Garden Veggie Balsamic Chickpea Salad
Just 15 minutes to this light and fresh garden veggie balsamic chickpea salad! Healthy and easy to make, it’s filled with summer veggies, fresh herbs and a simple honey balsamic dressing. Perfect for lunches, it’s dairy free, gluten free and vegetarian.
Garden veggies! They are just the best, yes?
Not that I have all that much to base this statement off of because … wait for it … I got four, count em’ four, veggies from my garden this year.
Clearly I am a gardening wizard. Umm yeah, not so much.
But! I’m getting away from the actual point of this post, which is to discuss this garden veggie balsamic chickpea salad!
And I can speak from experience when I tell you that it is still plenty delicious with all store-bought veggies.
It’s filled with all the goodness of the season, including cherry tomatoes, fresh corn and basil, has plenty of staying power from the chickpeas, AND is tied together with a finger lickin’ good honey balsamic dressing.
Oh and did I mention that it takes all of 15 minutes to pull together? And that it keeps well for several days in the fridge?
Making it perfect for lunches or as a delicious side.
Tips & Tricks For This Balsamic Chickpea Salad
- You can absolutely sub regular balsamic vinegar for the white balsamic vinegar in the dressing. I personally prefer the white here purely from a visual standpoint. The regular balsamic vinegar will turn the dressing brown and therefore makes the salad a bit less pretty. But in terms of flavor, they both are great.
- The awesomeness of this salad really depends on the quality of your veggies. So make this bad boy now when all the ingredients are in season (i.e. I wouldn’t suggest making this during the dead of winter when tomatoes are just completely bleh).
- Like with all salads, feel free to adjust any of the ingredients to your own taste. This is one of those recipes that can definitely be used more as a guide.
- To make this dish vegan, use maple syrup instead of the honey.
- While I am a complete sucker for enjoying this salad along with a piece of delicious toasted bread, it is also fantastic served with a handful of crunchy pita chips if you’re on the go.
Additional Side Dish Recipes You Might Enjoy:
- Mexican Bean Salad
- Roasted Three Bean Salad
- Roasted Broccoli Salad with Blueberries
- Dairy Free Potato Salad
- Dairy Free Italian Pasta Salad
- Summer Veggie Quinoa Salad
- Zucchini and Corn Orzo Salad
Did you make this recipe? Rate and review it down below! I’d love to hear from you.
Garden Veggie Balsamic Chickpea Salad
Just 15 minutes to this light and fresh garden veggie balsamic chickpea salad! Healthy and easy to make, it’s filled with summer veggies, fresh herbs and a simple honey balsamic dressing. Perfect for lunches, it’s dairy free, gluten free and vegetarian.
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 2 (15 ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved (quartered if large)
- 3 medium ears corn, kernels removed
- 3 to 4 medium radishes, thinly sliced
- ½ cup thinly sliced green onion
- ½ cup packed fresh basil leaves, chopped
- 2 tablespoons raw sunflower seeds
For the dressing / serving:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons honey*
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- pinch of pepper
- 1 small clove garlic, minced
- toasted bread of choice, for serving (optional)
- balsamic glaze, for drizzling (optional)
Instructions
For the salad:
- In a large bowl, toss together the chickpeas, tomatoes, corn kernels, radishes, green onion, basil and sunflower seeds.
For the dressing / serving:
- In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, honey, salt, pepper and garlic. Pour into the bowl with the chickpeas and toss to combine. Taste and season with additional salt / pepper as desired (I usually add somewhere from ¼ to ½ teaspoon more salt).
- Serve immediately or after chilled in the fridge, with toasted bread and a drizzle of balsamic glaze!
Notes
*To keep this vegan - use maple syrup in place of the honey.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 303Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 657mgCarbohydrates: 43gFiber: 10gSugar: 11gProtein: 11g
Nutrition data shown is an estimate provided by an online calculator and is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered a substitute for a medical professional’s advice.
Yes PLEASE!!!! This looks amazingly yummy…and I love that it keeps for few days afterwards.
This looks like my kind of easy summer recipe! I love chickpeas and could eat them every day, but my hubby doesn’t like them so I leave them out of my dinners a lot (boo!).
Deer!! Man I’m still the one busting out the camera when I see a deer. I’m sure I’d swap it for a blow horn if they were eating my veggies up!! I like what you said about staying power. I’m trying to eat whole 30 ish meals lately and sometimes veggies just don’t cut it. Chickpeas is a good idea.
Ha! I did that a few weeks back when I saw a baby one – too cute! But then I remembered what it’s mama did to my garden… lol
This on repeat e’eryday! I love how fresh this salad is..I could definitely see it being a big hit at all the summer picnics!
I love the simplicity of this dish…it sure looks delicious and so easy to put together…
Have a great rest of the week Ashley 🙂
Love this fresh veggie salad, I could eat this all-day long. We have trouble with moles digging tunnels in my garden and eating the roots of my plants…….oh the pain!!! anyway like Marcie said thank goodness for farmers markets.
Ugh not cool!! haha Thanks Cheri!
I cannot garden for my life. I even stopped trying with herbs this year. : ( Hope you get the deer under control so you can have more farm to table meals! This salad looks great…I love the textures and a little bit of sweet corn makes it so addicting. I don’t think I’ve ever had white balsamic and would love to try!
My parents deal with deer every year and it never gets less frustrating! Why do they get to feast without doing any of the hard work? haha
This salad though looks so refreshing and light. Perfect for those hot summer days when you just can’t deal.
haha right??? Thanks Nicole!
Chickpea salads are the best! I’m loving all of those fresh veggies and that balsamic glaze. Yum!
Oh that would be beyond frustrating! I have some pests that I contend with (I’ve gotten only 3 strawberries without nibbles in them so far!), but that’s nothing compared to deer! At least there are farmers markets and supermarkets to buy fresh produce so we can make this delicious salad! This is something that I would happily eat every day because there’s nothing I don’t love in it. 🙂
haha yes! It’s making me even more glad I joined a CSA this year!! Thanks Marcie!
Oh no suffering from deer must be so cool and frustrating all at the same time! The worst thing we suffer from in Scotland is slugs 🙁 royal pain in the a** they are. None the less your salad look lovely 😀
They can be really cute but also drive me nuts!! haha Thanks Emma!
Indeed garden veggies are best. And this garden veggie chickpea salad looks so satisfying, refreshing and delish, Ashley. That dressing sounds fantastic. Would try this sometime soon.
Oh those deer! They can wreck havoc in no time at all. We keep our garden fenced, but they have been known to jump it from time to time. A good watch dog also helps! This salad sounds like a perfect summer salad! I love the fresh basil and a bit of crunch from the sunflower seeds!
I think we’re going to put a separate second fence around just the garden next year – such a pain!! Ha – yeah Emma scares them away with her barking when she sees them but most of the time she’s too busy sleeping inside 🙂
I love how quickly this is thrown together but how refined the flavors are 🙂 The balsamic glaze takes everything to a new level 🙂
From your own garden to the dinner table…I bet it’s extremely fresh and delicious!