Easy to make with herby cashew dressing, this creamy vegan chickpea salad recipe is a refreshing take on vegan potato salad using chickpeas (garbanzo beans). It makes a quick lunch or side dish.

Inspired by my vegan tuna and love of tuna salad sandwiches (the vegan version), this salad is for those who crave the flavor and texture of creamy vegan mayo and fresh herbs.
Table of Contents
Why You'll Love This Recipe
✔ No cooking (stove time) is required.
✔ Great for picnics, potlucks, or meals on the go.
✔ Chickpeas (garbanzo beans) are a great source of plant-based protein.
Ingredients, Notes, and Substitutions
Chickpeas. Canned chickpeas for a quick recipe. That's 4 ½ cups if you are cooking dried chickpeas.
Green onions. Also known as scallions, use a finely chopped red onion or chives as a substitute.
Cashews. For best results, use raw cashews. Roasted don't have the right flavor for cashew dressings.
Fresh parsley. Personally, I'm a fan of flat-leaf Italian parsley, but you can also use peppery curly parsley.
Fresh dill. Dill has a distinctive, delicate flavor (like dill pickles). You only need 2 tablespoons, so you could add a teaspoon of dried dill if necessary.
Lemon juice. Fresh lemon juice adds a zesty flavor. Use bottled if you don't have fresh lemons.
Please see the recipe card at the bottom of this post for the complete list of ingredients with measurements plus recipe instructions.
Recipe Variations
- Add a few extra fresh vegetables, like cherry tomatoes, diced cucumber, or shredded carrots.
- I didn't add sweetener to the dressing. After tasting it, if you want to sweeten it up, use a drop of maple syrup.
- Give the dressing a little bite with extra black pepper or a pinch of cayenne pepper. Add a little garlic powder or onion powder for something close to vegan ranch dressing.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Cover the cashews with boiling water and soak them for 15 minutes.
Step 2: Blend cashews, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, and water in a high-speed blender or small food processor.
Step 3: Transfer the dressing to a small bowl and mix with the fresh herbs, pepper, and salt.
Step 4: Add drained chickpeas to a large bowl. Mix with the dressing using a fork to crush some of the chickpeas.
Step 5: Stir in the celery and onions.
Step 6: Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed.
Pro Tips
Crush the chickpeas with a potato masher before adding the dressing if you're making smashed chickpea salad. Smashed chickpeas hold better between bread slices.
Why is my cashew dressing gritty?
Soaking cashews before blending is my number-one recommendation for avoiding the dreaded gritty dressing dilemma. When cashews don't fully break down, the dressing won't have a smooth texture, and that's what we want.
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After soaking, the best solution is to keep blending and scrape the sides of the blender. You may also need to add a little water. If all else fails, transfer the dressing to a smaller device like a spice grinder.
Serving Suggestions
This simple chickpea salad makes an easy lunch served as a sandwich, stuffed in whole wheat pita bread with tomato slices, or as refreshing lettuce wraps. If you're looking for a main dish idea, it's a terrific baked potato topper.
Frequently Asked Questions
Keep leftover salad in an airtight container for 3-4 days. Stir before serving, adding a little lemon juice to spruce it up.
White beans, like cannellini or white kidney beans, are the best substitute for chickpeas for creamy chickpea salad and vegan tuna.
In my experience, the best way to prep cashews is to cover them with boiling water and soak them for 15 minutes. A quick method is to grind them into a fine powder before blending. You can also soak cashews overnight or steam them for 10 minutes.
In terms of flavor, the best substitutes for fresh dill are tarragon and fennel. Neither will be perfect. Both have a stronger anise flavor, so use less than the recipe calls for and add more if needed.
Blanched almonds (with the skins removed) could be substituted for the cashews. You could also try ground sunflower seeds or possibly pepitas. If you want to cut the calories of the nuts, you can replace ½ of the nuts with cooked white beans such as cannelloni. The flavor will not be the same, but these substitutions are possible.
More Vegan Chickpea Salads
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👩🏻🍳 Recipe
Creamy Vegan Chickpea Salad
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Ingredients
- 1 cup cashews
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- ¼ - ½ cup water
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill - chopped
- 2 tablespoons Italian parsley - chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt - optional
- 4 ½ cups chickpeas - 3 cans, rinsed and drained
- 2 stalks celery - diced small (1 cup)
- 6 medium green onions - thinly sliced
Instructions
- Place the cashews in a small bowl and cover them with boiling water. Soak for 15 minutes.
- Drain the cashews and place them in a blender or small food processor. Add the apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and ¼ cup of water. Blend until smooth, adding more water until you have a creamy, pourable dressing.
- Transfer the dressing to a small bowl and mix with the parsley, dill, black pepper, and salt.
- Add the chickpeas to a large bowl and stir in the dressing. Mash a few of the chickpeas with a large fork or potato masher.
- Stir in the diced celery and green onions. Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed.
Notes
- To soften the cashews, soak them in water overnight, soak them in boiling water for at least 20 minutes, or steam them. You can also grind dry cashews in a coffee or spice grinder and then make the dressing as directed.
- Be sure to use raw cashews. Roasted cashews will have added oil, will not blend smoothly, and will have a different flavor than raw cashews. If you want to swap, use blanched almonds or ground sunflower seeds.
- Check the dressing before removing it from the blender. If it is gritty, continue blending it and add more water. If all else fails, try a smaller container like a spice grinder.
- White beans, like cannellini or white kidney beans, are the best substitute for chickpeas for creamy chickpea salad and vegan tuna.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimation only.
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