These creamy chickpea salad sandwiches are a quick and easy vegetarian lunch option that’s endlessly adaptable!

Don’t you just love it when the simplest recipes end up creating the most delicious meals?! That’s definitely the case with these creamy chickpea salad sandwiches – they couldn’t be easier to make, but this simple lunch definitely end up being greater than the sum of its parts.

Vegetarian sandwiches

I sometimes get in a bit of a rut when it comes to vegetarian sandwiches. There are often the same few options available in the shops, which are usually the same kinds of things I default to making at home – cheese, cheese and tomato, cheese and onion, maybe egg mayonnaise if you’re lucky…

Don’t get me wrong, I love cheese (evidently), but it’s always nice to discover a new lunch option for those days when you just don’t fancy eating the same old sandwich again.

These creamy chickpea salad sandwiches are perfect!

Creamy chickpea salad

This chickpea salad sandwich filling is so easy to make, and you can adapt it however you see fit to create your own personalised sandwich. My version has four main ingredients:

chickpeas (obviously!) – I use tinned ones for a quick and easy lunch

finely chopped red onion

finely chopped green pepper

mayonnaise (or vegan mayo) to create a creamy dressing

You can also add whatever herbs and spices you like – I used garlic granules and dried parsley.

I’ll admit, the recipe doesn’t sound overly exciting – I’d even say that green peppers are my least favourite pepper.

But, somehow all these simple ingredients add up to give a really tasty sandwich. It’s fresh, it’s crunchy, it’s creamy, and it has heaps of flavour. It just goes to show, you can throw just about anything into this chickpea salad, and you’ll probably end up with a winner.

Quick and easy vegetarian lunch

I always try to keep my recipes as quick and easy as possible – I know that I always gravitate towards really straightforward recipes with no unnecessary steps, so I guess that’s probably what you like too!

Using tinned chickpeas means you don’t need to spend time soaking or cooking your chickpeas (though you can totally cook your chickpeas from scratch if you prefer!). The whole recipe only takes about 5 minutes to make – maybe 10 if you’re a slow chopper.

I also made sure I only included veggies that I could throw straight into the bowl without any pre-cooking. Red onions have a less intense flavour than regular onions, so they’re better for eating raw, and peppers are great uncooked too.

All you need to do is chop your veg, throw everything into a bowl, and mix. It couldn’t be simpler.

How else can I serve this creamy chickpea salad?

Obviously I used my chickpea salad as a tasty vegetarian sandwich filler, but if you’re not a sandwich fan, or you just don’t have a loaf of bread in the house, it can be served in other ways too!

Here are a few ideas for other ways to serve your creamy chickpea salad:

serve in a tortilla wrap, bagel, pitta, or any other kind of alternative bread

wrap in large lettuce leaves – lettuce wraps make a great low-carb sandwich alternative

dollop on top of a hearty green salad, with diced tomatoes, cucumber, etc.

serve as part of a buffet lunch, along with lots of other salads and sides

spoon it on top of a baked potato

The chickpea salad will keep in the fridge for about 3 days, so feel free to choose a few different options! I always like to serve my leftovers in a new way if I can, to keep things interesting.

How can I adapt this recipe?

The best thing about a recipe like this is how easy it is to adapt. You can pretty much mix any ingredients in with your chickpeas, and you’ll end up with a really tasty salad.

You never need to make it the same way twice.

If you do swap the veggies, make sure you go for something else that’s great served raw, so you don’t add any additional cooking steps – try spring onions, red or yellow peppers, sweetcorn, black olives, grated carrot, diced cucumber, etc. You could even add some grated cheese!

You can also change up the herbs and spices in the dressing to give a totally different flavour profile – maybe try a Mediterranean-inspired version with a dollop of pesto, or curry-flavoured coronation chickpeas!

And Greek yogurt makes a nice swap for the mayo, if you’re not a mayonnaise fan.

Really, as long as you’ve got the chickpeas in there somewhere, you’ll make an awesome chickpea salad. Though… black beans might be a pretty nice alternative too…

How would you adapt this creamy chickpea salad to make it your own?

Print Creamy chickpea salad sandwiches These creamy chickpea salad sandwiches are a quick and easy vegetarian lunch option that’s endlessly adaptable! Prep Time: 10 mins Total Time: 10 mins Servings: 6 sandwiches Ingredients 1 green pepper, finely diced

1/2 red onion, finely diced

2 x 400g tins chickpeas, drained (480g, or ~ 2 1/2 cups, in total when drained)

1/2 tsp garlic granules

1 tsp dried parsley

Black pepper

Salt

3 tbsp mayonnaise or vegan mayo Instructions Add all of the ingredients to a large bowl, and mix well until everything is well combined. You can mash the chickpeas slightly with the back of a fork if you want to, or leave them whole.

Serve chilled, as a sandwich filling or on its own. Keeps in the fridge for 3 days. Author: Becca Heyes

Nutrition Facts Creamy chickpea salad sandwiches Amount Per Serving (1 portion) Calories 146 Calories from Fat 32 % Daily Value* Fat 3.5g 5% Saturated Fat 0.5g 3% Cholesterol 2mg 1% Sodium 356mg 15% Potassium 209mg 6% Carbohydrates 24.4g 8% Fiber 4.6g 18% Sugar 1.3g 1% Protein 4.9g 10% Calcium 30mg 3% Iron 1.4mg 8% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Note: Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly what ingredients you choose. Information above is for 1/6 of the batch, salad only (not including bread).

Prefer a hot sandwich? These Tex-Mex vegetarian cheesesteak sandwiches are one of my all-time favourites!