This healthy vegan chickpea tuna salad is creamy with a delightful crunch and makes an excellent alternative to traditional tuna for sandwiches and crackers.
It’s ideal for a light dinner, snack, or even breakfast.
It’s quick and easy to make with whole food plant-based ingredients.
Mashed chickpeas are used as a base for a nice chewy texture. Red onion, celery, pickles, and parsley give it a tangy and crispy feeling. No vegan mayo or other processed ingredients are used, just a delicious savory tahini sauce to make it all creamy and perfect.
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Recipe Highlights
- Dietary – vegan, whole food, oil-free, nut-free, soy-free, gluten-free
- Quick & easy to make
- Ready in 10 mins
- Packed with protein & fiber
- No cooking is involved
- Simple whole food ingredients
- Satisfying & nutritious
- Budget-friendly
- Allergy-friendly
- Great as an appetizer, snack, breakfast, or light dinner
Ingredient Notes
This vegan chickpea tuna salad is healthy, delicious, and easy to make. It’s a simple recipe that requires no cooking at all and will keep your kitchen cool.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- chickpeas – you can use canned, just drain and rinse them or home-cooked
- red onion – you can substitute white or yellow onion if you don’t have red onion on hand
- celery – for added fresh crunch and flavor
- pickles – I used dill pickles but any kind of pickles works
- parsley – use fresh chopped parsley
- garlic – adds great flavor
- tahini – you will need creamy tahini, look for one that has only sesame seeds listed as ingredients and no additives
- lime – used to flavor the salad adding wonderful zestiness, you can also use lemon
- Dijon mustard – any Dijon or yellow mustard works fine
- date syrup – used to lightly sweeten and balance the savory flavors. You can also use maple syrup or skip it if you don’t like it.
For the full ingredients list, measurements, and instructions, please find the recipe card below.
How to make Vegan Chickpea Tuna Salad
Step 1: Roughly chop or mash the chickpeas – Place the chickpeas in a food processor and pulse for a minute until roughly chopped. If you don’t have a food processor simply mash them with a fork or potato masher. This step helps to hold the salad together and bind all the ingredients with the tahini sauce.
Step 2: Make the tahini dressing – In a small bowl mix the tahini, lime juice, Dijon mustard, date syrup, salt, and water. Whisk to combine.
Step 3: Combine all the salad ingredients together – Put the roughly chopped chickpeas, diced red onion, celery, pickles, parsley, and garlic in a medium bowl. Add the tahini sauce to the other ingredients and stir well.
And that’s all it takes to whip up this delectable recipe. It’s a healthy, easy to customize, quick, effortless, and absolutely delicious option!
Top Tips
- Other add-ins to try – some mashed avocado added to the salad adds extra creaminess and richness. You can also add more chopped veggies like cucumber, capers, red bell pepper, and olives.
- Add more herbs and spices – like fresh dill, black pepper, coriander, nutritional yeast, soy sauce or miso paste for umami flavor.
- Add a hint of sea flavor – consider adding a bit of crushed nori sheet into the mixture to introduce a hint of sea flavor and make it taste more like tuna. Dulse flakes would also work.
How to Store
Fridge: Store leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Stir before using.
Meal prep: This vegan chickpea tuna salad is perfect for meal prep. It’s even better the next day. The whole salad can be assembled a day ahead and stored in the fridge.
Meal prep with leafy greens, or make sandwiches or wraps. Or prepare some crackers.
It travels and stores well, making it perfect for planning potlucks, picnics, or BBQs.
How to Serve Vegan Chickpea Tuna Salad
Here are some of my favorite ways to enjoy this chickpea tuna salad:
- Make a delicious vegan tuna sandwich
- Serve it in a wrap or burrito together with some leafy greens and other veggies.
- Scoop up with healthy crackers or tortilla chips.
- Skip the bread and serve it over leafy greens or as lettuce wraps.
- Pair it with roasted potatoes or stuff it in baked sweet potatoes.
- Dip some fresh or roasted veggies in it – carrots, broccoli, cucumber, bell peppers.
More Healthy Vegan Salads
If you try this Healthy Vegan Chickpea Tuna Salad, please let me know! Leave a comment and ★★★★★ recipe rating below. I would love to see your remakes and hear what you think.
Healthy Vegan Chickpea Tuna Salad
Ingredients
- 1 can chickpeas, 15-ounce can, or 1 ½ cup fresh cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- ½ red onion, diced
- ½ cup (70 g) dill pickles, diced
- ⅓ cup (40 g) celery, thinly chopped
- ¼ cup parsley, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed
- 3 tbsp whole sesame tahini
- ½ lime, juiced
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp date syrup
- ½ tsp Himalayan salt
- 3 tbsp water
Instructions
- Place the chickpeas in a food processor and pulse for a minute until roughly chopped. If you don't have a food processor simply mash them with a fork or potato masher.
- Put the roughly chopped chickpeas, diced red onion, celery, pickles, parsley, and garlic in a medium bowl.
- In a small bowl mix the tahini, lime juice, Dijon mustard, date syrup, salt, and water. Whisk to combine.
- Add the tahini sauce to the other ingredients and stir well.
- Serve over toasted bread. Top it with desired toppings such as romaine lettuce, tomato slices, and cucumbers. Enjoy!
Notes
- You can also serve it with crackers or make a delicious burrito with it.
- Another option is to skip the bread and make lettuce wraps.
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