If you love a good falafel and hummus plate but want something lighter, fresher, and easier (and SO good), this Mediterranean Chickpea Salad with Whipped Tahini is about to become your new favorite. It’s got all the familiar flavors and textures you love but in a breezy package with minimal cooking.
Chickpeas are briefly marinated in a punchy spiced garlic oil with lots of lemon, then paired with crunchy cucumbers, fresh herbs, nutty sesame seeds. It’s all plated across a bed of creamy whipped tahini for the perfect balance of wholesome and indulgence.
Easy enough to whip up for a weeknight dinner or to meal prep, but impressive enough to serve for guests (without trying too hard). Bonus: it’s vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, soy-free, pantry-friendly, and stays delicious for days.
Table of Contents:
1. Why you’ll love this recipe
2. Ingredient notes
3. Step-by-step Instructions
4. Tips for making this recipe
5. Frequently Asked Questions
6. Recipe card with notes
Why you’ll love this recipe
A true flavor bomb.
This is not your basic chickpea salad featuring canned chickpeas, tomatoes, and red wine vinaigrette. This is the kind of salad that’ll make your tastebuds sing.
An infused oil featuring garlic and spices, lots of lemon, and fresh herbs turn humble canned chickpeas into a bright, zesty flavor explosion of Middle Eastern flavors. You won’t be able to put down your fork!
Gourmet but pantry friendly and minimal cooking
Despite feeling gourmet, you can whip up this killer salad with mostly pantry staples—canned chickpeas, tahini, lemon, garlic, some spices, and olive oil.
Feel free to take this dish to the next level by adding the optional preserved lemon and sumac, but don’t sweat it if you don’t have those—this salad is still delicious without them!
Bonus: the super quick infused oil is the only cooking required (just a couple minutes), making this dish a hot summer day’s dream.
Super versatile
The beauty of this salad, aside from its flavor, is its versatility. It’s easy enough to make for a weeknight dinner or to meal prep for lunches during the week, but also beautiful and fancy enough to serve at your next dinner party or al fresco get-together.
The salad stays good for up to 5 days, and the whipped tahini lasts a week, making it a true MVP for busy days.
Ingredient notes
Canned Chickpeas
Chickpeas are the best plant protein you can find in a can, and they make the base of so many great meatless dishes: tacos, soup, and even buffalo quesadillas.
Tip: If you really want to go all out, cook the chickpeas from scratch! Use 8 ounces (227g) of dried chickpeas. Cook them ahead of time using your Instant Pot or on the stove.
For Instant Pot instructions, check out the bean cook time chart in the Introduction of my first cookbook, The Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook or check out my post on how to cook beans in the instant pot.
Spiced Garlic Oil
Instead of your standard oil + vinegar vinaigrette, this chickpea salad takes things up a notch with an infused oil.
Whole cumin and coriander seeds are toasted in olive oil, then the hot oil is poured over minced garlic and chili flakes.
The infused oil is the only cooking involved in the recipe, and it is so worth it for many reasons:
- Toasting spices brings out their nutty aromas and flavors, especially when you toast them in oil (since spices are fat-soluble)
- Pouring hot oil over garlic cuts through the raw bite of garlic
- Garlic and chili flakes also have fat-soluble compounds, so they taste even better when lightly cooked by the hot oil
- The flavor of the spices, garlic, and chili flakes infuse into the oil, which becomes the base of the chickpea salad dressing.
This is the same (very fun) technique I use in my (extremely delicious) chili garlic noodles and garlic peanut noodles.
Substitutes: I use Aleppo pepper, which is a mild and fruity-flavored chili flake originally from Syria (affiliate link). If you don’t have it, you can use red pepper flakes; they are much spicier though, so use just ½ teaspoon instead of 2 teaspoons.
If you don’t have whole cumin or whole coriander seeds, use ½ teaspoon pre-ground cumin and ½ teaspoon pre-ground coriander. Toast them in the oil for just 20 to 30 seconds, stirring constantly to prevent burning.
Lemon (and optionally preserved lemons & sumac)
To balance the richness of the spiced oil and to perk up ordinarily drab canned chickpeas, we need a lot of brightness and acidity.
This recipe relies on three ingredients for a bright and complex acidity: (1) freshly squeezed lemon juice; (2) preserved lemons; and (3) sumac.
Substitutes: If you don’t have preserved lemons or sumac, not to worry; you can just use fresh lemon zest and extra lemon juice. Instructions are in the recipe card and in the FAQ section
But, if you want to take this recipe over the top, I recommend seeking out preserved lemons and sumac.
Preserved lemons are just lemons that have been fermented in their own lemon juice and salt. You can make them yourself—I have a detailed blog post on how to make preserved lemons (it does take 3 weeks to ferment so you plan accordingly)—or you can buy them at Middle Eastern grocery stores, online (affiliate link), or specialty grocery stores (my local Whole Foods sells them).
Sumac is a fun spice used in Middle Eastern cooking that’s mouthpuckeringly tart but also fruity. It offers a more complex acidity than lemon juice but without the liquid. You can buy sumac at Middle Eastern grocery stores, online, or specialty grocery stores, spice shops (my favorite one, unsurprisingly, is from Burlap and Barrel) (affiliate links).
Cucumbers and Onions
To contrast with the chewy, creamy chickpeas, this salad adds diced cucumbers and crisp red onion for a nice fresh crunch.
I prefer Persian cucumbers as they tend to be the crunchiest and sweetest; you can find them at many grocery stores these days or at your local farmers market in summer.
To prevent the onion from overpowering the salad, I briefly soak it in ice water, which tones down its pungency. The result? A refreshing crunch and a mild onion flavor.
Substitutes: Use a small or medium English cucumber in place of Persian cucumbers. If you’re not a fan of raw onion in salad, you can simply omit it (or replace it with diced red bell peppers).
Tahini (and sesame seeds)
Tahini—a creamy paste made from ground sesame seeds—often gets pigeonholed as that thing you need to make hummus but it has so many applications in plant-based cooking.
It transforms a simple tofu scramble into something gourmet, lends chickpea curry a nutty indulgence, and can even be used as the base of a sauce (have you tried my tahini pasta or baked sweet potatoes yet??).
Here, we’re making a whipped tahini dressing that we’ll use to plate the chickpea salad. The dressing couldn’t be simpler—all you do is stir together tahini with ice water, more lemon juice, salt, and a touch of maple syrup.
The tahini dressing adds a lovely creamy and rich base for the chickpeas, and also makes it more filling.
Fresh herbs
Fresh herbs are the ideal finishing touch to nearly any warm weather salad. They add lightness, flavor, and pop. To complement the Middle Eastern flavors, I use fresh mint and flat-leaf parsley.
If you want to use just one herb, use mint—it’s fabulous here! Not a fan of parsley? Omit or use cilantro.
Step-by-step instructions
Make the spiced garlic oil: Heat the olive oil in your smallest saucepan, then add the cumin seeds and crushed coriander seeds. Stir very frequently for about 2 minutes or until a few shades darker and nutty in aroma.
Immediately pour the hot spiced oil over the minced garlic and chili flakes.
Let the mixture sizzle and stir to cover the garlic, then rest for 1 minute.
Pour the spiced garlic oil over the drained and rinsed chickpeas and toss to coat. Add the lemon juice, preserved lemon or lemon zest, and sumac, if using.
While the chickpeas marinate, make the tahini dressing: in a bowl, combine together the tahini, lemon juice, ice water, salt, and maple syrup, stirring with a fork until whipped and creamy.
Add the diced cucumbers, ice water-soaked onions, and roasted sesame seeds to the chickpea salad. Toss well to combine, adding salt and lemon juice to taste.
To serve: Schmear the tahini sauce across a plate or platter.
Add the chickpea salad on top. Garnish with the remaining parsley/mint, and a few sprinkles of sumac, Aleppo pepper, and flaky salt.
Tips for making this recipe
It’s all about the lemons!
A fair amount of lemon goes into this recipe, so be sure to have enough lemons. I typically use up to 5 tablespoons of lemon juice, so you’ll want at least two juicy lemons on hand.
Toast the spices carefully
In the spiced infused oil, you briefly toast cumin and coriander seeds in hot oil until aromatic.
Depending on the type of pan you’re using and the power of your burner, the spices might cook more quickly than the time listed in the instructions, so rely on your senses rather than the suggested cook time.
Once the spices have darkened by a few shades and smell nutty, remove the pan from the heat and pour the hot oil over the garlic and chili flakes.
If you have a thermometer, the oil should be around 325ºF/163ºC to 350ºF/175ºC.
If the spices burn, they will taste bitter, so start the toasting process again with a fresh batch.
Tips for using tahini
Whenever using tahini, whether for a pasta salad, potato salad, or hummus, I always recommend using tahini made from hulled sesame seeds, as tahini from unhulled sesame seeds is bitter.
Lately, I have been loving the Al Kanater tahini, which has a creamy, smooth consistency, lovely nutty flavor, and minimal bitterness (and a squeeze bottle!) (affiliate link).
You can find tahini at most grocery stores these days, as well as online and Middle Eastern grocery shops.
Avoid using (1) bottom-of-the-jar crusty bits of tahini and (2) refrigerated tahini, as it can become very thick and is much harder to whisk.
Stretch out this meal and customize
This recipe already makes a lot of food, but if you want to stretch it out more or bulk it up, here are a few suggestions:
- Stuffed Pitas: Spoon some tahini sauce into pita halves, then stuff in the chickpea salad.
- Grain Bowl: Serve the chickpea salad over whatever cooked grains or rice you have in the fridge, then dollop everything with tahini sauce.
- Wraps: Thin out the tahini dressing a little bit with lemon juice or water. Lather it across a lavash wrap or other large wrap. Spoon on some arugula and sliced fennel (or lettuce of choice and sliced red bell peppers). Top with the chickpea salad and roll up.
- For more veggie action: stir in another vegetable, such as: halved cherry tomatoes, shaved fennel, shredded cabbage, or diced red/orange/yellow bell peppers.
- For added protein: stir a few tablespoons of hemp seeds into the chickpea salad when you add the sesame seeds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sure! Make the chickpea salad BUT omit the fresh mint, as that will blacken after a day. Store the chickpea salad in the fridge for up to 5 days.
As for the tahini sauce, you can easily prep that ahead of time and store in a sealed jar. It will stay in the fridge for up to one week.
When it’s time to serve, if possible, let the chickpea salad come to room temperature so the flavors taste brightest. If the tahini sauce has thickened, just loosen it with a bit of water and/or lemon juice.
Definitely! If you prefer to cook chickpeas from scratch, soak 8 ounces (227g) of dried chickpeas overnight, then cook them until tender using your preferred cooking method.
This yields about 3 cups of cooked chickpeas, equivalent to two 15-ounce cans.
If you don’t have preserved lemons, you can just use more fresh lemon.
If not using preserved lemons: use 1 tablespoon of lemon zest (zest the lemon(s) before juicing!).
If not using the sumac: Taste the salad and add more lemon juice and zest plus salt to taste.
While these substitutes won’t replicate the exact flavor, they will still provide a delightful tanginess to the salad.
My preference is to schmear the tahini dressing onto a serving platter, spoon the chickpea salad on top and then finish with fresh mint and parsley, followed by a few sprinkles of Aleppo pepper, sumac, and flaky sea salt. It makes for a gorgeous presentation!
This dish is also quite versatile. It can be served as a main dish, a side, or even as a filling for wraps or pita pockets. It’s also wonderful served alongside your favorite cooked grain, like farro, rice, or quinoa.
For more veggie action, serve it over a bed of salad greens or alongside grilled vegetables.
Preserved lemons are one of my favorite ingredients! You can use them in pastas and pasta salads, dressings and vinaigrettes, tahini sauces and yogurt sauces, or even in a mocktail.
Check out my blog post for my ideas on how to use preserved lemons in recipes.
If you have my cookbook, Big Vegan Flavor, the preserved lemons recipe is also in there, along with several fun recipes. For my weekly salads, I rotate between the Preserved Lemon Vinaigrette on page 164 and my red wine vinaigrette.
Come summer, I love making the bright and fresh Preserved Lemon Salsa on page 184, as well as the Pearl Couscous & Chickpea Salad on page 323 (what can I say, I love chickpeas and preserved lemons)!.
More Mediterranean Recipes
If you love this Mediterranean Chickpea Salad, please give the recipe a rating and review below! Your ratings and reviews are the most valuable feedback and they help other readers decide to make the recipe :)
Big Vegan Flavor
Techniques and 150 recipes to master vegan cooking.
Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
Ingredients
Chickpeas
- 2 (15 oz / 425g) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed (see Note 1)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced, grated, or crushed with a press
- 2 teaspoons Aleppo pepper (or ½ tsp red pepper flakes)
- ¼ cup (56g) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds, lightly crushed (see Note 2)
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (see Note 2)
- 1 tablespoon preserved lemon, minced (or the zest of 1 lemon below / 1 TBSP zest)
- 2 medium lemons, juiced
- 1 tablespoon sumac, more for finishing (optional, see Note 3)
- Kosher salt
Finishing Ingredients
- 1 heaping cup (100g) thinly sliced red onion
- 4 Persian cucumbers (or ~10 oz / 285g English cucumber)
- ¼ cup (32g) roasted white sesame seeds
- ½ cup (8g) flat leaf parsley leaves and tender stems
- ½ cup (8g) fresh mint leaves
- ⅓ to ½ cup (75 to 112g) tahini, well-stirred (see Note 4)
- 3 to 4 tablespoons ice water
- ½ teaspoon pure maple syrup, more as needed
- A few pinches of flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Add the drained chickpeas to a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine the garlic and Aleppo pepper.
- Lightly crush the coriander seeds by either blitzing once or twice in a spice grinder; using a mortar and pestle; or crushing with the back of a sturdy mug.
- Toast the spices: Heat the olive oil in your smallest frying pan or saucepan over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add the crushed coriander and cumin seeds. Allow to sizzle and swirl the pan frequently to prevent burning. Cook for 2 minutes, or until the spices are a few shades darker and very aromatic. Immediately pour the hot oil over the garlic mixture and allow to sizzle. Stir, then let sit for 1 minute.
- Pour the infused oil over the chickpeas. Stir in the minced preserved lemon (or 1 TBSP lemon zest), 2 TBSP (30 mL) lemon juice, and sumac, if using. Season generously with salt and pepper (I use ~ 1 ½ tsp kosher salt). Set aside to marinate.
- Add the sliced red onion to a bowl of ice water (to mellow out the pungency). Soak for 10 minutes, then drain and pat dry.
- Dice the cucumbers. Finely chop the parsley and mint.
- Tahini Dressing: In a bowl, combine the tahini, 3 TBSP (45 mL) ice water, 2 TBSP (30 mL) lemon juice, maple syrup, and ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Stir with a fork until thick and very creamy (I like mine spreadable and thick, but if using less tahini, it will be a bit thinner). Taste, adding lemon juice or salt to taste, or more maple syrup for sweetness.
- Add the cucumbers, drained onions, sesame seeds, and half of the mint/parsley to the chickpea salad. Toss well to combine. Taste, adding more lemon juice or salt as desired.
- Schmear the Tahini Dressing onto the bottom of a shallow bowl or plate. Top with the chickpea salad and the remaining mint and parsley. Sprinkle the salad with a bit of sumac and Aleppo pepper and flaky sea salt to taste.
Notes
- If cooking dried chickpeas from scratch, use 8 oz / 227g chickpeas, then cook using your preferred method.
- If you don’t have whole cumin and coriander seeds, use ½ teaspoon each of ground cumin and ground coriander. Add to the oil in step 3 and stir constantly for just 20 to 30 seconds, then immediately remove from the heat.
- If not using sumac, you may want to buy another lemon and add more lemon zest and/or juice to taste.
- I prefer a thick and spreadable consistency for the tahini sauce, so I use the larger amount of tahini (½ cup / 112g). If you prefer a drizzleable consistency or want something lighter, use ⅓ cup (75g) tahini instead. If you end up with leftover tahini sauce, use it with any vegetables, grains, or legumes; or spread on toast.
Haven’t made it yet but want to ask if I can put together a day in advance then condiment and dress before serving?.
Hi Anna Marie, here’s what I’d do.
Make the chickpea salad BUT omit the fresh mint, as that will blacken after a day. Store the chickpea salad in the fridge.
As for the tahini sauce, you can easily prep that ahead of time and store in a sealed jar. It will stay in the fridge for 5 to 7 days.
When it’s time to serve, if possible, let the chickpea salad come to room temperature so the flavors taste brightest. If the tahini sauce has thickened, just loosen it with a bit of water and/or lemon juice. Garnish with the mint.
Very good, but my poor knife skills made for thicker onions than in the picture, so next time I will dice them to get a better flavor ratio.
Live in hotter climate, so did not have the tahini issues others seem to have where it’s difficult to work with – it was an easy to spoon thick liquid. First time working with it so was pleasantly surprised. Did not include the maple syrup, didn’t want so much sweetness. Stole the onion’s ice water, figured it wouldn’t hurt any.
Great summer recipe – house is already in the 90s – 110s in the summer, don’t need more heat.
went back through with the kitchen shears to make the onions a bit closer to the image, and all is well, as if nothing was ever wrong. good dish made better
made this for a dinner party and it was a hit. i only had 22 oz of cooked chickpeas, so i cooked up the last of my brown lentils and added those, and i also shredded a big carrot in for more color. served with bulgur made in the instant pot and vegan feta for anyone feeling extra. i think next time i would make crispy roasted lentils for some crunch, or toasted pine nuts could be good too.
So delicious 🤤
So delicious as always! Modified it to have it in lettuce leaf wraps and made some toasty roasty farro to add some whole grain action.
Halfed the recipe, added an extra cucumber and had it over brown rice! Super delicious, thank you!!
Hi Tara, we’re thrilled to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Next time, would you mind leaving a rating alongside your review? Star ratings are big help to readers who are thinking of making the recipe. Thanks!
I made this almost exactly as written (instead of Aleppo pepper I added red pepper flakes and instead of preserved lemons I used lemon zest). I served it stuffed into pita pockets. It was one of the best recipes I tried lately. I don’t know if words can do it justice. Everyone should just make this recipe. It’s wholesome, but light; crunchy, zesty, creamy, satisfying. It comes together relatively quickly. It’s safe to say both my body and my soul were nourished. I can’t wait to make this again!
Thanks for the outstanding review, Amalia! We appreciate you :)
Okay, my PLAN was to make this exactly but then life happened, there was no mint in the store and I forgot my bf’s place was out of tahini and sesame seeds, and he only had ONE can of chickpeas so… I made the salad, with 50/50 chickpeas and soy beans, skipped the sesame seeds and had cilantro instead of mint (plus I doubled the parsley because I love parsley).
I ate this on a wholegrain seed bread with the tofu ricotta from your meal plan, leafy greens and topped with this salad…
Oh. My. World!
I LOVE THIS so much and I could pretty much just live on it.
(Oh – I halved the oil as it was a bit too much for me personally, and it worked fine anyway.)
Ps. And I finally got to use some of the preserved lemons I made from your recipe a while back. Wowza, they are deeelicious! Thank you!
Made it exactly as written but with English cucumbers and no parsley (not a fan). What can I say, it was astoundingly good. Had it as is for dinner, then served leftovers with pita pockets for lunch with some arugula. Leftovers you actually want to eat = the gift that keeps on giving!
10 stars! This is by far the best chickpea dish I’ve ever made. Loved the explosion of flavors. I didn’t have preserved lemon but the lemon zest option was still great.
What a refreshing and delicious salad! I followed the recommendations for not using preserved lemons or sumac and it came out great! I ended up adding more water to the tahini dressing as it was too thick to really spread on the plate at first. My only critic is there was a lot of salt and I found the dish too salty overall, but no problemo! I’ll just add less next time I make it! ^_^
Hi Skye, we are so glad you loved the chickpea salad! Did you use kosher salt in this recipe or just sea salt? It’s important to use the specific kind of salt Nisha calls for in the recipe, as many salts are much higher in sodium by volume than Diamond crystal kosher salt!
I made the recipe made as written and it was delicious! I cut and toasted some Ezekiel pita bread to serve with it. I will definitely make this again.
Chickpea salad is my favorite salad since I was five years old so I love this recipe I will make for myself , because I like to eat everyday chickpeas:)
Mmmm – this salad is so good … I had everything in the house except the fresh herbs, H-Mart to the rescue and I got Bibb lettuce so the salad was eaten as lettuce wraps, tahini dressing drizzled over – so good. Do not skip the final dusting of sumac and Aleppo pepper. In fact don’t skimp or skip anything. The recipe has perfect proportions (I wanted more toasted sesame seeds) and precise instructions. Best thing I have eaten in a long time!
Thanks for the wonderful review, Pier! :)
I adapted the recipe to what I had. Didn’t have Sumac but did have za’atar seasoning mix, so used that (it contains some sumac powder). I also didn’t have preserved lemons but did have pomegranate sauce, so used that (has a lovely sour/bite). Added some red peppers as I had some extra. What I ended up with was delicious and really quite easy. I went with a looser tahini dressing and have some leftover which I’ll definitely use in a few days.
Miraculously I had all of the ingredients on hand and I served it with crusty bread and some leftover muhammara (also from RPL) and eggplant dip that I had made last night. What can I say, it was absolutely amazing!!! Went together so well, I definitely see myself making it on repeat this summer!
Wow, that does sound like an incredible meal with the muhammara! So happy you will be repeating this meal :)
This sounds delicious and I’d love to make it, but at eighty years, and living on my own, I’d be interested, but don’t think able to do it. Is there a salad somewhat like this that I could buy. I’m Canadian, but if you could give me some idea what to look for, I’d be pleased.
If I could find a squeeze bottle tahini in Canada, it would make it so much better to handle. The Jared tahini is too much like cement and impossible to spoon out.
I live in Canada too! (ottawa!) It’s not the same, but at Metro there is a section usually near the fresh pasta where there are some containers of things like potato salad and coleslaw… I would check there. I feel like there is a chickpea salad premade you could buy and just add more lemon juice… it’s not as good as Nisha’s recipe here but it would be the closest I can think of! Good luck!
Thank you so much for your kind comment, we’re so glad the salad caught your eye!
Totally understand that cooking a recipe like this from scratch might not be realistic for everyone. While we don’t know your local grocery stores, here are a few ideas to help you find something similar in Canada:
Look in the deli section at your local grocery store- they often carry ready-made chickpea or Mediterranean-style salads. Look for something with chickpeas, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, and maybe olives or herbs.
If there’s a health food store or co-op nearby, they often make fresh salads in-house that are closer to homemade.
Costco occasionally carries Mediterranean salads or chickpea salads in the prepared foods section. It might be worth checking if there’s one near you.
You could also look for packaged grain or bean salads in the refrigerated area, just check the ingredients for a similar flavor profile.
And if you ever feel up for doing a little light prep, this salad keeps really well in the fridge for several days! You could make a batch and enjoy it all week without daily cooking.
We’re cheering you on and so appreciate you being part of our community!
This was soooo good. Like I knew it would be good because it’s your recipe and I love all these ingredients, but wow, was I blown away. It makes A LOT too, so me and hubs will be enjoying leftovers for a few days (the best).
This looks like a million dollar recipe! I’m in the Philippines and it is impossible to get the ingredients here. Next week when I’m back in Canada I can’t wait to make this. 😋❤️
Delicious recipe