Chickpea Blueberry Salad
This vegan blueberry chickpea salad is the perfect fit for warm summer nights when you’re craving something light for dinner. It’s quick and easy to make with just a few ingredients and is sure to be a new favourite!
Features
- This sweet and tart salad features fresh blueberries, red cabbage, greens, chickpeas, hemp seeds, cranberries and an easy tahini maple dressing.
- Dietary Features: Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, nut-free.
- Ready in 10 minutes!
- High in protein and fiber for a healthy main dish but makes a nice, light side salad too.
- Pair it with my sweet potato black bean burger or quinoa beet burger for the perfect summer meal!
Ingredient Notes
A complete list of ingredients with amounts and full instructions is located in the printable recipe card below. This section covers ingredient and substitution considerations.
- Tahini: The dressing is made with tahini, lemon and a bit of maple syrup. Good tahini makes a big difference here! It should be very smooth and creamy, almost pourable, with a slightly sweet taste and it should not be overly bitter. I like Soom and Arz Fine Foods.
- Maple Syrup: The dressing calls for sweetener to balance the lemon juice and add a subtle sweetness that works well with the blueberries, however, if you’d like the recipe to be sugar-free, you can omit the maple syrup. I will also include some alternative dressing recipes below.
- Greens: Any greens work. You can use finely chopped and massaged kale, spinach, arugula, romaine or any mixed leafy greens.
- Cabbage: The recipe calls for red cabbage but green cabbage would also work.
- Cranberries: For a lower-sugar recipe, these can be omitted. Substitutions include raisins or chopped dried apricots or dates.
- Hemp Seeds: These add texture, healthy fats and a little protein. You can leave them out or swap them for walnuts, slivered almonds, sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds.
- Chickpeas: Canned chickpeas work, just give them a good rinse before use.
- Blueberries: You’ll need fresh blueberries for this recipe. Blackberries or sliced peaches would also be good!
How to Make this Salad
This salad is super easy to make in just a few minutes! There’s no cooking involved. All you need to do is whisk together the dressing, chop the cabbage and assemble the salad.
Variations
- swap the hemp seeds for walnuts to make a blueberry walnut salad
- swap the mixed salad greens for baby spinach to make a spinach blueberry salad
- use raisins or chopped dates in place of the cranberries
- use fresh sliced strawberries or raspberries instead of blueberries or combine them, a strawberry blueberry salad would be amazing!
- try it with miso tahini dressing, balsamic vinaigrette or maple dijon dressing
Storing
- The salad without the dressing can be assembled ahead of time and stored in the fridge for 1-2 days.
- After dressing has been added, it’s best enjoyed fresh.
- The tahini maple dressing will keep for up to 1 week in the fridge. The dressing may separate a bit after storing or thicken considerably. If so, just give it a good stir and thin with a little water if needed.
Related Recipes
- Roasted Chickpea Avocado Salad
- Vegan BBQ Chickpea Salad
- Mediterranean Farro Salad Bowls
- Avocado Kale Salad with Creamy Basil Dressing
- Blueberry Spinach Salad
This salad is filling enough for a light main dish but can also be served as a side with these sweet potato black bean burgers or beet burgers. For a perfect summery meal, try my vegan blackberry crumble for dessert!
Did you try this recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Click here to leave a review.
PrintSummer Chickpea Blueberry Salad
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 0 mins
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 4
- Category: Salad
- Cuisine: Vegan
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Sweet, tart, crispy and tangy, this delicious salad is full of flavour, texture and nutrition. It’s high in fibre and protein and makes the perfect light summer meal that’s easy to make, no cooking required!
Ingredients
For the Tahini Maple Dressing
- 4 tbsp tahini (60 g)
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 3 tbsp as water, plus more as needed
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp sea salt, or to taste
For the Chickpea Salad
- 8 heaping cups of mixed salad greens, arugula or baby spinach (2 cups per salad)
- 4 cups very finely sliced red cabbage (1 cup per salad)
- 1 cup dried cranberries or raisins (1/4 cup per salad)
- 12 tbsp hemp seeds (3 tbsp per salad, substitute walnuts)
- 19 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (1/2 cup per salad)
- 2 cups fresh blueberries (1/2 cup per salad)
Instructions
- To make the tahini dressing, whisk all the ingredients together until smooth. Start with 3 tbsp water and slowly add more as needed until it’s thick and creamy but pourable.
- I like to make this salad as individual servings but you can also make it in one large mixing and then divide it between 4 servings. To make as individual portions, start with a bed of 2 cups of greens in each bowl. Top each with equal amounts of the rest of the ingredients.
- Top each with a generous drizzle of the tahini dressing.
- Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 388
- Fat: 16 g
- Carbohydrates: 54 g
- Fiber: 16 g
- Protein: 19 g
Keywords: blueberry chickpea salad, blueberry salad
Originally published August 22, 2018.
One of my top salads to make. Delicious and filling.
★★★★★
Delicious! I subbed cannellini beans because I was out of chickpeas. I’ll add nuts for some added crunch next time.
★★★★★
Just finished eating this and had to review right away. I loved how this turned out. Honestly I love any salad with abundant toppings. I made a couple adjustments based on my preferences, so I used very thin tahini and only 3 tbsp water, which made a very light dressing. I used both pepitas & hemp seeds, added avocado and shelled pistachios and left off the raisins. Will definitely make this again.
★★★★★
Delicious!
★★★★★
Wonderful!! Ate two servings at one..haha. Thanks for this.
★★★★★
My husband and I have been eating a whole foods plant based diet for about 6 months. This is a yummy salad! We will enjoy this salad all summer long!
★★★★★
As soon as I saw this salad I had to make it and I’m so glad I did. I really enjoyed the tahini maple dressing and the freshness of the blueberries. I also added some grated carrot. DELICIOUS!!
★★★★★
Loved this combination, and I made it with my no-oil balsamic, dijon maple dressing. Huge hit!! I want to make it again using a different bean instead of chickpeas. What would you suggest???
★★★★★
I’d probably do white kidney beans, fava beans, navy beans or black-eyed peas!
Wow! This chickpea blueberry salad looks so delicious and healthy. Thank you so much for sharing such a great recipe!
You’re welcome. I hope you enjoy it.
So excited about that tahini dressing especially! And how many textures/colors/flavors are in that salad! Perfect to meal prep for lunches on the go 🙂
This salad was FANTASTIC!! Unfortunately, I didn’t have any chickpeas, which I LOVE, but I’ll be sure to include them next time. Had a little trouble with the dressing. It came out very thick like a paste – was stuck to the sides of the blender – so I kept adding more olive oil to try to get it to a liquid state. I was able to get it to mayonnaise consistency. Not sure what the problem was.
I will definitely be making this salad often! SCRUMPTIOUS!!!! Even my junk-food-junkie hubby like it!! SHOCKING! =D
★★★★★
This looks so fresh! I like the combination of flavors and also purple fruits/veggies are my favorite. Pinning and trying it soon!
★★★★★
What in interesting combination. Looks great. I mean those colors just LOOK healthy! I’m just imagining how good this would taste, actually I think i’ll add the ingredients to my shopping list right now! Thanks for posting 😉
I crave salads and smoothies when it’s hot! While I always love a good salad, I rarely drink smoothies any other time than in the summer. They are just so refreshing when it’s hot outside! This salad looks delicious- especially the dressing!
This looks so good!!
I love this–that dressing sounds divine!