My “go-to” healthy lunch: Middle Eastern Salad Tacos with hummus (or baba ganoush or tahini sauce) a mound of lemony salad greens, topped with optional spiced chickpeas, fresh herbs and scallions. FAST, Vegan & oh sooooooooo Delicious!
Here’s a quick little meal that I often make when I want to eat a little lighter and perhaps help reverse the effects of the holidays. I’ve been eating versions of this since I was a kid! Middle Eastern Salad Tacos.
What are Salad Tacos?
We call them “salad tacos” because they really are mostly salad. Yes, I embellish them at times with spiced warm chickpeas and add hummus, tahini sauce or baba ganoush to make them more hearty. But truthfully, sometimes I just use the warm tortillas as a container for the salad, especially at lunchtime.
Growing up, I would wrap my mother’s amazing parsley-laden tabouli in warm tortillas with a little tahini sauce….so so good! If you’ve ever made the Israeli Salad here on my blog, this is another thing that ends up in a tortilla at lunchtime, with a little smear of hummus to hold it all together.
How to make the best Salad Tacos!
- Use warm, slightly toasty tortillas. I usually just place them in our toaster oven ( or grill them over our gas stove burner).
- The Salad must be really flavorful and juicy and lemony – with a good balance between the lemon and salt.
- Spread something creamy- like hummus, baba ganoush, labneh, tzatziki or a mashed avocado on the tortilla to hold it all together!
Fresh and clean food, full of flavor and leafy greens, Salad Tacos are one of my favorite meals!!!
You could easily make this for a group and leave everything separate for quests to assemble on their own. You could add roasted chicken breast or even my Chicken Shawarma for any meat-eaters.
If going light and lean, simple serve the salad in the warm tortillas.
To assemble, just spread the warm tortillas with your favorite hummus, white bean dip (or baba ganoush or lemony tahini sauce ) and top with the chickpeas. Then pile on the salad.
Sprinkle with fresh herbs and scallions and Dukkah if you like!
Hope you enjoy these light and healthy Middle Eastern Salad Tacos!
More tacos you may enjoy
- Rajas Tacos
- Cauliflower Tacos with Mole Sauce (Vegan!)
- Jackfruit Tacos (Vegan!)
- Chipotle Portobello Mushroom Tacos (Vegan!)
- Easy Baked Tacos
Middle Eastern Salad Tacos
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 5
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 3 1x
- Category: vegan, main, lunch
- Method: assembled
- Cuisine: middle eastern
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Middle Eastern Salad Tacos with spiced chickpeas, hummus and a mound of lemony salad, topped with fresh herbs and scallions. Vegan & sooooo Delicious!
Ingredients
Middle Eastern Spiced Chickpeas (optional)
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 can chick peas, rinsed and drained
- 1 teaspoon sumac ( optional – leave out or use za’atar- see notes )
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4–1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
½ cup Hummus – or Baba Ganoush (really delicious!) or Tahini Sauce ( not tahini paste)
6 x 6 inch tortillas, warmed or lightly toasted
Lemony Salad
- giant handful arugula ( or other greens)
- 1 tomato, diced
- 2 turkish cucumbers, diced
- 1–2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1–2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, more to taste
Optional Garnishes: 1-2 scallions, sliced, fresh herbs like cilantro, Italian parsley, mint or dill, or a combination, Dukkah, Zaatar, Tahini Sauce and Quick Pickled Onions
Instructions
Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add chickpeas and spices and salt. Warm through, stirring. During the last minute add the sesame seeds. Turn heat off.
Toss the salad ingredients together in a medium bowl. Lightly toast the tortillas until warm and pliable.
Assemble. Spread hummus or baba ganoush onto the warm tortilla. Top with warm chickpeas and a heaping mound of the salad. Sprinkle with herbs and scallions.
Be happy, your body will love you for this.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Two Tacos
- Calories: 405
- Sugar: 5.5 g
- Sodium: 539.9 mg
- Fat: 15.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 56.7 g
- Fiber: 11.9 g
- Protein: 13.6 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Applause! What a lovely meal. I made it with the Za’atar spice. Sometimes I get home from work late and don’t want to cook. This will definitely replace my excuse for greasy take-out. Hooray! Thank you, Sylvia.
OMG! This recipe is a WINNER!!! I made it pretty much following the recipe, right down to making the homemade Dukkah (which is a MUST!). My photo only shows one taco, but I can’t believe I ate THREE and my husband ate FOUR! So, even though the recipe makes three servings, be forewarned! I might not go as far as you think!
Super fast, super yummy, super satisfying!
So many options to try! My weekly menu is all planned out! Presentation is lovely
This recipe is so easy to make and extremely flavorful. I make this recipe several times a month and each time my family devours the meal and asks for more. One can never fail with Sylvia’s recipe. Thank you Sylvia!!
I love these tacos. They are fast, easy and delicious! They are great with hummus, but there’s a local Mediterranean deli with the best baba ganoush, that is so delicious with these.
Wow Sylvia this is a perfect lunch — so quick, easy, healthy! Can’t wait to try the next chickpea recipe!
I used spinach and doubled the recipe. This was so easy and tasted insanely good. I will be making this on the reg.
Made this last night and it was delicious! Super simple and quick, had everything we needed already. Excellent flavor, filling, and fun to add various toppings. I made a quick tahini yogurt sauce that was great on top. Have yet to be disappointed with one of your recipes! Thank you!
Awwww thanks!
We’ve made this twice and we both absolutely loved it. We didn’t have sumac (or lemon pepper substitute) or Zaatar so we added Zaatar substitute of thyme, oregano and marjoram and it was delicious. This will absolutely become one of our quick and delicious recipe staples. We’re even going to keep this one flagged for when we have non-vegans over for dinner. Thank you so much!
Thanks so much Cynthia!
I made these last night and they were SO good. I will have these ingredients on hand for a quick, but absolutely gourmet and satisfying meal any day of the week! These vegan recipes have elevated my cooking to a new level. So versatile too with all the options.
Perfect!Glad it worked for you! 🙌
The flavors in this meal were amazing! If you have the pickled onions made ahead and some homemade hummus prepared, this comes together in a snap! We had to order the za’atar from Amazon, but it was worth it. We also made a mixture of cilantro and mint to throw on as a topping and it was a great combination. Delicious dinner!!
Thanks so much and great to hear! 🙌
Made these last night and they were delicious! I always worry when making a vegetarian meal for my family because we’re all meat eaters, but I like to add some meatless meals into our rotation. These did not disappoint! I used tons of mint with parsley, cilantro and some arugula as well. I also made quick pickled onions to put on top. We all loved it and ate them for leftovers again today. Thank you!
Absolutely yummy, it was even a bit with my kids and my carnivorous husband…will make it again
Awesome! Great to hear!
It was a crowd pleaser! I made it tonight for the whole family, modified a little bit to fit our personal taste. I also used pita bread because that’s what we have on hand. Didn’t have time to make hummus so I made a quick guacamole as base and modified the chickpeas with Szechuan pepper powder and a touch of soy sauce. It was delicious and I believe the original recipe would be great too! Thank you for another awesome vegan recipe. Don’t miss meat at all!!
Made this last night and it was a HUGE success. My meat eating son raved about it and had 3 tacos. BIG HIT.
I meant to add that my only modification was that I served it on warmed Indian flatbread. Yummy!
Sounds delicious!
These are so easy and amazingly tasty!!! Love love love them!
So happy you like them!
Made these tonight for the first time but it will not be the last. These things are RIDICULOUSLY good. I doubled the recipe and did not use even half of the vinaigrette for the salad. It was delicious and lemony. I did make the pickled onions (added dill, garlic, bay leaves, and peppercorns) which are a MUST in my opinion. They are so great and take them to another level. I also used sweet chili hummus which added just a bit of heat and also is a must imo. Trying to find meals that are quick and delicious as I am a mom of 3…these fit the bill. Truly amazing meal. Thank you!
I’m so happy you liked them!
Healthy and deliciously flavorful — loved the addition of the arugula, tomatoes and cucumbers. Served with a lemon tahini sauce. Keeping this recipe handy as a great addition to a summer menu.
Hi, what kind of tortillas are you using? Thanks!
I normally use a corn and flour blend from Trader Joes, or fresh corn tortillas.
Oh my gosh, first words out of my mouth when I saw the photos, “these look AMAZING”! I can’t wait to try these! Pinning for later this week!
Made this for some vegan friends last night along with your refried beans and both were a big hit!
So very good, and quick to make.
Love your Middle Eastern Salad Tacos – they are such a unique twist on regular tacos! I wish I could reach through my computer screen and eat one right now! lol 🙂
This was amazing! Super easy to prepare too.
Will definitely make again.