This is the best Chickpea Salad I’ve ever had in my life.
Yotam Ottolenghi – I salute you.
Chickpea Salad
I first published this about a month after I started this website back in 2014. The fact that I, a self confessed Carb/Carnivore/Cheese Monster, published a vegan salad so early on (patience having never been my greatest virtue) and have taken it upon myself to reshoot the recipe, rewrite the post and make a recipe video for a chickpea salad should speak volumes.
It’s that good.
Make this for someone who is not a fan of chickpeas and I bet even they love it. First hand feedback from a Chickpea Hater. Well, Hater is a harsh word. Let’s say this person is meh when it comes to chickpeas. But her reaction to this Chickpea Salad was nothing short of enthusiastic!
The thing that makes this chickpea salad so amazing is the simple Spiced Chickpeas
I am near obsessed with this salad. I make it a LOT because I find it’s truly one of those salads I find satisfying to have as a meal. And unlike most meat-free salads, I don’t have to fight the urge to raid the pantry an hour later (thank you Mr Chickpeas, for keeping me nice and full!).
Those chickpeas. Honestly. You think chickpeas are blah? Toss them in a simple spice mix and pan fry for a couple of minutes.
OMG. What a transformation!!
Dressing for chickpea salad
The dressing is simple but a cut above your usual vinaigrette. Classic Yotam Ottolenghi – bright and zesty with lemon flavours but not too sharp because it’s combined with sherry vinegar and a touch of sugar.
It’s one of my favourite vinaigrettes!
I take no credit for these chickpeas. Or this entire Chickpea Salad, actually. It’s adapted from a recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem cookbook which I am so obsessed with, I am seriously contemplating doing a “Julie & Julia” on it.
Yotam Ottolenghi changed the way I cook. Making vegetables interesting, and salads sexy. Sorry if that word offends anyone in the context of food, but I swear I can’t think of a more suitable word in my limited vocabulary!
This is one such salad. 🙂 – Nagi x
Make a meal of it – try this with a side of:
Easy Soft Flatbread Recipe (No Yeast) with Hummus (try this traditional Hummus with Lamb!)
Crispy Couscous Pancake with Tomato & Onion (another Yotam Ottolenghi recipe)
Add a main – Chicken Shawarma or Lamb Shawarma, Lamb Koftas or Moroccan Meatballs
PPS Try serving it up with a dollop of yoghurt and pita bread. The Chickpea Salad is terrific for stuffing into pita bread!
WHAT TO SERVE WITH CHICKPEA SALAD
I usually serve this Chickpea Salad on its own as meal with a dollop of yoghurt and pita bread. Try it with my easy homemade flatbread!
As a side, this Chickpea Salad will pair beautifully with a simple protein (because the chickpeas have lots of flavour, you wouldn’t want the main with big punchy flavours) like Crispy Pan Fried Fish or this Lemon Pepper Chicken.
If you want to create a Middle Eastern Menu, try your hand at an Arabian Feast! Or have a browse of all my Middle Eastern recipes – it’s one of my favourite cuisines, I love the punchy flavours. I make this salad without the chickpeas as a side for full flavoured mains, such as Chicken Shawarma, Lamb Shawarma and Koftas.
MIDDLE EASTERN RECIPE COLLECTION
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Middle Eastern Spiced Chickpea Salad
Ingredients
Chickpeas
- 400g / 14 oz can chickpeas, drained but still wet (Note 1)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Chickpea Spices
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 1/2 tsp All Spice
- 1 tsp ground cardamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
Salad
- 2 cucumbers , diced
- 2 tomatoes (or 3 medium tomatoes), diced
- 1 red onion (small) , diced
- 1/4 cup coriander leaves , roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup parsley , roughly chopped
Dressing
- 1 1/2 tbsp sherry vinegar (Note 2)
- Zest of half a lemon
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 1 garlic clove, smashed (Note 3)
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Combine the Dressing ingredients in a jar and shake. Set aside for 20 minutes to allow the flavours to develop.
- Place chickpeas in a large bowl. Scatter over Spices, then toss to coat. The wetness of the chickpeas will make the spices stick.
- Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large pan over high heat and fry the chickpeas for a couple of minutes. Shake the pan so the chickpeas roll, or stir gently (so the spice coating doesn’t come off). Transfer into bowl and cool slightly.
- Combine the Salad Ingredients in a bowl. Drizzle with a bit of Dressing and toss. Transfer to serving bowl.
- Top salad with chickpeas (warm or at room temperature). Drizzle with more Dressing. Toss very gently, if desired (don’t toss too much otherwise spice comes off chickpeas). Serve immediately.
- Great served with a dollop of yoghurt and pita bread to stuff the salad into.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
Computer, coffee and Dozer eyeing off the Vegemite toast. Just another morning of work.
Loved this salad!!! Out of fear…I cut back and only used half of a small red onion but next time I’d give it a go with the whole whack! I made the chickpeas and let them sit at room temperature until dry so they could be mixed in with the salad and retain the spice. Don’t even think about skipping or pairing the salad with anything but the chickpeas…this recipe is about the pairing of the two together. Made my “Tried and True” list for sure! I have the cookbook but hadn’t even tried it until Nagi put it in my e-box! Thank you kindly Nagi! Keep up the good work!
LOVE hearing that Krista!!! So glad you enjoyed it! N x
I made this for dinner last night. OMG so delicious! It will be in my tried and true file and I will make this often as it’s so healthy and so easy. I served it with strip loin steaks. It was all we needed. Thank you for this one Nagi! Your recipes are soooo good.
I’m so glad you loved this one Judith!!! I’m pretty obsessed with it too 🙂 I just had it for lunch today!
I just made this and love it. Thank you.
LOVE hearing that Robbie!!! So glad you enjoyed it! N x
Agree this salad is delicious. Thought taste might be affected as I had not used caster sugar. I put regular sugar but nonetheless, my husband and I enjoyed it.
No difference in taste 🙂 SO GLAD you liked it!! N xx
The spices are heavenly on the chickpea. Absolutely fantastic salad. Thanks for sharing this, Nagi!
So glad you enjoyed this Yvonne! N x ❤️
I made this salad with my 11 year old son today. We didn’t have ground cummin or cardamon so he ground the seeds with a pestle and then cooked the chickpeas. My whole family absolutely loved this salad (and my husband hates salads!). Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful recipe. We have a new favourite salad today.
LOVE HEARING THAT!!!! N xx
I skipped the chickpeas since I made hummus as well and this came out pretty good. For some reason my dressing didn’t have that punch, I think I may reduce the amount of sugar (I just had regular sugar) or add more lemon. Perhaps my sherry vinegar wasn’t that good? Will have to experiment cause I love this salad!
Hi Jasmine! The dressing definitely is far less sharp than usual lemon dressing 🙂 Yes if you want it tangier then reduce the sugar, glad you loved it though! N xx
Hi Nagi! I’m going to try out this recipe for a family meal this weekend and can’t wait to taste it! Do you think adding feta cheese into the salad would work? Or would it detract away from the flavours/not really do anything much for the salad? Thanks!
YES IT WILL BE AMAZING!!!!!
LOL, I just love this! I have to admit, when I see vegan or vegetarian recipes I instantly become less excited. I know there are some good ones, but I really have a hard time with food that doesn’t have some type of cheesiness, carbs, butter, cream, bacon, you know, the good stuff. BUT, I knew if you were excited about this recipe, it must be good. And I do have a weakness for chickpeas, there is just something about them that I love. This salad sounds so good. I need to bring healthy lunches to work, this would be perfect.
You sound like ME!!! 😂
I must have sung Blake’s ‘Jerusalem’ beginning to end about three times trying to find my copy of Ottolenghi’s book – and I only have four rooms here (admittedly all full of books 🙂 ! ) So am copying this! An absolutely superb salad which I must not have made ere now as I do not remember using cardamom and allspice . . . and, methinks these make a definitive difference in the end flavour . . . and, c’mon Dozer, let’s go for a walk . . . I hate that Vegemite stuff . . . .
YOU HATE VEGEMITE???!!!! 😩
With a passion 🙂 ! Get my vitamin Bs in other ways !!
Great photos! I LOVE Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipes, he is genius!
He’s the BEST!!! He’s my foodie crush! 😂
That was my first cookbook of his and I so agree. Some of my very favorites are from there. I’m ready to join you if you do do a Julia/Julia! And thes let’s move on to Sweets!
Ba ha ha!!! We should start a communal food blogger website doing a Julia/Julia on Jerusalem!!
Hugs for gorgeous Dozer 🙂 Love this recipe. Love your creations. Real food, awesome. 🙂 5* creating and cooking.
🤩 N xx You made my morning
Vegemite icecreams. That would be quite interesting. Would be willing to try those :-)) Promite too, perhaps. 🙂
Googled Vegemite icecreams. Not recalling where I first discovered them. Will be making them for someone who adores Vegemite.
Link below to the Vegemite website and their recipe for Vegemite icy poles.
https://vegemite.com.au/vegemite-icy-poles/
You are most welcome. Have a wonderful foodie weekend
Hugs and kisses for gorgeous Dozer 🙂
Dozer says WOOF back!! N x
:-)) Aww, Dozer, you are awesome.
Vegemite…would be great if the company created a 50% salt reduced one. 🙂 Their Cheesy bite creation is nice though. Saw in Coles supermarket, pies with Vegemite, and I read somewhere, there are now Vegemite icecreams.
Enjoyers of Promite here 🙂 Great on a piece of toast topped with sliced tomato, with a sprinkling of cracked black pepper. Also good topped with a poached egg. Nice too in a cheese toasty.
Yotam Ottolenghi is superb. Would love all of his books.
Discovered another great foodie website called closet cooking. Lots of great recipes there.
Coriander is a favourite here.
Well, off to look through your Chicken creations 🙂 Chicken tonight
Have a great foodie weekend
I love Promite too!!! But… VEGEMITE ICE CREAM??!!! 🤔
I started reading this recipe and thinking yum! Then i got to coriander and soap bubbles started steaming out of my mouth! Would mint work instead? Think I’ll try and see. Cheers.
Ba ha ha!!!! Yep – mint and parsley is wonderful with this, I’ve do that combo sometimes! 🙂 N x
I was introduced to the amazingness of Ottolenghi after we went to a friend’s house and they made his roasted cauliflower salad. It’s been a regular on my ‘fancy salad’ list since then. Can’t wait to try this one!
I LOVE HIS CAULIFLOWER SALAD!!!!
Dozer is asking : what is this black stuff??YOU SAID VEGIMATE,BUT I DO NOT EAT THAT STUFF. DONT YOU LIKE ME ANY MORE. Love the salad!! Yum! Thank you.
*Gasp!* Not a fan of Vegemite???!!! HE LOVES VEGEMITE!
That is the most beautiful salad ever. I am writing out my grocery list now. I cant wait to make it. I am going to visit my daughter and she is a vegan I know she will love this recipe. Thank you.
LOVE hearing that Beth! Hope you both love it! N xx
Oh my goodness I made this for myself tonight and it is so incredibly delicious. Everything about it is perfect. I didn’t change a thing. I could eat this whole salad LOL I cannot wait to make this for my daughter when I visit her in Arizona. I am in Maine USA.
LOVE HEARING THAT!! N x
Love chickpeas and can’t wait to try the Middle Eastern Chick Pea Salad.
Question . . . can’t eat cucumbers (can eat pickles -something in the processing makes it OK) which means there’s a big “gap” in my bowl for this and many Greek and summer salad recipes.
Whats a good substitute? Zuchinni? or other squashy veg?
Susan
Hi Susan! Hmm, let me think. I think for this oe I would sub with diced green peppers 🙂 Raw zucchini in chunks isn’t that nice, but if you sautéed them then I think that would be lovely too! 🙂 N x
I love your blog and recipes. You are changing the way I cook – especially fish!!
Is Mirin a sherry vinegar? I have some on hand for your Asian sauce (to die for).
I’m in Canada and will look for a sherry vinegar tomorrow when I hit the grocery store.
Making your beef and rice with veggies this weekend!!!
Hi Lucie! Mirin is a Japanese cooking wine, so not like sherry vinegar 🙂 Don’t worry if you can’t find it, try it with another vinegar suggested in the notes! N x
Well done remake. Your video really puts a new spin on the old lemon. Having made this from Yotam’s recipe, I can attest that it is fresh pita bread worthy.
Dozer’s breakfast looks good….
Fresh pita bread worthy! Love it!!!