Cucumber Chickpea Salad with Balsamic Tahini Dressing

Ingredient notes and substitutions

Chickpeas ~ Chickpeas are a pantry staple and we have several savory vegan chickpea recipes on rotation every couple of weeks, like my Vegan Chickpea Salad, Spiced Chickpea Stew, Easy Chickpea Tacos, and Sloppy BBQ Chickpeas Sandwiches.

If you’re not a fan of chickpeas, you can use white beans, like cannellini or navy beans instead.

Cucumber ~ I prefer to use English cucumbers. They have very few seeds and don’t need to be peeled. They’re perfect in my Cucumber Edamame Salad, too!

If you have regular grocery store cucumbers, I suggest you peel them first as they usually have a waxy coating on them. Their seeds also tend to be large and tough, so use a spoon to scrape them out first before chopping.

Small Persian cucumbers would be great in this dish. They small enough that you don’t need to cut them in half. Just wash them well and slice thinly.

Tomatoes ~ Grape tomatoes are my favorite because of their size. You can leave them whole, but I like to slice them in half lengthwise to make them easier to pick up with a fork and also release some of their juices into the salad.

Onion ~ Red onion adds an extra color contrast and has a mild taste even when eaten raw.

Green onions would be great, too.

Herbs ~ The lemony flavor of parsley works really well in this dish. Fresh dill or cilantro would work instead. Just be sure to use fresh herbs, not dried, as it makes a huge difference in flavor in this simple chickpea salad.

Extras ~ I love that this salad has just a few simple ingredients, but you can certainly add some extras if you desire. Sliced olives, vegan feta, scallions, avocado or fresh dill would all be great.

For an Asian twist, try this Asian Cucumber Salad.

For the Dressing

You don’t even need to add a dressing to this Cucumber Chickpea Salad. A sprinkle of salt and squeeze of fresh lemon juice with the fresh herbs would be lovely on its own. But this easy balsamic tahini dressing adds an extra punch of flavor that is just so good!

Tahini ~ Tahini is a paste made from ground hulled sesame seeds and is always on my plant-based grocery list. Think peanut butter, but made from sesame seeds instead of peanuts.

Balsamic vinegar ~ Balsamic vinegar had a rich, sweet taste and is the perfect complement to bitter tahini.

Lemon ~ Fresh lemon juice brightens everything up.

Chop the cucumber and add it to a bowl with the chickpeas (1). Halve the grape tomatoes and add them to the bowl (2). Throw in the diced red onion and fresh chopped parsley (3). Toss the ingredients well to mix (4).

Finish the cucumber chickpea salad with some fresh cracked black pepper, and an extra sprinkle of salt and squeeze of lemon, if desired.

Storage and freezing

Fridge: Use as much or as little of the dressing as you desire.  Leftover dressing will store in an airtight container (I like to use mason jars) in the fridge for a couple of days.

If you are making the salad ahead of time, I recommend storing the dressing separate from the salad, but either way, the salad will keep in an air-tight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.

Freezer: I do not recommend freezing this cucumber chickpea salad.

Pro tips and tricks

~ Drain and rinse the canned chickpeas well.

~ Use an English cucumber or small Persian cucumbers to avoid the waxy coating on the skin that some grocery store cucumbers have.

~ Halve the grape tomatoes or quarter cherry tomatoes to make them bite size.

~ Use fresh herbs, not dried!

~ Finish the salad with fresh cracked black pepper and an extra sprinkle of salt and squeeze of lemon, if desired.

~ Add sliced olives, chopped avocado, or vegan feta for an extra punch of flavor, if desired.

~ If you don’t want to use the balsamic tahini dressing, sprinkle the salad with salt and pepper and squeeze fresh lemon juice over the top. Toss well.

~ Store the dressing separate from the salad if possible.

~ I do not recommend freezing this Cucumber Chickpea Salad.

FAQs