Cranberry Walnut Vegan ‘Chicken’ Salad
Vegan Chicken Salad is a flavorful, quick, and easy salad made with mashed chickpeas, cranberries, and walnuts tossed with a creamy dressing for a healthy, WFPB wrap or sandwich filler!
Chickpeas are just about the most versatile bean I’ve ever come across. They pair well with so many flavors, making them the ultimate bean in my book.
No wonder they are loved by so many. And this Cranberry Walnut Vegan ‘Chicken’ Salad is another terrific use of this versatile bean!
Why We Love This Recipe!
It’s full of fiber, protein and uses just 8 ingredients (plus salt + pepper), creating the most wonderful faux chicken salad that will rival its predecessor.
It has the same mouthfeel and satisfies your craving for a chunky, sweet, peppery, and crunchy style sandwich.
Who will love this Vegan ‘Chicken’ Salad? Those who are looking for an alternative to the chicken salad you might see at Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods.
Ingredient Notes
Here is everything you will need, plus suggestions for substituting when possible. You can find the full measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Chickpeas – We used canned, but freshly cooked garbanzo beans are great too.
- Cranberries – When buying cranberries, use organic whenever possible (I like the ones from Trader Joe’s, they’re so brightly colored, too!). You can also use fresh chopped cranberries or chopped dried cherries!
- Celery – Cool and crunchy, the celery can be omitted if you’re not a fan.
- Walnuts – Feel free to change it up with pecans.
- Green onions – Sub with 1/4 cup finely diced red onions.
- Vegan mayo or tahini – Use store-bought or this homemade Easy Vegan Mayo or Homemade Tahini.
- Apple cider vinegar – In place of ACV, use white wine vinegar or TJ’s Orange Muscat Vinegar.
- Pure maple syrup – Coconut nectar or date syrup works great as a substitute.
- Salt + pepper – I’m partial to pink salt and fresh cracked pepper, but use your preferred type.
How To Make Vegan ‘Chicken’ Salad
(Note – The full printable recipe is at the bottom of this post)
- Prep veggies and nuts. Slice your celery, feel free to add in some celery leaves if you can. For the scallions, when slicing use both the green and white parts. Roughly chop your walnuts.
- Mash chickpeas. Roughly mash your chickpeas using the back of a sturdy fork. A potato masher or pastry blender will do the job too.
- Make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the mayo or tahini, apple cider vinegar, pure maple syrup. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, as needed to thin.
- Assemble. Add to the mashed chickpeas the celery, onions, cranberries, and walnuts, top with dressing, and mix to combine (shown below).
And now you’re ready to devour this crave-worthy salad!
How To Store + Meal Prep
- Refrigerator: Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 – 6 days in a covered container.
- Meal prep: This recipe is great for meal prep, using any of the suggestions below, and can be stored in serving size portions in multi-use containers (affiliate link) for a grab-n-go meal or snack.
Serving Suggestions
Versatile and delicious, here are a few of my favorite ways to enjoy this recipe.
- Sandwich: Serve with homemade Artisan Bread as a traditional or open-faced sandwich.
- Wraps: Make fresh lettuce wraps using romaine, bibb, butter, chard, collards, or other large leafy greens. Alternatively, this salad would be great in tortilla wraps.
- Salad: Scoop on top of a bed of chopped-up leafy greens such as romaine. Or use packaged spinach, spring mix, or baby kale as a bed.
- As is: You may even find that you love the salad all by itself without any accompaniment! I can easily eat this straight from the bowl all day long. :)
- Fruit: It pairs great with a side of fresh fruit, such as grapes, cantaloupe, sliced apples, etc.
More Mashed Chickpea Recipes
- Mashed Chickpea & Avocado Sandwich
- Sonoma Chickpea ‘Chicken’ Salad
- Chickpea of the Sea Vegan ‘Tuna’ Salad
- Curried Chickpea Salad
- Mediterranean Smashed Chickpea Salad
If you try this healthy salad recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment and rate it below. I love to hear what you think, or any changes you make.
PrintVegan ‘Chicken’ Salad
The chickpea strikes again, making for another great salad that will knock your socks off! This vegan ‘chicken’ salad is delicious as a sandwich filler, topped on a bed of leafy greens or make into lettuce wraps. Any way you serve this healthy salad is delicious!
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 15 min
- Yield: Serves 6
- Category: Entree, Salad
- Method: mash, mix
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked or 2 cans (15 oz) chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
- 1 cup celery, diced
- 1/2 cup organic dried cranberries (chopped fresh would be great too)
- 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup scallions (green onions), thinly sliced, white & green parts
- mineral salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste (I used about 1/2 teaspoon each)
Dressing
- 6 tablespoons (1/3 cup) tahini or vegan mayo
- 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) champagne, white wine or cider vinegar (I used Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar)
- 2 tablespoons water (as needed if using tahini)
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
To serve
- leafy lettuce of choice
- bread of choice
Instructions
Dressing: Start by mixing your dressing. In a small bowl combine tahini/mayo, vinegar, water and maple syrup. Set aside so the flavors come together. This can be made a day or two ahead and stored in the refrigerator until ready to use. Add a tad more water, or vinegar if you’re a vinegar lover, to thin out dressing as desired. If using vegan mayo, you may like to add 2 more tablespoons.
Mash chickpeas: In a medium to large bowl, add your garbanzo beans and roughly mash with a strong fork or potato masher. Mash at least 3/4 of the chickpeas so it binds well.
Assemble: Add in celery, cranberries, nuts, scallions, salt, pepper and dressing, mix well. Serve at room temp or let chill in the refrigerator for an hour before serving.
Serve: Serve on your favorite bread as a closed or open faced sandwich, or on a bed of leafy greens. You may even opt to simply enjoy the salad as is.
Serves 6
Store: Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 – 6 days, in a covered container.
Notes
Add extra of anything you like, and vice versa, if you’re not keen on an ingredient use less or omit! One particular ingredient may be the vinegar. I’m not much of a vinegar fan but I loved the orange muscat champagne vinegar and found I used quite a bit and loved it!
Change up the walnuts, using pecans, almonds, sunflower seeds, etc. If using sunflower seeds, use half the amount called for.
For the dressing, I have only made this using tahini since I do not use any kind of store bought vegan mayos. If using vegan mayo, adjust accordingly adding more mayo as needed, maybe 1/2 cup instead of 1/3. I do recommend trying this recipe with tahini, it is seriously so good that you would never know and it is much better/cleaner for you than the store bought mayos!
Nutritional values are estimates only. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Updated: Vegan ‘Chicken’ Salad was originally published in November 2013. It has been retested and updated with new photos and helpful tips in June 2020. The only change made was to the name, it was originally titled ‘Cranberry Walnut Chickpea Salad’.
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Absolutely delicious!
Yes, it’s a good one! Thanks so much for sharing, Sammie!
Wow! This is a great recipe. I made the recipe using Tahini, exactly as written and it came out perfectly. This is the first smashed chickpea sandwich that tastes like a chicken salad. The walnuts give it a nice crunch! It’s so healthy too.
I noticed some of the reviews said it was a bit dry. I think a lot of this depends on the brand of chickpeas. I have found that wal-mart’s organic brand is always dry. The best chickpeas are Goya, however, they have a lot of salt and additives for color retention. I used dry wal-mart chickpeas for this and I found that the dressing did a good job coating everything. I will probably put avocado on the sandwiches.
Lovely recipe!
So delicious!
This was really good, even my 7 year old ate a ton of it. I added a tiny bit of spicy brown mustard, and used ACV. We ate it on toasted sourdough with sauerkraut, and while very tasty, it definitely was on the dry side and needed something extra to add more juiciness, like a hummus spread, avocado, or additional sauce/mayo on the bread. I find this to be a common issue with any of these mashed chickpea and tahini based salads. But I will make it again, and we enjoyed it!
This is absolutely delicious! It’s now on the meal rotation, thanks so much!
This was very good. I like chickpea salads, and I’ve made a lot over the years, but this one has such a great texture and mouth-feel.
I used raisins instead of dried cranberries, as I haven’t been able to find any cranberries that aren’t coated in oil. During fresh cranberry season, I’m definitely going to use some fresh chopped cranberries!
I made my own silken tofu mayo, using a trick I learned from Jane Esselstyn: wrapping the silken tofu in a cloth and placing in the refrigerator for several hours. It gets rid of a lot of the liquid, and the tofu’s consistency turns into almost that of cream cheese. It’s a game-changer vis-a-vis homemade tofu mayo creaminess.
Thank you for the recipe.
Oh, and I forgot to add that I used my own recipe for mayo, which includes no oil. It’s merely a block of silken tofu (after being wrapped for several hours in a cloth), the juice of a half lemon, and a pinch of salt. I used this as a base for your dressing. It turned out great!
Thank you so much for sharing, Danielle! So glad you loved it and your subs sound perfect! I love your tofu mayo and may have to add it the recipe collection for everyone else to enjoy (I’ll credit you of course)! I have a few other chickpea salads you might enjoy, one uses fresh grapes you might especially like to try – Sonoma Chickpea ‘Chicken’ Salad.
This is an Outstanding recipe! I have made it a half dozen times and anyone who comes over for lunch screams how good it is. No matter what I substitute
(eg pecans for walnuts, dried cherries for dried cranberries, red onion for scallions, navy beans for garbanzo) It doesn’t matter. It’s ALWAYS GOOD.
Then how you eat it is so versatile too. Between crusty bread, in a wrap, a dollop on a salad, doesn’t matter Always Works! Thanks Simple Veganista
PS: Even my hard core meat eating friends love it!
Thanks so much for sharing, Jerome! Cheers :)
So delicious! Thank you!
Thank you so much for this! It was amazing, I used vegan mayo and it came out perfect. I love your blog and know all your recipes come out perfect. Thank you
Made this today with what I had on hand, subbed in raisins and pepitas, added a little curry powder. Served in a taco bowl with romaine. It was amazing! Thanks for another winner.