This post contains affiliate links and may earn commissions on recommended products. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Lemony mustard chickpea salad is a go-to lunch that is healthy, delicious, and vegan to boot. Stuff into a pita or enjoy on its own.
This post has been retested and updated since first publishing in March 2015.
When lunchtime rolls around, I do my best to balance special lunches out with homecooked meals. Oftentimes that means leftovers or green salad, or simply throwing together ingredients on hand.
One way I like to make lunch exciting again is to experiment with the wide variety of flavors that are out there, especially in the form of fresh herbs and spices.
This lemony mustard chickpea salad is adapted from a class I attended a while back at the Sustainable Food Center (SFC) hosted by Texas Oncology. We were there to learn about diet as it relates to cancer prevention and recovery and heard from an oncologist, a registered dietician, and the SFC chef cooking that night. Itโs still one of my favorite go-to lunches!
The salad features turmeric in the dressing, which is anti-inflammatory, promotes digestion, helps to regulate a protein complex in immune and inflammatory processes, and is an appetite stimulant. (Source: Katz, Rebecca, and Edelson, Matt. The Cancer Fighting Kitchen)
The dish comes together quickly, making it an ideal side dish or lunch. You can stuff it into a pita, pile on top of crackers, or just eat it as-is!
Ingredients for Chickpea Salad
Full list of ingredients including quantities is located in the recipe card.
Youโll need:
- Chickpeas – Also sometimes labeled as garbanzo beans, these beans are the base of the salad. I use canned for easy prep, but you can buy dried and cook them at home if you want.
- Celery
- Walnuts
- Mustard – Iโve used both dijon mustard and stone ground mustard in this recipe. Both are delicious!
- Lemon juice – Bottled juice works just fine if you donโt have a lemon on hand.
- Olive oil
- Ground turmeric
- Fresh ginger
- Ground chipotle pepper
- Fresh parsley
How to make this recipe
Drain your chickpeas into a colander and rinse well.
If you want to remove the skins on the chickpeas, you can slip them off with your fingers, or pour the chickpeas onto a clean kitchen towel. Fold the towel over and gently rub to remove the skins.
To make a more spreadable salad, add the chickpeas to a food processor and pulse just a few times to break them up, or mash chickpeas with a potato masher.
In a mixing bowl, combine the mustard, lemon juice, olive oil, turmeric, ginger, chipotle pepper, and salt. Whisk until the dressing is smooth and emulsified.
Add the chickpeas, celery, and walnuts to the bowl and stir to coat. Then add the parsley, and stir again to combine.
Serve the salad immediately, or cover and refrigerate until ready to eat. The salad will keep in an airtight container, chilled, for about 3 days.
Recipe suggestions
You can easily customize this recipe to your tastes. Donโt like celery? Swap in chopped cucumber to get that same crunch factor.
Add in your other favorite vegetables or stuff you might have hanging out in the fridge, like halved cherry tomatoes, diced red bell pepper, or chopped red onion.
If you donโt like ginger, swap in a bit of grated garlic in the dressing instead.
To add creaminess, stir in diced avocado. Make sure it isnโt too ripe, or the avocado will get mushy in the salad.
Feta cheese or cooked diced chicken are also great additions if you donโt need the salad to be vegan/vegetarian.
Enjoy this salad with your favorite bread or scoop it up with cumin spiced pita chips!
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star review below!
It means so much when you enjoy my recipes, so let me know how it goes and leave a comment if you have any questions.
Lemony Mustard Chickpea Salad
Ingredients
- 15.5 ounces canned chickpeas, abot 1 ยฝ cups
- 1 teaspoons Dijon mustard, or stone ground mustard
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 ribs celery, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Drain chickpeas into a colander. Rinse and let drain. (You can remove the chickpea skins if you like, by rubbing the chickpeas in a kitchen towel.)
- In a bowl, whisk together mustard, lemon juice, olive oil, turmeric, ginger, chipotle pepper, and salt.
- Add chickpeas, celery, and walnuts, and stir to coat. Stir in parsley until evenly mixed.
- Serve immediately or chill in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Notes
Recommended Products
Nutrition
Nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate based on online calculators. Any nutritional information found on Stetted should be used as a general guideline only.
*Sources:
Moss, Michael. Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us.
Katz, Rebecca, and Edelson, Matt. The Cancer Fighting Kitchen.
About Megan
I learned how to cook by exploring seasonal ingredients, and you can too! Meal time shouldn’t be stressful or complicated, and with fresh ingredients and easy methods, Iโm here to help you enjoy the time spent in the kitchen.ย Read moreโฆ
Made this and loved it! Modified slightly based on what I had on hand. Used tahini instead of olive oil and added a touch of honey – also cayenne instead of chipotle. Delicious!
Made this and loved it! Modified slightly based on what I had on hand. Used tahini instead of olive oil and added a touch of honey – also cayenne instead of chipotle. Delicious!