5-minute smashed chickpea salad sandwich with grapes, walnuts, and fresh dill. A delicious and easy vegetarian lunch that everyone in the family will love.
Hi, Rhubarbarians! Ready for a quick and easy meal that your whole family will gobble up?
This sandwich is on regular rotation in our house these days. It's really speedy to make and is always a hit, especially on busy weeknights. Smashed chickpeas, crunchy veggies, sweet grapes, and nutty walnuts. YUM!
A meatless chicken salad sandwich
This smashed chickpea salad sandwich is our vegetarian spin on the chicken salad sandwich. But you know... meatless!
It's got all the flavors and ingredients that make chicken salad a fave, but the chicken is replaced with perfectly smashed chickpeas. You'll be surprised how much you don't miss the meat!
Chickpeas are incredibly versatile and really take on the flavors of the ingredients you mix them with. So, for this one we've added lots of fresh dill, celery, carrot, and just a bit of mayo to make it taste super classic.
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Getting the "smashed" chickpea texture right
For the perfect chickpea salad sandwich, you want a rough mash of the chickpeas. You want them to be mashed enough to stick together, but roughly mashed enough so that you still have some texture.
Using a fork or potato masher, mash the chickpeas in a medium or large bowl, stirring while you mash. First, the skins will come off and then the mash will start to cling together. When this happens, you are almost there!
At this point, mash until some of the chickpeas are completely mashed, some are rough mashed, and some are left basically whole. Perfect!
Vegetarian sandwiches you will love!
- Healthy apricot chickpea salad sandwiches
- Vegetarian sandwiches with lentils and herbed ricotta
- Buffalo chickpea salad sandwich
Making the perfect smashed chickpea salad
Once you have the texture of the smashed chickpea right, add your mayo, celery, grapes, carrot, walnuts, and dill. Mix together until well combined, but don't overdo it or you will mash the chickpeas too much.
Season generously to taste with salt and pepper. Don't be shy, this mixture can take a lot of s&p!
When seasoned to your liking, adjust it even further to make it the BEST. Want more mayo? Add some! More grapes? More walnuts? Go for it! YOU DO YOU!
Have you tried this 15-minute lemon chickpea arugula salad yet?
Can I make this without mayo?
Absolutely! Try using plain greek yogurt, mashed avocado, or even hummus!
Can I make this vegan?
Totally! There are many wonderful store-bought vegan mayos on the market right now. Our favorite is JUST Mayo.
But if you don't want to go that route you can use mashed avocado, hummus, or even plant based yogurt.
Recipe
Chickpea salad sandwich with grapes and walnuts
Ingredients
- 1 14.5 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup diced celery (about 1 rib)
- ¼ cup quartered grapes
- ¼ cup diced carrot (about half of a small carrot)
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
- salt and pepper
- 6 slices bread of your choice
- lettuce and other sandwich toppings of your choice (optional)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, smash the chickpea with a fork or potato masher until they start to stick together, but are not fully mashed. See notes above to get the right texture.
- Add the next 6 ingredients, through dill, to the bowl and stir to combine.
- Season generously with salt and pepper to taste.
- Divide mixture evenly on top of 3 bread slices. Top those with lettuce or your favorite sandwich toppings and then top with remaining 3 bread slices.
Nutrition
If you make this recipe, please let us know on social media or in the comments below! Leave a star rating in your comment or tag us on Instagram with #Rhubarbarians.
Thank you so much for reading and supporting Rhubarbarians. If you’re looking for a group of people cooking vegetarian recipes through the seasons, join us on Facebook in our vegetarian and vegan recipes group!
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Jill
This recipe made me so happy!
Trish Bozeman
Yay!
Kim
I was skeptical but I LOVE this! I added a little lime juice and am enjoying it with crackers.
This will be on my regular rotation!
Vonnie
We love this recipe. I always make a double batch so we can have it for lunches all week.
Beth W
Yum. Love the celery, carrots, and grapes. Added small amount of Dijon mustard to the Just Mayo, had sliced almonds and sunflower seeds instead of walnuts, Herbs de Provence instead of dill. Delicious with lavash crackers.
Trish Bozeman
YUM!
Carmy
I love this! I love the grapes in the sandwich - such fun little burst of flavours when you bite into it. I always have chickpeas on hand so I'll have to make this soon.
Lisa | Garlic & Zest
My mouth is watering over this sandwich! It looks so hearty and flavorful. I can see how the chickpeas would mimic the mouth feel of chicken and be just as satisfying. I'm not even a vegetarian, but this is definitely a sandwich I would want for a week's worth of lunches. Frankly, after the indulgence of last week, this is EXACTLY what I need. Thanks so much for sharing.
Gloria
This sounds like a hearty, healthy and delicious sandwich option. Lots of crunch and texture...and the protein from the chickpeas. It would make a great salad too...just add some greens and dig in.
Ellyn Nguyen
Delicious! My meat-eating husband was "not in the mood" for a chick pea salad sandwich, but he ended up eating two whole sandwiches! I added some red onion out of habit, but I might do without next time- I'm not sure it was necessary.
Trish Bozeman
I'm so glad he liked them so much! We tried red onion too and it's a great option. 🙂