This light, 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! Video!
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.
Lemony Chickpea Quinoa Salad | 60-second video
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
Looks delicious. I will try it soon.
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Omg, this salad is so delicious! The combination of flavours is dynamic! So good!
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Thanks Wendy!
I will make this as often as possible. It is soo delicious! Fresh summer vegetables. Preserved lemons are my new favorite ingredient. I have shared this recipe with all of my friends.
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Appreciate this!
The preserved lemon and sumac really make the flavor POP! So worth the effort to use these ingredients.
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Just made this, so healthy and delicious, perfect thing to pack for a work lunch!
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I made this today and it was delicious. Because of food allergies, I had to make two versions and leave some of the ingredients out in one version, but both were delicious. We used quinoa, bulgar and black rice mixed as the grains. We’ll definitely make it again.
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Perfect Michelle- thanks so much!
This hit all,the right spots for my family. I’m a vegetarian and so is one of my granddaughters. My son loves preserved lemons, the wife of one of my grandsons loves quinoa. Plus we all love chickpeas. I had a very happy family. It was delicious!
We tried this with tri-color quinoa last week and loved it! So fresh and lemony, and avocado and feta seal the deal. Thanks for another healthy delicious salad!
I’m not a huge fan of quinoa but I plan to try this recipe because everything else looks so darn tasty!
It was a hit even for my picky carnivorous family. Will put in the rotation this summer!
Fantastic salad!!! I put a little extra fresh dill in as I love dill. It is a meal in itself!!!
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Great to hear Sharon!
This is a must try. Just started experimenting with preserved Lemons too. I love these clean and flavorful recipes.
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Thanks so much Terry!
Love this. Best dressing!!
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Quinoa is one of my favorites and I love your recipes. Can’t wait to try this one!
Did a cauliflower rice version that was FABU!!!!
Modified slightly as my stomach cant handle raw garlic or onions:
Diced and carmelized half red onion (added a bit of sugar). Once golden and lovely, added salt and garlic. Cooked Well. Added a bag of frozen cauliflower rice and cooked (adding chicken broth as needed). Let cool slightly.
Dressing: Did not have preserved lemons. Halved recipe used lemon juice and zest (a bit more lemon juice than advised). Thinned slightly with a bit of water. Was plenty of dressing.
Salad – as written. TONS of herbs:Dill, Mint and Parsley and a touch of sea salt to finish.
Cant wait to make again !! Thinking pine nuts or pistachios might be a nice garnish. Really love this recipe !!
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Thanks Donna! Loved that you used cauliflower rice- great idea!
Fabulous. Bursting with flavor, quick and easy to make, healthy, and will last a few days in the fridge…this one is going into regular rotation this summer!
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I keep coming back to your website for inspiration. Post lockdown making this and Thai noodle salad for our outdoor lunch. Thanks for sharing healthy flavourful recipes.
Amazing, fresh and delicious
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it’s SO delicious omg, thanks a lot for such an easy and quick cooking idea, we all loved the fresh taste of the salad
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I have made several recipes for this site I cook alot and have to say, I know a good cook when I try her recipes and they are fantastic. I am so impressed by all the recipes I have done on this site. The chef is truly amazing
thanks so much Wendy.
This recipe has become a staple in our repertoire! It is delicious and can be consumed over several days. The preserved lemon dressing is diving! Thank you for helping to convert the COVID-era vegan curious!
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Simple and wonderful!
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I love this combination of preserved lemons, feta cheese, olives, quinoa, chickpeas, and crispy vegetables. Perfect, delicious, thank you! This will be a standard for us.
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I made this for a group of burly, meat eating geologist working 14 hr. days in the field as a way to get some veggies and protien into their diet. It was the only salad that they cleared the enitre bowl of everytime. It’s delicious and never got old over a 3 month span. Thanks for sharing and I am so glad I found this post.
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This looks so good – a while ago I bought a jar of preserved lemons on sale but have never quite known what to do with them – looking forward to trying them out in this recipe. Of all the food blogs I’ve ever signed up to, yours is the one that most matches my taste – love your recipes!
Made the yellow curry powder. The aroma is sensational
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This is a great recipe. I added a little bit of shredded chicken to it. Delicious!
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I made this refreshing, healthy, salad today and enjoyed it with my husband on this sunny San Diego afternoon. I’m always looking for recipes with preserved lemon to use up my stock of it. Everything I’ve tried so far from your recipes, Sylvia, has been delicious. Thank you!
Love this salad! Also love that you include recipes to pair it with.
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Can’t go wrong with this combination. Especially love having another good recipe for my preserved lemons.
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