Corn & Chickpea Fiesta Salad
This corn and chickpea salad is the ultimate summer recipe. This healthy garbanzo bean salad packed with cucumber, tomato and peppers, and tossed in a fresh cilantro lime dressing for a light, yet satisfying meal, or side dish.
Why I love this chickpea salad
This easy, chickpea salad recipe is perfect for a healthy summer lunch – filled with cucumber, tomatoes and corn, with a cilantro lime dressing. It’s a flavorful vegan meal, but it’s also great for a healthy dish to pass at barbecues and summer gatherings.
For the past several days it’s been 90 plus degrees here in Angers (the city where we live in France) and the last thing I want to do is create extra heat in our non-air-conditioned apartment.
Normally the weather is pretty mild here – we even had a few days of snow last winter – but these last few days have been crazy-hot. Therefore, I’ve been on a mission to find recipes and ideas for cold salads or anything else that doesn’t need to be cooked.
This summer garbanzo bean salad definitely beats the heat, and it has one of my favorite flavor combinations – cilantro and lime.you talk about the recipe, something related to the recipe.
Searching for more chickpea recipes? Mediterranean chickpea salad / curry chickpea salad / roasted chickpeas / chickpea tuna salad
Ingredients:
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions listed below are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
- Chickpeas – I use canned chickpeas for this recipe, but if you want to prepare your own from dried garbanzo beans, you can learn more here.
- Corn – This recipe is great for summer corn-from-the-cob, but it also works just fine with frozen corn. Simply thaw the corn before using.
- Lime – Fresh is always best for citrus, but bottled will work in a pinch. You can also swap out some of the lime for other citrus like lemon or oranges if you don’t have enough lime juice.
- Red onion – You can swap this for another type of onion.
- Cucumber – I recommend using an seedless cucumber for this recipe, but if you don’t have that, make sure you remove the seeds to prevent the salad from getting watery.
Melissa’s tips for recipe success:
- Don’t like cilantro? That’s ok! Try swapping out the cilantro for basil or parsley instead.
- Meal prep tip: I recommend prepping your salad ingredients and keeping them separate from the dressing until you’re ready to serve. This will prevent the cucumber and tomato from releasing too much of their juices and keeps the salad from getting watery.
- Save the chickpea liquid: It’s called aquafaba, and it’s normally used as an egg white substitute, but it makes a great swap for heavy whipping cream in my dairy free mousse. It’s also great to use in cocktails like my cherry vodka sour.
Frequently asked questions
More dairy free salad recipes: kale caesar salad / strawberry poppyseed salad / kale and Brussels sprouts salad / Mexican street corn salad
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups corn kernels
- 2 15- ounce cans garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed)
- 3 cups quartered grape tomatoes ((about 1 pound))
- 1 green bell pepper (diced)
- 1/2 red onion (finely diced (about 1/4 cup))
- 1 English cucumber (chopped)
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1/4 cup lime juice (4 tablespoons)
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Make your dressing. In a medium bowl (or in a large glass measuring cup), whisk together the dressing ingredients. Store in an airtight container until ready to use.
- Mix your salad. Combine your salad ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients and stir until everything is mixed well.
- Chill the salad. Refrigerate until serving or at least for a half an hour to let the flavors blend and adjust seasoning with salt & pepper, to taste, before serving.
Made this for a potluck over the weekend, boy was it a hit!
We made this tonight and it ROCKS!!! This will definitely become my go-to dish to bring over to summer bbq’s…sorry pasta salad, you’ve been replaced!
Thanks Rachel! I’m glad you liked it 🙂
Found this recipe via Pinterest. I’m making it tonight. I saw a few great recipes listed in your recipe index that I hope to make one day. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you love the salad as much as I do 🙂
How long will this keep in the fridge?
The salad should keep in the fridge for about 3 days 🙂
Just had this at a potluck today. It was sooooo yummy, I had to stalk my friend for the recipe. She got it from Pinterest… and her pin led me here. Success! Thanks!
I love your pictures and recipes, they are mouth watering. Would love for you to share them with us at foodieportal.com. We are new but at foodieportal.com we are not photography snobs, we are just foodies.
Yum, yum, yum! I made this tonight and everyone in my family loved it, even the two-year-old! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
Your food photos are amazing. You can share your mouth watering photos with us at foodienewz.com and your photos published on FoodieNewz without any editorial review.
I made this last night and we loved it! Thank you so much!!! What a perfect summer meal on a hot day! It was so good that I had to blog about it today. 🙂 http://madibella.wordpress.com/2013/06/28/summer-menu/
I made this last night along with some grilled marinated teriyaki chicken. It was such a nice, light summer meal and my husband loved it. I used edamame instead of green pepper just because it sounded yummy. I just found your blog and I love it! I plan on making many more of your delicious looking recipes. Thanks!!
Yes! More recipes like this please! So yummy, colorful and most importantly healthy!
The fresh flavours, ingredients and vibrant colours of this salad are really making me wish I had a bowlful to devour now. Just divine!
looks delicious! I love chickpea and cilantro! pinned!
hi
I want it for my daughters bday …
I want to make it at night and serve it next day afternoon
Will the onions smell or should I add onions just one he before
Pls let me know ..
You can add the onions when you make it, but I would recommend covering it before storing in the fridge. Otherwise, I would add the onions just before. Happy Birthday to your daughter!
Thank you for this recipe. I love it.
Am always trying to find ways to use/eat more beans in my family meal planning.
Your website shows great talent. Beautiful photos and very clear user friendly directions.
Thanks! I’m really glad to hear that you like it! 🙂
Made this tonight and it was awesome! One question, What is the measurement for 1 serving?
Thanks! I’m glad you liked it. I honestly wrote this recipe so long ago, I never measured anything as for as serving sizes go, so I can’t really say. I would say about 1 cup!
We made this today, with only one change, subbing the cucumber with edamame.
Perfect side dish as the days start to warm up. Thanks for the post!
Yummy…yummy but much more so after sitting overnight! Thank you for sharing a healthy alternative to other picnic salads.
I’m not a huge fan of cilanto. Is there something else I can substitute for it?
Would this survive for a week if I did it as a meal prep?
I think so! But I would hold off on dressing it until you’re ready to eat.
Made this twice in the last several weeks, it’s a variation on one of my favorite summer dishes. I made it as suggested, but added just a bit of smoked paprika and cayenne to the sauce for a bit of zing!! Thanks for the recipe.
It’s so good! I use a lot less oil (40mls) and it tastes great. Thank you!
When four couples get together for a group dinner and you are responsible for bringing a salad, this is it! Rave reviews. We are not dairy free, so I crumbled up a large chunk of feta on top. Other than that, I followed the recipe and it was delicious. Thanks for the alternative to typical salad! I will definitely make this again.
I made this yesterday, and it was fantastic. I was craving something healthy and low calorie, because I wanted something that I could eat a lot of and not feel guilty about it. This salad hit the spot for me. My only change was that I added more lime juice and garlic to the dressing. I will definitely make this again. Wonderful!