Sonoma Chickpea Salad (aka Vegan Chicken Salad) features protein rich chickpeas, juicy grapes, celery, and pecans tossed with a healthy maple-tahini poppyseed dressing – it’s customizable, easy to make and delicious!
A new chickpea salad flavor-sensation is coming your way!
You may already be familiar with the Mashed Chickpea Salad Sandwich, Curried Chickpea Salad, Cranberry, Walnut Chickpea Salad, and ‘Chickpea of the Sea’ Tuna Salad Sandwich. All of which are satisfyingly delicious!
Now we can add another variation to the list to keep it interesting and your tummy happy. You can never have too many of these chickpea salads in the recipe collection!
Sonoma Chickpea Salad is a vegan version of the classic Sonoma Chicken Salad I saw at Trader Joe’s. Chickpeas work great as a replacement here and you won’t miss a thing. I promise!
This vegan ‘chicken’ salad is a tasty mix of hearty chickpeas, juicy grapes, crunchy celery, and pecans all tossed together with a creamy vegan poppy-seed dressing, and makes for a great sandwich or wrap filling, or if you prefer, simply serve over top a bed of leafy greens. It’s flavorful, filling, and highly addicting!
How To Make Vegan ‘Chicken’ Salad
Start with prepping the chickpeas. Usually when making these types of chickpea salads I roughly mash half of the chickpeas. Here I will try to inspire you with two versions, un-mashed and mashed (last photo). You can choose which one you prefer.
- If making this as a sandwich filler, I would suggest roughly mashing the chickpeas before combining. This will help the mixture bind together, making it ideal to use between bread slices. Nothing worse than your sandwich filling falling all over.
- Alternately, use this as a filling for a wrap or served with leafy greens, in which case you wouldn’t need to mash the chickpeas, unless that’s your preference.
Both ways are delicious!
Slice the celery and grapes.
Make the dressing. In a small bowl, combine the tahini or vegan mayo, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, dijon, garlic & onion powder and poppy seeds (above left).
Assemble the salad. Once your ingredients are prepped and the to the chickpeas, the grapes, celery, and pecans. Pour the dressing overtop (shown above right) and mix to combine (shown below).
Best Tips For Making Chickpea ‘Chicken’ Salad
The salad itself is very simple with only 4 ingredients and the dressing is just as simple. Feel free to use more or less of any ingredients to suit your taste.
- Add more grapes for extra juiciness. They are delicious here!
- If you prefer a very creamy salad, make a little extra dressing.
- Because of their rich flavor profile I highly recommend using the pecans here, but if don’t care for them walnuts will be just fine.
- Feel free to cut this recipe in half, but I think you’ll be more than happy to have some leftovers (unless you’re like me and finish it within the day).
- For the dressing, if you don’t care for tahini, vegan mayo works great too!
How To Serve Vegan Chicken Salad
- Serve this un-mashed version with leafy greens (as shown above) or tucked in a wrap.
- It’s also perfect as a sandwich filler or served as an open-faced sandwich (shown below). I paired it with a pecan raisin loaf and it was simply delicious!
- Either way, mashed or un-mashed, can be eaten as is straight from the bowl!
If you try this healthy vegan 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.
PrintSONOMA CHICKPEA SALAD (VEGAN ‘CHICKEN’ SALAD)
This versatile vegan chickpea ‘chicken’ salad can be partially mashed for a sandwich/wrap filler or un-mashed and served alongside fresh leafy greens. Either way is delicious!
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 15 min
- Yield: Serves 4 - 6 1x
- Category: Salad
- Cuisine: Vegan
Ingredients
- 2 cans (14 oz.) chickpeas, drained and rinsed or 3 cups cooked
- 1 1/2 cups of grapes (about 33), sliced in half
- 2 – 3 celery ribs, diced
- 1/2 – 2/3 cup pecans, roughly chopped
Creamy Poppy-Seed Dressing
- 4 tablespoons tahini (1/4 cup) or vegan mayo
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons poppy seeds
- dash or two of garlic & onion powder
- pinch of salt & pepper
to serve, optional
- salad greens of choice
- slices of your favorite bread
- chopped chives, to garnish (not shown)
Instructions
Dressing: Place ingredients in a small bowl and mix to combine. Add a tablespoon or two of water as needed to thin (keep in mind the dressing should be on the thicker side so it may not be needed). Set aside.
Salad: Add chickpeas, grapes, pecans, and celery to a medium-sized mixing/serving bowl. Top with dressing and mix to coat. Season with mineral salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste.
Mashed Salad (perfect for sandwiches): Add chickpeas to a medium-sized mixing bowl, roughly mash 2/3 – 3/4 of the chickpeas using the back of a fork or spoon. Add in the grapes, pecans, and celery, top with dressing and mix to combine. Season with mineral salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste.
Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Make sandwiches, wraps, or simply serve with leafy greens.
Serves 4 – 6
Store leftovers, if any, in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
Add more grapes for extra juiciness.
If you prefer a very creamy salad, make a little extra dressing.
Because of their rich flavor profile I highly recommend using the pecans here, but if don’t care for them walnuts will be just fine.
Feel free to cut this recipe in half, but I think you’ll be more than happy to have some leftovers!
Keywords: vegan chicken salad
Anna says
Your chickpea salads are always THE best! I made this last night and omg it’s incredible!
★★★★★
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
Thank you so much Anna! I love chickpea salads! Cheers :)
Kelly says
Oh my gosh, this was so good! I made it with the tahini dressing and love it. Just ate it straight up for lunch with a few crackers. Thanks for sharing this one!
★★★★★
Ttrockwood says
I have made this SO many times!! I actually like it better with walnuts, and usually i add in some dried cranberries too. I do half tahini and half vegan mayo- all tahini was a little overwhelming for me.
I make a batch and bring it for lunches ontop of salad greens with a side of some crackers.
★★★★★
Melanie says
I love how quickly and easily this came together, and it was delicious, getting rave reviews from my husband and son! Thank you!
★★★★★
Robyn says
This salad is INCREDIBLE! I didn’t have any pecans on hand, so I substituted with pumpkin seeds – which turned out great! This dressing is really delicious, I can see myself using it often. Looking forward to having this for my lunch over the next couple of days. Thanks for such a great recipe!
Kathryn says
Also, just wondering what you think it would be like if I threw in some pasta to beef it up a bit? Any thoughts on how much or how much more dressing I’d have to add? Or do you think it would just take away from the salad?
Kathryn says
Looks amazing!! Love that it’s so colourful and super easy to make. I’m planning on taking this to a friend’s BBQ. Would it be best to take fresh or to make it the night before and let it marinate in the fridge overnight?
Thanks!
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
Hi Kathryn,
Either way works well. So do whatever is easiest for you.
As for adding pasta, the salad itself is pretty filling. Personally, I don’t think it needs any. There is plenty of carbs and fiber as is, and it’s delicious! But, if you do try adding pasta, I’d love to know how it goes.
I hope everyone enjoys the salad! Cheers :)
Christine McMahan says
This sounds really good! Is there a recipe for the bread?
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
Sorry, I wish there was! :)
Paula says
Love the simplicity of this dish. It’s almost too good to be true! Definitely going to make this for our BBQ Friday night this week. Thanks Julie! :-)
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
Hi Paula! Glad you loved this recipe, and I agree with everything you say! I hope everyone else enjoys it as much as we do. Yum, making me crave it as I type. Cheers :)
Donna says
This was delicious, my husband and I both loved this as well as the curried chickpea salad! I just made some of that to share in a Dept luncheon and it’s a hit! Thank you!!!
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
Awesome, makes my day!! Thank you for sharing. Cheers :)
Natalie says
I made this and it was pretty good but I would prefer if the dressing was less liquid-y! It mostly just collected in the bottom of the bowl.
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
I might suggest next time using a little less water in the dressing, dressing should be somewhat on the thicker side. Hopefully that will help it cling better to the ingredients and not accumulate at the bottom of the bowl. I’ll add that to the notes too. Thank you so much for the feedback. Cheers :)
Jennifer says
Just made this for lunch served on leafy greens. Really good. Just tastes like it’s missing something like a squeeze of orange or lemon juice. Or maybe I just need to add a bit more vinegar for my taste. But this is definitely a winner and i will certainly be making this on a regular basis!
JERRI LYNNE MOLDER says
What is “mineral salt”?
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
Mineral salts contain beneficial trace minerals that are absent in other salts. Another benefit to mineral salts is they tend to have less sodium. The two mineral salts I’m familiar with are Himilayan Pink Salt and Celtic Salt. My favorite is the himilayan “pink” salt. It can be expensive so I suggest doing a little research to find the best price for you. I buy it in bulk from my local grocery store which is very reasonably priced. The amounts of minerals are very small so this may not make a big difference in your diet, but I simply love the flavor of my pink salt. Hope this helps!
MC says
Just made this! I upped the amount of celery and chopped the grapes into rounds so they stretch further. I had some slivered almonds to use up that I swapped for pecans, and they’re a great crunch without overwhelming flavor! I ran out of tahini so use cashew butter. Cashew butter took more water to thin out, so in hindsight I could have used half the amount of nut butter. I upped the garlic, onion, salt, vinegar, and poppy seeds a little to account for the added volume of water and dressing (which is great on other things or as a dip). I also swapped maple syrup for raw honey since that’s the sweetener in my cabinet right now.
It’s delicious! I wish I had tahini because I think that would taste better. I think I’ll use less syrup/honey in the future because it’s a tad sweet for my taste. This is definitely being bookmarked and added to my repertoire!
Debbie says
I just made this and the grapes make refreshing. I really like the recipe. It was easy to make.
Nikole O'Quinn says
Delicious – thank you!!!!
Liberty says
This looks so delicious!, making me so hungry
http://www.libertylife.me
Michelle says
I have tried to save this recipe to Pinterest and it says this website won’t let me save it. Is anyone else having any problems with it?
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
Hmm, I’m having the same trouble. I thought maybe it was just me. I’m not sure what it could be but I’ll be working on getting it fixed asap!
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
Update: You can pin directly from the photos now. Still working on the Share This pin it button on the bottom.
Trixilie & Bea says
Hi,
we tried it and it was really delicious. We used half of the celery and instead of the maple syrup we used agave syrup… yummy :) We mashed all chickpeas and wrapped the salad in rice paper… nom nom nom ;) Thanks for this great recipe.
Hugs and Kisses
Trixilie & Bea
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
Yay! So glad you liked it. Your way sounds wonderful! Cheers :)
Angela says
It’s 12.23pm on Aril 19 here as I speak : )
Angela says
Alex I’m waiting for the weather to cool down here in South Australia…also it feels like it’s all in vain : ( Just hope that we aren’t heading for another drought – climate is similar to California.
Sorry Julie couldn’t help venting – I’m so hot : (
Your recipe as usual looks amazing and I look forward to this for my evening meal : ) I don’t do too well with beans but strangely enough I’m fine with garbanzo beans. Thank you so much.
Love Angela X
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
Haha, no worries! Thank you for sharing, and the kind words! Cheers :)
Michelle says
This looks so good! I love the idea of serving on raisin bread. Definitely making this for a lunch get together!
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
It was a delicious! The loaf was so fresh and paired perfectly. Enjoy!
Alex says
This looks so amazingly delicious!! I’m waiting (in vain it feels like!) for the weather to warm up here in Northern California so I can enjoy this with some fresh lemonade.
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
We have had some cool weather in So Cal too, but nothing like up north where you are. California has had record rains this year. The sun will be in your neck of the woods soon! A nice tall glass of lemonade will be great with this. All while enjoying the sunshine. Sounds perfect!