Crispy Chickpea Chopped Salad

The best vegan chopped salad

This crispy chickpea chop salad is tasty and full of texture and nutrition. It has chopped veggies, crispy Middle Eastern spiced chickpeas and a creamy lemon tahini dressing. The cumin and coriander flavors blend so well with the nutty and lemony tahini dressing. Bitter and hardy escarole, sweet roasted peppers, fresh parsley and zippy red onions give this chopped salad so many layers of flavor. Thats why this is the best chopped salad recipe. This article contains Amazon affiliate links which give me commission for the endorsement, thanks for supporting my work.

Ingredients for this chopped salad

This crispy chickpeas chopped salad recipe has three easy parts. First for the crispy baked chickpeas, you need:

• canned chickpeas
• extra virgin olive oil
• cumin
• coriander
• garlic powder
• smoked paprika
• salt

Next, for the chopped salad you need:

• escarole (or any hardy lettuce)
• roasted orange bell pepper
• green cabbage
• red cabbage
• parsley
• red onion

Last, for the creamy lemon tahini dressing you will need:

• sesame tahini (I recommend Mighty Sesame brand Tahini)
• water
• lemon
• garlic powder
• salt
• maple syrup

How to make crispy chickpea chop salad

This salad recipe is super easy to make. Although there are 3 parts, it is a breeze to throw together.

• First, make the crispy chickpeas by tossing with the olive oil, cumin, coriander, garlic powder and salt. Place them on a sheet pan in a single layer, along with the bell pepper cut in quarters. Bake them at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Set aside to cool.
• Second, chop the vegetables uniformly for the salad and put them into a large bowl. Once the roasted bell peppers are cool, chop and add to the salad bowl.
• Third, make the dressing by combining tahini, water, lemon, garlic powder, salt and maple syrup and mixing until smooth and creamy
• Last, toss the salad with half of the dressing. Top with the crispy chickpeas and the remaining creamy lemon tahini dressing. For a deeper dive into the dressing see this post.

Tips for making the best chopped salad

• Make sure to toss the salad as close to serving as possible. Since escarole is a hardy lettuce, you can get away with eating this salad on day two. However, once you get to day three, the quality of the salad will have deteriorated. If you want to make this salad for food prep, I recommend subbing in kale for the escarole. Kale will easily stand up to the test of time and retain quality for 3 days.
• Since these chickpeas are baked, they are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. On day two after preparation and refrigeration, they will not be as crispy as on day one. If you prefer to buy prepared crispy chickpeas they will stay crispy since most of them are fried.
• The tahini matters! Many tahini brands separate in the jar, leaving a hard and cakey bit in the bottom that is really hard to use. You must use a pourable and drippy tahini rather than one that resembles dry peanut butter. That is why I recommend using Mighty Sesame Brand Tahini in my recipes. Their tahini tastes great and works in all recipes that call for runny tahini.

Other Middle Eastern and Mediterranean recipes

If you like this delicious crispy chickpea chopped salad recipe, I recommend trying these others.

• Creamy Lemon Tahini Dressing
• Rainbow Vegan Chop Salad
• Winter Kale and Farro Salad