Sonoma Chickpea ‘Chicken’ Salad features protein rich chickpeas, juicy grapes, celery, and pecans tossed with a healthy maple-tahini poppy seed 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 Vegan ‘Chicken’ Salad, and ‘Chickpea of the Sea’ Tuna Salad Sandwich. All of which are healthy and 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!
This Chickpea Chicken Salad is a vegan version of the classic Sonoma Chicken Salad I saw at Trader Joe’s. Chickpeas work great as a replacement for chicken in this recipe and you won’t miss a thing. I promise!
It makes for a great sandwich or wrap filling, or if you prefer, simply serve over top a bed of leafy greens. However you choose, it’s flavorful, filling, and highly addicting!
Table of Contents
Ingredients You’ll Need
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.
Here is everything you will need, including ingredient variations:
- Chickpeas – use canned or fresh cooked
- Grapes – feel free to add more grapes for extra juiciness. They are delicious here!
- Celery
- Pecans -because of their rich flavor profile I highly recommend using the pecans here, but walnuts are great too.
- Tahini or vegan mayo – use either or, they work great
- Apple cider vinegar – can sub with white wine vinegar or TJ’s Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar
- Pure maple syrup – sub with coconut nectar
- Dijon – can be optional, I’ve made this without and it’s still delish!
- Poppy seeds – can be optional
- Salt + pepper
How To Make Chickpea ‘Chicken’ Salad
(Note – The full printable recipe is at the bottom of this post)
- Make the creamy poppy seed 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).
- Slice the celery and grapes. Use as much, or little, as you like.
- Chop the pecans. Roughly chop the pecans.
- Mash the chickpeas. When making these types of chickpea salads I like to roughly mash ½ – ¾ of the chickpeas using the back of a sturdy fork (shown above right), potato masher or pastry blender. This can be optional.
- Assemble the salad. Once your ingredients are prepped, add them to the chickpeas, the grapes, celery, and pecans. Pour the dressing overtop (shown above right) and mix to combine (shown above).
And now you’re ready to enjoy this amazing salad!
Top Tips
- To mash or not to mash. Depending on how you will serve this chickpea chicken salad will depend on if you should mash the chickpeas or not. If making for a sandwich filler, it’s a good idea to mash them so they hold together better.
- Make it creamier. If you prefer a very creamy salad, make a little extra dressing.
- Recipe can easily be cut in half. 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).
How To Store + Meal Prep
- Refrigerator: Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, in a covered container.
- Meal prep: For meal prep, make the salad as directed and store in the refrigerator. Meal prep with leafy greens, or make sandwiches or wraps. See below for more serving suggestions.
How To Serve Sonoma Chickpea Chicken Salad
I love how versatile this faux no-chicken salad is! Here are a few of my favorite options:
- Salad: Serve this un-mashed version with leafy greens as a salad.
- Wraps: It’s great for making lettuce wraps, tortilla wraps, or tucking into pita bread.
- Sandwiches: Use it as a sandwich filler or serve as an open-faced sandwich. It’s great on this homemade Artisan Bread or fruit and nut bread.
- Mashed or unmashed: Either way, mashed or un-mashed, can be eaten as is straight from the bowl!
- Fruit: Pair with a side of fresh fruit (grapes, cantaloupe, watermelon, apple slices, etc.) for a healthy lunch or dinner.
More Easy Chickpea Recipes
- Mediterranean Smashed Chickpea Salad
- Smashed Chickpea Avocado Salad
- Greek Pasta Salad
- Lemon Chickpea Orzo Soup
- Quick + Easy Chickpea Tacos
- Chickpea ‘Egg’ Salad
If you try this healthy chickpea 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 ‘CHICKEN’ SALAD
This quick and easy, vegan chickpea ‘chicken’ salad can be partially mashed for a sandwich/wrap filler or un-mashed and served alongside fresh leafy greens. Either way it’s healthy and 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 ½ cups of seedless grapes, sliced in half
- ½ heaping cup celery ribs, diced
- ½ – ⅔ cup pecans, roughly chopped
Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing
- 4 tablespoons tahini (¼ cup) or vegan mayo
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons dijon
- 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. Set aside.
Un-mashed 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 ⅔ – ¾ 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 can be stored 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 you 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: chickpea chicken salad
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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!