Basic Chickpea Salad Recipe

If you want to expand your culinary horizons but you don’t know where to start, then you must know that Spanish recipes provide an amazing space to learn new cooking skills and get started with your journey.

The basic chickpea salad is one of the best easy garbanzo bean recipes that you can find, offering a mesmerizing blend of flavors and textures that can be enjoyed at any time of the day, all year round.

Keep reading this article, where we will show you how to prepare the recipe from scratch, with the most helpful tips for storing, serving, and customizing it.

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Pssst…!!?? You can’t get enough of Spanish salad recipes? Have a look at my other posts: 

• Spanish Chickpea Salad

• Summer chickpea salad

• Potaje de Vigilia

Background of the Dish

Chickpea recipes are popular in Southern Spain because this ingredient can be found -either canned or dry- all year round in almost every store.

The basic chickpea salad highlights other local flavors from Andalusia, such as tomatoes, bell peppers, red onions, and the classic dressing with olive oil and vinegar.

There are thousands of traditional Spanish salads such as the beloved Spanish tomato salad or the hearty Spanish octopus salad, yet this one stands out thanks to its simplicity and the yearly availability of its ingredients.

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Things You’ll Need for Basic Chickpea Salad

The main ingredients needed for this Spanish salad recipe are canned chickpeas, tomato, bell pepper, cucumber, red onion, olive oil, and vinegar.

Similar to other quick chickpea recipes, you won’t need any fancy equipment, and using canned cooked chickpeas is what speeds up the preparation process.

Ingredients

• 2 cans (400gr each) cooked canned chickpeas
• 1 tomato
• 1 cucumber
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 red onion
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Fresh chopped parsley (for garnish)
• Salt and pepper (to taste)

How to Make Basic Chickpea Salad – Step by Step Guide

1. For the first step in this healthy chickpea salad recipe, you simply have to open the can, rinse the chickpeas under cold water, and drain them.

2. Then, it is time to prepare the veggies for the easy chickpea salad. To make that, chop the tomato, cucumber, and onion into small squares. Also, cut the bell pepper in half, discard the seeds, and chop it into small pieces.

3. Now, to prepare the easy chickpeas salad dressing grab a small bowl and mix the vinegar with the oil. 

4. After that, grab a bowl and mix the vegetables from the classic Spanish chickpea salad with the chickpeas. Season with salt and pepper, and toss it around.

5. Next, add the dressing and gently mix the healthy chickpea salad until everything gets coated. Take the basic chickpea salad to the fridge to cool for about 30 minutes.

6. For the final step in the best garbanzo bean recipe, taste and adjust the seasoning or dressing if needed. You can now serve the basic chickpea salad cold topped with chopped parsley.

Substitution of Ingredients

Something that we love about easy recipes with garbanzo beans is that as long as you have the chickpeas for the base, you have a lot of room to play with the remaining ingredients.

Luckily, the basic chickpea salad is no exception and you can incorporate your favorite mix of vegetables, including cherry tomatoes, jalapeño peppers, spinach, or lettuce.

You could also prepare the Spanish chickpea recipe with dry chickpeas, but you would have to let them soak overnight and boil them until fully cooked, extending the preparation time.

Like other simple chickpea recipes, this one could also use some sort of meat, such as chopped beef, grilled chicken, shrimp, or prawns.

Do you want to make more hearty Spanish salad recipes? Then we invite you to check out our classic Spanish rice salad and our delicious ensalada de coditos.

Tips on Serving Basic Chickpea Salad

This basic chickpea salad is one of the best cold chickpea recipes because it can be enjoyed as a main dish, as an appetizer, or as the perfect side.

To serve the salad from this easy garbanzo bean recipe as a main dish we recommend that you include more toppings, such as grilled chicken, and hard-boiled eggs, or copy the chickpea and chorizo salad and add some chopped chorizo.

You don’t have to make any changes to serve it as a side or appetizer, but you could include more chopped herbs like cilantro, a squeeze of lemon juice for an acidic touch, or chopped almonds for an extra crunch.

If you aren’t the biggest fan of the traditional Spanish salad dressing, then you can take inspiration from other easy recipes with chickpeas such as the honey mustard chickpea salad, and use a mustard vinaigrette, a balsamic reduction, etc.

How to Store Basic Chickpea Salad

Spanish salads in general are meant to be served as soon as you finish making them, but there is a way of storing the basic chickpea salad.

For that, you have to prepare the Spanish chickpea salad recipe but don’t add the dressing and place the salad in a covered container.

After that, you can store the quick chickpea salad in the fridge for up to 24 hours, and add the dressing right before serving.

Still, we have other easy chickpea dishes that you can prepare and store for longer in the fridge or freezer, such as the Spanish chickpea stew, the Spanish soup with chickpeas, and the chickpea and cod stew.

Recipe Card: Basic Chickpea Salad

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