This Chickpea Salad recipe is an easy, flavorful Mediterranean style salad featuring chickpeas as one of the hero ingredient. Made with a herby tangy lemon dressing, and crunchy veggies like onions, tomatoes, cucumber and bell peppers this tasty Mediterranean Chickpea Salad will be your favorite instantly.
First rinse the dried chickpeas a few times in water. In a bowl, soak chickpeas in 3 cups water overnight or for 8 to 9 hours. Cover the bowl while the chickpeas are soaking.
Before cooking, drain all the water from the soaked chickpeas using a mesh strainer or colander. Rinse the chickpeas again a few times in water.
Now you can cook chickpeas in pan on the stovetop, Instant Pot or in a stovetop pressure cooker.
To cook chickpeas in an Instant pot
Add the soaked chickpeas, 3 cups water, 1 teaspoon salt in the inner insert of a 6 quart IP.
Seal tightly with the lid and set the vent to sealing position.
Press the manual mode/pressure cook mode and cook on high pressure by setting the time for 30 minutes.
When you hear the beep sound after 30 minutes of pressure cooking, wait for 12 to 15 minutes. Then lift the vent carefully and release any extra pressure.
Remove the lid. Press the chickpeas with a spoon and they should flatten and get mashed easily.
Cool and taste a few chickpeas. If they have a firm bite in the center, this means that they are undercooked.
If the chickpeas are cooked perfectly, carefully drain all the water and set cooked chickpeas aside.
Cooking Chickpeas in a stovetop pressure cooker
Add the rinsed and soaked chickpeas, 1 teaspoon salt and 3 cups water in a 3 liter stovetop pressure cooker.
On medium to medium-high heat, pressure cook for 12 to 15 minutes or until the chickpeas are tender. When the pressure settles down naturally, then only open the lid.
Drain all the water and set cooked chickpeas aside.
Make lemon dressing
In a mixing bowl, take all the ingredients listed under "For Lemon Dressing".
With a wired whisk mix thoroughly.
Make Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
Add the cooked chickpeas.
Add the finely chopped onions and the chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, red bell peppers. Also add finely chopped green olives and kalamata olives or black olives.
Add 3 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves or cilantro (coriander leaves).
Toss and mix the chickpeas, veggies and olives with the dressing.
Check the seasonings and add more lemon juice, salt or paprika or black pepper if needed.
Serve Chickpea Salad immediately garnished with finely chopped parsley or coriander leaves. Do not refrigerate or store the salad as on resting the veggies release water.
Notes
If using canned chickpeas, add 3 cups of canned chickpeas. First drain all the liquids from the cans. Rinse chickpeas a few times in water. Make the lemon dressing and add rinsed chickpeas together with the chopped veggies, olives to it. Mix and serve.
If making the salad with dried chickpeas, make sure to use chickpeas that are within their expiry date.
This same salad can be made with cooked kidney beans, black eyed beans, pinto beans and fava beans. If you can get black chickpeas, make the salad with these and it will be delicious.
Use either fresh herbs or dried herbs or a mix of both depending on what is available to you.
Easily cut down on the seasonings and ground spices according to your taste buds.