Spruce up your lunch by adding this avocado chickpea salad to your menu! Made with creamy feta and zesty lemon juice, it can be made in less than 15 minutes. With minimal ingredients, it’s simple, healthy and delicious! {Gluten-free & vegetarian}
If you’re on the hunt for a new delicious lunch option, this avocado chickpea salad recipe is pretty hard to top.
Don’t you love a good recipe that has a short ingredients list but still tastes amazing?! Those are honestly my favourite types of recipes, and even better when there’s no cooking involved!
This vegetarian recipe is so versatile. It’s great piled onto sandwiches for a quick bite, added to salads, pita and lettuce wraps, or, just eaten right out of the bowl with a spoon!
Say hello to your new favourite easy lunch!
Be sure to try these Chickpea Burgers with Oats and this Asparagus Couscous Salad too!
Table of Contents
Why Make this Healthy Chickpea Recipe
- Everyone who tries it, loves it! This chickpea avocado salad is so popular, and it’s not hard to see why! Full of fresh flavours, it’s amazing to enjoy for cold lunches or those summer picnics. And it’s great for all ages!
- Quick and easy: It takes no more than 15 minutes to make up a batch of this salad, so really there’s no excuses not to whip up this recipe.
- Healthy: Loaded with fibre, protein, iron and healthy fats, this meatless recipe is a great addition to a well balanced diet and will keep you feeling full and satisfied.
- Simple ingredients: This recipe is super budget-friendly requiring only a few basic ingredients and it’s easy to make a big batch to enjoy over a couple of days.
Ingredient Notes
- Chickpeas: I use canned chickpeas for ease and convenience. Use ones with no added salt and drain and rinse them well before using. You can also cook chickpeas from scratch if you prefer.
- Avocado: Use ripe avocados but not overripe ones that are brown and mushy. They should give slightly when you gently squeeze them in the palm of your hand.
- Green onion: For a mild onion flavour. You can also used chives or diced red onion for a slightly sharper flavour.
- Parsley: For a burst of fresh herby flavour. You can also use other fresh herbs like cilantro or dill.
- Feta cheese: Feta cheese adds a nice creamy texture and slightly briny flavour. Goat cheese would work well too. You can also leave out the cheese if you wish to keep the recipe dairy-free.
- Lemon juice: Use fresh lemon juice rather than bottled for the zingiest taste.
Step by Step Instructions for this Simple Chickpea Salad
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Remove skins on chickpeas if desired (see FAQs for easy tips)!
- Place all of the ingredients for the salad in a large bowl.
- Toss to combine.
Recipe Tips
- If you plan to make this avocado chickpea salad in advance (i.e. keeping it in the fridge for longer than a day), I recommend adding the avocado in right before serving to keep it fresh and help prevent browning.
- For best results, use an avocado that’s ripe but still slightly firm to prevent it from being too brown and mushy when mixed into the salad. You know the avocado is ripe if it yields to firm gentle pressure. It should feel lightly soft but not “mushy” to the touch.
Recipe FAQs
Should I remove the chickpea skins?
When it comes to the chickpea skins, you can either leave them on or remove them. It’s totally a personal preference, but I tend to like to remove them, or at least most of them if I see them floating around in the salad.
The good news is that this step doesn’t require much effort and can be kinda fun if you’ve got a little bit of extra time on your hands!
To remove the skins: Place chickpeas in a bowl of water. Run your hands gently over the chickpeas to remove any skins. The skins should float to the surface.
Dump out the water and add the chickpeas to the salad. Once again, not 100% necessary, but worth it if you’re not a fan of the skins.
Can I use cooked chickpeas?
Yes! It may take a little bit longer to prepare the recipe, but it definitely can be done.
If you opt for this method, you’ll need about two cups of cooked chickpeas to be used in place of the canned chickpeas.
How long does it keep?
You can keep this salad in the fridge for up to three days, however, you may wish to add the avocado into the salad right before serving if you plan to hold it in the fridge beyond a day so that it doesn’t go brown.
Generally, the avocado should stay pretty good and fresh for day one due to the presence of the lemon juice, but by days two and three, the browning starts to make an appearance. For this recipe, we want that avocado to stay nice and green for optimal taste and presentation.
How do you ripen a hard avocado?
The best way to speed up the ripening process is to place the firm avocado(s) in a paper bag such as a brown paper lunch bag or grocery bag along with a ripe banana or apple and then loosely fold the paper bag closed. The ethylene from the fruit can help speed up the ripening process.
Dietary Information
You knew this was coming, right? You can’t make a chickpea avocado salad without chatting about all of the nutrients found in that bowl!
And this salad is LOADED.
This salad is rich in:
- Protein
- Fibre
- Iron
- Folate
- Manganese
- Copper
- Vitamin C
- Monounsaturated fats
It also happens to be low on the glycemic index, which means less of a spike in your blood sugar levels, which can result in a healthier and happier you.
Serving Suggestions for Chickpea Feta Salad
Beyond the overall taste and nutrients, one of my favourite aspects of this salad is its overall versatility. You can serve it on its own or along with SO many things.
Try serving this salad:
- On a bed of greens
- On a whole-grain or gluten-free wrap (if required)
- On bread as a sandwich
- On a lettuce wrap
- In a pita
- Along with crispy pita chips
- With whole-grain crackers
- All by itself!
More Salad Recipes
- Tuna Avocado Salad
- Mediterranean Chickpea Salad with Feta
- Avocado Egg Salad
- Steak and Avocado Salad
- Greek Lentil Salad
- Chickpea Pesto Pasta Salad
Did you make this recipe? Scroll down to leave a rating and review!

Avocado Chickpea Salad
Ingredients
- 1 540mL/19oz can no salt-added chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 2 ripe avocados diced
- 2 tbsp chopped green onion
- 1/3 cup parsley or cilantro finely chopped
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
- Juice of one lemon (about 4 tbsp lemon juice)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a large bowl and mix until combined.
- Serve immediately or store in the fridge for up to three days.*
Notes
- *If you plan to make this salad in advance (i.e. keeping it in the fridge for longer than a day), I recommend adding the avocado in right before serving to keep it fresh and help prevent browning.
- For best results, use an avocado that's ripe but still slightly firm to prevent it from being too brown and mushy when mixed into the salad. You know the avocado is ripe if it yields to firm gentle pressure. It should feel lightly soft but not “mushy” to the touch.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally posted October 2019 and was updated in July 2021 to include better tips and photos.
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Love this one! thank you so much for sharing!
My pleasure! Thanks for stopping by!