Curried Chickpea Salad
Curried Chickpea Salad – Full of flavor and texture, this vegan curry chickpea ‘chicken’ salad is quick and easy to make and perfect for a healthy salad, wrap, or sandwich filler!
Why We Love This Recipe!
Creamy chickpea salads are 100% crave-worthy! I can literally sit and eat the whole bowl within a day.
You may already be familiar with the classic Mashed Chickpea Salad, Sonoma Chickpea ‘Chicken’ Salad, or this flavorful Cranberry Walnut Chickpea Salad. All are full of fiber, protein, and well-balanced!
Honestly, I can’t say that I love one more than the other. They each have a different flavor and are equally delicious in my book. But if you’re a curry lover, you will be smitten over this curry chickpea salad!
I love the combination of curry with the sweetness of the raisins, along with the crunch from the carrots and cashews. It’s a perfect blend of flavor and texture!
The ingredients for this curry chickpea salad are simple and can be put together easily, within 10 minutes. Make it ahead and store it in the refrigerator for up to a week for easy-to-go lunches or to have on hand for snacking.
But I can almost guarantee this will not be in your fridge for that long. It will be gone almost as soon as you make it!
Ingredient Notes
Inspired by a trip to Trader Joe’s, I saw their Curry Chicken Salad and made us all a vegan version. The ingredients came from the ingredient list on the package and did not disappoint!
Here is everything you will need:
- Chickpeas – use canned or fresh cooked
- Carrots – replace with diced red bell pepper for variation
- Raisins – adds a touch of sweetness, offsetting the curry
- Green onions
- Cashews – omit if you have nut allergies
- Vegan Mayo – use store bought or use this easy homemade vegan mayo (can also sub with thinned hummus or tahini, as noted in the recipe card)
- Cilantro – adds a touch of herbaceousness, can omit if you’re not a fan
- Lemon – adds overall brightness
- Curry + garlic powder
- Salt + pepper
How To Make Curry Chickpea Salad
- Mash chickpeas (or leave them whole): In a medium mixing bowl, add chickpeas and roughly mash about 1/2 – 2/3 of the beans with the back of a sturdy fork or potato masher.
- Dressing: Whisk together the vegan mayo or thinned hummus/tahini with curry and garlic powder.
- Assemble: Add in the carrots, scallions, raisins, cashews, and pour dressing over top along with a big squeeze of lemon, mix well to combine. Taste for flavor, adding salt and pepper to taste.
Top Tips
- Mash the chickpeas or leave them whole. Mashing is great when using as a sandwich filler, helping it to bind together. Leaving them whole is great too!
- Add a little zing. Vary up the dressing by adding a tablespoon or so of apple cider or white wine vinegar for a slight tang.
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: Curried Chickpea Salad is great for meal prep, using any of the suggestions below, and can be stored in serving size portions for grab-n-go meals or snacks.
How To Serve Curried Chickpea Salad
- Enjoy this salad alone or on a bed of leafy greens.
- Scoop it up with fresh sliced red bell peppers or crackers.
- Turn it into a hearty Curried Chickpea ‘Chicken’ Salad Sandwich.
- Make lettuce wraps (shown below) or roll up in tortillas with leafy greens.
- It’s great with fresh grapes for sweetness and juiciness.
However you choose to serve your curried chickpea salad, I encourage you to gather your ingredients and give it a try.
I think you will find it to be as good as the other chickpea salad recipes here. In fact, it may just become your new favorite!
More Easy Chickpea Salad Recipes
- Cranberry Walnut Vegan ‘Chicken’ Salad
- Mashed Chickpea & Avocado Sandwich
- Sonoma Chickpea ‘Chicken’ Salad
- ‘Chickpea of the Sea’ Tuna Salad Sandwich
- Mashed Chickpea Salad
- Mediterranean Smashed Chickpea Salad
If you try this healthy chickpea salad recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment and rate it below. I love to hear what you think, or any changes you make.
PrintBEST CURRIED CHICKPEA SALAD
Creamy chickpea salads are a favorite in our home! They are highly addicting and so healthy. If you’re a curry lover, I know you will fall in love with this vegan Curried Chickpea Salad! Inspired by Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods Curried Chicken Salad.
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 15 min
- Yield: Serves 4 – 6 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: mash, mix
- Cuisine: American, Indian
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked or 2 cans (15 oz.) chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
- 2 – 3 carrots (about 1 cup), diced
- 3 – 4 scallions/green onions (about 1 cup), sliced
- 1/2 cup raisins, dried currants, or chopped dates
- 1/2 cup cashews (pref. raw)
- 1/2 – 2/3 cup vegan mayo (or thinned hummus or tahini, see notes)
- juice of one lemon
- 1 tablespoon curry powder, + more to taste
- 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- mineral salt & cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
Curry Dressing: In a small bowl, combine vegan mayo with curry, garlic powder, and a generous pinch of salt. Blend until combined. Set aside. (If adding vinegar or maple syrup as per the notes below, add to the hummus at this time.)
Mash chickpeas (or leave them whole): In a medium mixing bowl, add chickpeas and roughly mash about 1/2 – 2/3 of the beans with the back of a sturdy fork or potato masher. Mashing is great when used as a sandwich filler, helping it to bind together.
Assemble: Add in the carrots, scallions, raisins, cashews, and pour dressing overtop along with a big squeeze of lemon, mix well to combine. Taste for flavor adding salt and pepper to taste.
Serve: Serve as is, with sliced red bell peppers as scoopers, on a bed of leafy greens, with crackers or made into a Chickpea Curry Salad Sandwich with bread of choice.
Serves 4 – 6
Store: Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 – 6 days.
Notes
The raisins add such a nice sweetness, feel free to use up to 3/4 cup so each bite has a taste. Try subbing with chopped dried cherries, dates, or currants.
If using hummus and it’s on the thick side, thin it out with water until desired thinness. Using a small bowl add a couple rounded tablespoons of hummus with 1 tablespoon of water. Adding more of each as you go until you have a thinner hummus. Do the same if using tahini. Feel free to use more for a super creamy salad. If measuring by tablespoons: 8 tablespoons = 1/2 cup and about 11 tablespoons = 2/3 cups (technically 10T + 2t).
You can try tweaking this recipe by adding a tablespoon or so of apple cider or white wine vinegar to the dressing. It will give it a slight tang.
You may also like to try adding a tablespoon of pure maple syrup or other liquid sweetener of choice to add a little sweetness all around.
Adjust curry, adding more or less, to suit your taste.
Try replacing the carrots with diced red bell peppers for color variation.
Nutritional values are estimates only. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Updated: Curried Chickpea Salad was originally published in January 2014. It has been retested and updated with new photos and helpful tips in June 2020.
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My family LOVED this. Wasn’t able to get the cashews in time and definitely think it would be even better with them, but even without it was a tremendous hit. Thanks!
This was not tasty. Too many textures and too many flavours. And the main flavour (the curry) is not strong enough. I ate it because I don’t like to waste things but I’m very happy I only made half a recipe.
This salad looks amazing! I am thinking a cooked sweet potato would be perfect instead of the dried fruit (not a huge dried fruit fan)! I am going to try it out! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!
We had this for dinner tonight inside pita bread. I doubled the recipe so we can bring the rest to a picnic with friends tomorrow. Absolutely delicious. (I used about half the garlic powder called for.) I will be making this every week throughout the summer. Thank you!
Was vegan for 2 years. This dish is still a favorite, even after w stopped the vegan thing
This is sooooo good. I ran short of tahini so I threw in a spoonful of vegan mayo too. Thinned w/ the lemon juice and suggested apple cider vinegar and a little water. I cut back (only slightly) on the carrot and green onion so I could throw in 1 stalk of chopped celery, red onion and red pepper. I used dried cranberries in place of raisins. Omg…so good.
I just made this and it’s fantastic!!
Thanks!
Wow, what a great recipe!!!! I’ve only made one other chickpea salad recipe and I wasn’t that impressed but after reading the comments about this one I decided to give it a try. I love it and after giving a sample to my husband, he grinned and said he needed to sample more; that’s like a thumbs up from him. Thank you for another great recipe I can add to my repertoire!
Hi! I’d love to make this recipe ! Any recommendations to substitute cashews? My boyfriend has a tree nut allergy. Thanks!
I would say to simply omit them. There is no need to replace them with anything. The salad will be great without them too. But if you really want to substitute you could try adding in a small handful of pepitas (pumpkin seeds) or sunflower seeds. Enjoy! :)
I tried this recipe yesterday and it is delicious!!! I’m trying to adapt it to Wight Watchers, so I left out the cashews and dried fruit, but it was still delish! My question is, does this freeze well? I would love to freeze it in small batches so I can grab one whenever I need a quick lunch :) Thank you!
Yes, this should freeze well! Glad you enjoyed it!