This salad is one of my favourite ways to eat chickpeas because it’s so versatile. Whole chickpeas are a great source of fibre and protein, making them a perfect addition to any meal. This Crunchy Chickpea Salad with Tahini Dressing is fresh, nutritious, and tastes amazing too!
Plus, this chickpea salad is a no-bake recipe - so no cooking in the oven required - meaning you save on the washing up. Result!
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❓What is Tahini?
Tahini is a thick paste made from sesame seeds. It’s a staple ingredient in many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern recipes. You can find it in most supermarkets in the health food section next to other nut and seed butters. The paste is made by grinding toasted sesame seeds into an oil, much how you would for other nut butters.
As well as being a healthy fat source, it’s an incredibly easy ingredient to work with and it adds so much flavour to recipes.
Tahini pairs beautifully with the flavour of the chickpeas in this salad and it adds a nice touch of creaminess too without adding any refined oils.
🥣 Instructions
Soak the Chopped Red Onion
To reduce the pungency of the raw red onion, soak it in cold water for 10 - 30 minutes. You can also swap out the water halfway through the time to further remove the pungency. The finer the onion is chopped, the quicker it will lose its pungency.
After it has soaked, rinse and pat dry your onion with a kitchen towel.
If you're in a rush, you can replace red onions with fresh spring onion. Although note that there won’t be as much of a crunchy bite and a sweet flavour, as only red onions are able to achieve this.
Wash, Rinse and Drain the Chickpeas
If using canned or jarred chickpea, drain off the excess liquid, add to a sieve, and rinse under cold water until you no longer see frothy bubbles. Rinsing the chickpeas will reduce some of those famous gas-producing properties!
You could keep the excess liquid known as “aquafaba”, which can be used as a vegan egg-white replacement. If so, store in the fridge in an airtight glass jar for 3-4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Chop Remaining Ingredients and Assemble
Finally, all that’s left to do is to finely chop the bell pepper and fresh parsley and combine with the rinsed chickpeas and red onion. Drizzle the salad generously with the lemon tahini dressing and serve immediately or store in the fridge for 3-4 days.
🍋 Lemon Tahini Dressing
You’re going to love this oil-free salad dressing that comes together in minutes with only a few simple cupboard staples. Simply combine tahini, lemon juice, water, cumin and salt and pepper and mix into a dressing.
The only thing to remember is to always add the tahini and lemon juice first. Once combined, you will need to stir well with a fork. As the acid from the lemon reacts with the tahini, it will thicken into a paste within a couple of seconds just like magic. Once this happens, very gradually add cool water until the dressing reaches a consistency that you like. I like mine quite runny, so that it has a consistency similar to milk.
Added too much water by mistake? Don’t worry! The beauty of this tahini dressing is you can easily remedy any mistakes with just a few simple adjustments.
For example, if you add too much water by accident, you can just add in more tahini to thicken it up again. On the other hand, if the dressing is too thick, simply add a bit more water.
The cumin spiced tahini dressing alone is delicious in several different salad recipes. If you have some spare or make a larger batch and notice that the dressing thickens when stored, simply thin out again with a small amount of water.
🥗 Why You'll Love This Salad
This Crunchy Chickpea Salad with Tahini Dressing is a flavourful and protein-packed vegan salad that’s perfect for a light meal or as a side dish. It also makes for an impressive appetiser when served in small endive or lettuce cups.
It’s fresh, crunchy, and incredibly simple to make. And best of all, it’s made without any cooking, so no oven time necessary. Ready in only 15 minutes, this salad is a perfect choice for those busy weekday meals, and it makes for a delicious and nutritious meal prep salad.
I love pairing this salad with other Mediterranean flavours. Add some baked fish or grilled chicken kebabs to the side to make a more substantial, protein-packed meal.
✨ More Healthy Recipes Using Chickpeas
Did you love this Crunchy Chickpea Salad? Why not try one of my other healthy chickpea recipes below:
Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out for you! Be sure to rate and leave a comment below, and tag @anti_candida_kitchen on Instagram with the hashtag #anticandidakitchen. Happy cooking!
Crunchy Chickpea Salad with Tahini Dressing
Ingredients
- Salad:
- 235 g cooked chickpeas equivalent to one 400g can or jar
- ¼ red onion approx 60g
- ½ red bell pepper
- Handful chopped fresh parsley
- Dressing:
- 2 tablespoon tahini sesame seed paste
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon water
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cumin
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Finely chop the red onion and leave to soak in a bowl of cold water for around 10 minutes - this will remove the sharpness of the onion. Drain, rinse again with clean water and pat dry.
- If using canned or jarred, rinse the chickpeas in a sieve under cold water until you no longer see foaming. Once rinsed, pat dry.
- Finely chop the red bell pepper and add to a bowl with the red onion and chickpeas.
- For the dressing, add the tahini and lemon juice to a jar or bowl and stir thoroughly with a fork. The mixture will thicken considerably. Add 1 tablespoon of the water to thin the mixture, and finally the second tablespoon to thin further still.
- Season with the cumin, salt and pepper to your taste.
- Coat the chickpeas, red bell pepper and red onion with the tahini dressing and finish with the chopped fresh parsley before serving on a bed of salad leaves.
Notes
This makes a generous portion of dressing, so you can store half in the fridge for 3-4 days or use the whole amount if mixing with additional salad leaves.
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