step especially if using canned precooked chickpeas. Drain them well and place them in a bowl.
Prepare all the other ingredients starting with iceberg lettuce or other types of lettuce you use: remove the outer damaged leaves and the stem, rinse the leaves well, let them dry, cut them into strips and put them in the same bowl as the chickpeas.
Wash the tomatoes well, dry them, cut them into cubes and add them to the chickpeas and lettuce.
Wash the arugula well, dry it, and add it to the other ingredients.
Wash the olives well and drain the tuna from the preservation oil. Add both to the chickpea salad. Peel the onion and slice it thinly and add it to all the other ingredients. Salt.
Separately, prepare the dressing by emulsifying olive oil with lemon juice, oregano, and rosemary in a small bowl.
Pour the emulsion obtained over the salad and mix well.
The chickpea salad is ready, you can eat it right away or let it rest for at least 10-15 minutes so it gets well seasoned.
Simo and Cicci recommend
You can store the salad for a couple of days in the fridge.
You can use dried chickpeas. In this case, soak them in cold water for at least 7-8 hours or overnight and then cook them the next day in a pot full of water.
For a completely vegan version, omit the tuna.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
What is the best way to eat chickpeas?
They are so practical and versatile that we can use them in many preparations. Great for preparing summer salads, they are the base of hummus, burgers, and meatless balls. In winter, they are perfect for making warm soups and stews with pasta and rice.
