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Looking for healthy and easy lunch recipes? Try this delicious chickpea salad sandwich, essentially a vegan tuna salad using chickpeas! This is one of the original recipes on the internet for this concept, originally posted in 2019.
Why is finding healthy and easy lunch recipes so hard? Alex and I like to eat extremely simple at breakfast and lunch, so we can spend most of our time and energy on dinner. Here’s one of our favorite easy lunch tricks ever: this chickpea salad sandwich!
It’s basically a vegetarian chicken salad sandwich, or a chickpea tuna salad. Made with smashed chickpeas, crunchy veggies, and a creamy dressing, it’s so tasty that it’s become one of our most popular chickpea recipes ever! Our kids are huge fans: they try to sneak bites while we’re making it!
How to make a chickpea salad sandwich (basic steps)
This chickpea salad sandwich is truly easy to make—and we’re not just saying that! It takes just 10 minutes to whip up the chickpea salad and throw it onto a sandwich. Here are the basic steps, or jump to the recipe below.
Step 1: Thinly slice the celery and green onions.
Step 2: Make smashed chickpeas by mashing them down with a fork. Add the vegetables, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and celery seed.
Step 3: Layer it onto bread, and you’ve got a hearty vegetarian sandwich. We like to spread the bread with mayo or hummus for even more flavor.
Canned vs cooked chickpeas
You can use either canned or cooked chickpeas for this chickpea salad sandwich. Our preference is canned, but both work. You can make Instant pot chickpeas or cook them in a Dutch oven (go to How to Cook Dried Beans). Here are a few notes on the differences between canned vs cooked:
- Canned chickpeas have a bit of salt added, so add a few pinches of kosher salt if you’re using cooked chickpeas.
- The texture of cooked chickpeas can be slightly drier than canned, so you may have to add a bit more mayonnaise to the chickpea salad. Because of this, we prefer making it with canned chickpeas.
Toppings for a chickpea salad sandwich
We like to keep the toppings pretty minimal for this chickpea tuna sandwich. A fun trick is spreading hummus onto the bread slices before assembling the sandwich. We happened to have it on hand and it made the sandwich even more delicious! We also like adding leafy greens as another texture contrast.
If you’re up it, try making homemade bread like Sourdough Bread or Easy Dutch Oven Bread for this sandwich! Here are a few more topping ideas that might be fun to get your wheels turning:
- Pickled red onions
- Shredded carrots
- Sprouts or microgreens
- Fresh tomatoes
- Spicy mayo
- Potato chips (if you’re into the crunchy sandwich type of thing)
- Pickles
More easy lunch recipes
This chickpea salad sandwich is so easy, it’s perfect for quick lunches and for beginner cooks, picnics, and even as a fast and easy dinner idea! Here are a few more easy lunch recipes:
- Try 15 Sandwich Recipes That Aren’t Boring.
- Go for Easy Veggie Wraps or Quick Hummus Bowls.
- Mix up 30 Vegetarian Lunch Ideas.
- Try our top Easy Vegan Recipes.
Dietary notes
This chickpea salad sandwich recipe is vegetarian, vegan (with vegan mayo or cashew cream), plant based, and dairy free.
Frequently asked questions
A chickpea salad sandwich is a vegetarian alternative to traditional chicken or tuna salad sandwiches. It features mashed or chopped chickpeas combined with mayonnaise (vegan or regular), celery, onion, herbs, spices, and other flavorful additions.
There are endless possibilities for customizing your chickpea salad sandwich! Here are a few ideas:
Add chopped pickles, relish, or capers for a tangy twist.
Incorporate chopped apples, grapes, or dried cranberries for a touch of sweetness.
Spice things up with curry powder, cumin, or smoked paprika.
Use different herbs like dill, parsley, or cilantro.
Add chopped nuts or seeds for crunch.
Chickpea Salad Sandwich
Looking for healthy and easy lunch recipes? This delicious chickpea salad sandwich features a vegan tuna salad using chickpeas!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 2 sandwiches 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Mixed
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 15 ounce can chickpeas or (1 ½ cups chickpeas cooked from dry*)
- 1 rib celery
- 3 green onions
- 1 to 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, vegan mayonnaise, or cashew cream
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon celery seed
- Kosher salt & fresh ground pepper
- 4 slices bread (try our Homemade Bread)
- Lettuce, spring green mix, or sprouts
- Hummus, optional
Instructions
- Thinly slice the celery (if it’s a large rib, cut in half lengthwise first). Thinly slice the green onions.
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas. In a medium bowl, smash the chickpeas with a fork.
- Combine the chickpeas with the chopped celery and green onions, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and celery seed. Add about ¼ to ½ teaspoon kosher salt, depending on your chickpea brand and taste preferences, and fresh ground pepper to taste. Taste and salt until the flavor pops! If the salad is dry, add more mayonnaise (cooked chickpeas have a drier texture than canned).
- Assemble the chickpea salad sandwich: If desired, spread the bread with hummus (this amps it up a bit but not required). Top the sandwich with lettuce or greens and chickpea spread. The chickpea spread stores for up to 3 days refrigerated.
Notes
*If using cooked chickpeas, remember that canned chickpeas have a bit of salt added, so you’ll want to flavor with a few pinches of kosher salt before using. Also the texture of chickpeas cooked at home can be drier than canned, so you may have to add a bit more mayonnaise. Because of this, we prefer making this chickpea salad with canned chickpeas, but we’ve absolutely made it with cooked chickpeas too! Here’s How to Make Chickpeas or our Instant Pot chickpeas: we make them all the time.
It would be helpful to list sodium content along with the other nutritional items.
Also, it is possible to get canned garbanzo beans with no salt added which I use for everything. It’s really important for people who need to watch their salt intake.
We know many people watch their sodium intake closely, so to be extra careful, we don’t include sodium in our recipe information. This is because ingredients like canned garbanzos and soy sauce can vary in their sodium content, and we wouldn’t want to give you inaccurate info!
If you want, you can still get an estimated sodium breakdown! Just pop the recipe into this handy website: https://whisk.com/recipe-nutrition-calculator/
This way you can check with your own ingredients. Thank you for reading!
I found this very bland as written but if you add lots of additions like Dijon mustard and plenty of garlic/onion powder, it’s quite delicious for an easy meal. Thanks!!
Made this today and it was so easy! I like chicken salad with grapes, so I tried adding them to this chickpea salad. Really good!
Toss in some toasted sunflower seeds to the mix for added flavor.
I absolutely loved this recipe! I added dill and dried cranberries, left out the celery seed.
I absolutely loved this recipe! I added dill and dried cranberries, left out the celery seed. FANTASTIC!!
So easy and delicious! I went vegetarian over 2 years ago (recently have been trying to eat more vegan) and have been on the search for an easy, healthy, and satisfying lunch recipe. This chickpea salad sandwich is it! I am very lazy when it comes to cooking, so I used canned chickpeas and it took no more than 10 min to prepare. I did not have celery so subbed with chopped almonds and used chopped yellow onion instead of green, topped with pickles, and it came out delicious! Will be eating this probably daily lol.
So glad you love it!
This was SOOO good!!! And easy! A great recipe to replace the monotonous chicken or tuna salad recipes, and help me eat more plant based. Thank you!!!
So glad you enjoyed!
Very good tasting recipe and easy. I will say that I think the chickpeas should be cooked. I tried this using just canned and rinsed chickpeas and it was only ok, the texture of uncooked chickpeas in a sandwich is a bit unpleasant. The flavors were all good though.
Loved this sandwich! Delicious !
This recipe is so easy and delicious! Your instructions in the recipe card start at No. 8, though, can you take a look?
It’s appearing normal on our side — we’ll look into it!
I mash my canned drained chickpeas with basil EVOO instead of mayo and mix in tahini/minced red onion/celery/scallions/parsley, spread on 7-grain bread, and top with shredded romaine, sliced tomatoes, avocado, cucumber, roasted red pepper, then top with alfalfa sprouts/arugula/watercress and whatever cheese I have (the usual suspects = cheddar, provolone, Monterey Jack, Swiss, sliced mozzarella). Sometimes I add Boscoli Italian Olive Salad, because a sandwich is always elevated by it.
This sandwich recipe appeared as I was searching for ideas to use for my husband’s lunch-away-from-home and it turned out to be a hit. Then I ordered your cookbook.
Since its arrival a week ago I have made several dishes – White Cheddar Leek & Greens Millet Bake and the Vegetarian Nut Loaf.
The Nut Loaf was indeed a process as was mentioned in the notes. I am 86 years old so prepping over several days is not new to me.It is on this evening’s menu!
Thank you for this beautiful cookbook.
Thank you so much for ordering our book! I’m so glad you loved this sandwich — it’s one of our favorites. Thank you so much for making the Millet Bake and Nut Loaf! Yes the nut loaf is a total process, but so worth it. Hope you enjoyed it!! Thank you so much for your kind comments!
OMG! I am a 57 year old woman who is brand new to vegetarian food, I’ve been watching my 22 year old daughter prepare dishes for the past few months and looked up your recipe and prepared it for dinner tonight.
This chickpea sandwich was the most delicious sandwich I’ve ever had! Thank you for creating this recipe. It is very filling, I only ate half. I look forward to trying more of your recipes.
Nice to meet you Ann, and we are so happy to hear this! We hope that our recipes can help people see how satisfying veggies can be, so we’re thrilled to hear you loved the sandwich. Thank you so much for making it and let us know what else you try!
This is absolutely delicious and reminds me of a grown-up, vegan version of my childhood favorite egg salad sandwich. I added some fresh dill into the mix for an herby kick!
So glad you enjoyed it :)
Hey, might be TMI, but I struggle with disordered eating and one of my strategies to slowly get better is to cook an actual recipe each week (bonus points if it’s a new one). I struggled a lot in making this, but I did it anyway, and MAN OH MAN this is the best sandwich I’ve had since I went vegan. I cooked the chickpeas from dried but it worked out alright for me! I also subbed dill for celery seed and chopped up a dill pickle for a little extra tang. I think spicy mayo might be the way to go next time, and there will definitely be a next time! Thanks so much for this easy and delicious recipe, it was a really great/tasty experience!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for making :)
I’m new to vegetarianism, and love sandwiches for lunch so found your list. This was the first one I tried, and I will be making it a lot. It’s delicious, easy and healthy. I can’t wait to try it with other seasonings, too.
So glad you’re enjoying it! :)
Made this for lunch today and it is delicious!! I did not have green onions so i finely chopped some white onion and i also added some sliced almonds! So good! I will make this regularly!
So glad you enjoyed it!
This is extremely good! Perfect vegan sandwich option. I saw your video the other day with @Chiefspicemama and I’m so excited to try more of your recipes! Thank you.
Thank you for tuning in! Glad you loved the chickpea salad :)
I feel silly asking, but is this whole or powdered celery seed? I haven’t ever bought it or used it, but I see there are two different kinds. Also, where do I find vegan mayo? It wasn’t at the two grocery stores I tried. The recipe sounds great!
Hi! This is whole celery seed. We have vegan mayo available at most grocery stores here but you can also buy online: https://rstyle.me/+wCB5MbG9NzZBwVmletC12g
Thanks for your answer. I found the celery seed and the vegan mayo, and I’ve made the recipe twice already. It’s so good!!
I LOVE this recipe! I’ve been making this for a couple months now and it’s in my weekend rotation. Really easy to whip up and lasts over the weekend so I have lunch at the ready! Thank you so much!
Awesome! Thanks for commenting :)
I’ve been making this type of sandwich for some time but If you really want to make it special crush the peas a bit and add just a dash of black salt. It’s not black but pink and smells and tastes like eggs . You can find it on line or at middle eastern markets. It takes very little as it is very concentrated compared to regular salt.
We’ll have to try this!
Love it. Didn’t have celery so I substituted sweet snap peas. Not the healthiest option but I threw some bacon on top and it was awesome! Thanks so much
Wow! I just recently decided to switch my diet to a more plant based one and came across this recipe. If someone else had made this for me and not said anything about it being made from chickpeas, I highly doubt I would have known. This tastes amazing and even left me feeling full, which was one of my main concerns when switching to this type of diet. Thank you for such a wonderful lunch idea!
You’re welcome! So glad you enjoyed it :)
I’m not vegetarian but wanted to find healthy sandwich ideas for when I’m on the go during my pregnancy. I was getting so burned out on pb&j. This was a quick recipe I could whip up the night before work and pack nicely for lunch. Thank you!
This has become my favorite sandwich spread and I have a stockpile of canned chickpeas in my pantry!
It’s SOOOOOO good! I roll it up in a whole wheat tortilla and throw on a romaine leaf. Best.lunch.ever! Thank you!
Oh we are so happy to hear this! And it’s our favorite lunch too :) Thanks for making it!
I’ve been eating Vegetarian foods for 7 years now, but I needed new fun and easy ideas to make eating and cooking fun again. I’m Glad I found this website. I like how good every plate looks. I’m going to try the “Chickpea sandwich” for lunch today.
We always need fun new ideas too! Let us know what you think.
I’ve been eating Vegetarian foods for 7 years now, but I needed new fun and easy ideas to make eating and cooking fun again. I’m Glad I found this website. I like how good every plate looks. I’m going to try the “Chickpea sandwich” for lunch today.
I made this for dinner because I felt lazy and it was Cook’s choice night. It was great! And now I have lunch for tomorrow too.
Haha, that sounds just perfect! And leftovers are great too :) So glad you enjoyed!
nice recipe and a great reminder that chickpeas have a decent amount of protein, like a chicken salad sandwich in consistency, thank you for this recipe
YES! Sometimes people have texture issues with them, but here they’re just right. Thanks for making it!
Great recipe…easy, healthy and the most delicious sandwich I’ve eaten in a long time! Hubby loved it too!
Oh we are so glad to hear it! Thanks for making our recipe!
Just made this and used vegan mayo… SO GOOD!! the best vegan “chicken salad” I’ve had! Thanks for recipe
Oh we are so glad to hear it! The best vegan chicken salad is the biggest compliment — thank you!
This turned out great! Super good with pickles.
This chickpea salad sandwich sounds so delicious and convenient for lunch! :)