This 15-Minute Salad is Half Falafel, Half Hummus, and 100% Delicious
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/20250522-SEA-ChickpeaSaladSandwiches-MaureenCelestine-Beauty2-34-6216384bdbf4437b97653186f3fff1fe.jpg?w=780&resize=780,470&ssl=1 "This 15-Minute Salad is Half Falafel, Half Hummus, and 100% Delicious")
Why It Works
- Using the food processor emulsifies the sauce and chops the chickpeas and vegetables into a cohesive, scoopable salad.
- Falafel-inspired flavors—tahini, lemon, garlic, cumin, coriander, and fresh herbs—give the salad depth and freshness.
- The salad is versatile: Serve it on crusty bread, in a pita, or as a topping for greens.
I’m a big fan of creamy, deli-style salads. Give me a classic tuna or egg salad on soft sandwich bread with buttery lettuce, and I’m a happy gal. But for an affordable, plant-based option, chickpeas can be transformed into just as satisfying and creamy a salad. Plus, I almost always have canned ones on hand in my pantry, ready to get lunch on the table fast.
Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine
It’s easy enough to pop open a can of chickpeas, mash them up a bit, stir in some mayo and seasonings, and call it a day—and trust me, I wouldn’t complain if they were served to me like that for lunch. But with a little extra effort, you can turn a delicious chickpea salad into a spectacular chickpea-salad sandwich. To do that, I draw inspiration from the flavors of falafel and hummus and toppings often served with it.—namely, garlicky tahini sauce, earthy cumin, bright coriander, and fresh lemon. The effort is minimal, it involves no deep frying, but still scratches that falafel itch.
A little bit of mayo helps add a velvety-smooth texture to the tahini and gives it a little extra tang, while still letting the tahini’s nuttiness shine through. Some chopped cucumbers and a generous handful of fresh herbs, meanwhile, add freshness, crunch, and color.
Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine
Nailing the Perfect Texture and Consistency
While you might balk at the idea of pulling out an appliance to make a quick lunch, it’s a helpful tool here, ensuring all the ingredients come together in no time to form a salad that is cohesive but still textured and pleasantly chunky. The processor does double-duty, first ensuring the oil-rich tahini-based sauce is creamy and fully emulsified and then efficiently chopping up the chickpeas and vegetables to the perfect spoonable, scoopable consistency—we want neither a smooth, hummus-like texture, nor loose whole chickpeas rolling right out of the sandwich and off your plate.
Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine
To build the sandwich, I love adding toppings like crisp lettuce, juicy tomatoes, lots of pickled red onions, and (if I’m feeling ambitious) a drizzle of spicy homemade zhug. But even without these additions, the result is a creamy, fresh, savory, and satisfying lunch. Best of all, it comes together in just a few minutes and lasts for days in the fridge so that I can enjoy it on repeat throughout the week.
This 15-Minute Salad is Half Falafel, Half Hummus, and 100% Delicious
Cook Mode
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1/3 cup (90 ml) tahini paste, stirred well before measuring
1/4 cup (60 ml) lemon juice from 2 lemons
2 tablespoons (30 ml) mayonnaise (see notes)
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for table salt use half as much by volume
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
2 tablespoons (30 ml) water
2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 Persian (mini) cucumbers or 1/2 English cucumber (about 4.5 ounces; 120 g total weight), halved and cut into 1-inch chunks (see notes)
1/2 cup (10 g) picked fresh parsley, mint, or cilantro leaves and tender stems (or a combination)
For the Sandwiches:
Hearty bread or pita pockets
Sliced or chopped tomatoes (optional)
Romaine or butter lettuce (optional)
Pickled red onions, turnips, or mixed vegetables (optional)
Zhug (optional)
For the Salad: In a food processor, combine tahini, lemon juice, mayonnaise, garlic, salt, cumin, and coriander and process until well combined, about 10 seconds. With processor running, slowly pour water through feed tube and process until a smooth, emulsified sauce forms, about 10 seconds.
Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine
Add the herbs, followed by the drained chickpeas and chopped cucumbers to prepared sauce in food processor. Pulse until well combined and broken down but still chunky, 5 to 7 pulses. Season to taste with salt, if needed.
Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine
For Making Sandwiches: Add about 1/2 cup chickpea salad to bread or stuff into pita pocket. Top with tomatoes, lettuce, pickled red onions or other pickled vegetables, and/or a drizzle of zhug, and serve.
Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine
Special Equipment
Food processor
Notes
Tahini tends to separate as it sits, with the solids sticking to the bottom of the container and the oil floating to the top. Make sure to scrape, stir, and shake well before measuring to ensure a good mix of both components.
If you don’t have cucumbers, celery is a good substitute in this salad.
To make this salad vegan, use vegan mayonnaise. For a homemade version, save the liquid from the chickpeas in this recipe to make our easy vegan mayonnaise with the aquafaba.
Make-Ahead and Storage
This salad can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
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