Best Chickpea Avocado Salad
Chickpea Avocado Salad is by far my favorite vegan sandwich of all time. Something about the flavors of lime, avocado, and cilantro just thrill my taste buds.
The fact that it takes less than 10 minutes and only requires a bowl and fork to prepare doesn’t hurt either. If you’re a big avocado fan, try this Easy Avocado Toast recipe as well!
Another delicious vegan salad recipe is Easy Chickpea Tuna Salad which is great on sandwiches as well.
This chickpea salad spread is…
- Easy to make
- Amazingly delicious
- Vegan
- Oil-free
- Gluten-free
- Perfect for picnics
- Full of protein
- Versatile with serving options
- The best sandwich ever!
How to make chickpea avocado salad
The recipe card at the bottom of the page has the full list of ingredients with measurements and instructions.
In a medium-sized bowl, use a fork or potato masher and smash the chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans) and avocado together. Check out these tips for how to tell if your avocado is ripe and ready to use.
Slice the avocado in half, remove the pit, and scoop out with a spoon. A large tablespoon works well for scooping.
Add the avocado to the bowl and mash in with the chickpeas using the potato masher.
Chop up the cilantro and green onion. Add them plus the lime juice to the bowl with chickpeas and avocado mixture. Season with salt and pepper to suit your taste preference.
Spread the garbanzo bean salad on bread and top with your favorite sandwich toppings.
I like to add fresh spinach leaves. Or you can stuff the spread into endive or another lettuce leaf and serve for a beautiful and delicious chickpea salad appetizer!
Homemade vegan mayonnaise is also a great addition. It requires only 5 ingredients and a blender to make, and it keeps in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.
Watch the cooking demonstration at the bottom of the recipe to see how easy preparing this recipe can be!
*Originally published April 2015.
This recipe has many variations from some terrific chefs. The first time I ever saw it was from cookbook author, Collen Patrick-Goudreau.
Tips for serving chickpea salad
- Serving- There are so many options for serving this spread–vegan sandwiches, wraps, or even lettuce wraps. We sometimes stuff endive or other large lettuce leaves with this spread and serve as an appetizer. It’s a great option for those avoiding bread and gluten products.
- Dip- This salad also makes a great dip. Serve with cut-up veggies, crackers, or pita chips.
- Pack and go- Perfect for picnics! Simply pack in a cooler with other great picnic foods like hummus and veggies.
How to store chickpea salad
If you want to make this ahead of time and have it still keep its pretty green color, there’s a trick for that. I have had a lot of luck keeping it from turning too dark by placing the avocado pit in an airtight bowl with the spread and storing it in the refrigerator. It will keep longer that way.
Other great picnic recipes
- Smoked Tempeh Sandwich (TLT) / Tempeh, Lettuce, Tomato
- Ultimate Vegan Grilled Cheese
- Veggies in a Blanket
- No-Egg Salad
- Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
- Cucumber Sandwiches
For those of you new to the whole food plant-based lifestyle, we’ve created a FREE 7-Day Plant-Based Menu Planner to help you get started!
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If you try this recipe, please let us know how you like it by rating it and leaving a comment. We love to hear from you!
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Best Chickpea Salad Sandwich
Ingredients
- 15 oz can chickpeas drained and rinsed (1.5 cups cooked)
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped
- 2 green onions chopped
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, using a fork or potato masher, smash the chickpeas
- Slice the avocado in half, remove the pit, and scoop out with a spoon. Check out these tips for how to tell if your avocado is ripe and ready to use.
- Add avocado to the bowl and mash in with the chickpeas.
- Chop up the cilantro, and green onion. Add them plus the lime juice to the bowl with the chickpeas and avocado mixture.
- Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Spread chickpea avocado salad on bread and top with your favorite sandwich toppings. My homemade Vegan Mayonnaise goes perfectly with this.
- I like to add fresh spinach leaves. Or you can stuff the spread into an endive or other lettuce leaf and serve for a beautiful and delicious appetizer!
- Note: This salad also makes a great dip. Serve with cut-up veggies, crackers, or pita chips. Best eaten the day it is made because it will turn brown due to the avocado.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Disclaimer
To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.
About Terri Edwards
Hi guys! I am the content creator behind EatPlant-Based and a licensed Food for Life instructor with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. I am passionate about sharing healthy recipes and tips to empower others to get healthy. I’m so glad you’re here! Read More…
Do you have fat free, oil free, Whole wheat flour Pizza dough recipe?
Hi Mark,
I don’t have a recipe, but did ask around and found one for you. Hope this helps! http://potatostrong.com/pizza-dough-using-bread-dough/
I made this the other day, but put it inside a tortilla with some spinach. Hubby and I loved it! Thank you!
Putting it in a tortilla with spinach sounds like a terrific idea! May try that myself! So glad you and your hubby enjoyed, and thanks for the positive feed back. 🙂
Everything tastes good on a tortilla! Great idea!
Hi Terri – sound uber yummy. Going to try that this weekend! But, I have a question. I’m not very good with herbs and spices (knowing what to do), and I need to substitute out for the cilantro. I’m one of those people with the weird system where cilantro tastes like soap, so I don’t use it. What might you suggest as a substitute? Thanks!
Hi Laura–I would think fresh mint could be a good substitute. I love the flavor of mint and think it might be a good compliment, in place of the cilantro. I’d love to hear how it turns out. Good luck!
Hi- are there any substitutes for the avocado? I dont like them and was wondering if you ever mash anything else in with the chickpeas as an alternative?
Thanks
SJ
Sarah, though I haven’t tried it myself, others have used green peas as a substitute for avocado. Definitely worth a try, and please let me know how it turns out for you.
I made this and added some mild banana pepper rings to my sandwich. So good!
My husband and I just tried this sandwich spread. It is delicious! Thank you so much for sharing this. I think the mashed peas idea is a wonderful one as well, especially for those of us trying to lose a little weight. I’m going to try that next. 🙂
That’s wonderful to hear! So glad you and your husband like it. I would love to know how you like green pea version too. 🙂
Just made this and put it inside of spelt tortillas. Super yummy! Thanks!!
I am one of those who is not a cilantro fan. I sometimes season a chickpea/avocado blend with either a dash of curry powder or a bit of cumin & chili powder. Both versions are very tasty!
You can add fresh basil and Dijon mustard to this recipe.
Those sound like great additions to me!
Made this with some substitutes. Didn’t have an avocado so I used Wholly Guacamole from Costco: https://www.eatwholly.com/products/ and added one finely chopped de-seeded jalapeno pepper. Didn’t have green onion so I added some finely chopped red onion. No cilantro so I used some coriander. And, I added a touch of garlic powder. VERY tasty, enjoyed with some whole grain tortilla chips and fresh organic salsa. Thanks for a great recipe.
My ten year old daughter and I just had this and found it delicious! I would make it with flat leaf parsley for someone who doesn’t like fresh coriander/cilantro.
Parsley in substitution for cilantro is an excellent suggestion. So glad that you and your daughter loved this!
This is one of my favorite go-to recipes!!!
Looked beautiful with toasted bread on a platter at a get-together with friends for game night (everyone wanted to try them) and NO ONE was disappointed!!! ? DELICIOUS!!!!
So good! I substituted red for green onion, some dried cilantro instead of fresh, dash of garlic powder. Plan to try with peas next time. Thank you!
Wonderful! Thanks so much for letting us know how you liked it!
Additional dijon mustard will give this that certain bit of extra yumm