Meet your new favorite summer salad: herby chickpea salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, and toasted pine nuts. Bring it to the potluck, make it for the BBQ, pack it away for the week ahead. It’s fresh, light, and oh so satisfying!

Lemony herby chickpea salad in a large bowl.

Nearly every other week, I make a batch of these slow-cooker chickpeas. I am always astonished by how delicious the chickpeas taste straight from the pot: perfectly cooked and seasoned, all for about five minutes of effort.

In the winter, those chickpeas often become this curry or these taco bowls, and in the summer, I dress them with this cilantro-lime vinaigrette or toss them into this favorite chopped salad.

My latest favorite use for them is in this herby tabbouleh-inspired salad, loaded with chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, and toasted pine nuts, dressed in a lemon vinaigrette. Whereas tabbouleh is known for being very lemony and parsley-dominant, this salad isn’t quite as sharp or herby, intentionally so as my children don’t love a very acidic dressing.

The good news is that you can tailor this salad to your liking with more herbs, lemon, and veggies of all kind. This time of year, I could eat this salad morning, noon, and night — it is so refreshing, so satisfying, and just so darn tasty, perfect for summer lunches, BBQ side dishes, or packing for the week ahead.

How to Make Herby Chickpea Salad, Step by Step

First, gather your salad ingredients: cooked chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, parlsey, chives, pine nuts and salt.

Ingredients to make lemony herby chickpea salad.

And your dressing ingredients: honey, white balsamic, lemon, salt, and extra-virgin olive oil.

A bottle of honey, olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, salt and a lemon on a countertop.

Start by making your dressing: in a large bowl, whisk together the honey, fresh lemon juice, white balsamic vinegar, and salt:

A large bowl filled with honey, white balsamic vinegar, fresh lemon juice, and salt all whisked together.

Then stream in the olive oil, whisking constantly, until emulsified:

A large bowl filled with honey, white balsamic vinegar, fresh lemon juice, salt, and extra-virgin olive oil all whisked together.

Directly to this bowl, add 3 cups of cooked chickpeas (or two 15-oz cans, drained and rinsed):

A large bowl filled with chickpeas tossed in a lemon vinaigrette.

Toss the chickpeas in the dressing, then add the tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, and toasted pine nuts:

A large bowl filled with chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, toasted pine nuts, and lemon vinaigrette.

Add fresh chives and parsley, and season with salt to taste:

A large bowl filled with chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, toasted pine nuts, chopped chives, chopped parsley, and lemon vinaigrette.

Toss to combine, taste, then adjust with more salt or fresh lemon to taste:

Lemony herby chickpea salad all tossed together.

Transfer to a serving dish…

Lemony herby chickpea salad in a large bowl.

… or spoon into storage jars and stash in the fridge for 1-2 days:

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Lemony herby chickpea salad in a large bowl.

Herby Chickpea Salad with Tomatoes, Cucumbers & Toasted Pine Nuts

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Description

Notes:

  • Salt: I use Diamond Crystal kosher salt. If you are using Morton or fine sea salt, use half as much.
  • Chickpeas: I cannot encourage you all enough to make these slow cooker chickpeas: they are SO delicious straight from the pot and so nice to have on hand for chickpea dishes of all kinds. Also: they take five minutes to assemble. Often I make them right before I go to bed (if I need the chickpeas to be ready first thing in the morning) or I do this first thing in the morning (if I want them in time for dinner). If you do not own a slow cooker, here’s my guide for cooking chickpeas from scratch stovetop or in the Instant Pot. 

Ingredients

For the dressing:

  • 2 teaspoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 1 lemon)
  • 1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt, see notes above
  • 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

For the salad:

  • 1/2 cup pine nuts
  • 3 cups cooked chickpeas, see notes above, or two 15-oz cans of chickpeas drained and rinsed
  • 3 cups halved cherry tomatoes
  • 2 cups diced cucumber (from 1 English cucumber)
  • 1 cup diced red onion (from 1 small onion)
  • 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt, see notes above
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh chives
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
  • flaky sea salt to taste

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, whisk together the honey, white balsamic vinegar, fresh lemon juice, and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Stream in the olive oil, whisking constantly, until emulsified.
  2. Place the pine nuts in a small skillet and set over low heat on the stovetop. Toast the nuts slowly while you prep the salad, and stir them occasionally. Remove the nuts from the heat when they are lightly browned and smell nutty.
  3. To the large bowl of dressing, add the chickpeas. Toss the chickpeas with the dressing to coat, then add the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, the 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, the toasted pine nuts, and the herbs. Toss  to combine, then taste. Add more kosher salt or flaky sea salt to taste if it tastes under seasoned. Add more lemon or vinegar if you are looking for more acidity/bite. 
  4. Transfer to a serving bowl or transfer to storage vessels and store in the fridge for 1 to 2 days. Note: It won’t go bad after 2 days, but it does begin to tire after 2 days.
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Category: Salad
  • Cuisine: Amerian