High-Protein Mediterranean Chickpea Salad

Name: High-Protein Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 2 cans chickpeas (drained and rinsed); 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes; 1 diced english cucumber (or 2 persian cucumbers); ½ thinly sliced small red onion; ½ cup pitted and halved kalamata olives; 6 oz feta, cut into small cubes; ¼ cup chopped fresh oregano (or parsley); ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil; 3 tbsp red wine vinegar; 1 minced garlic clove; 1 tbsp dijon mustard; 1 tsp dried oregano; salt to taste

In this post:

Why You’ll Love It
Key Ingredients
How to Make It
Victoria’s Tips
Storage & Meal Prep
FAQ
More Bean Salad Recipes
The Recipe
More Recipes To Try

I LOOVVE a greek salad, but it’s not quite enough to keep me full on its own as a lunch.

So I developed this high-protein Mediterranean chickpea salad. It’s basically a greek salad turned into a full meal. All the flavors you love, plus chickpeas that add a bunch of fiber and protein and make things just a bit more substantial.

Each serving has 20 grams of protein and 14 grams of fiber, and it takes just 10 minutes with zero cooking involved. That makes it a pretty ideal meal prep option.

I like to serve mine with whole wheat pita and some tzatziki, but you could also add some roasted potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, or even grilled chicken.

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Salad with chickpeas, feta, kalamata olives, and cherry tomatoes in a white serving bowl

Why You’ll Love It

No cook, very little effort. There’s not much involved in making this high-protein chickpea salad. Simply dice up some veg, whisk up a very simple dressing, and toss it all together.
10 minutes from start to finish. This isn’t a two-hour meal prep on a Sunday situation. This is something you can throw together quickly and enjoy the leftovers all week long.
Tastes better on days 2 and 3. Exactly the type of thing you want if you’re prepping your lunches for the week. The salad actually gets better as everything marinates in the dressing.
Budget-friendly. Two cans of chickpeas, half an onion, and some fresh veggies with a bit of feta. Covers your lunches for the week without breaking the bank.

Love bean salads? Try my High-Protein Mediterranean Dense Bean Salad. Lots of similar flavors but with a different spin.

Close-up of mediterranean chickpea salad with feta, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and red onion

Key Ingredients

The salad is so simple and easy to customize, but here are the basics.

Chickpeas are the heart of the salad and where a bunch of the protein and fiber come from. I used to believe all beans were created equal, but after taste testing several different cans of chickpeas, I highly recommend buying a good-quality bean.
Cherry tomatoes and cucumber. Pretty hard to make a Mediterranean-inspired salad without these two essentials.
Thinly sliced red onion. I guess you could say this is optional, but I think it’s pretty key here. If you don’t like the sharp bite of raw onion, I recommend soaking the slices in water for 10 minutes. They’ll be much milder but still provide flavor and crunch.
Kalamata olives bring so much salty, briny, delicious flavor, and each one is just a pop of flavor in every bite.
Feta. I like to buy the kind packed in brine and cube it myself. It’s creamier, tangier, and actually more economical as well.
Oregano. While you could swap this for the dried version, fresh oregano has such an amazing flavor, and just a little bit goes a long way. If you’re not a fan, parsley works too.
A simple greek dressing with olive oil, red wine vinegar, some fresh garlic, a bit of dijon, and dried oregano. Very classic.

Looking for a breakfast option? Try my High-Protein Mediterranean Breakfast Plate. It combines so many of my favorite Mediterranean flavors into one breakfast plate.

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How to Make It

This recipe takes just 10 minutes to make. Whisk the dressing, add the rest of the ingredients, toss, and enjoy.

Chickpea salad dressing ingredients with olive oil, red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, garlic, and oregano in a white bowl

Make the dressing
Whisk the olive oil, red wine vinegar, minced garlic, dijon, dried oregano, and salt right in your serving bowl until well combined and smooth.

Chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, kalamata olives, and red onion arranged in a white bowl before tossing

Add your salad ingredients
Rinse and drain the chickpeas, then add them to the bowl with your halved cherry tomatoes, diced cucumber, sliced red onion, and olives. Give everything a good toss.

Greek chickpea salad topped with cubed feta and chopped fresh parsley before mixing

Add your cubed feta and oregano
Gently fold everything together, making sure not to break apart the feta too much. Give it a taste and add more salt or vinegar to your desired flavor profile.

High-protein chickpea salad with cherry tomatoes, cucumber, feta, and kalamata olives in a white bowl

Toss and chill
30 minutes in the fridge helps everything marinate in the dressing. If you’re impatient, of course it can be eaten right away too.

For more Mediterranean flavors, try my Air Fryer Mediterranean Cod in Parchment Paper. It’s a super simple dinner that’s equally healthy and delicious.

Victoria’s Tips

Here are a few small things that take this from good to great.

Taste before you salt. Between the feta and the olives, this salad is partially salted already. I like to salt cautiously, mix, taste, and then adjust.
Thoroughly dry the chickpeas. I like to throw my chickpeas into a colander, give them a good rinse, then let them drain for quite some time so you don’t end up with a soggy salad. You can also pat them dry with a clean kitchen towel.
Buy feta in brine. If you want really flavorful, creamy feta, the kind that comes in a big block in brine is the way to go. If you don’t believe me, do a little blind taste test yourself and let me know in the comments if you can tell the difference.
Soak your red onion. If you’re not a big fan of raw onions, simply soak your thinly sliced red onion in cold water for about 10 minutes while you prep everything else. You’ll keep the flavor and the crunch, but lose the raw bite.

Greek chickpea salad lunch container with pita bread and greek yogurt dip

Storage & Meal Prep

This high-protein chickpea salad is built for meal prep. Simply store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days and give it a stir before serving. The flavor is actually even better on day 2, once everything’s marinated in the dressing.

If meal prepping for the week, I like to pack it into glass containers with a few pita wedges and a small container of tzatziki.

FAQ

What makes this chickpea salad high protein?

It’s the combination of chickpeas and feta that provide most of the protein here. And if you want even more, you can add some hard-boiled eggs or grilled chicken.

What can I use instead of feta?

If you’re not a fan of feta, goat cheese is an easy replacement, or you can leave it out altogether. You could also do some fried halloumi cubes.

How do I keep this salad from getting watery?

Make sure your chickpeas are fairly dry before you add them to the bowl, and use a smaller cucumber variety like english or persian. They’ll release less water as they sit.