Chickpea Chicken Salad with Tahini-Mustard Dressing

What's great about a flexitarian recipe like this is that it doesn't have to be all or nothing. You can easily shift it toward vegan by leaving out the chicken, or keep it more traditional by adding chicken in. It's also an ideal recipe when cooking for a crowd with mixed dietary needs: tahini instead of mayo makes it dairy-free, and removing the chicken keeps it vegan.

Author: Balancing Bowls

Meal Type: Milk Free

Cuisine: American

Difficulty: EASY

Prep. Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time:

Total Time: 15 minutes

Servings: 8 Servings

Calories: 357 kcal per serving

Ingredients

3 cans - chickpeas
2 ribs - celery
¼ cup - red onion or shallot
½ cup - dried cranberries
½ cup - walnuts
1 - apple
6 tablespoons - tahini
4 tablespoons - water
2 tablespoons - olive oil
2 teaspoons - Dijon mustard
6 tablespoons - lemon juice
2 - lemons
1 tsp - kosher salt
1 tsp - black pepper

Instructions

In a small bowl, whisk together tahini, water, olive oil, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and pepper until smooth. Add more water as needed to thin.
In a large mixing bowl, combine chickpeas, celery, red onion, cranberries, walnuts, and apple.
Pour the dressing over the salad mixture and stir until evenly coated.
Taste and adjust with extra lemon juice, salt, or pepper to your liking.
Replace 1½ cans of chickpeas with 8 oz cooked, chopped chicken.
To serve both versions at once, split the recipe base after combining the celery, onion, cranberries, walnuts, and apple. Use 1½ cans of chickpeas in one bowl for the vegan version, and in a second bowl, combine 1½ cans of chickpeas with 8 oz cooked chicken. Divide the dressing evenly between both bowls and toss to coat.

Nutrition