This Greek chickpea salad has chopped tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, red onion, feta cheese, and of course, chickpeas. There’s a simple olive oil and lemon dressing, and the whole salad takes less than 20 minutes to whip up.
I have a thing for Greek salads. As in, I’ve eaten seven of them in the past seven days. Most of them have been at restaurants, like I’m some kind of restaurant critic on a quest to find the best Greek salad in the city. Although that would be a fun job, I’m just a girl who really likes Greek salads, staying for the summer with my grandparents who happen to like going out to eat.
As delicious as some of those restaurant Greek salads have been, though, this homemade Greek chickpea salad may be even better because by making it myself, I can ensure that there’s a perfect topping : lettuce ratio. The toppings are the best part, so I definitely don’t skimp on those.
On the first day I made this Greek chickpea salad, I enjoyed it over mixed greens. The next day, I had it all by itself for lunch, no lettuce, with just some fruit on the side.
The most time consuming part of making the salad is chopping all of the veggies, but I turned on my favorite music while I chopped and time flew by. All in all, the whole salad came together in just under 20 minutes, and chopping took maybe 15 of those minutes.
I found that using half of a bell pepper and half of a red onion worked best, which leaves some leftover veggie halves. I try to always come up with a way to use leftover veggies as soon as possible since I don’t like wasting produce, so after I made the chickpea Greek salad, I sautéed the extra pepper and red onion to use in omelets. Another option would be to double this recipe to avoid the leftover veggie “problem.”
Anyway, this would be a great thing to pack for a vegetarian lunch, bring to a neighborhood cookout, or enjoy at home to get your Greek salad fix. You could add olives, roasted eggplant or brussels sprouts, change up the dressing, add other spices– the possible adaptations are endless!
If you try out the recipe, feel free to let me know in a comment or take a picture and tag me @livbane on Instagram. Hope you enjoy!
Chickpea Greek Salad
Ingredients
- 1 15 oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 large tomato, chopped
- 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
- 1/2 red OR yellow OR orange bell pepper, chopped
- 1 small cucumber, chopped
- 1/2 red onion, finely chopped
- optional: 1/3 cup chopped black olives
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon dried or 1 tablespoon fresh oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried or 1 tablespoon fresh parsley
- salt and lots of black pepper, to taste
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
- Combine chickpeas, chopped bell pepper, red onion, tomato, cucumber, optional olives, and garlic in a large bowl. Add olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, parsley, and salt and pepper, and stir well.
- If serving immediately, add feta cheese and stir very gently just before serving. If serving later, place salad in refrigerator for up to 4 hours and add feta cheese just before serving, stirring gently to combine.
Ellen @ My Uncommon Everyday says
Love the shot of all the chopped veggies! And toppings > lettuce. Haha I think I usually go for a 4:1 ratio, at least.
Liv says
The worst is when there aren’t many and after a few bites, you end up eating a big bowl of just lettuce!
Alyssa says
This looks so good Liv! So colorful too. I love chickpeas and feta on salads! So so good. 🙂 Have a great day girl!
Liv says
Thanks, Alyssa! The more colors, the better, right? Hope you have a great day, too!
Sarah says
I love chickpeas, and greek salads! Give me all the pepperoncinis lol
Beverley @ Born to Sweat says
Liv! These photos (heart eyes emoji)!
I am the same with Greek salad – i can’t get enough of it. I especially love the olives + feta cheese combo. But i love that you added chickpeas for some protein because that’s my single complaint about it. Pinning this!
Liv says
The chickpeas seem to go perfectly in Greek salad! Thanks for pinning, Beverley!
Kate says
Greek salads forevaaa! I love topping mine with tuna salad, but chick peas would be a fun way to switch it up!
Liv says
Tuna salad sounds like a great way to up the protein!
rachel @ Athletic Avocado says
this looks amazing! I love chickpeas and greek salad so i know i will LOVE this!
Liv says
A perfect match!
Colby @YouMakeYou says
Just stumbled upon your blog through Alison’s! Love it:) Chickpeas have been SO good lately, I’ll have to try this. So fresh for summer, too!
Liv says
Hey Colby! Nice to “meet” you. I’ll head over to check out your blog, too!
Diana @ Live Lean Eat Green says
I love greek salads! Extra olives and feta for me please 🙂
Elissa says
This is a great idea – combine tasty Greek salad with something more substantial like chickpeas. Will have to try it!
Liv says
Thanks, Elissa! Hope you get a chance to try it!
April says
Just found your recipes when I was searching for healthy baked apple recipe for my son. This salad looks really delicious. I’m a Greek food lover as well. I’m also super impressed that you cook all this delicious food in a dorm! Amazing. Keep up your amazing dedication to healthy food.
Liv says
Oh so glad you found my site! Thanks so much for your kind words and hope you get a chance to try my skillet “baked” apples. I’m at home for a few days during my spring break this week and my family requested a batch of those apples already!
Tiffany says
where’s the tomatoes and olives??