This simple Middle Eastern-inspired Chickpea Salad with Yogurt Tahini Dressing is fully plant-based, gluten-free, and full of flavor.
Hope your Summer is going well! We are just out of another heatwave (our fourth this season) and let me tell you what I don’t want to be doing in a heatwave, and that is cooking a bunch.
We have recently visited an Arabic restaurant where we fell in love with the simplest Chickpea Salad, which was simply amazing, and I quickly had to remake the dish at home.
This Chickpea Salad with Yogurt Tahini Dressing is a really easy salad to make, but full of flavor and plant protein. It’s combined with oriental spices and ingredients that bring authentic flavors to the front of the dish.
The salad is fresh, light and filling, and can be served as a standalone dish with a side of garlic naan or bread; or you could serve it as a side dish to your barbecue.
The options are limitless, but do go and make it ASAP, especially if you are a fan of chickpeas!
Ingredients
To make this Chickpea salad you will need:
- dry chickpeas; soak them overnight and then cook until fork-tender. You can also use canned chickpeas, but we like the taste better when using freshly cooked.
- salt & black pepper
- cumin; will add that middle-eastern flavor to the salad
- bay leaf
- lemon juice
- olive oil
- tomato
- fresh herbs, like parsley, and mint
Dressing ingredients:
- vegan yogurt; use a natural-flavored unsweetened yogurt for the dressing
- tahini, also known as sesame paste. Use a really high-quality brand, which has no other ingredients but sesame seeds. Please, do not substitute the tahini, or replace it with another ingredient, but if you must, you could potentially use nut butter, such as peanut butter, or cashew butter, bearing in mind, it will change the flavor of the dressing.
- olive oil
- lemon juice
- salt & black pepper
- cumin
- harissa; this one is a bit optional, but it will add a nice flavor and kick to the dressing; we used a simple harissa spice blend, but harissa paste will also work
As you can see we mostly used regular and easy-to-find ingredients for this recipe. I would recommend splurging and buy the tahini if you don’t have it, as it will really enhance the flavor of the dressing and round the salad flavors.
How to make the Yogurt Tahini Dressing
Making the dressing is really simple and you can make it up to 3 days ahead: in a bowl or large jar, add natural yogurt, tahini, olive oil, juice of half a lemon, and season to taste with salt, black pepper, cumin, and harissa. Give it a good stir or shake and drizzle on top of your chickpeas.
How to make the Chickpea Salad
Start by prepping your chickpeas: soak them overnight and then cook them until fork-tender. If you’re using canned chickpeas, then drain and wash under running water to reduce the brine taste.
Next prepare your dressing by just mixing all of the dressing ingredients together.
Lastly, chop some tomatoes and herbs and assemble your salad on a deep plate or a bowl. That’s it!
This Chickpea salad is really very easy to make, but packs a ton of fresh flavor and is very healthy and nutrient-rich, and is also a great source of plant-based protein.
Serving
Serve the salad chilled or at room temperature, it goes really well with other middle-eastern dishes, or as a side to your barbecue.
Storage
Store the chickpeas, dressing, and toppings separately and assemble before serving. The ingredients will keep separately refrigerated for up to three days.
Chickpea Salad with Yogurt Tahini Dressing
This simple Middle Eastern-inspired Chickpea Salad with Yogurt Tahini Dressing is fully plant-based, gluten-free, and full of flavor.
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry chickpeas
- pinch of salt
- 1 tsp cumin
- bay leaf
Dressing:
- 100 grams natural vegan yogurt
- 1 tsp tahini
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1/2 lemon, juice
- pinch of salt
- black pepper to taste
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp harissa
Other:
- 1 tomato
- 1 tbsp parsley, fresh
- 1 tbsp mint, fresh
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 lemon, juice
- pinch of salt
- black pepper to taste
- 1/4 tsp cumin
Instructions
- Soak chickpeas in water overnight.
- Cook chickpeas: in the morning, drain and wash it, then place in a pot on the stove, add a bay leaf, cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and let simmer on low for an hour, or until almost cooked. Then, season with salt and cumin and let cook until the chickpeas are soft. Once cooked, drain the chickpeas and cool them down.
- Prepare the dressing: in a bowl, mix 100 grams of natural vegan yogurt, 1 tsp tahini, 1 tsp olive oil, the juice of 1/2 lemon, and season to taste with salt, black pepper, cumin, and harissa.
- Assemble the salad: Place the chickpeas in a bowl. Add chopped tomato, season to taste with salt, pepper, and cumin, drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. Top with the dressing and sprinkle chopped parsley and mint on top.
Notes
You can use tinned chickpeas instead of dry chickpeas to speed up the prep time, but we like freshly cooked chickpeas better.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 280Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 144mgCarbohydrates: 40gFiber: 7gSugar: 10gProtein: 12g
Nutrition data is automatically calculated using Nutritionix and may not be accurate.
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