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!
PIN THIS RECIPE FOR LATER!
Easy Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
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!
Ingredients
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
Instructions
- Mince red onion or slice red onion into thin 1/8th-inch wedges.
- In a large bowl, combine dressing ingredients. Whisk until well combined. Marinate onions in dressing to soften their bite.
- Drain and rinse chickpeas, set aside.
- Wash and prepare all vegetables. Slice grape tomatoes in half. Quarter the cucumber and slice into 1/2-inch chunks.
- Top with feta – crumbled or in a fancy block.
- 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.
- Prep Time: 10
- Category: Salad
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
Keywords: chickpea salad, mediterranean, mediterranean salad, plant based salad