Mediterranean Chickpea Salad

Melissa

By: Melissa

Updated: January 7, 2026

This protein-packed Mediterranean chickpea salad is filled with vegetables and hint of salty capers with a simple vinaigrette. It’s a great side dish and it can pull double duty as a healthy, vegan lunch to last through the week.

Jump to Recipe Pin Recipe

Mediterranean inspired chickpea salad with olives, cucumber, tomatoes, onion, in a white bowl on a blue background sitting on top of a small bowl of capers, a parsley sprig and a white and red striped kitchen towel.

The flavors are bold and fresh, and the recipe can be made a day or two in advance. Makes 16 servings.

Mediterranean inspired chickpea salad with olives, cucumber, tomatoes, onion, in a white bowl on a blue background sitting next to a small bowl of capers, a parsley sprig and a white and red striped kitchen towel.

How I made my Mediterranean chickpea salad dairy free:

As of March 2018, this recipe has been updated to make it dairy free. I’ve added capers in place of feta cheese, and I cut back the amount of oil in the dressing to make it a bit healthier.

Without the saltiness of the feta cheese, I decided to use Kalamata or Greek olives in place of the black olives I used to use. I love the salad both ways, so I’m keeping both versions of the recipe on this post, for readers who are still looking for the original version.

Mediterranean inspired chickpea salad with olives, cucumber, tomatoes, onion, in a white bowl on a blue background sitting next to a small bowl of capers, a parsley sprig and a white and red striped kitchen towel.

I love having chickpeas in a salad. It makes any salad more filling and seemingly more healthy. I made this Mediterranean chickpea salad as an alternative to my corn & chickpea fiesta salad, which was one of my first blog recipes.

Ever since, I had been planning on making another version of it, and this is it. It’s simple, refreshing and so easy to make.

Garbanzo bean salad made with olives, cucumber, tomatoes, onion, in a white bowl on a blue background sitting on top of a small bowl of capers, a parsley sprig and a white and red striped kitchen towel.

I made when we were on our houseboat in Amsterdam (minus the oregano but it was still fantastic) and I brought it to Julia’s to eat before a game a few weeks ago. And now, I’ve made it again for you.

It makes a lot of salad so feel free to cut the recipe in half if you only want a few servings, and you can increase the amount of olives if you like them – Marc isn’t a big fan so I usually keep the olives to a minimum for his sake.

garbanzo bean salad made with olives, cucumber, tomatoes, onion, in a white bowl on a blue background sitting next to a small bowl of capers, a parsley sprig and a white and red striped kitchen towel.

Tips for making the best mediterranean chickpea salad:

  • Use the best beans you can. I’ve used “cheap” brands in the past, and I find that the beans aren’t a soft or as flavorful, so I spend the extra fifteen or twenty cents on name brand cans.
  • Make the salad ahead, but keep the dressing separate until you’re ready to serve because the salt will draw out the juices from the vegetables and the longer they sit, the more bland they’ll get. So just wait.
Mediterranean inspired chickpea salad with olives, cucumber, tomatoes, onion, in a white bowl on a blue background sitting on top of a small bowl of capers, a parsley sprig and a white and red striped kitchen towel.

More chickpea recipes you’ll love:

Mediterranean inspired chickpea salad with olives, cucumber, tomatoes, onion, in a white bowl on a blue background sitting on top of a small bowl of capers, a parsley sprig and a white and red striped kitchen towel.

Mediterranean Chickpea Salad

4.75 from 8 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 16
This protein-packed Mediterranean chickpea salad is filled with vegetables and hint of salty capers with a simple vinaigrette. It’s a great side dish and it can pull double duty as a healthy, vegan lunch to last through the week.

Ingredients

For the salad:
  • 3 15- ounce cans chickpeas - drained and rinsed
  • 1 pint grape tomatoes - quartered
  • 2 English cucumbers - seeded and chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper - chopped
  • 1/4 – 1/2 cup diced red onion - amount to taste
  • 3/4 cup sliced Kalamata olives
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 2 tablespoons capers
For the dressing:
  • 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/3 cup lemon juice - or white wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

  • Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl.
  • In a small bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients.
  • Add dressing to salad, stirring to coat evenly, about 10 minutes before serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 65kcal Carbohydrates: 4g Protein: 1g Fat: 6g Sodium: 239mg Fiber: 1g Sugar: 2g Vitamin C: 18mg
For the original version with feta, use these ingredients and the same dressing & mixing method:
  • 3 cups chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
  • 1 English cucumber, seeded and chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 small red onion, finely chopped
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
  • ½ cup sliced black olives
  • 1 cup crumbled feta

Melissa Belanger is the founder and food-obsessed visionary behind Simply Whisked, where she creates dairy free recipes with simple ingredients. She lives in Wisconsin with her milk-allergic husband and two kids. Melissa's experience in developing dairy free recipes is unparalleled and she strives to make dairy-free living accessible and enjoyable. In addition to running Simply Whisked, Melissa also manages two other publications: Another Cocktail Blog, a cocktail recipe website, and The Pasta Twins, a joint venture with her twin sister.