Curried Chickpea Salad

This curried chickpea salad is full of everything you love about the typical chicken salad including crunchy almonds, dried cranberries, a creamy curry dressing, and smashed chickpeas in place of the chicken!

If your lunch game needs a little assistance, we’ve got you absolutely covered today!

Basically, this chickpea salad is everything you love about the classic creamy chicken salad, only smashed chickpeas are standing in for the chicken and I swear, this salad is so hearty and full of flavors you won’t even miss it.

We’ve got all the classic ingredients like toasted almonds and celery providing crunch, dried cranberries for a little sweetness, green onion and parsley for herby flavors, and quite possibly the best Greek yogurt curry dressing ever.

Best thing you’ll ever stuff in a wrap or sandwich, pinky promise.

This Chickpea Salad features…

• Tender smashed chickpeas
• Crunchy celery, toasted almonds, and dried cranberries
• A creamy, flavorful curry Greek yogurt dressing
• Minutes to make and a vegetarian-friendly version of chicken salad

Making the Chickpea Salad

(scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe)

Ingredients You Will Need

• Greek yogurt
• Mayonnaise
• Honey
• Dijon mustard
• Curry powder
• Chickpeas
• Celery
• Almonds
• Dried cranberries
• Green onion
• Parsley

Choosing Your Chickpeas

This recipe works well with both canned or freshly-cooked chickpeas. You will need 1 (15 oz) can or about 2 cups chickpeas.

If using canned, make sure to drain and rinse chickpeas well. If you are cooking the chickpeas yourself, make sure they are fully cooled before proceeding to assemble salad.

Tips for Perfect Chickpea Salad

1. Use a mix of Greek yogurt and mayo in dressing – Greek yogurt helps keep the dressing a little lighter while a touch of mayo adds the perfect balance of creaminess.
2. Mash chickpeas – use a fork or a potato masher to finely mash the chickpeas before adding the rest of the salad ingredients.
3. Finely chop celery – you want the celery in very small pieces so it blends with the chickpeas.
4. Toast almonds – this adds an unmatchable texture and flavor to the almonds. For best results, we recommend waiting to add almonds to salad until just before serving.

Recipe Variations

Try these ideas for a different twist on this salad.

• Substitute another dried fruit – try dried blueberries or raisins.
• Try a different bean – white beans would be a great replacement for the chickpeas.
• Add another fresh herb – try fresh dill or chives.

Serving Suggestions

This salad is amazing served a variety of ways! Check out our favorites below.

• In a lettuce wrap
• On a bed of spring greens
• In a sandwich with greens
• Stuffed into a tortilla with greens
• On toast or a bagel

The smashed chickpeas really do their job to perfection in this salad! It’s hearty and full of texture, yet so creamy and absolutely reminiscent of that classic chicken salad you know and love from the deli.

This winner is stepping up for lunch duty for the foreseeable future!

Save this recipe using the ‘save to recipe box’ button below. If you make it, please let us know! Leave a comment + star rating below, or take a photo and tag it on Instagram with #wholeandheavenlyoven.

Watch this salad made step-by-step on Google web stories.

More chickpea salads to try next!

• Roasted Cauliflower Chickpea Salad
• Caprese Chickpea Salad
• Avocado Crispy Chickpea Caesar Salad