Rule #57: Work smarter, not harder.
This Mediterranean Chickpea Salad is the stuff of your lunch dreams! It’s easy to whip together, healthy, low carb, can be made ahead of time, and it’s DELICIOUS! Just make a batch at the beginning of the week, and you’ve got an easy, healthy lunch ready when your tummy is yelling, “Feed me, brah!”
I found that mixing the veggies, chickpeas, and dressing together ahead of time is great; however, I’d suggest waiting to add the olives and Feta cheese until it’s time to chow down. The cheese and olives can look a little funky otherwise. Our Mediterranean Chickpea Salad doesn’t need that vibe.
Salad Assembly
First things first: chop all yer veggies. You want small, less-than-bite-sized bits for each veggie. This salad isn’t a strict recipe, y’all. If you don’t like cucumbers, leave them out. You wanna add some squash? Get on it! The world is your oyster. Or salad. Whatever.
Salad Dressing: Tzatziki Sauce
Next, let’s make some good ole Tzatziki dressing for our chickpea salad. Grab ya some Greek yogurt, olive oil, the zest and juice of 1 lemon, garlic, dried dill, salt, and peppah.
Whisk it all together so it’s nice and purty.
If you don’t have a good juicer for your little lemons (or other citrus), might I suggest this handy feller? You can swap out the inserts for limes or lemons.
It keeps your little hands a bit cleaner and keeps those pesky seeds from falling into the dressing!
If you don’t have a microplane grater in your kitchen (for zesting as well as many other things), you gotta getchya one. I like this simple one from Amazon (comes in tons of colors). I use it for zesting citrus, grating garlic, and sharpening my nails (okay, kidding).
There’s nothing like the good ole smell of zested lemon!
I like to place all of the chopped veggies and chickpeas in a large tupperware container. Then I pour Tzatziki dressing over top.
Then, throw the lid on and get your bicep workout for the day by shakin’ it up until it’s mixed in really well.
At this point, you’ll want to let the flavors blend for about an hour in the fridge (or up to 3 days).
Serving Your Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
When you’re ready to chow down, throw on some chopped Kalamata olives and some crumbled Feta cheese – as much or as little as you’d like! I find that the olives and cheese get a little funky if you throw it all together ahead of time. You can even store the chopped olives in an airtight container in the fridge so all you need to do sprinkle them on when you’re ready to eat.
There’s nothing like an easy, healthy lunch recipe to make your day and your body a little better!
Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 seedless cucumber chopped
- 1 yellow bell pepper chopped
- A handful of cherry tomatoes chopped
- ¼ medium red onion diced
- 1 15 oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Tzatziki Dressing
- 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 3 tbs. olive oil
- Zest and juice of 1 large lemon
- 2-3 garlic cloves minced or pressed
- 1/8 tsp. dried dill
- ¼ tsp. Kosher salt
- ¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
To Serve
- Pitted kalamata olives chopped
- Feta cheese crumbled
Instructions
- Place all salad ingredients (veggies and chickpeas) in a large bowl or Ziploc container. Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a separate bowl, then pour over the salad. Toss to combine. Let the flavors blend for at least an hour and up to 3 days before serving.
- When you’re ready to serve, add in the olives and Feta cheese (as much or as little as you’d like).
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only and should be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary, and Pineapple House Rules makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information.
I love how versatile this recipe is! I usually just chop up a big bowl full of whatever veggies I have in the fridge and mix with the (super yummy) dressing. It’s even great on a bed of lettuce, with some grilled chicken added on top to make it a bit heartier.