Vegetarian lunch ideas can easily be a hit or a miss. If you think a meatless lunch sounds less than ideal, you may have not tried tasty, creamy, loaded with flavor chickpea salad recipes. The chickpea salad is easily one of the best ways to go meatless with your lunches.
From a Mediterranean chickpea salad to this buffalo chickpea salad you can get a protein-packed lunch that rivals any type of meat-based lunch out there.
This salad is the perfect type of easy vegetarian food that everyone should have the ingredients for in their pantry. It is great as the star of lunch or as a side dish.
What are Chickpeas?
In case you are new to adding chickpeas to your diet, let’s break down what they are and how GOOD they are for you. Chickpeas are part of the legume family and you may have heard of them by their other name, the garbanzo bean.
They are perfectly round-shaped beans that are full of protein. In one tablespoon alone you can get 2.4 grams of protein. These legumes are delicious roasted or mashed. Either option works for a chickpea salad recipe. In addition to protein, chickpeas have many other health benefits such as:
Fiber
Folate
Iron
Phosphorus
Copper
Manganese
Adding these legumes to your diet is a great way to achieve a healthier lifestyle. There have been many studies on the importance of eating beans. Diets that are rich in them can lead to lower blood pressure, blood sugar, heart rate, and other heart disease-related issues.
Lentils, kidney beans, black beans, peas are a few other legumes that you should try if you are trying out a vegetarian or plant-based diet. If you are a mom to a little one, let your baby try a few mashed-up beans. I have been surprised just how much Poppy loves her beans and it gives me peace of mind that she is getting nutrient-dense food on the days she chooses not to eat a lot.
How To Make A Perfect Chickpea Salad
The cornerstone of a chickpea salad recipe regardless of which one you are making is the dressing and the additional add-ins that you want in it.
Dressing Ideas
For the dressing, you have to decide if you want an oil-based dressing or a creamy one.
For the oil-based dressing, olive oil or avocado oil are your best oils to use. From there, you need to pick an acidity that you like. This could be vinegar such as apple cider vinegar or freshly squeezed lemon juice. The acidity helps bring out the various flavors you add to your salad. Additional herbs and garlic or minced shallots are also good to add to any oil-based dressing.
If you opt for a creamy dressing you could choose a healthy mayo like a vegan mayo or Olive oil-based mayo or plain Greek yogurt. After you choose your creamy base, you could follow what you would add in an oil-based dressing or add another dressing with it like a Ranch or the buffalo sauce I used for this one. Either dressing is delicious with this vegetarian lunch salad.
Chickpea Salad Add-Ins
There are so many options when it comes to adding flavors to your chickpea salad recipe. It really depends on what you are going for. There are many “tuna” style chickpea salads that have the typical ingredients of that lunchtime meal without the fish. A few of my favorite add-ins for my salad are
- celery
- green onions
- a type of cheese (feta, parmesan, or blue cheese)
- tomatoes
- carrots
- red peppers
- olives or capers
- jalapeno
- cucumber
- lettuce/spinach
- hard-boiled eggs
These are a few ingredients that I have added to my chickpea salad recipes over the years. Feel free to add whatever you like to yours, there is NO wrong option here.
Buffalo Chickpea Salad
So let’s get to today’s vegetarian lunch idea, Buffalo Chickpea Salad. Chris and I went to dinner on our anniversary this year and I noticed on the menu of the restaurant we chose that they had this salad on the menu. I immediately thought ‘ I can make that! The next day that is exactly what I did.
This chickpea salad is bursting with all the flavors of a buffalo chicken wing dinner. The blue cheese lends the tangy taste and the buffalo sauce mixed with Greek yogurt is the perfect creamy companion for this salad.
I can think of no better salad to take to your next outdoor BBQ this summer. It is great on its own, on top of crackers, inside a wrap, or on a sandwich. The options are endless with this salad. For an extra layer of flavor feel free to top yours with your favorite Ranch dressing!
Roasting Chickpeas
The first step in making this salad is taken by roasting 2 cans of chickpeas. If you have never roasted chickpeas before it is fairly simple. Start by draining and rinsing your chickpeas then lay them out on a clean kitchen towel to completely dry.
You want them to dry so when they roast they get all nice and crispy. Have I mentioned that roasted chickpeas are a good snack as well?! Yum! Toss your chickpeas with olive oil and a dash of salt and pepper and place them on a cookie sheet. Let them bake in the oven at 425 for 20-30 minutes until crispy. I turn mine halfway through to ensure each part is crispy.
After your chickpeas are roasted assemble your ingredients:
green onions
carrots
celery
cherry tomatoes
blue cheese
Greek yogurt
buffalo sauce
salt/pepper
The chickpea salad is as easy as mixing the below amounts together. After you taste this delicious salad, you will see that a vegetarian lunch does not have to be boring and flavorless.
If you are stumped as to how to go meatless with meals, learning how to cook with beans is a great way to start. Check out a few of my favorite meatless dishes/snacks below that I have written about in the past:
If you are new to healthier eating, make sure to stock your cookbook shelf with healthy recipes. My favorite healthy recipe books are linked here. I cannot recommend the Oh She Glows cookbooks enough. I have shared her recipes on here in the past. Her plant-based approach to cooking will leave you wanting more. She also has incredible recipes that are built around various legumes.
I find the weeks that I eat a diet full of real food with nutrient-dense ingredients I feel so much better. My energy levels and my mood is definitely affected by what I put in my mouth. This summer I am trying to get back on track with a cleaner diet and consistent exercise. I will let you know how that goes! 🙂
Let me know if you try this easy buffalo chickpea salad and what you think of it! Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy!
Ingredients
-
2 green onions chopped
-
1 cup shredded carrots
-
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
-
1 stalk celery diced
-
1/2 cup blue cheese
-
2 cans of roasted lightly salted chickpeas
-
1/3 cup Greek yogurt
-
3-4 TBSP of buffalo sauce
Instructions
-
Roast your chickpeas for 30 minutes and allow to cool, See post for instructions on roasting. Chop all your ingredients and mix together into a bowl. Mix together the Greek yogurt and buffalo sauce and stir to combine with the chopped ingredients.
https://stylewaltz.com/vegetarian-lunch-buffalo-chickpea-salad/
Ingredients
- 2 green onions chopped
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
- 1 stalk celery diced
- 1/2 cup blue cheese
- 2 cans of roasted lightly salted chickpeas
- 1/3 cup Greek yogurt
- 3-4 TBSP of buffalo sauce
Instructions
- Roast your chickpeas for 30 minutes and allow to cool, See post for instructions on roasting. Chop all your ingredients and mix together into a bowl. Mix together the Greek yogurt and buffalo sauce and stir to combine with the chopped ingredients.
