Chickpea Salad With Fresh Herbs

The new best summer salad.

This healthy chickpea salad recipe with plump garbanzo beans, Greek yogurt, herbs, and crunch celery makes a fabulous-tasting vegetarian side dish that takes minutes to prepare. 

Chickpea salad = the new potato salad.

This chickpea salad recipe’s beauty lies in its ease and unexpected deliciousness. Somehow, the humble garbanzo becomes transforms into something satisfying, fresh, and flavorful with the addition of just a few ingredients.

I discovered this recipe thanks to my sister extraordinaire Beth, a registered dietitian (previously profiled in Unpeeled–check it out!) and regular source of healthful and inspired recipe ideas. I can’t remember when she first made this recipe. But I remember being blown away by how good it was.

And then I learned that it was incredibly nutritious and easy, which made the chickpea salad all the better.

The flavor tastes in the same vein of good American potato salad. But instead of starchy potatoes and mayo, you use chickpeas and a Greek yogurt dressing. Then, everything gets stirred together with crunchy diced celery and a generous amount of fresh dill, parsley, and scallions and voilà!

Your new favorite healthy side dish is served.

Can I Make This in Advance?

Yes! This will keep just fine for a day or two in the fridge. Just bring it out an hour before serving so it’s not ice cold, give it a stir, and maybe top with a fresh dusting of herbs.

I Don’t Have Greek Yogurt. Can I Substitute Regular Plain Yogurt?

This recipe definitely works best with a nice, thick yogurt like Greek-style. But you can thicken standard yogurt by straining it through a cheesecloth set in a colander for several hours, or overnight. (Place the colander over a bowl to catch the drained liquid — which is whey protein and very healthy, by the (sorry) whey.

Easy Chickpea Salad: Recipe Notes

This recipe is closely adapted from lovely Lidey Heuck‘s Chickpea Salad With Fresh Herbs and Scallions recipe in the new York Times. It’s basically a two-step recipe: 1) make a yogurt dressing, 2) stir it into a bowl of chickpeas, celery, and herbs.

I make it pretty much as-is, with a couple of additional notes and tweaks:

• The New York Times recipe calls for mayo. But I leave it out altogether and replace it with more Greek yogurt.
• Use plain Greek yogurt (whole or low-fat, please) and not regular yogurt. Plain yogurt has too much moisture, and will not form the nice, thick dressing.
• Be generous with the fresh herbs. So much of the flavor comes from the dill, scallion, and parsley.
• Mash some of the chickpeas with the back of a fork, or a potato masher. It adds body.

Enjoy. This serves about 4 to 6 people.

You will also enjoy:

• Herby French Potato Salad
• Summer Minestrone Soup
• Fried Crispy Chickpeas

Chickpea Salad With Fresh Herbs

An easy, healthful chickpea salad recipe that takes minutes to make and tastes fresh. With Greek yogurt, crunchy celery, and plenty of fresh herbs. Adapted from Lidey Heuck / NYTimes.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time0 minutes mins

Course: Appetizer, dinner, lunch, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keywords:: chickpea salad, dill, easy, garbanzo bean salad, healthy, side dish, vegetarian

Servings: 4 to 6 people

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Ingredients

• 2/3 cup whole or low-fat plain Greek yogurt
• 1 lemon juiced (about 2 tablespoons)
• 2 teaspoons wholegrain mustard, such as Maille
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh black pepper
• 3 tablespoons minced dill, plus more to garnish
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• 3 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup small-diced celery
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions, white and green parts (2 to 3 scallions)

Instructions

• Combine the yogurt, lemon juice, wholegrain mustard, salt, pepper, dill, and parsley in a small mixing bowl. Whisk until smooth. Set aside.
• Place the drained chickpeas in a large mixing bowl. Use a potato masher or the back of a serving fork to lightly mash about 1/3. Add the celery and scallions and toss to combine.
• Add the yogurt dressing and stir until well mixed. Serve, topped with additional fresh herbs.

  TIP: This can be made up to 2 days in advance and kept in the fridge. If making in advance, remove from the fridge about 30 minutes before serving. Give it a good stir before topping with fresh herbs.