This chopped chickpea salad has bulgur wheat, crunchy veggies, feta cheese, and a delicious honey lemon vinaigrette. A delicious vegetarian salad that tastes even better on day 2!
Just like our caprese chicken salad meal prep bowls, or these butternut squash jar salads - this chopped chickpea salad is a great choice for a no-heat meal prep lunch!
Filled with mediterranean flavors, this chopped chickpea salad is packed with wholesome ingredients for the perfect blend of flavors and textures: salty feta, crunchy veggies and a tangy vinaigrette. Inspired by a classic tabouli salad, but made with ingredients that hold up well for meal prep.
Best of all, it tastes even better on day 2, after the ingredients have absorbed the dressing. Pack this salad to go for your work lunch, a picnic, or your next potluck!
reasons you'll love this recipe
- it's a delicious vegetarian meal
- it is very meal prep friendly and tastes even better on day 2!
- it is loaded with veggies, but leaves you feeling full
recipe video
While this recipe is super simple to prep, sometimes it helps to have a visual. Watch the video below to see exactly how I prepped this salad. You can find more of my recipe videos on my YouTube channel.
Ingredient notes
- Bulgur Wheat - find this with the rice/grains or the health foods section of your grocery store. Bulgur contains gluten, so if you'd like a GF alternative, swap for an equal volume of quinoa!
- Chickpeas - use a can or cook your own from scratch. See our Instant Pot chickpeas recipe here!
- Veggies - we used celery, radish, red onion, and bell peppers. Chop them up nice and small.
- Feta Cheese - this adds such a delicious salty/briny flavor to the salad. Do not skip!
- Lemon Vinaigrette- we used our favorite white wine vinaigrette and jazzed it up with a little lemon zest. Simple, tangy and so good on this salad.
Step by step directions
Cook Bulgar
Cook bulgur according to package directions and allow to cool.
Vinaigrette
Shake together all vinaigrette ingredients including olive oil, white wine vinegar, honey, dijon mustard, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
Assemble
Toss together all salad ingredients including the bulgar, chickpeas, feta cheese, celery, pepper, radish, and onion.
Add Dressing
Drizzle with dressing, toss to combine, and enjoy!
FAQ
Sure! You could swap for quinoa or rice (same amount). Or you could leave it out (reduce the amount of vinaigrette you use though).
Sure! You could swap for black beans, lentils, or edamame for another source of vegetarian protein.
Due to the bulgur wheat, this recipe is not gluten-free. You could swap the bulgur for quinoa to make it GF!
Storage + meal prep
Chopped chickpea salad keeps really well for meal prep! Here's how to store it:
- Portion out into 2 cup meal prep containers
- Store in sealed containers in the fridge for up to 4 days. (It will not freeze well).
- This salad keeps well after tossing in the vinaigrette!
Did you make this? Tag me on social @sweetpeasandsaffron and be sure to leave a comment and rate the recipe!
Chopped Chickpea Salad (Make Ahead)
Video
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup bulgur uncooked
- 15 oz can of chickpeas drained and rinsed
- ½ cup feta cheese crumbled
- 3 ribs celery finely chopped
- 1 bell pepper finely chopped
- ½ cup radish finely chopped
- ¼ red onion finely chopped
Honey Lemon Vinaigrette:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
Instructions
- Cook - cook bulgar according to package directions and allow to cool.
- Vinaigrette - Shake together all vinaigrette ingredients including olive oil, white wine vinegar, honey, dijon mustard, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
- Assemble - Shake together all vinaigrette ingredients including olive oil, white wine vinegar, honey, dijon mustard, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
- Add dressing - Drizzle with dressing, toss to combine, and enjoy!
Tips:
Nutrition Information
© Sweet Peas & Saffron - Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
Hi, I'm Annie. With a Bachelor of Science degree, a minor in nutrition and nearly 20 year of both classical training, and self-taught experience, I've spent my career proving that home cooking can be practical, delicious and inspiring. What started in 2013 as one food blog has grown into a full-time business. Today, my husband Clayton and I run five food websites that connect with millions of home cooks every month.
When I'm not in the kitchen or behind the camera, I'm using fueling my love of travel, or chasing down new ideas that keep food fun and fresh.
Nikki says
Amazing salad! I added some fresh parsley and mint and topped it with toasted slivered almonds - so good and healthy!
Andrea says
Simple, very flavorful, and an easy way to add a lot of veggies to a meal.
Jasmine @ Sweet Peas & Saffron says
Hi Andrea, that's what we're all about: simple and flavourful! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a rating and review! 🙂
Melissa says
Not usually the type of salad I eat but I LOVED IT. Couldn’t find bulgur wheat as I live in small community which the stores don’t carry that so used Quinoa. So easy and so happy about these homemade dressings, where you know what goes into them and so few ingredients.
Denise Bustard says
Hi Melissa! I'm so happy to hear this because this is one of my all time faves! Thanks so much for taking the time to come back and leave a review 🙂
Liv Christine Klem Rønning says
hi, i was wondering why it can`t be frozen?
Denise Bustard says
Hi! Freezing this recipe will change all the textures: the veggies will soften and the bulgur may get mushy.
Katelyn says
I love this recipe!!! I don’t have access to a microwave at work, so cold lunches like this are perfect. Just made a big batch of this yesterday for lunches for the week! I doubled the recipe to have enough for both me and my husband. I also subbed the bulgar for farrow since that’s what was in my pantry. It came out amazing!! I also love how versatile it is, we were planning on putting it into wraps or serving with lettuce in a salad. It’s also such an easy recipe, I love that you don’t really have to cook anything besides the grains! Will definitely be making this again, thank you!
Denise says
Hi Katelyn, I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed it. This is one of my faves!
Carla says
Made this for my husband the other day, he loved it! It was definitley refreshing and yummy, and I would make it again! I added some chopped cucumber, too! This is a fabulous recipe and awesome meal prep! 🙂
Denise says
Hurray! I'm so happy to hear this, Carla. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review 🙂
Bethany says
Just made these for lunch. Put the dressing on the bottom (below the beans) so I didn’t have to bring dressing to work. SO GOOD!! Definitely a new favorite in my lunch rotation. Thank you!!!
Denise says
So happy you enjoyed, Bethany! It's honestly one of my favorite recipes 🙂
Kathy says
Loved it! Made it with couscous because that is what I had in my pantry...ohhhh, so good...even Hubby loved it! Will try with bulgar next time...thanks for a great recipe!
Denise says
Nice! So happy you enjoyed, Kathy 🙂
JB says
Do you have the nutrition facts if the Bulgar was omitted? Just looking for calorie count specifically. Thank you!
Denise says
Hi JB, unfortunately I do not. You could try putting it through a calorie counter like My Fitness Pal 🙂
Adam says
Loved this salad!
Denise says
So happy to hear that, Adam!
Emma says
What could I use instead of white wine vinegar? Rice vinegar?
Thanks!
Denise says
You could go with any vinegar...red would be good, but I bet rice vinegar would work as well!
Rebecca says
Made this today and ate it one of the servings today. Was good, but will be so much better tomorrow once everything has a chance to marry in the dressing. I have to get used to the serving sizes, have realized I am over eating at lunchtime! Ate the salad with some fruit and drank a lot of water. Thanks for the great recipe.
Denise says
I love letting this salad sit before eating, that's normally how we meal prep at our place. Glad you enjoyed and hope you enjoy it more tomorrow!
Rebecca says
Loved it the next day! Had some leftover steak from dinner and added it. Looking forward to trying out more recipes! Love having lunch ready to go in the fridge.
Karen says
Another great meal prep recipe. Keep them coming!
Denise says
Thanks, Karen!
Natasha Shepherd says
I cannot wait to try this! New to meal prep and this recipe will be my first meal prep lunch. It looks great. I love the idea of meal prep as not only is it convenient but it's a great way to have waste free meals.
Denise says
I hope you enjoy it, Natasha 🙂
Angela MO says
Coul you please give Us a suggestion to replace bulgur. My kids....thank you
Denise says
You can use quinoa, barley or even rice!
Cheryl Foster says
Israeli couscous is good too.
Shaw says
Thanks for the recipes, always help my student life trying to avoid the junk food.
I changed one thing. I hate celery so I exchanged for Avocado. It was great.
Denise says
Glad you enjoyed it, Shaw!