Chickpea Salad Sandwiches

Makes enough for 4 sandwiches
Total time: 10 minutes || Active time: 10 minutes

_{Photo by Timothy Pakron}

This chickpea salad sandwich is the easiest lunch you’ll ever make. Basically, it’s chickpea tuna. Mash up some chickpeas with mayo and a few other ingredients and you’ve got yourself a vegan tuna salad situation that tastes like childhood but better. If you know, you know. And most people know. This type of recipe has been around forever and vegans have been making it since the beginning of time, or at least since the beginning of canned chickpeas. But if you don’t know…welcome! You’re going to be making this every week for the rest of your life.

Mashed chickpeas, vegan mayo, carrot, celery, and onion flakes. Ten minutes, no cooking, no drama. You probably have everything you need in your pantry right now. If onion flakes have a purpose on this earth, it is for this recipe.

The chickpeas get mashed until chunky and textured, not pureed. You want some whole ones in there, that texture is the whole point. The carrot adds freshness and crunch, the celery adds even more crunch, and the mayo holds it all together. The onion flakes add that childhood mystique. Toast the bread or don’t. Slice it in half, triangles or rectangles. Those are the most difficult decisions you will have to make. This is the simplest version of this salad and it is exactly right. Make a double or triple batch, you might need it.

“Um, Isa?”

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WHAT ELSE IN THE WORLD CAN I DO WITH CHICKPEA SALAD?

Once you’ve made a batch or three, you’ve got options. Bread situations, fork situations, standing-in-the-kitchen-at-10pm situations. It plays well with crunch, acidity, and anything that can hold a generous scoop. Here are some ways to keep things interesting.

Pita with napa cabbage — sounds simple. is simple. stuff it into a pita with shredded napa cabbage, lemon, and a little olive oil. Fresh, crunchy, tastes like it came from a healthfood store in 1993. I love it.

Loaded sandwich — avocado, sprouts, cucumber, olives or pickles of all shapes and sizes (or both). Make it a whole thing.

Chickpea BLT — add Super Easy Tempeh Bacon, tomato, mayo, and romaine. Done. This works in salad form as well.

It’s a wrap — shove it in a wrap instead and then grill the wrap. Heavenly!

Chickpea tuna melt — open-faced on whole wheat with vegan cheese, broiled until melty. An inevitable conclusion. You can also use a homemade cheese sauce.

Garlic bread toast pile it onto squishy garlicky toasted bread, drizzle with truffle oil, and feel fancy.

Nori roll — roll it up with cucumber and avocado for a little sushi-adjacent moment. Surprisingly perfect.

On a big salad — one huge scoop right in the middle. That’s your protein. Especially good on a Kale Caesar or any simple romaine situation with Ranch Dressing. Soooo good with ranch dressing.

Stuffed tomato or avocado — hollow out a tomato or halve an avocado and pile it in. Retro and correct. The ranch dressing is good here, too.

Girl dinner — chickpea salad with crackers, hummus (double chickpea, very committed), grapes, fruit, carrots, celery. A full situation. You deserve it.

Picnic sandwich — pack it into a sturdy baguette that can handle things. Wrap it up, let it soak in a little. So nice while sitting in a park on a picnic blanket, both you and the sandwich a little warm from the sun.

VEGAN CHICKPEA SALAD SANDWICH FAQ

Chickpea Salad Sandwiches

Isa Chandra

Like a vegan tuna salad! The easiest vegan lunch ever: mashed chickpeas with mayo, carrots, celery, and onion flakes. Ready in 10 minutes, no cooking required.

5 from 4 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 10 minutes mins

Course Salad, Sandwiches

Cuisine American

Servings 4 sandwiches

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (a 15 oz can rinsed and drained)
• 1/4 cup vegan mayo homemade or storebought
• 1 medium carrot peeled and very finely chopped (almost minced)
• 1 stalk celery finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons onion flakes
• Salt and pepper to taste

For the sammiches:

• Sliced tomatoes
• Romaine lettuce
• Whole wheat bread
• Extra mayo for a’spreadin

Instructions

 

• In a mixing bowl, use an avocado masher or a strong fork to mash the chickpeas well. They should retain some of their texture and not appear pureed. A few whole ones left are ok.
• Mix in the mayo and give a few more mashes. Mix in the carrot, celery and onion flakes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Assemble into sandwiches, toasted or not, and serve sliced in half.

Keyword vegan tuna salad, chickpea tuna salad, vegan chickpea sandwich, easy vegan lunch, mashed chickpea sandwich, chickpea salad recipe, vegan tuna salad sandwich

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