Turkish Chickpea Salad (2024)

You’ll be shocked at the amount of flavor in this 20 minute inspired Turkish chickpea salad. Summer meal prep level up!

Summer time means you don’t really feel like cooking, but you might be willing to spend 10-15 minutes in the kitchen to prep something if it lasts for the week. If that’s you, then this vegan inspired Turkish chickpea salad is right up your alley.

I’ll be completely honest that this is inspired by Turkish recipes with my own spin on things and not completely authentic to Turkey recipe spices or ingredients.

Still, this recipe is amazing. It’s packed with flavor and nutrients that will not only taste delicious but be great for your body as well!

It’s perfect for meal prep throughout the summer or for cookouts and get-togethers as well!

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Why You’ll Love This Dish

🥘Recipe Ingredients

Gather your ingredients!

• Chickpeas – This simple ingredient is the star of the dish and perfect for texture variation and protein.
• Olive Oil – You want a healthier oil for this recipe since you are going to be making a sauce with the oil and scraping as much of it out of the skillet as possible.
• Onions – We are using sweet onions for this recipe. We are playing a spin on a sumac onion recipe that usually uses red onions, but since we are cooking these we are using sweet.
• Sun Dried Tomatoes – We use sundried tomatoes in oil for more flavor.
• Garam Masala – not a typical Turkish ingredient that the flavor in garam masala pair perfectly with this recipe.
• Sumac – is an amazing spice that we recommend adding to your spice cabinet. It has some sweet and tangy notes that really help to elevate dishes it’s adding too.
• Red Wine Vinegar – we are adding red wine vinegar for the sauce component of the dish since it has more smoky notes that go well with this dish.

See my recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.

Substitutions and Variations:

• Chickpeas – You could do this with white beans as well, but they don’t hold up as well during the cooking process so keep that in mine. Bite size pieces of cauliflower could also be used into or as an addition.
• Olive Oil – Grapeseed or Avocado oil would be good alternatives.
• Onions – You can use red onions for this dish, but note during cooking, red onions typically turn gray which may look appetizing.
• Sun Dried Tomatoes – You can use dried sundried tomatoes if you hydrated them first. Note, that there will be some flavor differences.
• Red Wine Vinegar – apple cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar would be a substitute for this
• Stretch this meal – Feel free to add more vegetables like carrots or celery to this, or something like tofu or mushrooms would be a good addition if you like them to stretch this. Alternatively, putting this mixture over noodles, rice, or in a tortilla wrap can also help.

Step by Step Instructions for vegan Turkish chickpea salad:

Step 1. In a large skillet over medium heat, add oil and then add the chickpeas. Stir to coat the chickpeas in oil for 1 minute. Add spices and cook for 5 minutes until chickpeas are red and fragrant. Pour chickpeas, scraping all the spices from the pan, into a large bowl.

Step 2. In the same skillet, over medium heat, add remaining oil. Then, add the onions and garlic. Stir frequently and cook for 3-4 minutes until the onions are slightly soft and the garlic is fragrant.

Step 3. Add the red peppers, sundried tomatoes and ½ teaspoon salt. Stir and cook for 2 minutes.

Step 4. Remove from heat. Let cool slightly, then add red wine vinegar and remaining spices. Stir together well.

Step 5. Add vegetables to the chickpeas, along with the red cabbage, cilantro, basil, and lemon juice.

Step 6. Mix together well. Serve cold or warm.

Recipe FAQs:

Other Vegan Salad Recipes to Consider:

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