Once upon a time there was a salad that didn't suck... and so it lived happily ever after... until I ate it. Muhahaha goodbye salad!
I love a good meal salad. I'm not talking about those lightly dressed greens on the side, I mean a hearty, satisfying, eat your veggies and lick your fingers kind of salad. This BBQ Chickpea Salad fits the bill.
First of all, I get to eat chickpeas, which is my #1 favourite bean (pea?) of them all. Sorry other beans, it's true. I ❤ chickpeas.
Secondly, I get to cover them in BBQ sauce, is there another explanation needed? I'll give one anyway: Recently some of my friends (amazingly awesome friends I might add), are trying to go vegan (see they're awesome). For any new vegan, I think using BBQ sauce or any other traditional "meat flavourings" (that sounds gross) on your food makes your meals more familiar and comforting. So BBQ sauce is a win-win.
Thirdly, you get to pack in a rainbow of vegetable colours. You know that's gonna be healthy by just looking at it. Eat the rainbow they say... no, not Skittles (although they are totally vegan).
Fourthly (is fourthly a thing?) I get to eat a ginormous bowl of food. I love eating ginormous bowls of food. Size matters.
Lastly, this salad meets all of my qualifications for what a good meal should be. Easy, healthy, satisfying, scrumptious, and totally vegan. Enough said, I need to eat this thing!
To make this salad, just simmer the chickpeas in some BBQ sauce until the sauce thickens and sticks to the chickpeas. Yummy saucy chickpeas. Then chop up all the veggies. A little drizzle of my Creamy Ranch Dressing, and you are looking mighty fine salad.
(click stars to vote)
BBQ Chickpea Salad
Servings: large meal sized Salads or 4 as a side salad
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Ingredients
- 1 19 oz can chickpeas (2 cups), drained and rinsed
- ½ cup My Favourite BBQ Sauce (page 209 in Fuss-Free Vegan), or store-bought vegan BBQ sauce
- 6 cups romaine lettuce, (two romaine hearts), chopped
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes,, halved
- 1 cup cucumber, sliced
- 1 cup corn kernel, (fresh or frozen and thawed)
- ¼ red onion,, thinly sliced
- 6 Tablespoons Vegan Creamy Ranch Dressing
- Lime wedges for garnish
Instructions
- Add the chickpeas to a saucepan with the BBQ sauce and put over medium heat. Let the chickpeas simmer in the sauce for about 5 to 10 minutes until the sauce thickens and sticks to the chickpeas. Remove from heat.
- Divide the lettuce among two large bowls. Then divide all of the vegetable and the BBQ chickpeas on top of the lettuce. I like to pile each ingredient in its own section so it looks pretty, but you can arrange it however you like. Drizzle with creamy vegan ranch dressing and garnish with a wedge of lime.
Nutrition
Bon Appetegan!
Sam.
Susan Viereck says
Looks delicious. I love chickpeas too. Also love baked crispy ones too.
KG says
Chickpeas simmered in BBQ sauce is such a game changer so glad I bought your book so I could find amazing twists like this for our regular dinner rotation. Thanks, Sam!
Jess @ It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken says
Yay! We're happy you enjoyed this salad and thanks for the cookbook support.
Danna says
I made a New Year's resolution to eat 50 salads in 2020 because I am trying to get over being a life long, self proclaimed salad hater (which, being a vegan, is...confusing, right?!). I made this salad for dinner tonight and it was AMAZING!!!!! I loved it so much and I will happily eat it for lunch again tomorrow (woo hoo, twofer!!).
I also mixed some soy curls in with the BBQ chickpeas which turned out really great, and I added some kale to the greens. Thanks for all the great recipes!!!
Sam Turnbull says
Aww that's wonderful!!!! SO happy you found a salad you love 🙂
Bill Fox says
Hi Sam,
I made this last night for dinner for a non-vegan friend. It was a hit. I squeezed a little of the lime as an experiment and that was good, too.
Cheers,
Bill
Sam Turnbull says
Wonderful!
Chris says
I have your cookbook and have made many recipes from it, but I wanted to let you know that I made the BBQ chickpea salad for the first time tonight and OMG, it was delicious!! I loved the combination so much, and better yet, my husband loved it and and even had two helpings! I think next time, I may double the amount of chickpeas because they’re SO yummy! We try to follow a no oil vegan diet and this checked all the boxes!
Sam Turnbull says
That's awesome, Chris! So thrilled you enjoyed it so much 🙂
Kate says
This was a delightful and quick Friday evening dinner! I absolutely love salads and BBQ, so this was a recipe that was calling my name the moment I saw it!! I didn't have all ingredients on hand to make Sam's DIY BBQ Sauce so I used TJ's brand in place of that. Miraculously the store was also out of red onions so I subbed regular yellow onions - tasted yummy still! This one's a winner and will become a staple in my house - I'm sure of it!
Sam Turnbull says
Wonderful!! So happy it was such a hit, Kate 🙂
Kayla says
What can I use in place of the chickpeas . I don't have any on hand .
Sam Turnbull says
Any bean should work.
Kayla says
Thank you very much !
Hedwig says
Oh My!!!!! Just made this for my lunch tomorrow, and just ate a bowl. So so good!!! I made your recipe of BBQ sauce and Ranch Dressing. Delicious, and the mix of those taste is so good, looking forward for my lunch!
Every recipe, either from this blog or your cookbook, are seriously good!
Thank you Sam for sharing them!
Sam Turnbull says
Aww that's so wonderful! Thrilled you are enjoying my recipes so much, Hedwig 😀
Sherry says
Hello,
I'm not Vegan or Vegetarian, but I email as many Vegan or Vegetarian meals as I can, but my husband a die hard meat eater, makes full Veganism virtually impossible. I made this salad with hope he'd love it, nope...but me, I LOVED it!!! It's the BEST salad I've ever had!!! I've convinced many friends on Facebook who saw my photo and rushed to get the recipe from this site, and more recipes than this one!
I have your book too, and noticed the online recipe has sour cream in the dressing, the book doesn't, in the book it's got 3T. milk and the online recipe is 1/2 cup. Just wondered why the change, to make a thicker dressing? The recipe online is very runny, thin, but it's very tasty, and spreads better I think.
Thank you for the recipe, it's very very good!!!
Sam Turnbull says
So happy you enjoyed it so much Sherry! When writing the book I realized it wasn't always easy to find vegan sour cream so I adapted the recipe to not include it. Both versions are great tho!
Vaishali says
Hi Sam,
I just noticed your picture of this recipe on a Facebook page. I thought i'll let you know just in case you want to take it up with them for using your picture and putting their own stamp on it. Here is the link:
https://www.facebook.com/mangatramdaal/?hc_ref=ART0VOv8B8PNMs7uvXPrdPm-WLBpeO1MZfbnVDsFFtA7CkqvViBhLPpY_aDf9RTwehE&fref=nf
Thanks
Vaishali.
Sam Turnbull says
Thanks so much for letting me know! I had them take it down.
D says
I just made this for lunch and it was AMAZING.
I served it on top of about 1/4 cup brown rice, and also added some avocado chunks. And the ranch dressing (which was somethingI missed terribly!), was so much better than the store-bought I last had (beforr giving up dairy).
Thank you for yet another delicious meal to add to my repertoire!
Sam Turnbull says
Yay! You're most welcome, D. So happy you enjoyed 🙂
Jwiltz says
Delicious, easy, yummy and beautiful recipe! Thank you!
Sam Turnbull says
Thrilled you enjoyed it so much, Jwiltz 🙂
Amanda says
Your BBQ sauce is the jam! I will never buy BBQ sauce again, never ever.
Sam Turnbull says
Hahaha! Love it! Thank you, Amanda 🙂