Amazing, vibrant 10-Minute Curried Chickpea Salad with the best tahini dressing, packed with flavors and textures! A best seller at our restaurant for a reason. Enjoy this easy vegetarian main for healthy lunches or as a dinner side all week by itself or in a wrap. Vegan and gluten free.
In my next life, I'd like to come back as this salad. I mean why be a dolphin or Oprah or Harry Styles when you could be THIS?
Kinda like my Mediterranean Chickpea Salad and Curried Chicken Salad, there's no cooking required so this lunch dream comes together in no time.
If you can use a can opener and chop a pepper, you can make this salad!
The low down on ingredients
- Chickpeas: Canned or cooked from dried, you do you! Just be sure to drain and rinse them since they're the star of the show.
- Cilantro: Fresh herbies for color and delish flavor.
- Green onions: I love the flavor of green onion but red onion would be a good stand-in if you have that on hand.
- Bell pepper: Delivering color, crunch and a pop of flavor. Any color works but I like red or orange here. You could also use carrot or celery.
- Raisins: I definitely don't love raisins, but they're SO good in this salad. Dried cherries or cranberries work great, too.
- Cashews: Mmmmm salty, buttery, crunchy cashews. I prefer them here but almonds or pepitas would do!
- Tahini: The makings a of a creamy sauce sans mayo. Woot woot!
- Maple syrup: Sweetness balances the acid in the dressing. You can sub honey or agave.
- Spices: Curry powder and turmeric make for a lusciously flavorful sauce that's healthy to boot.
Let's make it!
Can you tell that this is one of those posts where the recipe is so freaking tasty that the post could never in a million years do it justice? And it literally has two steps!
- Blend dressing ingredients in a blender.
- Chop veggies. Combine them with drained chickpeas, cilantro, cashews, and raisins.
- Add dressing. Toss to combine and dig in!
How to store
Dare I say this salad gets better with age? It'll last up to five days in an air tight container in the refrigerator.
You can prep it ahead by keeping the dressing separate and combining everything just before serving.
Serving ideas
By itself or in a wrap, this salad is enough on its own! That said, it's delish served alongside some other recipe faves like:
CURRIED CHICKPEAS FOR PRESIDENT.
Print
Vibrant 10-Minute Curried Chickpea Salad
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 0 min
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: 5 servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: No-Cook
- Cuisine: Indian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Amazing Curried Chickpea Salad with the best tahini dressing, packed with flavors and textures! Enjoy this for healthy lunches all week by itself or in a wrap. Vegan and gluten free.
Ingredients
For the dressing:
- 3 tbsp tahini
- 1 ½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 2 tbsp water
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp salt
- freshly ground black pepper
For the salad:
- 2 15oz cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup chopped green onions
- ½ bunch cilantro, chopped
- 1 bell pepper, chopped
- ½ cup raisins
- ⅓ cup cashews, chopped
Instructions
- Whisk together all dressing ingredients in a small bowl. I blended mine in my nutribullet.
- Place salad ingredients in a large bowl. Add dressing and toss to combine. Enjoy room temperature or chilled.
Susie says
I've been making this recipe a couple times a month for about a year so I figured I should leave a comment! I keep the dressing the same and always use chickpeas, but otherwise mix it up based on what I have on hand and it always turns out delicious. Thank you for sharing a recipe that became a staple for me!
Alexis Joseph, MS, RD says
Ahh yayyy!! Love hearing it’s a staple, thanks so much for letting me know Susie!
sam k says
Wow I haven't tried these recipes yet, but my mouth is watering already. They really look amazing and healthy.
BARBARA ROUMAYA says
Hello. I love the curried chickpea salad. Is this ok to freeze?
Thanks,
Barb
Alexis Joseph, MS, RD says
Hi there, I don’t recommend freezing this! So glad you love it, though.
BARBARA ROUMAYA says
Thanks so much.
Barb
Kristen Kemp says
I’m making this for the first time. I have the dressing made. What other vegetables will work in addition to the pepper? I’m thinking carrot and celery. Anything else?
Alexis Joseph, MS, RD says
Carrot and celery would be great!
Colleen says
My new favorite salad! OMG! Bursting with flavor 😋
Definitely my new go to.
Packed with protein & fiber
Alexis Joseph says
The best, right? Thanks Colleen!
Kristine says
So good! Added some shredded carrots and adjusted amounts of other veg to account for my husband’s liking. This was mainly for his lunches and I’ll put over a pile of greens and add in some other veggies too. As long as he likes, will definitely make again. Quick and easy to put together with stuff I nearly always have on hand. (I’m doing keto so this is off limits but a small taste was yummy!)
Alexis Joseph says
Oh I love that addition! Thanks so much for the review, Kristine!
Lori says
I’m doing a happy dance eating this!! Yummy!!! Next time I think I’ll add some minced jalapeño for a little heat, but great as is!
Alexis Joseph says
You made my day, thanks a ton Lori! That sounds like such a delish add in.
Jill Rabin says
This recipe is just AMAZING! I was looking for a good vegetarian lunch option and decided to give this a try. It was super easy to make and the combination of ingredients is SO good. I made the dressing in my Nutribullet and the flavor is superb! This will definitely be in my recipe rotation! Alexis is a master!
Alexis Joseph says
Thank you SO much, Jill! Yay!
Lindsay Remley says
This makes a delicious and simple lunch or side to a dinner. Our kids love it and it's packed full of nutrients. I will be adding this to my weekly meal prep for easy grab 'n go snacks, lunch or an addition to dinner.
Barb says
This recipe is addicting! A favorite. Family allergy to rasins dictated a switch to dried cranberries or cherries and they work well.
Sheridan says
This has become one of my favourite dishes ever! However I leave out the bell pepper (because I don’t like them) and substitute dried cranberries for the raisins (I also don’t like raisins). Yum!
Alexis says
Love that, thanks so much for sharing Sheridan! Love dried cranberries. I've done dried cherries, too!
Alexis says
Awww thanks, Rita!
Catherine says
THIS is going in my notebook! So good.....I imagine putting the sauce on EVERYTHING! Thank you 😊
Alexis says
I'm so glad you loved it, Catherine!!
Joyce says
Delicious! Definitely will make this again and again!
Alexis says
Wahooo! Thanks for the fab feedback, Joyce!
Jenny Coffey says
YUM! Super easy to make and full of flavor. I had dates instead of raisins and it was delicious.
Alexis says
Yayyy! Love dates here!!
Joshua S Rosen says
I love chickpeas and curry, and this is without doubt, the best chickpea salad I have ever had in my life! When I make it, it is very difficult to stop myself from eating it all.
I have shared this recipe and it's got a spot in my book of all-timers.
Alexis says
Awww thank you so much, Josh! You made my day 🙂
alyssa says
Oh my goodness! This is so stinking good it's not even funny. I have a feeling there's always going to be a container of this in my refrigerator. I left out the olive oil, otherwise made it according to the recipe. I can see this working with all types of beans, and I'm going to find out! Thank you.
Alexis Joseph says
Yayyy I love this one, too! Thanks Alyssa!
Bobbye says
So perfect on these warm summer days! I made it with garbanzos I’d cooked in the slow cooker. It was a hit at our house. Next time I’ll try adding carrots per the suggestion below.
Alexis Joseph says
I haven't made this in forever, thanks for reminding me I need to make it!
Julie says
I make this just about every week! Definitely one of my all time favorites.
Alexis Joseph says
Awesome, thanks a ton for the love, Julie! I truly appreciate you taking the tine to rate the recipe, too.