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This Mediterranean chickpea salad has all the flavors of a classic Greek salad plus hearty chickpeas and fresh herbs. It makes a wonderful light meal or side dish!
Big fan of these flavors? You’ll also enjoy making my Mediterranean Orzo Salad or Easy Greek Pasta Salad next.
Why you’ll love it
I can’t resist a salad that’s super simple yet has layers of flavor. Greek salad is delicious on its own, but adding in chickpeas makes it a protein-packed filling meal! This is also a convenient make-ahead salad. It’s great for summer gatherings, meal prep, or work lunches.
Greek salad tastes so good given how ridiculously basic the dressing is. It has a quick vinaigrette that’s made with only a handful of ingredients. The crisp and crunchy fresh veggies and pop of flavor from the herbs make this easy Mediterranean salad special!
What you’ll need
For the salad
- Chickpeas – aka garbanzo beans, they’re a convenient and inexpensive source of protein
- Cucumbers – we’re using mini cucumbers (also known as Persian). I like them because they’re a little less watery than English cucumbers.
- Onion – red onion is the ideal variety for eating raw in salads since it’s less sharp than others
- Oregano and parsley – our fresh herbs to make this salad shine
- Red bell peppers and tomatoes – key components to any Greek salad. Get what looks freshest at the grocery store or farmers’ market.
- Olives – the traditional choice for Greek salad is Kalamata olives for that delicious briny quality
- Feta – I prefer the cubed kind marinated in herbs and oil for that signature salty, savory taste
For the dressing
- Olive oil – for the base of the dressing
- Lemon juice – always use freshly squeezed and never from concentrate
- Garlic – if you’re a garlic lover, use even more!
- Salt & pepper – be generous to bring out the flavors
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- I like to mince garlic with this garlic press. You don’t even need to peel the cloves first!
- This is the glass prep bowl set I use for salads.
- These scissor salad tongs make serving it up easy.
- This fresh herb keeper will keep the rest of your parsley fresh for longer.
How to make Mediterranean chickpea salad
This is an overview, and full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Open the can of chickpeas and drain and rinse them. Add them to a large bowl.
- Wash, chop, and prep the vegetables and herbs, adding them to the bowl as you go along with the feta and olives.
- Add the vinaigrette ingredients right into the salad bowl, and toss.
Substitutions and variations
- As with any salad, you can adjust to your preferences if you’re not a fan of something, but this is a pretty standard set of ingredients for Greek salad.
- I like feta that’s packed in oil and herbs, but if you’re unable to find that, any feta will do just fine.
- Fresh tomatoes are best for their bright flavor, but if they’re out of season, try using sun-dried tomatoes instead.
- Try your best to find Kalamata olives, but black olives will do in a pinch.
What to serve with Greek salad
- It’s a fantastic light lunch for a hot day without having to turn on the stove. I like to pair it with a slice of fresh baguette or other crusty bread.
- You can also try it with other Greek favorites like Saganaki (Greek Fried Cheese) and some classic dips like Creamy Tzatziki and Greek Roasted Eggplant Dip (Melitzanosalata) and pita bread.
- It makes a great side dish for just about any summer grilling main like my Easy Ground Turkey Burgers Recipe.
Leftovers and storage
- This Mediterranean salad will keep well in the fridge in an airtight container for 4-5 days. It’s great for meal prep for this reason!
- If the salad has been sitting out in the sun for a long time, though, you may want to discard the rest for food safety reasons.
Will you make this easy Greek chickpea salad? Please leave me star rating and review below if you made it! As always, tag me #saltandlavender on Instagram with your creations.
Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
Ingredients
- 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas rinsed and drained
- 2 mini cucumbers chopped
- 1 tablespoon red onion chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
- 1/2 red bell pepper chopped
- 1 cup little tomatoes (grape, cherry, etc.) cut into halves
- 1/2 cup Kalamata olives
- 3.5 ounces feta (packed in oil & herbs if possible)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic minced
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Drain & rinse your chickpeas and add them to a salad bowl.
- Prep your veggies and herbs, and add them to the salad bowl as you go along.
- Add the dressing ingredients (olive oil, lemon juice, garlic) right into the salad bowl and toss gently. Taste and adjust as needed (e.g. add more olive oil), and season with salt & pepper.
Notes
- If you can’t find cubed feta that’s packed in oil and herbs, any feta will work fine. Also, don’t worry about it being exactly 3.5 ounces… that was the size package mine happened to come in.
- This salad is very flexible… add more or less of any ingredient depending on your preferences and what’s in your fridge.
- Serves 2-4 depending on what else it’s served with.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This is such a delicious looking salad. I love chickpeas and this is a beautiful way to use it in a salad.
Absolutely stunning!!!! Definitely saving to try this weekend!😃
Thank you, Ashika!! Hope you love it.
Hahaha! I’ve finally found someone else who struggles with the word Mediterranean (←←thanks autocorrect), I’ve usually got it copied so I can paste it into my post whenever I need it. The same goes for Moroccan (is it one R and two C’s , or vice versa?). Gorgeous looking salad!
Hahahaha thanks, James. Sounds like this isn’t just my issue. 😜😜
Mediterranean always stumps me too. For some reason I always want to add two ds, then I can’t figure out why there’s a squiggly red line under it. It looks right to me, spell check! But oh, this salad! Chickpeas are one of my staples and I loooove the whole Greek flavor profile. I’m sooo making this soon! Happy Friday-eve, Natasha!
Haha I’m glad that I’m not the only one. Thank you, and I hope you have a great weekend! 😘
Lol! I swear we are sisters from another mister, because OMG, I can totally relate to some words just stumping me. It’s like, I know how to spell them, but sometimes my brain just doesn’t want to work. 😉 OR, have you ever written a word so many times that it just starts to look wrong? Anyways, I am LOOOOVING this salad! Chickpeas are LIFE and I’m all for Greek (or Mediterranean) anything, so this salad is screaming my name! I could definitely eat this on repeat! Cheers, dear!
YES… I totally do that… then you’re like is this even a word?? Hahaha thanks… yes I’m all for Greek/Med. as well.
Ahhh I saw this on your insta yesterday and just had to come see the rest of the photos on your site. Gorgeous!!!
Aww thanks, Jessie!!
How pretty is this! So full of different colours and flavours, I’ll definitely be trying this.
Hope you love it!!
This looks so colorful and delicious! Going to test it on my kids 🙂 They love olives
That’s great! So did I as a kid. Hope they enjoy it!
Mmmm…I love me a good Mediterranean salad! And bonus- no cooking in the summer! Love it!
Thanks so much, Melissa!!
That looks amazing!! Could I serve this on a bed of romaine?
Thanks, Kim! I don’t see why not. 🙂
Our annual picnic. I trust you’ll be making this for me?
Hmmmmmm…