Creamy Chickpea Salad Sandwiches with Red Grapes & Toasted Pecans Recipe
Chickpeas, juicy grapes, crunchy pecans, and celery in a creamy lemon-dill dressing, piled into buttery croissants and devoured! This creamy Chickpea Salad Sandwich might just be the BEST (and easiest!) vegetarian sandwich!
Ingredients
For the chickpea salad:
- 1/2 cup pecans chopped and toasted
- 2 15-ounce cans chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1 cup diced celery about 2 stalks
- 1/4 cup finely diced red onion about 1/2 small onion
- 1 cup red grapes quartered
For the dressing:
- 2/3 cup Greek yogurt can substitute sour cream
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon fresh minced dill or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried dill
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt + more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper + more to taste
For the sandwiches:
- 6 croissants
Instructions
Toast the pecans
- Lightly chop the pecans and add them to a medium skillet over medium heat. Toast, stirring occasionally until fragrant and ever so lightly golden. Remove from heat. When toasting nuts, you want to be sure to remove them from the heat before you think you need to, because they will continue toasting off heat and can burn easily.
Prep chickpea salad ingredients
- To a large bowl, add the chickpeas, celery, onion, grapes, and toasted pecans. Toss gently to mix together.
Make the dressing
- To a small bowl, add the Greek yogurt, mayo, lemon juice, dill, salt, and pepper. Whisk together until combined.
Mix the salad
- Pour the salad dressing over the salad ingredients and combine well.
- Using a potato masher, mash the salad 3-4 times just to smash a few chickpeas then remix it all together. This will help it to be more homogenous and hold together better when inside the sandwich.
- Taste the chickpea salad and add more salt and pepper if desired.
Assemble sandwiches
- Slice croissants in half horizontally and add 3/4 cup to 1 cup of chickpea salad to the bottom half of the croissant. Top with other half. Cut in half vertically and serve.
Notes
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Vegan option:
The mayo and Greek yogurt make this non-vegan as-is, but a couple of simple swaps will get you there. I'd recommend vegan mayo and either store-bought or homemade vegan sour cream for the Greek yogurt.Gluten-free option:
Use a gluten-free croissant or a couple of slices of your favorite GF bread. Or just serve this up on a bed of lettuce and bypass the bread altogether.Meat option:
If you're making sandwiches for meat-eaters and vegetarians eating together, I'd divide the pecans, grapes, celery, and onion between two medium-size bowls. Add half the chickpeas to one and about a cup of cooked, chopped chicken to the other. Divide the dressing between the bowls and mix together. Voila! Chicken salad and chickpea "chicken" salad!Nutrition Facts
Serving: 1sandwich, Calories: 411kcal, Carbohydrates: 34g, Protein: 8g, Fat: 27g, Saturated Fat: 9g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g, Monounsaturated Fat: 9g, Trans Fat: 0.03g, Cholesterol: 45mg, Sodium: 708mg, Potassium: 244mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 12g, Vitamin A: 536IU, Vitamin C: 4mg, Calcium: 65mg, Iron: 2mg