This fresh, light vegan chickpea salad is a great make ahead option for a healthy lunch all week!
With my next school year rapidly approaching, I’ve been pondering what I want to take for lunch to work every day. You all know me, so you know it has to be something that’s EASY to prep on the weekend. Healthy, of course, and ideally something I can shovel in my mouth in about 10 minutes while my kindergarteners are eating lunch.
So, let’s talk about vegan chickpea salad! The perfect quick and easy lunch to prep that’s so tasty and satisfying.
Ingredients for vegan chickpea salad
- Chickpeas: I keep it super simple with canned chickpeas. They’re a great source of plant-based protein and so satisfying in this mix.
- Carrots + celery + pickles: these raw veggies give the salad lots of crunchy texture and flavor.
- Raw cashews: cashews that you’ll soak in hot water blend to be a super rich and creamy base for the sour cream.
- Apple cider vinegar: a little vinegar gives the cashew sour cream that classic tang.
- Lemon juice: lemon juice gives the sour cream a fresh, bright flavor.
- Water: a little water thins the cashew sour cream to the right consistency.
- Black pepper: you’ll add some pepper to the sour cream, to your taste.
Tips for making vegan chickpea salad
- Serve however you like. This salad is great in lettuce wraps, over salad, in a vegan tortilla or on vegan bread for a sandwich! Store leftovers in the refrigerator.
This vegan chickpea salad is the perfect combination of textures. The vegetables are super crunchy while the sour cream is smooth and creamy. It’s great in a romaine lettuce wrap, between two slices of bread for a healthy, satisfying sandwich, or even in a wrap. Your work day just got WAY more exciting!
Xo,
Sara
Vegan Chickpea Salad
Ingredients
Chickpea salad mix
- 1 1/2 cups canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed then mashed with a fork
- 2 large carrots, finely diced
- 3 celery stalks, finely diced
- 2 dill pickles, finely diced
Cashew sour cream
- 1 cup cashews, soaked for 3 hours, then drained
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2-3/4 cup water, depending on your desired consistency
- Black pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mash the chickpeas, then add the diced vegetables and stir to combine.
- Blend all the cashew sour cream ingredients in a food processor until smooth and creamy – you may need to scrape down the sides after a minute to make sure everything is incorporated.
- Add 1/2 cup sour cream to the chickpeas and vegetables, and stir to combine. Feel free to add more/less sour cream, depending on your preference.
- Serve with lettuce wraps, over salad, in a vegan tortilla or on vegan bread for a sandwich! Store in the refrigerator.
Thank you Sara! Going to try this for lunch next week!
Woohoo! Let me know what you think! 🙂
I know that you do post savory recipes sometimes, but it still always catches me by surprise to see one pop up haha 😀 But this looks SO good and absolutely lunch-perfect, packed or not. I love all the yummy veggies and crunchy bits you added in, and pickles are a must for me in any type of creamy salad situation. Idk how prepared you are for the rest of going back to work and the new year, but lunch is definitely deliciously figured out!
Haha you’re right to be caught off guard, when I was getting this post ready I realized it had been about 5 months since my last savory recipe…oops! I’m trying to just let the process be natural, so if it’s a savory one, you know it’s REALLY good, haha. That’s so funny you mentioned that, the pickles are my husband’s favorite part, every time I make it he’s like more…more…more! Haha never enough pickles I guess. I’m feeling about as ready as I can, but you’re right, having lunch figured out makes everything feel a little more manageable, haha. Have a great rest of your week, Natalie!
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