Creamy Chickpea Salad Sandwiches (vegan)

Growing up I used to love chicken salad sandwiches, probably one of my favorite childhood lunch memories. Chicken salad is a cinch to make, so a simple vegan version is a no-brainer recipe for me. I use crushed chickpeas instead of chicken and my all-purpose vegan cream sauce instead of mayo. Of course you can use whatever you want to bind the salad, whether yogurt, mayo or their vegan equivalents. I always have some of my homemade cashew or sunflower seed cream on hand and this salad is a great use for it.

In terms of mix-ins, I’m using toasted walnuts, celery and fresh tarragon for this one, but the options are literally endless (maybe halved grapes, raining, pecans, dried cranberries, diced cucumber or fresh parsley). I love tarragon in my chickpea salad because it reminds me of my favorite chicken salad from childhood. Their chicken salad club sandwich was a staple of my youth.

Creamy Chickpea Salad Sandwiches

Ingredients

2 14-oz cans chickpeas, drained/rinsed (garbanzo beans)
3/4 cup savory cashew cream (recipe here, nut-free option available)
3/4 teaspoons salt, to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, plus more to taste
2-4 tablespoons lemon juice, to taste
1 to 1.5 cups mix-ins of choice (see below for pictured combo)

2/3 cup diced celery
1/2 cup toasted, chopped walnuts
1/4 cup fresh tarragon leaves, chopped (2 tbs chopped)

For Serving

bread of choice
fresh romaine lettuce

To Make

In a mixing bowl, crush chickpeas until they just begin to turn to a paste holds together slightly (see photos). I use a pastry cutter or a potato masher for this task, but you can also use a fork or meat mallet.

Add mix-ins of choice and stir to combine. Add cashew or sunflower seed cream plus salt, pepper and lemon juice. Need it creamier? Add a small splash or water to loosen the dressing consistency.

Divide fresh romaine lettuce and chickpea salad onto sandwiches.

Notes

Use any binder you want instead of the homemade cashew/sunflower seed cream. Mayo and yogurt are good options, both also come in vegan versions. You’ll need less mayo/yogurt than my “cream” so add a little at a time to achieve desired consistency.

I added 4 tablespoons lemon juice (1/4 cup, 1 lemon). For a subtler lemon flavor reduce to 2 tablespoons.

8 thoughts on “Creamy Chickpea Salad Sandwiches (vegan)

  1. Hi Mary!

    My boyfriend and I watched a documentary about the different effects of a animal diet and vegetarian lifestyle. We decided to take our plan based diet more strictly for our hearth and quit all meat and processed food cold turkey (pun intended)!

    This looks super delicious and simply enough for starting out again and we’re so excited! Thank you for sharing this on your awesome blog!

    Take care.

    Like

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