Chopped Greek Chickpea Salad
This easy and versatile Chopped Greek Chickpea Salad takes less than 20 minutes to make. Full of vibrant Mediterranean flavors, with crunchy bell peppers and cucumbers, briny olives, salty Feta, and a light vinaigrette, you’ll love bringing this to parties or packing it for a healthy lunch!
If you enjoy Mediterranean flavors, this is a recipe you absolutely need in your life. It’s everything that works about a classic Greek salad, but heartier and more versatile, thanks to the addition of a pantry staple: chickpeas.
Headed to a potluck? Having extra guests for dinner? Add this to the menu for a quick, easy, and filling side. Big gathering for a birthday party? Double the recipe, watch it disappear!
Here’s what you’ll need to pull it together.
What’s in a Greek Chickpea Salad?
- Chickpeas, obviously! Also known as garbanzo beans, these pantry MVPs add creamy texture and a mild, nutty flavor. You’ll use one 15 ounce can of them, drained and rinsed.
- Cherry or grape tomatoes. Of course you can swap quartered Roma or heirloom tomatoes, especially when they’re in season.
- Cucumber. English cucumber or Persian cucumbers are best because they are much less watery and have smaller seeds than their standard American cousins, which helps the salad stay fresh.
- Bell pepper – any color.
- Pitted Kalamata olives.
- Feta cheese. Feta packaged in brine has a tangy flavor and creamy texture that is hard for its pre-crumbled sister to replicate, but if you need to buy pre-crumbled for a time-saver, no hate here.
- Red onion and fresh herbs. An optional but nice touch to add at the end.
How to make it
The process of making this could not be simpler.
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Set aside to dry slightly.
- Chop the veggies. You want the cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers to be pretty evenly sized. The olives can go in whole or halved, and the red onion should have a finer chop.
- Toss it all together! At this point you can refrigerate the mixture for a few hours if you’re working ahead.
- Make the dressing. This is a 30-second red wine vinaigrette situation that you can shake together in a jar. Don’t skip the oregano—it makes the other flavors sing!
- Pour on the dressing and add feta and herbs when ready to serve. That’s it!
How to serve it
- For picnics or potlucks. Straight out of the bowl!
- As a dinner-worthy salad. This is light and lovely as-is; add arugula if you want to increase the greens and crunch factor.
- Inside a pita. Warm up a piece of whole wheat pita bread, slice in half, and fill with this chickpea salad for a restaurant-worthy lunch.
- On the side. Serve alongside grilled chicken, shrimp, or lamb burgers. We’ve even been known to enjoy chickpea salad alongside take-out pizza. 😉
How long will it last?
Once the dressing and Feta is added, this salad is best eaten the same day. The next day is alright, too.
If, however, you leave off the dressing and cheese, the salad or portions of it can be kept in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Make it a meal prep
As noted above, if the dressing and cheese is kept separate, this salad keeps well.
If you want to make lunches for the week, I suggest layering a bit of dressing, then some added arugula or other greens, then the chickpea-veggie mixture, and finally a sprinkling of Feta in a large mason jar.
You can also simply combine the chickpea mixture, any greens, and Feta in meal prep containers, and include individual portions of dressing. Easy!
Either way, if you’re making this as a meal prep, make an extra effort to find and use English or Persian cucumbers, or to remove the seeds. This significantly reduces the watery build-up.
Variations
- Add avocado for extra creamy texture and healthy fats.
- Add quinoa for additional whole grains.
- Use different or more fresh herbs – dill or oregano are both perfection!
- Add zoodles or spiralized sweet potatoes for more texture, flavor, and healthy veg.
More Mediterranean recipes
If you enjoy Mediterranean flavors, you’ll also love this meal-worthy chicken gyro salad with a creamy dill dressing, one-skillet Greek chicken with olives, and a delightful pearl couscous salad with cucumbers and tomatoes.
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Greek Chickpea Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 (15 oz) can chickpeas
- 1 medium cucumber English or Persian preferred
- 1 bell pepper any color
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes halved
- 1/2 cup kalamata olives
- 1/4 cup red onion chopped
- 1/4 cup Feta cheese crumbled
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
Dressing
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Drain and rinse chickpeas. Set aside to dry slightly.
- Chop cucumber, pepper, tomatoes, olives, and red onion. Add to a large bowl together with the chickpeas, and toss to combine.
- In a small jar or liquid measuring cup, shake or whisk together the dressing ingredients.
- When ready to serve, pour dressing over the salad and toss again. Sprinkle Feta and parsley on top and serve.
Notes
- English or Persian cucumbers are best, especially if you plan to eat this over the course of several days.
- Feel free to swap halved or quartered tomatoes — Roma, on-the-vine, or heirloom tomatoes would all work great.
- Feta that comes in a block packaged in brine usually has the best texture and flavor, but pre-crumbled is delicious in this, as well.
- Fully dressed, this is best eaten the same day, but if you leave off the dressing it keeps well several days in the fridge.
14 Comments on “Chopped Greek Chickpea Salad”
I crave this salad all summer long! It’s the dressing that really makes it. I tried throwing some of the ingredients together once in a hurry without the dressing and that was a huge mistake. I swap the bell pepper for avocado, and between the chickpea and avocado it’s filling enough to eat as a meal, not only as a side salad. When I plan to keep it as leftovers I hold the tomato and dressing  and cheese (and avocado) off until each serving is ready to eat.Â
A wonderful summer-y salad 🙂
This has wonderful color, I love a crunchy salad 🙂 it sounds like it would be delicious in a gyro !
Looks like I will be going Greek with dinner very soon. I love the addition and added flavor with the chickpeas.
I ‘m always looking for an easy, healthy make-ahead lunch that I can eat on all week. I love that this recipe is healthy yet full of flavor.
Love this salad! It has everything I love! It will be perfect for lunch or even meal prep!)
We absolutely love Mediterranean flavored dishes. And your salad is so pretty – the colors really pop. Your Greek salad is really inspiring me to include chickpeas in my salads. I don’t and I don’t know why. We do like chickpeas and I have a can of it in the pantry. I was debating on our side for the Fourth of July — this salad would be ideal with our grilled chicken.
This greek salad is loaded with good for me vegetables, a great side dish for grilled meats too.
Chickpea salads are the best for easy weekday lunches! Love the flavor combo in this one.
I love the suggestion to serve this salad with Lamb Burgers, but I can see myself eating a giant plate of it as the only thing I need for a super satisfying meal. Aren’t chickpeas the best??? Have you ever tried making the vinaigrette with any other kinds of vinegar? Just wondering if a white wine or rice vinegar is also good with all the flavors going on in there.
Chickpea goes really well with salad.. Looks like a lot of flavor in that bowl
Outstanding colours. Great to know it’s a good make-ahead salad. Not all of them are, some get sad and soggy.
This recipe is so colorful and nutritious! I love the variety in this recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Colorful, healthy and amazing combinations. I love such salad recipes.