Vegan Chickpea Salad Sandwich (No Mayo)

This vegan chickpea salad sandwich recipe is one of my all-time favorite lunches! It all starts with the sandwich filling, which is so versatile, creamy and delicious. Use on your favorite bread, lettuce leaf or tortilla wrap!

Made without mayonnaise, this simple meal is quickly prepared with ingredients like hummus and pickles for an unbeatable flavor. Make a batch for multiple people, or just have it yourself for a week’s worth of lunches!

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Are Chickpea Salad Sandwiches Vegan?

Chickpea salad is a great substitute for vegans who want to replicate a taste and texture that resembles egg salad or tuna sandwiches.

While this recipe doesn’t try to be a vegan egg salad or tuna sandwich, it’s an excellent high-protein meal that’s packed with flavor. Using hummus, in place of mayo, packs in plenty of extra flavor while creating a creamy sandwich filling.

Vegans could make a mayonnaise-based chickpea salad, but not everyone has access to (or enjoys) vegan mayo. If that’s you, I hope you enjoy this variation of chickpea salad!

Chickpea Salad Sandwich Ingredients (No Mayo)

To make this epic chickpea salad sandwich recipe, you’ll need the following vegan ingredients:

• Chickpeas: Most of the recipe’s volume is made from mashed chickpeas. You’ll start with one 19-ounce can of drained and rinsed chickpeas (or cook your own) and mash them to your desired consistency. I like mine finely mashed, but others may like it chunkier!
• Celery: Finely chopped celery adds an incredibly satisfying crunch to this vegan sandwich filling. While mild in taste, this adds a lot of texture to the mix.
• Onion: Like celery, onion adds a nice crunch, but it also adds lots of flavor.
• Pickles: Another amazing add-in, pickle brings a salty, tangy and vinegary bite to the chickpea filling. The recipe uses chopped pickles and pickle juice to bring a unique depth of flavor.
• Hummus: The ultimate replacement for no-mayo chickpea salad sandwiches, hummus makes for a creamy filling. Use a plain hummus for a classic chickpea flavor or use your favorite flavored hummus for more variety.
• Black pepper: A dash of black pepper further helps to enhance the recipe’s flavor profiles while providing some antioxidants.
• Seasoning salt: Along with the pepper I’d also suggest adding some salt. You could opt for table salt but using a seasoning salt with some added flavor helps to round out the sandwich filling nicely.

How to Make Easy Vegan Chickpea Salad

Go from start to sandwich-eating in less than 30 minutes! Follow the step-by-step instructions below to learn how to prepare this easy vegan lunch recipe.

Step 1: Mash Chickpeas

Start with a 19-ounce can of drained and rinsed chickpeas; if you plan to cook chickpeas from dry then make sure to follow my special directions below in the “substitutions and variations” section below!

There are two ways you can break down your chickpeas; in a food processor or using a masher. If you plan to use a food processor, go ahead and add all ingredients into that. Otherwise, consider using your best mashing/ crushing tool to break down the chickpeas.

I like to use a special serrated edge “cookie cutter” tool anytime I make this recipe. Its sharp points can easily stab and break apart pieces of chickpea. It’s quick and easy to use!

A potato masher or pastry cutter are also good options, although they can take longer to use than the tool I mention above.

Step 2: Add Flavor-boosting Ingredients

All remaining ingredients can be added to the mixing bowl full of mashed chickpeas. In any order, add your celery, onion, pickles, pickle juice, hummus, pepper and seasoning salt.

Stir these ingredients to thoroughly combine and coat the mashed chickpeas with loads of flavor.

Step 3: Prepare Sandwich

Finally, serve your vegan chickpea salad! It goes great on your favorite bread (I like a seedy or rye-based bread), in a lettuce or tortilla wrap, as part of a salad, or as a dip for crackers or vegetables!

If you’re making a chickpea salad sandwich, top with even more vegetables like:

• Avocado
• Lettuce/ leafy greens
• Tomato
• Mustard/ Dijon mustard
• Pickles
• Onion/ red onion
• Sliced cucumber

Vegan Chickpea Sandwich Variations

While there are many ways to eat this no mayo chickpea salad, you may want to tweak a couple ingredients to suit your tastes.

The easiest way you can do this is to adjust the type of hummus and pickles you use. There are so many flavor combinations you can achieve between these two ingredients, so have fun playing around and finding what’s best for you!

Are Canned or Home-cooked Chickpeas Better?

Cooking chickpeas from scratch may be less expensive but takes significantly longer which isn’t always practical. If you regularly cook your own legumes, or have a pressure cooker to speed up the process, go for it!

Canned chickpeas are a great choice when making this recipe. They’re almost always softer in texture and offer a creamier final product. It’s also easier to get the right amount every time you make this recipe!

How to Refrigerate Recipe Leftovers

Chickpea salad is an amazing recipe to prep and use for meals throughout the week. All ingredients are fine to leave in the fridge for up to a week, but you’ll likely eat it up within the first few days since it’s so yummy!

While you could make entire sandwiches and store them for grab-and-go meals, I prefer to make sandwiches as needed. This helps keep the bread as fresh and fluffy as possible; if you assemble the sandwiches and then let sit, some of the filling’s creamy moisture may soften your bread.

If you make this recipe, please rate and comment below to help others benefit from your experience!

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