Yes, vegetarian chicken salad is kind of a misnomer. No chickens were harmed in the making of this salad. Instead, this salad uses chickpeas! (Probably my favorite bean, at least for today.) 
Mike’s sister first told us about chickpea “chicken” salad. She made some for us. It was great. We even asked for the recipe. And then, we never got around to making it. Until yesterday, when Mike asked if we could make it for lunch. I’m very glad he asked.
- 2 15-ounce cans of chickpeas (~3 cups), drained and rinsed
- 2 stalks of celery, diced
- 1/4 cup diced red onion
- 1/4-1/3 cup mayo, miracle whip, or veganaise
- 1 heaping tablespoon dill relish
- 1 heaping tablespoon dijon mustard
- freshly cracked black pepper
- Place the chickpeas in a large bowl and lightly mash. (Some chickpeas whole and some pretty smashed.)
- Stir in the celery and onion.
- Then add the mayo, relish, mustard and pepper to taste. Mix well. Serve.
(Makes about 4 cups)
It’s probably best to think of the above proportions as general guidelines. Just keep adding a little of this and a little of that until it tastes right. Or if you had a chicken salad recipe you enjoyed, follow those proportions.
I added some sliced cucumber and made mine into a sandwich. You could serve it over lettuce or greens for a faux chicken salad salad. Or just eat it plain out of a bowl. It’s that good.
This recipe is being shared in Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Real Food Weekly, Full Plate Thursday, Seasonal Sunday and My Legume Love Affair hosted by Aqua at Served With Love.
Looking for More Gluten-Free Vegetarian Recipes?
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I recommend The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen, by Donna Klein.
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- More than 200 tasty recipes,
- Numerous tips for succesful gluten-free cooking and baking, and
- Nutritional information (calories, grams of protein, fat, carbs, etc.) for every recipe.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Yay, chick(pea)en salad! I love that stuff. I make it every year as my birthday dinner–it’s so summery! I’ve been adding white wine or apple cider vinegar lately; but I’ve been adding vinegar to everything lately.
I love the black backdrop in that first photo!
Ha, just the same countertop that’s in the background of every picture. For whatever reason the lighting was such that you can’t see the pattern.
I bet vinegar adds nice zing. I saw a lot of recipes that called for lemon juice.
I love that this recipe is so adaptable. You can add in whatever fruits or nuts or berries that you like.
I can see why you are one of the first adoptees for this month’s Adopt a Gluten-Free Blogger. Johnna will have lots of recipes to pick from. This salad looks fab and I’m not even a vegetarian-just a chickpea lover. Can’t wait to see what she tries. Are you on Twitter?
Hi Wendy,
Thank you, and I do have an account but it’s been dormant for a long time. I keep telling myself I’ll start it up again. When I get around to it, I’ll make sure to look for you.
Please do. There are lots of us GF types hanging out on Twitter.
Hi Kalinda,
I am going to love your Chicken Salad.The Chick Peas with that veggie combination is great. I can’t wait to make this. Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and hope to see you next week!
Miz Helen
This looks great. I’ve been trying to go meatfree at least one day a week. I’ve started a linky party to try and get some ideas if you would like to link up.
http://pennypinchingprovisions.blogspot.com/2011/06/meatfree-monday-3-strawberry-crepes.html?showComment=1308570692846#c8832234191028549951
YUMMM! Trying this tomorrow!!
Sometimes I like to add a hint of apple cider vinegar.
I love eating salads like this with veggies, too. I like celery, but will try cucumber, too.
@Robin: I’ll have to check it out.
@Carolyn: We need to do another cooking date soon. Everyone loves the guacamole.
Yummy! It’s on my list for this week. I have a huge jar of mayo that is staring at me in my fridge, begging for me to do something with it.
While I really can’t do chickpeas, this sounds SO good! Yum.
I kind of want to make it every day for lunch. Can you do other beans? As long as they’re fairly firm I think it would work. Maybe pinto beans?