Vegan Pesto Chickpea Salad

Name: Vegan Pesto Chickpea Salad
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
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)

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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Special diet: gluten-free, soy-free, vegan

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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
Ingredients
Amy's tip
Variations
Instructions
Serving suggestions
Storing
Recipe FAQs
More vegan chickpea salad recipes
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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

For the complete list of ingredients with measurements plus recipe instructions, please see the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Bowl of Vegan Tomato Basil Cucumber Salad with Tofu Feta.

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Instructions

Ingredients in a mixing bowl and the mixed up salad.

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

Can dried chickpeas be used instead of canned?

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.

What is vegan pesto made from?

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.