Chickpea “Chicken” Salad

This Chickpea “Chicken” Salad will have you going back for seconds and thirds. It is so dang good! Chicken Salad is such a classic dish and this chickpea spin on it is still reminiscent of that classic taste. This is one recipe I know I could make for the majority of my friends and family and they would all eat it. If you make this for your friends or family, just make sure you make enough. It will be gone before you know it!

Ingredients for Chickpea “Chicken” Salad

Serves 2-3 – I often double this recipe.

• 1 BPA free can of chickpeas drained & rinsed or 1 3/4 cups of prepared chickpeas
• 1 red apple, cored & chopped – pink lady apple is great in this
• 2 large stalks celery. chopped
• 1/2 cup red onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 2 TBSP fresh dill
• 1-1 1/2 lemons depending on size and juiciness, start with 1
• 1/4-1/2 tsp of Himilayan salt, to taste (I use less salt for Mark & I and more with others)
• 1/4 tsp ground pepper

Instructions for Chickpea “Chicken” Salad

1. Pulse your chickpeas in a food processor around 5 times (10 times if you doubled the recipe/chickpeas). You still want some chunks, so make sure to pulse and don’t just turn on and run. Add the pulsed chickpeas to a large mixing bowl. If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a potato masher and arm strength.

2. Chop up your apple, celery, and red onion and add to the large mixing bowl. Stir the mixture.

3. Wash and finely chop your dill. Add the dill, tahini, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to a small bowl and mix together well until creamy. If your tahini is super dry, add 2 tbsp of water to thin out the mixture a bit.

4. Add the tahini mixture to your large mixing bowl of ingredients and combine well. Serve as is, on top of a salad, with celery sticks, or scooped in romaine or butter lettuce leaves.

Riane’s Tidbits:

• You could replace the apples with a handful of sliced red grapes for a classic version.
• I buy different Tahini’s and they all have a slightly different taste. I linked one above, but I often use the Trader Joe’s tahini in this recipe. It’s extra thick and flavorful. It’s also easier to mix it right after buying it at room temperature vs. using it from the fridge.
• You can chop the apple, celery, and onion as fine or as rough as you wish.
• If you roughly chop the ingredients like I do (shown in pictures), there is going to be more crunch to the dish. You’ll also taste the apple, celery, and onion a little more, as the flavors stand out more when you leave the ingredients a little bigger. If you want it more celery forward, chop that the largest. If you want it more apple forward, leave those the largest. Or, just don’t think about it and chop. It all tastes good. This is how I roll.
• Eat it as is, with celery sticks, on top of some leafy greens or scooped in romaine or butter lettuce leaves.

ENJOY!!

Comment below if you make this dish! This one is a winner winner “chicken” dinner. I had to.

-Riane

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Chickpea “Chicken” Salad

This Chickpea "Chicken" Salad will have you going back for seconds and thirds. It is so dang good! Chicken Salad is such a classic dish and this chickpea spin on it is still reminiscent of that classic taste. This is one recipe I know I could make for the majority of my friends and family and they would all eat it. It will be gone before you know it!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Servings: 3

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1 BPA free can of chickpeas drained & rinsed or 1 3/4 cups of prepared chickpeas
• 1 red apple cored & chopped – I use pink lady apples
• 2 large stalks celery. chopped
• 1/2 cup red onion chopped
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 2 TBSP fresh dill
• 1 1/2 lemons or 1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp of Himilayan salt
• 1/2 tsp ground pepper

Method

 

1. Pulse your chickpeas in a food processor around 5 times (10 times if you doubled the recipe/chickpeas). You still want some chunks, so make sure to pulse and don’t just turn on and run. Add the pulsed chickpeas to a large mixing bowl. If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a potato masher and arm strength.
2. Chop up your apple, celery, and red onion and add to the large mixing bowl. Stir the mixture.
3. Wash and finely chop your dill. Add the dill, tahini, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to a small bowl and mix together well. If your tahini is super dry, add 2 tbsp of water to thin out the mixture a bit.
4. Add the tahini mixture to your large mixing bowl of ingredients and combine well. Stir in a bit more of fresh dill if you wish. Serve as is, on top of a salad, with celery sticks, or scooped in romaine or butter lettuce leaves.

Notes

• You could replace the apples with a handful of sliced red grapes for a classic version.
• I buy different Tahini’s and they all have a slightly different taste. I linked one above, but I often use the Trader Joe’s tahini in this recipe. It’s extra thick and flavorful. It’s also easier to mix it right after buying it at room temperature vs. using it from the fridge.
• You can chop the apple, celery, and onion as fine or as rough as you wish.
• If you roughly chop the ingredients like I do (shown in pictures), there is going to be more crunch to the dish. You’ll also taste the apple, celery, and onion a little more, as the flavors stand out more when you leave the ingredients a little bigger. If you want it more celery forward, chop that the largest. If you want it more apple forward, leave those the largest. Or, just don’t think about it and chop. It all tastes good. This is how I roll.
• Eat it as is, with celery sticks, on top of some leafy greens or scooped in romaine or butter lettuce leaves.  Either way it’s going to be delish.

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