Looking for the best homemade Chickpea Avocado Salad recipe?
Our Healthy Garlic Lemon Chickpea Avocado Salad is quick and easy to make in under 1 hour. The recipe is full of nutritious vegetables, herbs and cheese. It’s inspired by flavours from the Mediterranean.
Our fresh Chickpea Avocado Salad is vegetarian, low-fat, low calorie, nut free and egg free.
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Mediterranean Chickpea Avocado Salad
There’s no better way to travel to the Mediterranean on the cheap then by enjoying a healthy Chickpea Avocado Salad at home.
The Mediterranean diet is famous for being full of healthy and nutritious ingredients, traditionally enjoyed when fresh and in season.
We developed this easy salad recipe after traveling through countries in the Mediterranean such as Spain, France, Italy, Malta, Croatia, Bosnia, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Egypt and Morocco.
My Family Loves A Healthy Salad
My family loves fresh salads, especially if they are quick and easy to make last minute.
My family are all omnivores and thankfully don’t have any allergies. We try and balance a healthy diet that features lean meat, sustainable seafood, local cheese, legumes, seeds, nuts and fresh vegetables.
This recipe features traditional Mediterranean ingredients such as olive oil, lemon, tahini sesame paste, garlic, chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumber, feta and farro, an ancient grain indigenous to Italy.
My mom and dad both love salads that feature plenty of garlic and lemon so this Chickpea Avocado Salad was an instant hit!
Assemble a Nutritious and Healthy Salad
The Mediterranean diet is often cited as one of the healthiest regional cuisines on earth.
Most Mediterranean kitchen cupboards and fridges are filled with nutritious dried beans, whole grains, locally pressed olive oil, creamy tahini, salty cheese and fresh vegetables and herbs.
This Chickpea Avocado Salad is full of vitamins (herbs and vegetables), healthy fats (olive oil, tahini and avocado), fibre (farro) and protein (chickpeas and cheese).
How To Make Chickpea Avocado Salad
First thing you need to do is read through this recipe from top to bottom. It’s important to read an entire recipe before you start cooking or baking to ensure you understand each step.
If you are planing to prepare the recipe a few days from now, be sure you’ve given yourself enough time to ripen your avocados and soak your dried chickpeas (if you aren’t using canned garbanzo beans). There’s nothing worse than cutting into an unripe avocado and realizing your dinner plans have to be postponed!
- Begin preparing the Chickpea Avocado Salad by whisking together the vinaigrette ingredients in a mixing bowl. We suggest using the best olive oil and tahini you can find. Be sure to purchase fresh lemons rather than store bought lemon juice as the zest is an important element of the flavour profile and mouthfeel.
- Next you’ll need to wash and clean all of your fresh vegetables and herbs. Once patted dry slice and dice into measuring cups.
- The farro can be cooked in advance as it is added into the salad cold. Be sure to strain the farro rather than leaving it in the hot water to cool. You want the farro to be al dente like a perfectly cooked pasta.
- Toss the vegetables, sliced kale, chickpeas and farro in a salad bowl with the lemon garlic dressing. Be sure to top the salad with crumbled feta and sliced avocados at the very end so your guests can enjoy eyeing your show-stopping dish!
Chickpea Avocado Salad Tips
What we love about this Chickpea Avocado Salad recipe is how well the ingredients marinate. We suggest making a little extra as the salad keeps well in the fridge for 2-3 days. The kale slightly softens and farro absorbs the lemon garlic sauce, ensuring each bite is packed with flavour.
We do not suggest using prepared garlic (typically sold in jugs or jars and marinated in oil) as the flavour is acrid and off putting. Purchase fresh garlic buds, you’ll taste the difference! We do not suggest mincing the garlic with a knife as it’s no fun to get a chunk of garlic in your teeth during dinner.
We recommend sliding your garlic cloves over a very fine microplane, the kind used at fancy Italian restaurants to shave Parmesan cheese over your pasta. By using a microplane the garlic is shredded into the tiniest pieces possible, even causing the cloves to juice! You’ll maximize the sharp garlic flavour in your vinaigrette and encourage it to blend completely with the other ingredients.
We’ve used canned chickpeas in this recipe but you can easily cook dried chickpeas, just ensure you give yourself a day for them to soak, cook and cool.
If you can’t find faro at your grocery store you can try substituting for another healthy whole grain such as pearl barley, bulgar wheat or quinoa. If you don’t have apple cider vinegar in your cupboards feel free to substitute with champagne vinegar, red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar.
We’ve used red onions in this recipe as we like the colour they offer to the salads overall aesthetic. We do not recommend substituting with cooking onions as the flavour will be overpowering. A sweet Vidalia onion would work if it’s all you can find.
We like using grape or cherry tomatoes as they are small and toss well with the other salad ingredients. You could use plum or roma tomatoes but ensure you chop them so they are small and drain any excess juice before incorporating.
We’ve used kale in this recipe because it is packed with nutrients and its fibrous structure allows the Chickpea and Avocado Salad to keep for several days. If you decide to substitute kale with mixed greens, spinach or lettuce be sure to only prepare what you know you will eat that day to avoid any waste.
We’ve used cow’s milk feta cheese as its saltiness helps cut through the creamy fat of the avocado. You could substitute with aged cheeses such as Gruyere, Parmigiano Reggiano, Cheddar, Manchego, Beemster or Mimolette.
What To Serve With Chickpea Avocado Salad
We most often prepare this Chickpea Avocado Salad as an entree, enjoying large bowls with a slice of sourdough bread or gourmet crackers. We intentionally created a salad that is well balanced nutritionally so your body has everything it needs in one dish.
I usually double the recipe so we can spend the next 2-3 days enjoying the salad for lunch at work. The flavours intensify over time and thanks to the hearty nature of kale it doesn’t wilt and get limp and watery like mixed greens, spinach or Romain lettuce.
There’s a reason so many restaurants have “soup & salad specials!” We definitely recommend pairing our Chickpea Avocado Salad with a homemade soup like Spicy Tikka Masala Turkey Barley Soup, Piri Piri Carrot and Sweet Pepper Soup with Bulgar or Kale, Leek, Bean, Orzo and Pumpkin Soup with Pecan Pesto.
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Garlic Lemon Chickpea Avocado Salad Recipe
Garlic Lemon Chickpea Avocado Salad
Equipment
- pot
- Strainer
- whisk
- measuring spoons
- measuring cups
- mixing bowl
- French knife
Ingredients
Garlic Lemon Chickpea Avocado Salad Dressing
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp lemon rind
- 1/8 cup tahini
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp pepper
Garlic Lemon Chickpea Avocado Salad
- 19 oz Canned chickpeas
- 2 Avocado sliced
- 1/3 cup Red onion minced
- 1/2 cup Cilantro chopped
- 3/4 cup Cherry Tomatoes sliced
- 1/2 cup Cucumber minced
- 1/2 cup Feta Cheese chopped
- 1/2 cup Dried Farro
- 4 cups Kale sliced and packed down
Instructions
- Add all dressing ingredients into a large bowl and whisk together until combined.
- Cook farro in salted water over the stove per packaged instructions. Strain and let cool once al dente.
- In a large salad bowl toss dressing with chickpeas, red onion, cilantro, tomatoes, cucumber, farro and chopped kale.
- Top salad with feta and sliced avocado before serving.
Nutrition
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