The Absolute BEST Mediterranean Chickpea and Cucumber Salad

🧁 Servings: 6 | ⏱️ Prep: 15 mins | ❄️ Chill: 15 mins (optional) | ⚖️ Calories: 245 kcal

Hi everyone! I’m showing you how to make the absolute BEST Mediterranean Chickpea and cucumber Salad! This simple, healthy salad is just full of vibrant Mediterranean flavors, and it’s super easy to customize to your own personal taste preferences. Seriously, feel free to leave out or add in any ingredients to mix things up and really make this recipe your own.

Why You’ll Love This

• It’s the ultimate meal-prep recipe: This salad will stay good in the fridge for several days, so it’s great to make a big batch at the start of the week and enjoy it for quick, healthy meals the rest of the week!
• No cooking required: You just do a little chopping, whisk up a quick dressing, and you’re done. Perfect for hot days when you don’t want to turn on the stove.
• Highly customizable: Got a yellow bell pepper instead of green? Use it! Prefer parsley over basil? Swap it out! You can totally play around with the veggies and fresh herbs based on what you have in your fridge.

If you love this fresh, no-cook vibe, also try The Best Creamy Cucumber Salad or 3 Super Easy 5-Ingredient Salads You HAVE to Try!. They’re perfect quick wins!

What You’ll Need

Special Equipment:

• Large mixing bowl
• Small mixing bowl
• Whisk
• Sharp chef’s knife
• Cutting board

For the Salad:

• 30 oz Canned chickpeas (two 15-oz cans), rinsed, drained, and patted dry
• 1 English cucumber (or 2 regular cucumbers, partially peeled), diced
• 1 pint Cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered
• 1 Bell pepper (any color), finely diced
• 1 small Red onion, finely diced or thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup Kalamata olives, sliced
• 1/2 cup Feta cheese, crumbled
• 2 tbsp Fresh mint leaves, minced
• 2 tbsp Fresh basil leaves, minced

For the Dressing:

• 3 tbsp Good quality extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp Freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1/2 large lemon)
• 2 tbsp White wine vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
• 1-2 tbsp Honey
• 1 clove Garlic, minced (optional, for extra zest)
• 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard (helps the dressing stay together!)
• 1/4 tsp Salt (plus more to taste)
• 1/4 tsp Black pepper

Let’s Get Chopping!

1. Prepare the Chickpeas

To start, you’ll need 30 ounces of canned chickpeas, which are also known as garbanzo beans. Give them a quick rinse under cold water, then pat them dry with a clean kitchen towel. This helps the dressing really coat the beans! Pour them into a large mixing bowl.

2. Prep the Cucumber

Then, it’s time to cut up all of our vegetables! You’ll need either one English cucumber or two regular cucumbers.

Pro tip: If you are meal prepping this for several days, use a spoon to scrape out the watery seeds in the middle before dicing to keep the salad crunchy!

3. Tomatoes & Peppers

Next, you need to halve some cherry or grape tomatoes. You can cut them in half lengthwise or down the middle. If they’re on the larger side, you may want to quarter them. What you really want is just to make sure that everything is bite-sized.
Then, you go ahead and dice up a bell pepper. I personally use green, but really, you could use any color for this. I actually like to chop the bell pepper a little smaller than bite-sized, just so you get that little bit of crunch spread throughout the entire salad. It is incredibly fun to use a yellow or an orange bell pepper just for the mix-up of color, too!

4. The Red Onion

Now, red onions are best for serving raw in a salad. You want to use one small red onion or half of a large one, and you can either slice these very thinly or dice them up, whichever you prefer. Add them to the bowl.

5. Fresh Herbs, Olives & Feta

Next up are our fresh herbs! You can use a combination of fresh mint and fresh basil, but feel free to play around with things—you can always substitute in fresh parsley. Mince up the mint first. You want leaves only for this, so pull out any stems. Just mince it up until you have about 2 tablespoons total. I just love the fresh, cool flavors that the mint brings! With the basil, same thing: leaves only, fine mince, 2 tablespoons total. Basil and mint go perfectly together here.
To finish the salad base, add in half a cup of sliced Kalamata olives and half a cup of crumbled feta.

6. Craft the Delicious Dressing

While you still have your cutting board and knife out, slice a lemon in half because you’re going to need some freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 2 tablespoons total). Pour that lemon juice into a little mixing bowl.

Next, add in 1 to 2 tablespoons of honey. Pro tip: If you microwave the honey for about 10 seconds first, it mixes in a lot easier! This is also the time to add your minced garlic and Dijon mustard if you’re using them—the mustard helps the oil and vinegar stay “married” so the dressing doesn’t separate.

Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 tablespoons of vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. Whisk this all together vigorously until smooth.

7. Toss and Serve!

All that’s left to do is drizzle your dressing over the salad and gently toss it all together until well coated.
A quick note on seasoning: You can always add more salt and pepper to taste, but remember you already have some salty items in the salad with the feta and the olives. Make the dressing as is, toss the salad, and then taste it before adding extra salt!
You can serve this right out of the mixing bowl immediately, or chill it in the fridge for 15-30 minutes to let the flavors marry.

Loving chickpeas in salads? If you love this, also try the Vegan Chickpea Salad for Sandwiches & Wraps—it’s a game-changer for lunches!

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The BEST Mediterranean Chickpea and cucumber Salad

Recipe by Sana ReiCourse: Salads, SidesCuisine: MediterraneanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Calories

245

kcal

Chill Time

15

minutes (optional)

Total time

15

minutes

A simple, healthy, and incredibly vibrant salad packed with fresh vegetables, fresh herbs, feta cheese, and a zesty honey-lemon dressing. Super customizable and perfect for meal prep!

Ingredients

• Equipment Needed:

• Large mixing bowl

• small bowl

• whisk

• chef’s knife

• cutting board

• paper towels

• Full Ingredients List
• The Salad Base:

• 850g (30 oz) canned chickpeas (two 15-oz cans), rinsed, drained, and patted dry

• 300g (1 large) English cucumber, diced (de-seed for longer storage)

• 280g (1 pint) cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered

• 150g (1 medium) bell pepper (any color), finely diced

• 100g (1 small) red onion, finely diced

• 85g (1/2 cup) Kalamata olives, sliced

• 75g (1/2 cup) feta cheese, crumbled

• 5g (2 tbsp) fresh mint, minced (leaves only)

• 5g (2 tbsp) fresh basil, minced (leaves only)

• The Zesty Dressing:

• 45ml (3 tbsp) extra virgin olive oil

• 30ml (2 tbsp) freshly squeezed lemon juice

• 30ml (2 tbsp) white wine vinegar (or red wine)

• 21-42g (1-2 tbsp) honey

• 5g (1 clove) garlic, minced

• 2.5g (1/2 tsp) Dijon mustard (optional, for emulsification)

• 1/4 tsp salt (plus more to taste)

• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions

• Prep the Chickpeas: Rinse and drain the chickpeas thoroughly. Pat them dry with a paper towel to ensure the dressing sticks better. Place them into a large mixing bowl.
• Chop the Veggies: Dice the cucumber, halve the tomatoes, and finely dice the bell pepper and red onion. Add them all to the bowl with the chickpeas.
• Add Accents: Add the minced mint, minced basil, sliced Kalamata olives, and crumbled feta cheese to the mixture.
• Whisk the Dressing: In a separate small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, honey (microwaved for 10 seconds if stiff), minced garlic, Dijon mustard, salt, and black pepper. Whisk vigorously until the mixture is thick and combined.
• Toss: Pour the dressing over the salad. Use a large spoon to gently toss until every ingredient is well coated.
• Season & Chill: Taste a bite and add more salt or pepper if needed. Serve immediately or let it chill in the fridge for 15-30 minutes to let the flavors marry.

Notes

• Storage: Stays fresh in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days.
• Meal Prep Tip: If making this a few days in advance, keep the feta on the side and add it right before eating to keep the texture creamy.
• Vegan Option: Swap honey for maple syrup and omit the feta (or use a vegan almond-based feta).