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MEDITERRANEAN SMASHED CHICKPEA SALAD

top down view of platter with Mediterranean chickpea salad with crackers, lettuce and cucumbers.

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5 from 5 reviews

Smashed chickpea salad is a flavorful mix of Mediterranean flavors including chickpeas, red bell pepper, artichokes, kalamata olives with a simple hummus dressing. Great sandwich and lettuce wrap filler, ready in minutes!

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 cans (14 oz) chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
  • 1 red bell pepper, cored and finely diced
  • 1/3 medium red onion, finely diced
  • 1 can (14oz) artichoke hearts, diced (pref in water)
  • 56 oz jar kalamata olives, chopped
  • 2 teaspoons fresh dill, chopped or 1 teaspoon dried
  • salt + pepper, to taste
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 2/3 cup vegan mayo or 1/2 cup hummus + 3 – 6 tablespoons water to thin (see notes)

Instructions

Dressing: In a small mixing bowl, add the hummus and water, mix well, set aside. If mixture is too thin, add more hummus. If mixture is too thick, add more water. Consistency should be creamy, not too thick, not too thin. Use your best judgement. If using mayo, you may consider adding 1 teaspoon garlic powder.

Mash chickpeas: In a large mixing bowl, add the chickpeas. Using the back of a fork, or potato masher, roughly mash about 3/4 of the chickpeas, leaving some whole.

Assemble: Add to the smashed chickpeas the remaining ingredients and mix well to combine.

Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Use this chickpea salad in lettuce wraps, on a bed of leafy greens with sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, scoop up with crackers of vegetables, or use as an amazing sandwich filler. A few pepperoncinis on the side would be great too!

Serves 6

Store: Leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days in an airtight container.

Notes

Hummus can come in different blends and consistencies. Some are thicker than others. Start by adding the lower amount of water, adding more as needed to thin. For variation, garlic hummus would be great here!

If you don’t want to use hummus, vegan mayo will work too, use about 2/3 – 1 cup, starting with the smaller amount first. Alternately, tahini will work as well, use 1/2 cup tahini + 4 – 6 tablespoons water, adding more water as needed.