So bright and FLAVORFUL. That’s exactly how I like my salads. To say this is an easy salad recipe is an understatement. And I promise you, this cucumber chickpea salad delivers on all counts. The taste is phenomenal! Loaded with lots of ingredients but also something with such minimal prep time that I can toss this together in the middle of my workday. It starts with a couple of cans of garbanzo beans that we’ll drain and rinse. This salad is big on fiber, which means that it’ll keep you going all day. I love a colorful power salad like that. Toss together with crumbled feta cheese, minced red onions, Persian cucumbers, parsley, dill, fresh mint, and arugula. You can omit the arugula if you want, but I love serving this on a bed of peppery greens to add even more flavor. As written, my cucumber chickpea salad is gluten-free! You could also make this vegan – just use vegan-friendly feta cheese and swap the honey for maple syrup. If you’re someone that strives to get in more protein at every meal, a simple shredded rotisserie chicken will bump up the protein macros without packing on too many additional calories.
Ingredients for Cucumber Chickpea Salad
Chickpeas: Also called garbanzo beans. You’ll need a couple of 15-ounce cans for this recipe. Be sure to drain and rinse the cans before adding them to a large bowl.Feta Cheese: crumbled feta cheese adds a salty element to the salad. Goat cheese will work as a decent replacement if you aren’t a fan of feta. But keep in mind that goat cheese has less sodium than feta, so you’ll need a bit more salt to make up for it.Red Onions: I like to finely mince my red onions so that they add only a bit of flavor to each bite. You can also soak the red onions in a bowl of water before adding them to the salad to make them less harsh. I typically just pop it all in and let the lemon juice in the dressing mellow them out!Cucumbers: I like using Persian cucumbers anytime cucumbers are used! You can also use an English cucumber or other varieties – whatever you like will work here!Fresh Herbs: I’m using fresh dill, chopped mint, parsley, and fresh oregano – all of which I grew in my garden. I’m still in shock that I haven’t killed my herbs yet!Additional add-ins: I like to use a couple of handfuls of arugula to add a delicious peppery element to the salad. You could play around with kalamata olives, avocados, grape tomatoes, or even red bell peppers for variations on this salad. Feel free to add what you like!Olive Oil: We’ll use this as the fat in the dressing. I prefer to use extra virgin olive oil of good quality for salad dressing but use whatever you have on hand.Fresh Lemon Juice: Fresh lemon juice is the acid portion of our salad dressing.Honey: Balances the tartness of the lemon juice just a tad bit.Kosher Salt + Black Pepper: These are kind of givens!
How to Make My Chickpea Feta Cucumber Salad:
Serving suggestions with this chickpea salad:
Grilled Greek ChickenGarlic Butter Baked Salmon in Foil1-Hour Whole Roasted ChickenGreek Keftedes (Meatballs)Chicken Souvlaki Skewers
You might also like these other chickpea salad recipes:
Chickpea Quinoa Power SaladExtra Smooth Hummus RecipeThe Best Homemade FalafelChana Masala Rice BowlsCouscous Chickpea Salad with Fresh Herbs
You could also make this vegan – just use vegan-friendly feta cheese and swap the honey for maple syrup.
