Basil pesto sauce is the perfect quick dressing for Mediterranean Vegan Pesto Chickpea Salad. It's easy to make in 15 minutes with canned garbanzo beans, veggies, and olives. Enjoy it as a refreshing meal or flavorful side dish.
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While pesto is always delicious with pasta, it also makes a wonderful sauce or dressing on other foods. I use it to make everything from pesto scrambled tofu to roasted pesto potatoes to pesto orzo soup.
Inspired by my pesto pasta salad recipe, in this Vegan Pesto Chickpea Salad, the green sauce adds herby bright flavor as a simple dressing. You can choose to make your own vegan pesto from scratch or take a short cut and buy a jar at the market.
Then toss canned beans, fresh vegetables, and tangy olives together with the zesty green sauce for a fast and flavorful complete meal or side dish. It may become one of your favorite ways to use vegan pesto!
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Why you'll love this recipe
- It's full of flavor and easy to customize.
- It's ready to eat in 15 minutes.
- You can enjoy it on its own or as a side dish.
Ingredients
Vegan pesto: Make a quick homemade vegan pesto sauce in your food processor or purchase your favorite store bought pesto without cheese.
Olives: I like to use Kalamata olives, but you can use your favorite variety, or simply leave them out if you're not a fan.
Cucumber: I recommend using a thin-skinned English cucumber or 2 to 3 small Persian cucumbers.
Amy's tip
To help avoid the cucumber tasting bitter, cut off and discard both ends before slicing.
Variations
- Add capers, store bought vegan feta, or tofu feta cubes
- Fold in cubed or sliced avocado
- Stir in pine nuts or walnuts
- Substitute sliced green onions in place of the diced red onion
- Use sun-dried tomato pesto or arugula pesto instead of basil pesto
Please see the recipe card at the bottom of this post for the complete ingredients, measurements, and instructions.
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- Toss well so that everything is coated with the pesto. Taste and adjust the seasonings, as needed. Enjoy immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container for later. (I recommend serving it right away for the best flavors and textures.)
Serving suggestions
Vegan Pesto Chickpea Salad is a complete meal on its own, perfect as a light lunch or dinner.
It's also a great summery side with dishes like Mediterranean penne with zucchini, creamy tomato soup, and lemon tofu steaks.
And don't forget the vegan apricot crisp or air fryer vegan brownies for dessert!
Storing
While Vegan Pesto Chickpea Salad tastes best the day it was made, it can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Recipe FAQs
If you want to use dried beans, cook them in advance before making this salad. You will need 1 cup of dried chickpeas which will be approximately 3 cups when cooked.
Vegan pesto is made with traditional pesto ingredients like basil leaves, olive oil, garlic, pine nuts, and salt. But instead of dairy cheese, it usually contains nutritional yeast and lemon juice instead.
More vegan chickpea salad recipes
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Love and Veggies,
Amy
📋 Recipe
Vegan Pesto Chickpea Salad
Ingredients
- 2-15 ounce cans chickpeas, (3 cups) rinsed and drained
- 1 dry pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered
- 1 English cucumber, (or 3 Persian cucumbers) sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced large
- ½ red onion, diced
- ½ cup Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
- ½ cup vegan pesto, (homemade or store bought)
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients to a large mixing bowl.2-15 ounce cans chickpeas, 1 dry pint cherry or grape tomatoes, 1 English cucumber, 1 red bell pepper, ½ red onion, ½ cup Kalamata olives, ½ cup vegan pesto, salt and pepper
- Toss well to combine. Taste and adjust the seasonings, as needed, and serve.
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Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimation only.
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