This chickpea salad is a fresh, quick recipe featuring crisp veggies, canned chickpeas, and a zesty lemon juice dressing. Perfect for meal prep, picnics, or a light lunch, it’s an easy way to enjoy bold Mediterranean flavors.

Jump to Recipe

Prep Time20

Total Time20

Servings

Overhead view of a bowl of chickpea salad surrounded by forks, napkin, wooden utensils, and fresh dill. — Bursting with juicy tomatoes, briny olives, crisp veggies, and tender chickpeas all tossed in a zesty lemon Dijon dressing—this is the kind of salad you crave seconds of.

Chickpea Salad Ingredients

This chickpea salad is the thing everyone goes back for at the BBQ. It features: chickpeas, juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, briny olives. It has a lemony Dijon dressing that pulls everything together. We’ve included the full recipe ingredients and instructions in the recipe card at the end.

Ingredient Notes

Balance the onion: If your red onion is too sharp, soak the chopped pieces in a little lemon juice from the dressing for 10 minutes to mellow it out.

You can use canned or dried chickpeas for this salad. However, we would recommend canned. They are quick and convenient.

Make sure to thoroughly rinse the canned chickpeas under cold water to remove excess starch and any brine. Gently pat dry.

You can use dry herbs, but we recommend using fresh dill and fresh flat-leaf parsley for the best flavor.

Optional add-ins: Crumbled feta and fresh mint pair beautifully and can be stirred in just before serving for a Mediterranean twist.

Step-by-step chickpea salad preparation: chopped vegetables and olives in a bowl, mixed with chickpeas and herbs, then drizzled with vinaigrette.

Serving Suggestions

Let the salad sit out for 10–15 minutes before serving. This brings out the brightness of the lemon and herbs.

Save garnish dill until the end. This keeps it vibrant and aromatic when serving, especially if you’re making the salad ahead.

Chickpea salad stored in a mason jar for meal prep, undressed to keep the vegetables crunchy.

Storage Instructions

This salad holds up well in the fridge for up to four days.
The flavors deepen over time, but the cucumbers can soften, so add them just before serving if you want extra crunch.
Stir before serving and refresh with a squeeze of lemon or a pinch of salt if needed.

Close-up of a forkful of colorful chickpea salad with tomatoes, olives, cucumbers, and herbs.

Final Thoughts

This chickpea salad is the kind of dish that feels light but doesn’t skimp on flavor. Serving it at a BBQ, pack it for potluck or make it ahead for busy weeknights. With simple ingredients and bold flavor, it’s a recipe worth keeping on repeat.

Other Salad Recipes To Try

Chickpea Salad

5 from 1 vote

Prep Time 20

Total Time 20

Servings

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Review Recipe

Ingredients

Dressing

⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
⅓ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 ½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper

Chickpea Salad

31 ounces canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained (two 15.5-ounce cans)
2 cups multicolored grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 cup diced english cucumber
1 cup chopped red onion
1 cup pitted Kalamata olives halved
⅓ cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
¼ cup chopped fresh dill weed, for salad
2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill weed for garnish

Instructions

Add the extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, Dijon mustard, sea salt and pepper to a small bowl. Whisk to combine.
Add chickpeas, halved tomatoes, chopped bell pepper, diced english cucumber, sliced onion and halved olives to a large (4-5 quarts) mixing bowl. Toss to combine.
Add the chopped parsley and ¼ cup chopped dill weed.
Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss to thoroughly combine.
Garnish with the remaining chopped dill weed just before serving.

Notes

Cooked garbanzo beans can be substituted for the canned beans.
Chopped fresh mint leaves can be added, as well as crumbled feta cheese.
Plain halved grape tomatoes can be substituted for the multicolored grape tomatoes.
Kosher salt can be substituted for sea salt.

Nutrition

Have You Tried This Recipe?Follow me on Pinterest @spaceshipslb

Proudly Prepared by the Spaceships Kitchen

This recipe was developed, tested, cooked and photographed by the Spaceships Kitchen. From our dinner table to yours, we hope you think it's out of this world!

Stephanie Keeping Publisher
Layne Kangas Marketing
Lexus Monroe Editorial Assistant
Ina Chong
Amy Tandiko Graphic Designer
Teresia Shrum Recipe Developer
Sian Cox Photographer

Chickpea Salad