XXL Silicone Bags, Set of 2
102oz each and see-through, so you can portion a whole week and still find it.
Home / Recipes / Salads / Marinated Chickpea Salad
Marinated Chickpea Salad
This is the rare salad that is better on day three than on day one, which makes it the one worth making on Sunday. Chickpeas are bland on their own and porous, so given time in a sharp dressing they take on everything around them. There is no lettuce to wilt and nothing that goes soft, so it holds all week. Marinating it in a sealed bag rather than a bowl means every chickpea sits in dressing instead of the ones on top going dry, and you can turn the whole thing over in two seconds instead of stirring.
Ingredients
- 3 cans (15 oz each) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 English cucumber, diced
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 red onion, diced small
- 1 cup crumbled feta
- 1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
Directions
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas well, then leave them in the colander for ten minutes. Wet chickpeas dilute the dressing and the salad never quite comes together.
- Whisk the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, oregano and salt in a small bowl until it thickens slightly.
- Put the chickpeas, cucumber, tomatoes, bell pepper and red onion into the bag and pour the dressing over.
- Press out the air, seal, and turn the bag over several times so everything is coated. Lay it flat in the fridge for at least 4 hours, turning it once if you remember.
- Add the feta and parsley just before serving, not before marinating. Feta dissolves into the dressing if it sits, and parsley goes dark.
- Taste and add salt. Chickpeas absorb a surprising amount, so it will almost always want more than you expect.
Tips and variations
- Make it a day ahead. Four hours is the minimum and overnight is better.
- Hold back the feta and parsley. Everything else is happier for the wait; those two are not.
- Salt it again at the table. Marinated beans mute salt as they sit.
- Add a can of drained tuna or a cup of shredded chicken and it becomes lunch rather than a side.
- Swap the feta for diced avocado at the last second if you want it dairy-free.
The bag this recipe is built around
Marinating in a bowl means the top layer sits out of the dressing and the bottom layer gets all of it. A sealed Clear XXL bag holds the whole batch flat with the air pressed out, so every chickpea is in contact with the dressing, and you turn it over instead of stirring. See-through means you can tell at a glance what is left in the fridge.
See the Clear XXL Bags
Common questions
- How long does marinated chickpea salad last
- Five days in the fridge, and it improves for the first two or three. Add the feta and herbs fresh each time rather than at the start.
- Can you make chickpea salad ahead of time
- It is better made ahead. Chickpeas absorb the dressing slowly, so four hours is the minimum and overnight is ideal.
- Should you rinse canned chickpeas
- Yes. The canning liquid is starchy and salty and makes the dressing cloudy. Rinse well and drain for ten minutes before dressing.
- Why does my chickpea salad taste bland
- Not enough salt or not enough time. Chickpeas soak up seasoning, so salt it again after marinating rather than only at the start.
More salad recipes
Keep the ones that work
Copy this one onto a 4x6 card. Title across the top, the twelve ingredients down the left, the six steps down the right, and Serves 8, Marinate 4 hr along the header. File it behind the Salads divider. Built to outlast the screenshot.
See the Recipe Box
