These Mediterranean Chickpea Bowls are loaded with crispy roasted chickpeas, quinoa, fresh veggies, and a creamy tahini sauce. A vibrant, high-protein vegan meal that’s perfect for lunch, dinner, or meal prep.
If you’ve been around here for a while, you know we’re big fans of nourishing, build-your-own bowls. They’re like your own little “farmacy”—fresh, balanced, and nutrient-dense. Perfect for meal prep, easy to customize for any diet, and easily doable, even on busy days.
Why You’ll Love This Chickpea Bowl
Mediterranean Chickpea Bowls are a vibrant, nutrient-packed meal that’s bursting with color, flavor, and texture. With protein-rich chickpeas and quinoa, crisp cucumbers, juicy tomatoes, and a drizzle of creamy tahini dressing, this plant-based bowl is perfect for a healthy lunch, dinner, or easy meal prep.
Crispy roasted chickpeas add a savory, addictive crunch, providing both protein and fiber while balancing out the fresh veggies. Ideal for days when you crave something light yet satisfying. Scroll down for more variations!
Crispy Chickpea Bowl Ingredients
- Chickpeas: Roasted and made crispy in the oven. Or use canned, drained chickpeas for a quick version.
- Quinoa: Use cooked quinoa as the base for the bowl, or substitute your favorite type of grain.
- Veggies: Add cucumbers, grape or cherry tomatoes, sweet bell peppers, and red onions to the bowl for fresh flavor and crunchy texture.
- Olives: Castelvetrano olives or kalamata olives are delicious, tangy additions to the bowl.
- Tahini sauce: Made with tahini paste, lemon juice, olive oil (optional), garlic cloves, kosher salt, and black pepper.
- Fresh herbs: A mix of freshly chopped herbs is nice. Use any combination of basil, dill, parsley, oregano, or even fresh cilantro.
- Garnish: Sprinkle the bowl with toasted sesame seeds and micro greens.
Variations
- Tahini sauce: Give the tahini sauce a boost of flavor with 1-2 teaspoons of za’atar or 1/2 a teaspoon each of cumin and coriander.
- Try another sauce: Substitute the tahini sauce with tzatziki, green tahini sauce, tahini yogurt sauce, or zhoug sauce.
- Chickpeas: Instead of crispy chickpeas, top the bowl with Harissa Chickpeas.
- Veggies: Swap the fresh veggies for grilled vegetables in basil vinaigrette.
- Grains: Quinoa makes a great base for this bowl, but use any grain, like farro, jasmine rice, Middle Eastern Rice or couscous.
- Add feta! We love sheep’s milk feta cheese.
How to Make Chickpea Bowls
1. Prep the roasted chickpeas. Drain and rinse the chickpeas, then spread them out onto a towel-lined tray. Gently rub them dry and remove any peels. If you have the time, peel all the chickpeas—they will crisp up more!
2. Preheat the oven. Set the oven to 350F. Spread the chickpeas out on a baking sheet and place in the oven while it preheats. This step dries them out for the crispiest texture. When the oven achieves 350F, remove the tray and drizzle the chickpeas with olive oil. Place back in the preheated oven.
3. Roast the chickpeas. Roast the chickpeas for 45 minutes, rotating and stirring halfway through. The chickpeas will be dry, crispy, and lightly toasted when done. If not, turn the oven off and leave the tray in until done. Keep in mind, they’ll crisp up a little more as they cool.
4. Season the chickpeas. Toss the chickpeas with salt and pepper while they are still warm.
5. Make the tahini sauce. Whisk together tahini paste, water, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper.
6. Assemble. Divide quinoa among bowls and top with cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, and olives. Sprinkle with fresh herbs and drizzle generously with tahini sauce. Serve with lemon wedges.
Chef’s Tips
- Dry chickpeas thoroughly. Removing moisture from the chickpeas before roasting is the secret to getting them crispy. Let air dry a few minutes after towel-drying.
- Customize your veggies. This bowl is a great clean-out-the-fridge meal. Add grilled zucchini, roasted eggplant, roasted cauliflower, roasted Brussels sprouts, steamed broccoli, or whatever fresh veggies you have on hand.
- Make extra tahini sauce. It keeps well and is delicious drizzled over roasted vegetables, Buddha bowls, or even sandwiches or wraps, like our Halloumi Wrap.
- Season chickpeas immediately. Toss the chickpeas with salt and pepper right after baking, while they are still warm.
Storage
- Chickpeas: Once the chickpeas are cool, store them on the counter at room temperature, uncovered, for a day. If there are any left after this, seal in an airtight container. The chickpeas are at their best when freshly baked. They’ll crisp up again when reheated. To reheat, cook in the air fryer at 300F for 4 minutes or in the oven at 325F for 4-6 minutes.
- Bowls: Store the assembled bowls (without tahini sauce or crispy chickpeas) in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Great for meal prep!
- Tahini sauce: The sauce can be stored separately in a jar for up to 5 days. Thin with a splash of water or lemon juice before serving.
Serving Suggestions
- Add protein: Top the bowls with grilled tofu, falafel, hard-boiled eggs, rotisserie chicken, or grilled chicken for a heartier option.
- Serve mezze-style: Present the components on a platter with pita, hummus, or baba ganoush for a build-your-own bowl or wrap experience.
Enjoy this fresh and happy bowl- please leave a rating and a comment below- always appreciated! 💛 Tonia
More Favorite Chickpea Recipes
Mediterranean Chickpea Bowl
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 bowls
- Category: vegetarian, bowl, dinner idea
- Method: various
- Cuisine: mediterranean
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These Mediterranean Chickpea Bowls are loaded with crispy roasted chickpeas, quinoa, fresh veggies, and a creamy tahini sauce. A vibrant, high-protein vegan meal that’s perfect for lunch, dinner, or meal prep.
Ingredients
Optional Crispy Roasted Chickpeas (or skip baking and use 2 cups regular cooked chickpeas)
- 3 cups chickpeas (2 x 15-ounce cans, drained)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- sprinkle of salt
*See notes for more spice options
Tahini Sauce (or use tzatiki, tahini yogurt sauce, zhoug sauce)
- 1/2 cup tahini paste (make sure it is stirred)
- 1/4 –1/3 cup water, more to desired consistency
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice (more to taste)
- 1–2 tablespoons olive oil (optional, feel free to leave it out if you prefer oil-free)
- 2 fresh garlic cloves (finely minced – grate it or use a garlic press)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Optional: add 1-2 teaspoons of Zaatar or 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin and coriander)
Bowl Ingredients
- 4 cups cooked quinoa
- 1 cup cucumber, slice into bite sized pieces
- 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, sliced
- 1 cup sweet bell peppers, chopped
- 1/2 cup red onions, thinly sliced (see notes)
- 1/2 cup castelvetrano olives or kalamata olives
- 1/2 cup fresh herbs, chopped (a mix is nice-basil, dill, parsley, oregano)
- Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and micro greens, if desired
Instructions
Crispy roasted chickpeas (optional, see notes):
- Drain and rinse chickpeas. Spread the chickpeas out on a towel-lined baking sheet, gently rub them to dry, and remove any peels. You can opt to peel all the chickpeas; they do tend to crisp up more, or leave them on. Remove towel and place the baking tray in the oven while it preheats, set oven to 350°F. This will dry them out helping them to crisp up fully. Once the oven heats up to temperature, about 20 minutes, remove tray from oven and drizzle chickpeas with olive oil and put tray back in the oven.
- Roast the chickpeas for 45 minutes, rotating and stirring half way through baking. They should be dry, crispy, and lightly toasted. If not quite done, turn oven off and leave tray in until done. They crisp more while they cool.
- Toss with seasonings while still warm. Store on the counter at room temperature, uncovered, for a day. If there are any left after this, seal in an airtight container. They are at their finest when freshly baked.
Tahini Sauce: Whisk together tahini paste, water, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Adjust to taste, adding more water, lemon, or salt.
Assemble Chickpea Bowls: Divide quinoa and chickpeas among the bowls, and arrange cucumbers, tomatoes, bell pepper, onions, and olives. Sprinkle with fresh herbs and generously drizzle with tahini sauce.
Notes
Chickpeas: short on time? Skip the baking- just drain and rinse, and serve cold (or warmed up).
Reheat Chickpeas: They will crisp up a bit when reheated. Airfryer: 300°F for 4 minutes. Oven: 325°F 4-6 minutes.
More Chickpea Spice options: Herbs de Provence, Ras el Hanout, Zaatar Spice Recipe, Homemade Yellow Curry Powder, Shawarma spice, Berbere Spice, Homemade Taco Seasoning
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bowl
- Calories: 464
- Sugar: 5.6 g
- Sodium: 796.9 mg
- Fat: 12.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 72.4 g
- Fiber: 15.4 g
- Protein: 18.4 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
FAQs
Chickpeas and garbanzo beans are the same thing, so the terms can be used interchangeably.
Yes, canned chickpeas work for this recipe as long as they are drained and dried thoroughly. We prefer to cook from dried for the best texture, but canned chickpeas work in a pinch!
If you’d like to dress up the chickpeas with more seasonings, cumin, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and red pepper flakes are all great options. Or use Mediterranean spice blends like za’atar.
