Chickpea Salad Sandwich

Published August 22, 2022. Updated August 27, 2022

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Vegan Chickpea Salad Sandwiches – a nutritious sandwich made with hearty chickpeas, earthy tahini, bright lemon, crisp veggies, multigrain bread, and it’s layered with all your favorite toppings.

Stack of three chickpea salad sandwiches on multigrain bread.

Hearty Chickpea Salad Sandwiches

If you love hummus you will also love and appreciate all the similar depth of flavor found in this sandwich!

And if you aren’t a hummus fan I’ve listed an option to make it taste similar to tuna salad instead, with a creamy mayo base (which can also be made vegan). Either way you can’t go wrong with this recipe.

It’s nutritious, easy to prepare, and it’s perfectly filling thanks to those protein filled and fiber rich chickpeas (plus the fiber found in the whole grain bread).

I love to make this for lunch and eat it for several days since it keeps well in the fridge. It makes a great make-ahead meal prep or take along school lunch for the kids.

What to Serve It In

Just like many other similar salads you can serve it in bread, wraps, pita pockets, lettuce leaves, or serve atop avocados, crackers, pita chips, or just eat it plain on its own.

There’s so much to love about this versatile, simple, and satisfying chickpea salad sandwich!

Chickpea salad in a glass mixing bowl.

Chickpea Salad Sandwich Recipe Ingredients

  • 2 (15 oz) cans chick peas (save can liquid!), drained, rinsed
  • 1/4 cup tahini
  • 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice + 1/2 tsp lemon zest
  • 1 medium garlic clove, peeled and smashed
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 1/2 medium red bell pepper, preferably roasted, seeded and chopped
  • 1/2 cup diced celery
  • 1/3 cup chopped red onions
  • 3 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
  • 10 slices thin wholegrain bread (this is the smaller loaf)

Chickpea Salad Sandwiche ingredients

Topping Ideas

You can build up the sandwiches however you’d like. Toppings are optional but here are some delicious additions:

  • Lettuce or spinach
  • Broccoli sprouts or alfalfa sprouts
  • Tomatoes (chopped fresh or minced sun dried tomatoes)
  • Avocados
  • Cucumbers
  • Vegan cheese – such as vegan feta

Collage of eight photos showing how to make chickpea salad mixture.

How to Make Chickpea Salad Sandwiches

  1. In a 7-cup food processor pulse together 1/2 cup chick peas, the tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, 2 Tbsp reserved chick pea liquid from can, garlic, and season with salt and pepper.
  2. Process until mixture is well blended and practically smooth.
  3. Add remaining chickpeas and pulse several times until partially chopped.
  4. In a large mixing bowl toss together chickpea mixture, bell pepper, celery, red onion, parsley, and tahini mixture. Thin with a little more canned chickpea liquid if needed, season with salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Serve mixture between bread slices with desired toppings.

Mayonnaise Variation

If you don’t love that fairly bold flavor of tahini another option is to make this with a mayo-based dressing instead.

  • All you need to do is replace the 1/4 cup tahini and 2 Tbsp olive oil with 6 Tbsp vegan mayonnaise or traditional mayonnaise.

Storage

  • Store the chickpea salad mixture in an airtight container in the fridge.
  • It will keep for up to 3 days.
  • Wait to assemble sandwiches until ready to serve.

Chickpea salad sandwiches shown sliced in half and showing layers.

More Tasty Chickpea Recipes to Try

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Chickpea salad sandwiches
5 from 2 votes

Chickpea Salad Sandwich

A nutritious sandwich made with hearty chick peas, earthy tahini, bright lemon, crisp veggies, multigrain bread, and it's layered with all your favorite toppings.
Servings: 5
Prep15 minutes
Ready in: 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 (15 oz) cans chickpeas, drained but reserving liquid, rinsed, and water drained well, divided
  • 1/4 cup tahini*
  • 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice + 1/2 tsp lemon zest
  • 1 medium garlic clove, peeled and smashed
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 1/2 medium red bell pepper, preferably roasted over the stovetop or under the broiler on a sheet pan, then seeded and chopped
  • 1/2 cup diced celery
  • 1/3 cup chopped red onions
  • 3 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
  • 10 slices thin wholegrain bread (this is the smaller loaf)

Optional toppings

  • Lettuce leaves
  • Avocado (mashed or sliced)
  • Tomato, sliced
  • Broccoli sprouts or alfalfa sprouts

Instructions

  • In a 7-cup food processor pulse together 1/2 cup chick peas, the tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, 2 Tbsp reserved chickpea liquid from can, garlic, and season lightly with salt and pepper to taste.
  • Process until mixture is well blended and practically smooth.
  • Add remaining chickpeas and pulse several times until partially chopped.
  • In a large mixing bowl toss together chickpea mixture, bell pepper, celery, red onion, parsley, and tahini mixture. Thin with a little more canned chickpea liquid if needed, season with salt and pepper to taste.
  • Serve mixture between bread slices with desired toppings. Chill any leftover chickpea salad mixture for up to 3 days.

Notes

*I've made this salad two ways and both are delicious. If you are looking for more of a traditional flavor (like tuna salad) then replace the 1/4 cup tahini and 2 Tbsp olive oil with 6 Tbsp vegan mayonnaise or traditional mayonnaise, wait to add the canned chickpea liquid to see if you'd like it thinner.
Nutrition Facts
Chickpea Salad Sandwich
Amount Per Serving
Calories 431 Calories from Fat 153
% Daily Value*
Fat 17g26%
Saturated Fat 2g13%
Polyunsaturated Fat 6g
Monounsaturated Fat 8g
Sodium 754mg33%
Potassium 607mg17%
Carbohydrates 54g18%
Fiber 13g54%
Sugar 4g4%
Protein 16g32%
Vitamin A 1262IU25%
Vitamin C 32mg39%
Calcium 195mg20%
Iron 5mg28%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition values are estimates only. See full disclaimer here.

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13 Comments

  • Beverly Giorgio

    I made this today, ate it in a bowl not on bread. Who needs the extra carbs, huh? This is my new favorite thing! I omitted the canned liquid, chunky is better to me. In its place I added a little more lemon juice & olive oil. It is sooo delicious, & healthy!

    • Jaclyn

      Jaclyn Bell

      I love to hear it’s a new favorite! Thanks for your feedback Beverly!

  • Tracy E Spehr

    I made this for lunch the other day and it was delicious! Very flavourful! I did add a dash of cummin. It will definitely be in my receipe box for the future. Thanks for another great one!

  • Bridget Olson

    This recipe is indeed delicious. I have a question, though. I opted to sub vegan Mayo for the tahini/olive oil (as you suggested). However, the result was a VERY runny ‘dressing’. In the photos accompanying your post, the chickpeas blended in the processor look like thin hummus. Mine was the consistency of, say, a vinaigrette. I’m wondering if I was supposed to blend more than 1/2 cup of garbanzo beans? Another thought is that my food processor is 11-cup capacity … not sure if that would make a difference??? There is no way what I made could be served as a sandwich spread … Any advice?

    • Jaclyn

      Jaclyn Bell

      Yes I’d suggest blending more chickpeas into the mixture if it’s runny, 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup. The mixture pictured is the tahini option with mayo it is a little runnier but should be thick enough for a sandwich. Something helpful would be to drain then dry the chickpeas spread out on paper towels with another layer over.
      Hope that helps!

      • Bridget Olson

        Thanks… I’ll try that. I notice in the photos that accompany the post, it looks like after making the dressing the remainder of the chickpeas are shown added to the food processor bowl; it looks like they get pulsed a tiny bit before being added to the mixing bowl with the veggies. Is that correct? I realize the recipe does not call for that … but the photo definitely shows them in the FP bowl. Just curious… ??

        • Jaclyn

          Jaclyn Bell

          Yes so sorry I missed that! I’ve updated. Also you can omit the chickpea liquid and that should make a big difference.

  • Duncan Edwards

    This is healthy, quality eating of the very best kind, and we love it