Balela Salad is a delicious Middle Eastern chickpea salad with finely chopped veggies, fresh herbs, lemon & olive oil.  

This Middle Eastern Chickpea Salad called Balela Salad, is vegan and healthy! Made w/ finely chopped veggies, fresh herbs, lemon & olive oil. Serve it in a pita with tahini sauce or over greens. | www.feastingathome.com #chickpeasalad #veganchickpeasalad #balela #balelasalad

This hearty refreshing Chickpea Salad, called Balela (bah-lay-la) hails from the Middle East and is bursting with zesty flavor. Balela in Arabic means  “cooked chickpeas”. Serve it over a bed of lightly dressed greens or spoon it into whole wheat pita bread or a tortilla with creamy tahini sauce for a delicious, portable lunch. Add feta cheese if you like, or keep it light, lean and vegan.
What I love about Balala is that it can be made ahead and perfect for midweek lunches, picnics or gatherings.

A simple & delicious recipe for a Balela Salad Wrap, made w/ finely chopped vegetables, chickpeas, fresh herbs, lemon & olive oil. Serve in a tortilla with tahini sauce or over greens. | www.feastingathome.com

How to make Balela

You’ll need 3 cups of cooked chickpeas- so either soak and cook or use two cans

Balela-100

Chop fresh bell pepper, cucumber and tomatoes.

Mint, parsley and scallions give it a burst of flavor.

A simple & delicious recipe for Balela Salad, made w/ finely chopped vegetables, chickpeas, fresh herbs, lemon & olive oil. Serve in a pita with tahini sauce or over greens. | www.feastingathome.com

I really load it up with herbs- not only flavorful but full of nutrients.

A simple & delicious recipe for Balela Salad, made w/ finely chopped vegetables, chickpeas, fresh herbs, lemon & olive oil. Serve in a pita with tahini sauce or over greens. | www.feastingathome.com

Place everything in a bowl, then drizzle with oil, lemon, salt and pepper and toss. Sumac is optional but elevates here.

A simple & delicious recipe for Balela Salad, made w/ finely chopped vegetables, chickpeas, fresh herbs, lemon & olive oil. Serve in a pita with tahini sauce or over greens. | www.feastingathome.com

Ways to Serve Balela Salad

  • As a side or salad to your middle eastern feast.
  • In a tortilla wrap or pita with tahini sauce, or tzatziki
  • Over a bed of dressed greens as a light healthy meal!

A simple & delicious recipe for Balela Salad, made w/ finely chopped vegetables, chickpeas, fresh herbs, lemon & olive oil. Serve in a pita with tahini sauce or over greens. | www.feastingathome.com

Optional Balela Additions!

  • Avocado
  • Olives
  • Feta

A simple & delicious recipe for Balela Salad, made w/ finely chopped vegetables, chickpeas, fresh herbs, lemon & olive oil. Serve in a pita with tahini sauce or over greens. | www.feastingathome.com

What does Balela Salad Taste like?

Balela tastes fresh and crunchy, and bright and flavorful from loads of mint and parsley and a zesty lemony dressing.

A simple & delicious recipe for Balela Salad, made w/ finely chopped vegetables, chickpeas, fresh herbs, lemon & olive oil. Serve in a pita with tahini sauce or over greens. | www.feastingathome.com

Simple to make, Balela keeps for 4 days in the fridge  becomes our “go-to” healthy lunch during busy work weeks.

We hope you love this salad as much as we have. It is easy to adapt to your preferences and can be repurposed in different ways during the workweek!

More recipes you may like:

Lebanese Slaw (Salatet Malfouf)

Lentil Tabouli Salad

Lemony Chickpea Quinoa Salad

Quinoa Asparagus Salad (aka Spring Tabouli)

Our 25 Best Chickpea Recipes!

Print
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This Middle Eastern Chickpea Salad called Balela Salad, is vegan and healthy! Made w/ finely chopped veggies, fresh herbs, lemon & olive oil. Serve it in a pita with tahini sauce or over greens. | www.feastingathome.com #chickpeasalad #veganchickpeasalad #balela #balelasalad

Balela Salad

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.9 from 16 reviews

Description

This Middle Eastern Chickpea Salad called Balela Salad, is vegan and healthy! Made w/ finely chopped veggies, fresh herbs, lemon & olive oil. Serve it in a pita with tahini sauce or over greens.


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 3 cups cooked garbanzo beans- ( 2 cans, drained and rinsed)
  • 1 red bell pepper-diced
  • 1 yellow bell pepper-diced
  • 1 cup chopped vine ripened tomatoes
  • 1 cup chopped cucumber
  • 5 scallions, sliced on the diagonal
  • 1/2 cup to 1 cup fresh mint- chopped
  • 1/2 cup to 1 cup Italian parsley – chopped
  • 1 garlic clove finely minced
  • 1 teaspoon salt and pepper, plus more to taste
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • zest of one lemon
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon sumac ( optional)
  • 1/41/2 teaspoon cayenne or aleppo chili flakes

Instructions

  1. Place all ingredients in a big bowl.
  2. Toss well and taste, adjusting salt, lemon, and spice level.
  3. Serve with salad greens or pita and tahini sauce,

Notes

Optional sides –toasted pita bread, or tortilla wraps, baba ganoush, tahini sauce for drizzling, hummus, crumbled feta or a big bed a of greens.

Keeps up to 4 days in the fridge!


Nutrition

  • Calories: 256

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Comments

  1. This is unbelievably delicious! It’s a great option for helping regulate my blood sugar during the day, especially when my appetite is nil. Love it best with a sprouted grain pita pocket or sprouted wheat crackers. Feta sounds like a great addition and I’ll be trying that next time. This version is my favorite, thank you for sharing!






  2. This is quite tasty! I can’t eat peppers so I just added more cucumber, I think radishes would be a nice crunchy addition, too!

  3. I had no mint or sumac so I omitted those. Also reduced the olive oil as I don’t like it too oily. It was a hit with my dinner guests! Will definitely make it again.






  4. Love how fresh the salad was I added a little more mint but very very good and made a wrap with tahini sauce excellent thank you






  5. Had to omit the tomatoes, and cut the olive oil by half. This was easy to make, delicious, and perfect with toasted naan. I’m going to serve this when friends come over! Also would be great for work lunches.






  6. I really enjoyed this, but 1/2 cup olive oil was way over the top. I suspect 1/4 cup might even be excessive, so next time I’ll start with 1/8. Also added a healthy splash of aged balsamic vinegar for the win.






  7. Great recipe! Substituted a few bits for young children to eat, no onion or pepper, used paprika spice instead of cayenne. Added a piece of chicken and it made a great dinner! Or enjoyed alone for a good lunch/snack.






  8. Love this balala salad! Served with chicken shawarma as a side. Delicious, and so fresh. Also Sylvia, you can style a bowl of soup like nobody’s business! Made your Thai broccoli soup the other day, it’s my favorite.

  9. I’m currently eating a bowl of this as I type this – 10/10 this recipe is SO GOOD! And I have to admit, I normally eat pretty unhealthily but I’m trying to change that, and this salad was calling my name so I made and DANGGGGGG, I made it with onion powder and garlic powder instead of fresh garlic and onion, and I added a lot of coriander, and accidentally too much red pepper flakes haha and drizzled it with tahini and BOY OH BOY is it good!






  10. I made this a couple of weeks ago for a potluck and I can’t stop thinking about it. I’m making it again on Friday. This may have to be a weekly thing.






  11. This was my dinner tonight, along with some homemade baked pita chips. It was delicious, and I am looking forward to leftovers tomorrow. Thanks so much!






  12. This looks delicious! Do you have a favorite brand of tahini paste? I’d like to try and make my own tahini sauce.

    Thanks!

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