This light and lemony Chickpea Quinoa Salad is bursting with Middle Eastern flavors (preserved lemons + sumac!) and trust me when I say, you’ll want to serve this up all summer long. Healthy, vegan and super flavorful, this salad satisfies!
Meet your new favorite salad! Not only will love how easy Chickpea Quinoa Salad is, I know you will fall in love with the flavors. Chickpeas and quinoa are tossed with cucumber, tomatoes, kalamatas, red onion, fresh dill and parsley and tossed in a very flavorful Preserved Lemon Dressing. Tart sumac (optional) gives it a sassy little punch.
The best thing is, you probably have everything on hand to make this right now – and please don’t worry if you don’t have preserved lemons (take a peek at the recipe notes) but they do truly elevate here.
Preserved lemons, if unfamiliar, are a flavorful Middle Eastern condiment, and in a nutshell, are lemons preserved in salt.
Here they are chopped finely and added to the dressing.
Book mark this Preserved Lemon Dressing- it’s super tasty!
Cook the quinoa while you prep all the veggies.
Here I’ve used canned chickpeas but feel free to cook from scratch- you’ll need 1 1/2 cups cooked.
Then just assemble the salad.
Give a toss with the Preserved Lemon Dressing and taste, adding more salt and lemon, to your liking.
If making this salad ahead, make sure to re-taste for salt and lemon before serving.
Pair this with other Middle Eastern Dishes:
OK. Hope you are hanging in.
xoxo
Sylvia
Lemony Chickpea Quinoa Salad
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6
- Category: salad, vegan salad
- Method: tossed
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Lemony Chickpea Quinoa Salad with cucumber, tomato, kalamata olives dill, parsley and Preserved Lemon Dressing. A healthy vegan salad with Middle Eastern flavors that can be made ahead!
Ingredients
Preserved Lemon Dressing
- 1/4 cup preserved lemons, finely chopped (or see notes)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon sumac (optional)
Chickpea Quinoa Salad
- 3/4 cup quinoa (dry, uncooked)
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained ( 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas)
- 1/2 cup red onion, finely chopped (see notes)
- 1 English cucumber, diced (2 cups)
- 1 bell pepper (yellow is nice) diced
- 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved ( or chopped radish)
- 1/4 cup kalamata olives, chopped or halved
- 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 1/4 cup dill, chopped (or sub mint, or use both!)
- Other optional additions: avocado, feta, radishes
Instructions
Place quinoa, water and pinch of salt in a medium pot, bring to a boil, cover, simmer on low 12-15 minutes until all the water is gone. Uncover, fluff, cool slightly.
Make the dressing, by mixing all in a bowl.
Prep all the veggies. If sensitive to onions, dice, then soak in cold salted water while you chop the rest.
Place the chickpeas, onions, cucumber, bell pepper, tomatoes, olives, dill and parsley to a large bowl. Add the quinoa and dressing and give a good toss.
Taste, adjust salt and lemon to your liking. If making ahead, taste once more right before serving as the quinoa and chickpeas have a tendency to soak up the salt and lemon, so you might want to add a little more.
Notes
If no access to preserved lemons, substitute zest from one whole lemon plus 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add more lemon juice to taste.
Salad will keep 3-4 days in the fridge.
Keywords: chickpea salad, middle eastern salad, chickpea quinoa salad, vegan chickpea salad, preserved lemon dressing, vegan salad recipe, preserved lemon recipes
The flavors, textures and colours in this salad are incredible – thank you!
★★★★★
I am always looking for new recipes. You would think that at 70, I would have enough recipes. Nope. I am trying to get away from the heavy meat and potato meals I grew up with. My taste buds crave adventure, and my body cannot handle dairy. Hubby is now pre-diabetic, and we are changing our lifestyle away from the heavy meat-laden meals of our youth.
I found your Lemony Chickpea Quinoa Salad and it really sounded good. I made it for the two of us, and no surprise, it was delicious! One recipe fed us for three meals since that was all we had, a complete meal.
Daughter’s family came down for dinner yesterday. She brought her high-school sons and three college students along and I made this dish. At first, they looked at it like, “What is quinoa?” “I’m not crazy about chickpeas.” One grandson knew about quinoa and explained. Two of the “sons” are international students, one from Afghanistan and one from China. They looked a bit askance at the salad to begin with, afterall, there was no lamb and no rice, but they knew to trust me when it comes to food because I cook with them when it is their turn to make dinner.
Despite the initial concern, when they had some, the five boys and Dad, they all had multiple helpings!!! I had tripled the recipe since there would be nine of us, assuming that they would like it; there was at least an entire recipe’s worth left because we had other things for dinner, too. Did I get any leftovers? No, they took it all home with them. Daughter tried it and enjoyed the first few bites, but then stopped- because she does not like parsley. So, she will make it at home – minus the parsley. (I even forgot the cucumbers!)
This recipe is now a family favorite! Thank you!
★★★★★
Thanks so much Sue, really appreciate you sharing!!!
Loved it! i am also loving the preserved lemons…so yummy.
★★★★★
I just discovered your site a few days ago, and and was enticed to try this recipe first. I omitted sumac and olives, as I didn’t have either on hand. The dressing was so delicious, and made good use of the preserved lemons that had been lurking about the back of the fridge just waiting for inspiration to strike. I served along simple pan fried halibut. Absolutely delicious and loved by the whole family. There are so many more amazing looking recipes to try, I just might have to give up my day job and cook fulltime! Thank you Sylvia!
My husband loves this salad! He even offered to dice the vegetables if I make this again. We just finished up the last of It a couple minutes ago.
haha, love it!
We are on a feasting at home frenzy here! Last night Summer Tomato Risotto which was completely delicious with not a grain of risotto rice left and tonight this beauty! Added a few extra bits that I had left in the fridge such as roasted aubergine and courgette and finished it with toasted almonds and pomegranates. I knew there was a reason why I didn’t chuck that ancient jar of sumac away!
The thing I love about your recipes is that they are so versatile and ever adapting.
Love them! Jane
thanks Jane!
I love this salad. Made more than I could eat in a few days, so added a bit of leftover grilled chicken and feta, then stuffed peppers. Was great even after being cooked. Made a great dinner with a green salad. Thank you!
DEEEEAAAAADDDDDLLLLLYYYYYYYY
OMIGAHMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOM ^o^ SOOOOO SO SOOO SO GOOD!!!!!!!!
This was meant to be, I randomly found some ground Sumac in bulk jars and was like… oooo… this is pretty, lol. (Great benefits too!!) Of course, I figured I had enough hummus, so did NOT get chickpeas, (the one time I dont have a back-up can either, right?!) BUT may add them after a store run tomorrow…tonight I tossed in some walnuts! VERY good also! (almonds would be great too, so I might just opt out of the Chicapeas all together).
Although. I never know what to replace yellow (or any bell pepper) with tho, as my tummy has never appreciated them. 🙁
For the rainbow effect, I grated/shredded some carrots and tossed in some broccoli (as I had plenty of both). But I would love anyone’s ‘bell pepper replacement’ ideas for next time–this has been a reoccurring thing all my life, and I dunno if Ive every actually asked… so….
anybody? anybody?
★★★★★
What about yellow tomatoes?
This salad is so delicious and refreshing. I added a bed of greens and sprouted mung beans. Truly felt nourished. Thank you for all your beautiful recipes. 90% of my cooking is inspired by your recipes.
★★★★★
Thanks so much Maria- you are so kind!
Our second Feasting at Home salad this week! Besides tasting really wonderful, it looked so healthy and inviting, too. Looking forward to making it again. I didn’t have preserved lemons on hand, so used the zest, salt and extra lemon juice, which worked well for us. Thank you for another great recipe!
★★★★★
Awesome- glad you liked it! 🙌
Hi Sylvia,
I made preserved lemons so that I can made this salad for the upcoming weekend! The preserved lemons were a bit salty (obviously). But for use in this recipe, do I need to rinse before chopping & including in the dish?
Hopefully you can respond soon!
Do not rinse, add all the juices too.
This salad is so fresh and the different textures really make it delicious. My whole family (including 3 teenage boys) loves it.
★★★★★
This was so delicious! I made it with lemon zest/salt and substituted cilantro for parsley. It’s going to be a staple for me in the hot summer months for sure!
★★★★★
Thanks so much and so happy you liked it! 👏
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. It was easy to modify to address FODMAP and low sodium diet restrictions while still maintaining the wonderful flavor (red onion and garlic used to infuse flavor but did not chop into salad; less salt and no olives. ) making it again soon. Keeps well in the fridge; great light lunch while working from home.
★★★★★
Glad it worked for you Yolanda!
Absolutely delicious… and beautiful colors! My husband was pleasantly surprised that he was full and satiated with a vegetarian meal… he loved it!
★★★★★
Mine too. Glad he liked it!!!
Wow what a fantastic recipe. So easy to make and tastes really fresh and lively. Summer on a plate!
★★★★★
Thanks Wendy! Glad you enjoyed it!
This is beautiful! I love that gorgeous white salad bowl, too. Where did you find it?
Just at a local store here in Santa Barbara.
And I was just lamenting what to do with all of the overflowing dill from my garden. Your recipe is the perfect solution! Tasty and timely! Made it with the zest option and it’s a treat.
How long will this keep in the fridge?
3-4 days~!
Just made it! So flavorful.
★★★★★