Greek Chickpea Salad Recipe

Hot blows of wind signal the summer season—the best time of the year to load your meals with garden-fresh and water-rich vegetables. With today's Greek chickpea salad recipe, you’ll have an easy, tasty summer food, great as a side and perfect for a take-away during this season of traveling and picnicking.

It features canned chickpeas, fresh herbs, and a range of refreshing veggies, all tossed in a delicious vinaigrette dressing.

What Is a Traditional Greek Salad Made of?

Greek salad is all about fresh ingredients, simple presentation, and refreshing flavors.

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Different locations in Greece do add their unique touches to the dish, featuring local and seasonal ingredients. However, if you order a traditional Greek salad (horiatiki), you’ll find a mixture of pieces of tomatoes, cucumbers, black olives, red onion, bell peppers, and feta cheese.

The simplicity of Greek salads also reflect through their dressing, usually made of olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, minced garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper.

Our Greek chickpea salad keeps the quintessential elements (toppings and dressings) of the original version but adds chickpeas to the ingredient lists for a similar flavor and texture but with extra nutrients.

Main Ingredients

To make this salad, you’ll need:

• Chickpeas: Dried chickpeas have a slightly nuttier taste and starchier texture than pre-cooked ones, but they need more preparation (soaking and cooking). If you don’t have that extra time to spare, we suggest buying canned chickpeas as we did since the differences are not that detectable.
• Tomatoes: Having vegetables cut into a uniform size is essential for an authentic Greek salad, so we prefer halving cherry tomatoes to slicing regular ones. Besides, cherry tomatoes release less water into your salad, preventing it from turning mushy and soggy quickly after being tossed.
• Cucumber: After slicing away the stem and the root, rub those pieces against the ends of the cucumber to help release cucurbitacin—the foam-like substance causing the unwanted bitterness of this summer fruit.
• Bell pepper: Its color varies depending on the ripeness, with green and purple bell pepper being the bitterest and red and yellow kind being the sweetest. We opt for yellow bell pepper to add a pop of color and a snappy mouthfeel to the salad.
• Red onion: Since the flavor of raw red onion leans more on the pungent side, we julienne it into thin strips—you can taste its sweetness with only a mild kick.
• Black olives: These possess a soft texture and a tangy note reminiscent of red wine vinegar. 
• Cheese: The ancient Greeks refer to feta cheese as the food of Gods in their mythology due to its distinct flavor and texture—rich, tangy, and creamy. 
• Dressing: The traditional Greek salad dressing is kept very straightforward but plainly delicious. We lightly whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, ground black pepper, and oregano for a burst of tartness that elevates the fresh veggies.

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Is Greek Chickpea Salad Healthy?

Today’s Greek chickpea salad will surely impress those health-conscious home cooks with its nutrition profile.

After being rinsed carefully to remove the salty liquid, canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans) are mixed with cherry tomatoes, cucumber, black olives, red onion, and bell pepper. This vegetable combination offers a diversity of nutrients: plant-based protein, dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

With olive oil and red wine vinegar as the crucial elements for the dressing, you’ll have a boost of antioxidants for extra health benefits.

Overall, each serving of this refreshing salad contains 208 calories, 2 g of saturated fat, and around 303 mg of sodium.

How to Store the Leftovers

For meal-prepping, we recommend cutting up your vegetables, making the dressing beforehand, and storing them separately in airtight containers. They will last up to 1 week in the fridge.

Once tossed, it’s best to consume your Greek chickpea salad within 2 hours at room temperature or store it in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.

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Due to the acidic dressing, freezing the leftovers is inadvisable.

Greek Chickpea Salad Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Whether you’re after a light-hearted snack for your road trip or simply a refreshing side dish to beat the summer heat, our Greek chickpeas salad is a fantastic pick.

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• prep TIME 10 mins
• total TIME 10 mins

• COURSE Side Dish
• CUISINE Global
• SERVINGS
  4

  servings
• CALORIES 170 kcal

INGREDIENTS

1x2x3x

• 8 oz canned chickpeas
• 4 oz chocolate cherry tomato (halved)
• 3 oz cherry tomato (halved)
• 4 oz cucumber (sliced)
• 3 oz yellow bell pepper (cubed)
• 1 oz red onion (sliced)
• 2 oz black olives (halved)
• 1 oz feta cheese
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp traditional Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp parsley (chopped)
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tbsp garlic (minced)
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

Image instructions

Prep:

1

Drain the canned chickpeas in a colander over the sink. Rinse them under running water and pat them dry.

2

Halve the cherry tomatoes in half crosswise.

3

Halve the black olives in half lengthwise.

4

Cut away the top and bottom of the bell pepper, and slice it open. Hold the knife horizontal to the cutting board and carefully slice away the white part as well as the seeds. Cut the rectangular piece of pepper into 1/2-inch strips, then cut the strips into squares.

5

Halve the red onion lengthwise and remove the root and head. Grip the half by the side and make 1/8-inch slices across the half.

6

Slice off two ends of the cucumber, then cut it in half lengthwise. Use a metal spoon to scoop out and discard the seeds. Lay the halved cucumber cut-side down and slice it crosswise into thin slices.

7

Finely chop the parsley.

8

Finely mince the peeled garlic.

Cook:

1

Make the sauce: In a small mixing bowl, whisk together 2 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, 1 1/2 tsp traditional Dijon mustard, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/4 tsp ground black pepper.

2

Assemble the salad: On a large platter, arrange 8 oz canned chickpeas, 4 oz halved chocolate cherry tomato, 3 oz halved cherry tomato, 4 oz sliced cucumber, 3 oz cubed yellow bell pepper, 1 oz sliced red onion, 2 oz halved black olives, 2 tbsp chopped parsley, 1/2 tbsp minced garlic, and 1 oz feta cheese.

3

Serve: Drizzle the dressing over the salad, toss well, and enjoy!

NUTRITION

Nutrition Facts

Greek Chickpea Salad Recipe

Amount Per Serving (1 serving)

Calories 170

% Daily Value*

Fat 11.5g

18%

Saturated Fat 2g

13%

Polyunsaturated Fat 0.8g

Monounsaturated Fat 6.2g

Cholesterol 6.3mg

2%

Sodium 314mg

14%

Potassium 332.4mg

9%

Carbohydrate 14.8g

5%

Fiber 3g

13%

Sugar 3.5g

4%

Protein 4.7g

9%

Vitamin A 678.8IU

14%

Vitamin C 50.7mg

61%

Calcium 69.1mg

7%

Iron 2.1mg

12%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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