This smashed vegan chickpea salad is a take on the classic tuna salad. Unlike traditional tuna salad or chickpea salad recipes, it's made without mayo! It's the perfect plant-based lunch for school, work, or a trip to the beach. It's totally satisfying, customizable, and ready in just 10 minutes!
If you ever struggle with what to make for lunch, I have the perfect solution for you! This chickpea salad is my go-to meal during the week. The best part about it, aside from being delicious, is that it only takes 10 minutes to make and uses pantry staples. Plus, it's great as a simple chickpea salad sandwich with lettuce, tomato, avocado and your favorite condiments, over salad, or as a snack paired with fresh veggies or crackers.
When chickpeas are mashed, they turn into flaky and replicate the texture of fish nicely, becoming the perfect base for vegan tuna salad! Obviously it's not going to taste like tuna, but it will definitely satisfy the craving.
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Why you'll love this recipe
- Perfect tuna salad substitute! If you're looking to eat more plant-based, this chickpea salad is the perfect chicken salad or tuna salad substitute.
- Great for meal prep! Not only is this quick and easy to make, it requires minimal ingredients and stays fresh all week. Plus it's easy to scale for a double batch.
- Versatile: you can use this chickpea salad on sandwiches, as a side dish, or as a dip for chips, crackers or raw veggies.
- Customizable: you can easily omit or swap out any of the ingredients with whatever your prefer!
Equipment
You really only need two things to make this smashed chickpea salad:
- Mixing Bowl
- Fork or potato masher
Ingredients
This is everything you'll need to make the best chickpea salad sandwich recipe!
- Chickpeas: the star of the show and our source of plant-based protein! Feel free to use canned or freshly cooked garbanzo beans.
- Shredded Carrots/Carrot Sticks: to add some texture! You can just buy already shredded carrots, no need to shred them yourself!
- Red Onion: any onion variety works (sometimes I'll use a shallot instead!), but red onions are classic in tuna salad because of their mild flavor and pop of color.
- Garlic: if I can add garlic to something, I will! Just a clove or two adds so much flavor.
- Hummus + Water: this is how we're replacing the mayo in this chickpea salad! Thinned hummus acts as the perfect binder for all of these ingredients.
- Lemon Juice: only a little bit to add a bit of moisture and extra tang!
- Olive Oil: for added flavor and creaminess.
- Spices: I like to use salt, pepper, and paprika.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Variations & Substitutions
- Add a sea flavor by mixing in some nori sheets, nori flakes, a splash of soy sauce, or capers.
- Throw in some fun mix-ins like green onions, bell peppers, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, dijon mustard or even pickles.
- Use tahini, vegan mayonnaise, or vegan greek yogurt as a binder instead of the thinned hummus.
- Add hearty healthy omegas! These are naturally found in tuna, so adding some hemp hearts in will give those same nutrients.
- Make this into a vegan tuna melt by adding vegan cheese and pan frying in butter until the bread is toasted and cheese is melted.
- Add celery for an added bite and extra veggies! I've played around with this recipe so much and have determined that celery adds a great bite to this recipe BUT I'm just not the biggest celery fan, so I personally leave it out. If you love celery, add it in!
- Mash avocado in with the ingredients to make a smashed avocado chickpea salad.
- Add a dash of maple syrup if it's a bit too tart for you from the lemon juice.
- Instead of lemon juice, use apple cider vinegar or white distilled vinegar.
- Use a food processor for ease. Add all the ingredients to a food processor and pulse it a few times until combined. You may get a different/smoother texture with less bite to it if you're not watching carefully!
This recipe has not been tested with any other substitutions or variations than the ones listed above. If you replace or add any ingredients, please let us know how it turned out in the comments below!
Instructions
When I tell you this vegan tuna salad is so easy to make, I'm not kidding - there's only 2 (yes, TWO!) steps to making this recipe:
Step 1: In a large bowl, roughly mash the chickpeas using the back of a fork or a potato masher then add in the carrots, red onion, garlic, thinned hummus, lemon juice, olive oil, and spices.
Step 2: Mix well to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings, if needed, and mash the chickpeas down more until your desired consistency is reached.
Serve alone or as a vegan chickpea salad sandwich with sourdough bread, lettuce, avocado, tomato slices, sprouts, or whatever your favorite toppings are!
Serving Suggestions
- Sandwich: Make chickpea salad sandwiches by spreading this between two pieces of bread and adding your favorite toppings. I love to pair it with greens (spring mix, kale, romaine lettuce or sprouts), tomato, avocado and yummy spread like more hummus, garlic aioli, pesto, or tahini sauce. You could even enjoy this in lettuce wraps or a flour wrap.
- On its own as a hearty snack
- Salad: Dollop on top of a bed of leafy greens to turn this into a satisfying salad for lunch of dinner.
- Appetizer: This is great for a crowd as a dip! Pair it with crackers, chips, or fresh crunchy veggies like cucumbers or celery.
- Side Dish: enjoy this alongside yummy backyard bbq foods like these bean burgers.
Expert Tips
- If you'd prefer to use dried chickpeas over canned chickpeas: soak overnight, then drain and add them to a pot of boiling water. After 5 minutes, reduce the heat and simmer for about 1 hour. Once cooked, ¾ cup of dried chickpeas is equivalent to a can of chickpeas (about 1 ½ cups).
- Make sure your chickpeas are at room temperature, as they're a bit easier to mash!
- The mixture should NOT be crumbly. The hummus should be holding itself together. If it seems like it's still crumbly and not sticking together, add a bit more of the hummus & water mixture.
Storage
Refrigerator: Store the leftover or meal prepped chickpea salad in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Stir well before using. If it's thickened up a bit too much, feel free to add in a little lemon juice or olive oil to loosen it.
Freezer: I don't recommend freezing this chickpea salad, as it'll dry everything out.
Other recipes you might like
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Chickpea Salad without Mayo
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 can (15 oz) chickpeas drained and rinsed
- ¼ cup (56 g) shredded carrots
- ½ (70 g) small red onion diced
- 2 (8 g) garlic cloves minced
- 1 tablespoon (10 g) fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon (15 mL) olive oil
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) hummus
- 1-2 tablespoons (15-30 g) water
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- salt & pepper to taste
To Serve as a Sandwich:
- 6 slices sourdough bread
- 1 cup leafy greens or romaine lettuce
- 1 avocado
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) hummus
- sprouts optional
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mash chickpeas using the back of a fork or a potato masher until desired consistency is reached.1 can chickpeas
- Add carrots, red onion, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, hummus, water, paprika, salt, and pepper to the mashed chickpeas and mix until combined.¼ cup shredded carrots, ½ small red onion, 2 garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 tablespoons hummus, 1-2 tablespoons water, ¼ teaspoon paprika, salt & pepper
- Serve chilled or at room temperature. Serve as a hearty sandwich as seen here, or it can be served as is, with crackers, in a wrap, on bib lettuce, and more!
Kim Oldenburgh Personal says
So good...I added apples for more fiber!
Lauren Casolaro says
So glad you love it!
Bianca says
This is my favorite chickpea salad recipe!! I used a yellow onion and added celery, it was delicious! I love doubling the batch and prepping this for lunch
Pinch of Parsley says
Thank you!! I had this for lunch today, so glad you love it.
Paige says
I love this chickpea salad! It is super easy to prep in the beginning of the week to top on toasted sourdough or a bed of lettuce. I added celery for an extra crunch and a hint of red pepper flakes for some heat. I would eat this over tuna salad any day!
Pinch of Parsley says
Soo glad to hear you love this recipe, Paige!
Mickey says
Hi, I haven't made this recipe yet but plan to, as it sounds yummy. I did notice that you mention Olive oil one place but I dont see Olive oil in the recipe anyplace. I think it was on the 2nd step when you add the other ingredients other than the chickpeas. Can you let me know if there is olive oil in this recipe and how much to use?
Thanks so much,
Mickey
Pinch of Parsley says
Hi Mickey,
So glad you plan to make this recipe! Thank you so much for pointing this out! There is 1 tablespoon of olive oil used. I'll update the recipe card now!
I hope you love it 🙂
Lindsay says
This chickpea salad is so good, I am not vegan but actually prefer this over tuna salad. So delicious, definitely will make again!
Pinch of Parsley says
Yay thank you so much Lindsay!!!