This delicious Chickpea Egg Salad is made with a few simple ingredients and is ready in 10 minutes only! It's a healthy meal-prep recipe that can be served with bread, crackers, vegan tortillas, and more!
This plant-based version of the classic egg salad omits the hard-boiled eggs and uses mashed chickpeas instead.
Together with the crunchy veggies, they get coated in a vegan mayo dressing that is irresistible.
I love making this chickpea egg salad to bring to family dinners, picnics, or parties. It stores well in the fridge and tastes even better the next day!
This recipe was inspired and adapted from my vegan chicken salad recipe and my homemade potato salad. Check them out if you want!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Ready in 10 minutes! This is an easy recipe you can whip up even when you don't have a lot of time on your hands.
- Meal-prep friendly. A chickpea salad sandwich is great to take with you to work, pack for school, or eat on the go.
- Delicious and customizable. It's savory, creamy, refreshing, and seriously delicious. Also, you can use any of your favorite vegetables and spices.
- Naturally vegan, dairy-free, and gluten-free. Despite the mayo, this salad is made primarily from fiber-rich whole foods. If you're following a vegan diet, this is a tasty alternative to the classic egg salad.
Ingredients You'll Need
- Chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans): They'll be the main ingredient for our vegan egg salad. I like to use canned chickpeas to make this recipe faster, but you can also cook your own chickpea from scratch.
- Mayonnaise: You can use any mayo that you like here, I'm using store-bought vegan mayonnaise, but homemade vegan mayo or cashew-based mayonnaise will also work.
- Black salt: Also known as kala namak, this is what will give the salad an eggy flavor. You can find it in an Asian or Indian spice store, in your local health food store, or you can order it online from Amazon.
- Celery: Adds crunch and freshness.
- Red onion: Adds a spicy kick and a pop of flavor. Can be substituted with green onions.
- Lemon juice: It balances out the rest of the flavors by adding tanginess.
- Dijon mustard: I love the kick that Dijon mustard adds to this salad! But if you're not a fan you can omit it, or use yellow mustard instead, which is milder.
- Dill pickles + pickle juice: They add some acid, crunch, and freshness.
- Fresh dill: This is a classic ingredient used in egg salad and it takes it to the next level. Can be substituted with chives.
- Ground turmeric: It doesn't affect the taste but It gives this recipe a lovely yellow color.
- Black pepper: It helps you absorb the benefits of turmeric by 2000% more. And it's delicious, obviously.
See the recipe card below for exact measurements.
How to Make Chickpea Egg Salad
If you haven't already, drain and rinse a can of chickpeas.
Add the drained chickpeas to a food processor and pulse a few times to roughly chop. Make sure to not over blend, you want to have some texture.
Transfer the chickpeas to a large mixing bowl, and add the rest of the ingredients- diced celery and onion, mayo, pickles, chopped fresh dill, turmeric, black salt, lemon juice, and pickle juice.
Using a rubber spatula, or a spoon, give everything a good stir. Make sure the mayo coats the rest of the ingredients evenly and the turmeric dissolves.
For best results, refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.
However, if you don't have the time, it's also delicious served right away with bread, homemade vegan tortillas, pitas, etc.
Expert Tips
- Don't over-blend the chickpeas! You don't want to blend the chickpeas so much that they turn into a paste, like you do when you're making homemade hummus. You want to leave some texture! I've found that just a few pulses are enough to do the job.
- Finely dice the red onion and celery. This way you won't have big chunks of either, but instead, they'll be evenly spread in the mixture.
- Make a big batch! This chickpea egg salad tastes even better the next day when the flavors have developed and marinated. It's also great for meal prep and tastes delicious even after it has sat for a few days in the fridge.
- To make this recipe without a food processor, simply use a potato masher to mash the chickpeas.
- To prevent your sandwich from getting soggy when preparing it in advance, add 1-2 lettuce leaves to each piece of bread before adding the salad. This will keep the bread fresh for a longer.
FAQ
The secret ingredient is black salt, also known as Kala Namak. It's a rock salt that has a pinkish-grey color. It has an "eggy" flavor and aroma, with acidic and umami notes.
Yes, this recipe is great for meal prep, as it can be stored for up to 5 days in an airtight container in the fridge.
No, this salad is not freeze-friendly.
Substitutions
Here are some of the most common substations you can use when making this chickpea egg salad recipe.
- No mayo: You can use unsweetened vegan Greek-style yogurt and a few tablespoons of sesame tahini to mimic the texture of vegan mayo. You can also use cashew-based mayonnaise as a healthier alternative.
- No chickpeas: You can make this vegan egg salad without chickpeas by using the same amount of firm or medium-firm tofu.
- Black salt: If you can't find it, you can use regular salt or a splash of soy sauce instead. You can also mix in some dulce flakes to add more flavor. Keep in mind that those substitutions will change the taste of the final dish, as black salt is an important ingredient here.
Variations
- Herbed: Add a mix of different chopped fresh herbs such as parsley, cilantro, chives, and oregano.
- Curried: Add ½-1 teaspoon of curry powder or your favorite Indian spice blend.
- Avocado: Add ½ cup of cubed avocado or mash one whole avocado and mix it with the mayo. Keep in mind that when adding avocado, you'll need to add more lemon juice to prevent it from going brown.
- Potato: Add ½ - 1 cup of cubed boiled potatoes. You may need to add more mayo if the mixture looks dry.
- Green goddess: Blend the vegan mayo with ¼ cup fresh parsley, ¼ cup fresh cilantro, ¼ cup fresh dill, 1 garlic clove, and 1-2 tablespoon lemon juice.
- Spicy: Add 1-2 tablespoon of sriracha hot sauce to the salad, or a dash of cayenne pepper.
- Smoky: Add ½ teaspoon of smoked paprika, alongside cooked vegan bacon bits.
- Sun-dried tomatoes: Mix in ¼ - ⅓ cup of chopped sun-dried tomatoes in oil.
- Olives or capers: Mix in ¼ cup of chopped green or black olives, or 2-3 tablespoon of capers.
Serving Suggestions
I love to serve this chickpea egg salad between two pieces of whole-grain bread as a vegan egg salad sandwich.
If I have some extra time, I like to toast the bread in a skillet with some extra virgin olive oil on both sides.
You can also serve it in lettuce leaves and make lettuce wraps with it. Or, you can enjoy it as a salad on a bed of lettuce with some chopped vegetables.
If you want to serve it as a side dish, you can serve it next to smoky tofu steaks, vegan air fryer burgers, homemade cajun fries, or our crispy cauliflower wings.
Storage
Store the salad in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days. Spread onto bread right before serving to avoid the bread getting soggy.
This chickpea egg salad recipe is not freezer friendly.
Similar Recipes
If try this Chickpea Egg Salad, please leave a star rating and a comment down below! ⭐ This helps other readers know more about the recipe, and I appreciate the feedback.
📖 Recipe
Best Chickpea "Egg" Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup chickpeas drained and rinsed (1 15-oz can)
- 3 tablespoon red onion, diced* (~½ of a small red onion)
- ¼ cup celery, diced** (~1 medium celery stalk)
- 3 tablespoon pickles, diced (~2 small pickles)
- ⅓ cup vegan mayo
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon pickle juice
- 3 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
- ¼ teaspoon ground black salt (Kala Namak) or more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
- Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Add the drained chickpeas to a food processor and pulse a few times to roughly chop. Make sure to not over blend, you want to have some texture.1 ½ cup chickpeas
- Transfer the chickpeas to a large mixing bowl, alongside the rest of the ingredients- diced celery and onion, mayo, pickles, chopped fresh dill, turmeric, black salt, lemon juice, and pickle juice.3 tablespoon red onion, diced*, ¼ cup celery, diced**, 3 tablespoon pickles, diced, ⅓ cup vegan mayo, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 tablespoon pickle juice, 3 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped, ¼ teaspoon ground black salt, ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric, Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
- Using a rubber spatula, or a spoon, give everything a good stir. Make sure the mayo coats the rest of the ingredients evenly and the turmeric dissolves.
- For best results, refrigerate for 2 hours before serving. However, if you don't have the time, it's also delicious served right away with bread, homemade vegan tortillas, pitas, etc.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated with third-party calculations without including the optional ingredients.
Food Safety
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with a high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
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