Recipe: $9.75 | Per Serving: $2.44 | Yield: 4 servings with salad greens

Are you ready for the easiest plant-based chopped salad of all time? This Easy Mediterranean Chickpea Salad is loaded with flavor, plenty of vegetables, and just enough feta cheese to feel alive. 😉

No really, that feta tang is very exciting!

Look out 2021, we are coming in hot with a plant-based recipe to spruce up your lunches. I like feta, but you can easily make this dairy-free without it! (Though feta is a bit of a staple in mediterranean cuisine.)

I am not sure why this recipe has taken so long (years?) to make it to my blog, but I’ve been making some version of this since 2016. It’s basically a combination of chopped vegetables, chickpeas, greek salad dressing (but easier), and feta if you want it.

Eat this as just the salad swag, stuffed in a pita, or over some greens – arugula and baby mixed greens are my preference here. 

This Mediterranean Chickpea Chopped Salad is: 

• fast
• easy
• tangy and flavorful
• vegetarian
• gluten-free!

This is a great salad as is, with enough protein, fat, and fiber to be a suitable lunch for anyone! However, you can serve this as a side dish to an epic feast, pair it with some GF or whole wheat naan, serve it alongside grilled protein, or put it out as part of an tapas-style appetizer spread with things like hummus, olives, and maybe even grilled octopus!

Variations of This Mediterranean Chickpea Chopped Salad: 

• Canned Mackerel: I love adding a can of Wild Planet canned mackerel to this, either in addition to or instead of the chickpeas. 
• Chicken Thighs: Juicy grilled chicken thighs are a delicious addition. You can double the dressing and use half of it to marinate a few chicken thighs and then toss them on the grill before chopping and adding here. SO GOOD!
• Dairy free / Vegan: Omit the feta cheese and go for a combination of chopped avocado and diced black olives!
• Paleo: omit the chickpeas and the feta cheese, and add in the chicken or mackerel, avocado, and diced olives. 

Paleo: Nope – use olives, avocado, and chopped chicken and omit the chickpeas and feta to make this Paleo.
Vegetarian: Yep!

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Easy Mediterranean Chickpea Salad

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• Author: Caitlin
• Prep Time: 10
• Total Time: 10
• Yield: 4 1x
• Diet: Vegetarian

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Description

This easy plant-based chickpea salad has that classic Mediterranean flavor from the red wine vinegar, oregano, and feta cheese, and is a cinch to pull together for fast weekday lunches!

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

For the Dressing:

• 1 clove garlic, minced or grated
• 3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 4 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the Salad: 

• 1/4 red onion, sliced
• 1 can cooked chickpeas (1.5 cups)
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 cup English cucumber, 1/2-inch quarter chunks (about half a cucumber)
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (3.5 ounces)
• 8 cups baby greens, arugula, or other lettuce
• Optional: 1/3 cup sliced black or green olives

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Instructions

1. Mince red onion or slice red onion into thin 1/8th-inch wedges. 
2. In a large bowl, combine dressing ingredients. Whisk until well combined. Marinate onions in dressing to soften their bite. 
3. Drain and rinse chickpeas, set aside.
4. Wash and prepare all vegetables. Slice grape tomatoes in half. Quarter the cucumber and slice into 1/2-inch chunks.
5. Top with feta – crumbled or in a fancy block.
6. Serve everything together over mixed greens, as is, or with crackers or bread.

Notes

To make this Low FODMAP: omit the onion and garlic and use either shallot-infused olive oil or garlic-infused olive oil in place of the plain olive oil.

To make this VEGAN: omit the feta cheese, replace with olives and / or chopped avocado! You can also add in a few Tablespoons of hemp seeds to boost the protein.

• Category: Salad
• Method: No Cook
• Cuisine: Mediterranean

Keywords: chickpea salad, mediterranean, mediterranean salad, plant based salad