Vegan Chickpea Tuna Salad

This Vegan Chickpea Tuna Salad Recipe is a close vegan replacement to actual tuna salad. It’s tangy, thick and makes a mean chickpea tuna salad sandwich.Vegan Chickpea Tuna Salad Recipe

I give this vegan chickpea tuna salad recipe an 8/10 in the “fooling someone” category and a 9.5/10 on the flavor matching. It tastes ridiculously close to the real thing.

My husband who can reach for a real tuna fish salad sandwich whenever he’d like to says it’s a 10/10 on flavor matching. So you be the judge! I just wanted to be super honest that it’s really, really close. But just a tiny bit different from the real thing.

Either way it will TOTALLY take care of your cravings. 100%. And it’s totally vegan and actually not half bad for you!

Tips for making this Vegan Chickpea Tuna Salad Recipe:

• You can skip the bell pepper and celery without it affecting the flavor too much, those are there mainly for the crunch.
• Don’t skip the red onion, it’s very important to making a convincing “tuna salad” flavor.
• If making this a day or more ahead, add a little more mayo the day of serving just to mellow out the flavors a bit since the flavors intensify as the salad sits.

The skin separating from the chickpeas is what gives it a texture similar to an actual tuna fish salad. The hand mashing takes a few minutes, but is definitely worth the effort to mash them well so you get the right texture.

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Chickpea Tuna Salad

This Vegan Chickpea Tuna Salad Recipe is a close vegan replacement to actual tuna salad. It's tangy, thick and makes a mean chickpea tuna salad sandwich.

Course Main Course, Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine vegan, Vegetarian

Prep Time 10 minutes

Servings 6

Calories 141 kcal

Author savorandsavvy.com

Ingredients

• 2 15 oz. Cans Chickpeas
• 1/4 cup Chickpea Liquid saved from can
• 1/2 Orange or Red Bell Pepper thinly diced
• 1 Individual Stalk Celery thinly diced
• 1/4 cup Red Onion chopped
• 2 tbsp. Dill Pickle Juice
• 3 tbsp. Lemon Juice fresh squeezed
• 1/4 cup Vegan Mayo
• 1 tsp. Spicy Brown Mustard
• 1/2 tsp. Dill Weed
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Lettuce of choice for serving, optional
• Sandwich Bread for serving, optional
• Sliced Tomato for serving, optional

Instructions

1. Drain chickpeas. Save 1/4 Cup liquid from can. Add chickpeas and liquid to a large bowl.
2. Mash with a potato masher, pressing firmly and using a rocking motion to mash chickpeas. Then use a fork to mash chickpeas more finely.

   Tip: This step can take about 8 minutes to get a good mash. It's worth taking the extra time to make sure the chickpeas are mashed well. The skins separating from the mashed chickpeas is what gives it a "tuna fish" type of texture.
   

3. Once mashed, add all other ingredients and mix well. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

4. Optional: Lightly toast bread. Place enough lettuce to cover a slice of bread. Smear a portion of chickpea tuna salad over lettuce. Top with bread.

Recipe Notes

Note: You can skip the bell pepper and celery if you're out of these ingredients, they were mainly added for crunch so won't affect the flavor of the recipe too much. Do not skip the red onion since it plays a big part in the flavor.

 

Nutrition Facts

Chickpea Tuna Salad

Amount Per Serving (0.5 cup)

Calories 141 Calories from Fat 63

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 7g 11%

Sodium 366mg 15%

Potassium 171mg 5%

Total Carbohydrates 13g 4%

Dietary Fiber 3g 12%

Sugars 1g

Protein 4g 8%

Vitamin A 7.7%

Vitamin C 20.1%

Calcium 3.1%

Iron 5.7%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.