Greek Chickpea Salad
This no-cook Greek Chickpea Salad with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, parsley, onion, and a light yogurt vinaigrette is perfect for your summer picnics and barbecues!
Last weekend we took advantage of a gorgeous night in Minneapolis, packed our picnic baskets, and headed to the lake for a jazz concert. That means it's officially summer, right? For me, summer is the season for picnics and while we don't have official 'picnics' as often as I would like, we typically eat outside most nights during the summer. Especially now that we have our own backyard and patio, there's no reason not to dine al fresco, in my opinion.
For the picnic by the lake, we munched on crusty bread and cheese, veggies and hummus, and I also made a couple salads for our picnic dinner, including this Greek Chickpea Salad. It met all of the requirements for picnic food: doesn't need to be eaten warm, easy to make and eat, and portable!
The combination of the flavors in this salad, from the salty olives to the tangy feta cheese, give you everything to love about Greek food in one healthy salad. I kept the dressing light and simple, with just a little bit of olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, garlic, and yogurt, and it complemented the other ingredients perfectly.
This Greek Chickpea Salad is exactly what your next picnic or barbecue needs. I especially appreciate salads like this which involve absolutely zero cooking during the summer. It simply requires opening a couple of cans of beans, chopping up some fresh veggies, and whipping together the super simple dressing.
Of course, you don't need a picnic or party to bring this Greek Chickpea Salad to - it's a great one to make and eat for lunch throughout the week, too! I have eaten it stuffed in a pita, on top of some greens, and on it's own, too. The chickpeas and veggies make the salad super filling and the feta cheese and semi-creamy yogurt dressing give it a much more indulgent feel than it really is.
Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons plain yogurt
- 1 clove garlic
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cans 16 oz garbanzo beans/chickpeas
- 1 pint grape tomatoes halved
- 1 medium cucumber peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
- 2 green onions diced
- ½ red onion diced
- ½ cup black or Kalamata olives diced
- ½ cup fresh parsley chopped
- ½-3/4 cup crumbled feta
Instructions
- In small mason jar or bowl, combine olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, yogurt, garlic, and salt.
- Shake mason jar or use a whisk to combine well.
- In large bowl combine chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumber, green onion, red onion, olives, parsley, and feta.
- Toss with dressing.
- Serve and enjoy!
Pack and go salads like these are just perfect for summer. Love all the fresh flavors in this one!
I think this looks great! I headed to the store to get everything I needed to make this based on the recipe above and now that I'm home I realized that you left out Olives & I do see red onion in your picture but that too isn't listed!
Ugh I am so sorry Maureen! 🙁 I wish I could hand deliver you the ingredients I left out. Honestly, I bet it will still be delicious without the olives and since there are also green onions, it will have that onion-y flavor still.
It's okay! I'm sure it'll be delicious besides you have WAY MORE important things on your mind right now!!!
Your picnic and concert sounds like so much fun! I love chickpeas and this is a great way to prepare them.
I love meals like this during the summer. And it definitely sounds like perfect picnic food! Plus, I cannot turn down greek anything! 🙂
hello fellow Minnesotan! Just wanted to pop in and say hi. This recipe looks wonderful!
Hi Annie! Thanks 🙂
Hey 🙂 I have been on a Greek kick lately, this will be a perfect addition...thanks Taylor! Also sending you ample amounts of health and joy in the last stages of your pregnancy. Cheers!
I've been on a Greek kick lately too! I can't get enough hummus, feta, and olives 🙂 Thanks Chelsea!
I love how fresh this looks! Would it keep long in the fridge? Would be a nice salad to prepare in bulk to eat over a few days.
Thanks Felicity! I made it on Saturday and ate the last bit of it yesterday for lunch, and it was still just as good as it was the first day! I stored it in individual mason jars and just shook it up to get the dressing at the bottom re-distributed.
What a perfect salad to take to work for lunches! I can't wait until we are back in season for tomatoes an cucumbers - pinning this for our Southern Hemisphere summer!