Fresh veggies, chickpeas, peanuts, and a spicy Indian dressing make up this easy Indian Chickpea Peanut Salad. This high-protein vegan salad is full of flavor and takes just 10 minutes to prep.
It’s a wonderful appetiser, side dish and also makes for a satisfying, vegan-friendly light meal option.
About This Easy, Healthy Indian Chickpea and Peanut Salad Recipe
I love bright colors and fresh flavors in my salads and this protein-packed peanut salad with chickpeas has the best combination. It is crowd-pleaser dish that requires no cooking at all. The recipe is incredibly simple like my chopped Indian salad recipe—just combine chopped veggies, chickpeas, and peanuts, then toss in a spicy dressing.
When hosting, I serve this Indian spiced chickpea and peanut salad as an appetizer instead of nachos or chunky air fryer chips. It’s always a hit!
Along with being vegan and gluten-free, this Indian spiced salad is packed with plant protein, fiber and healthy fats.
If you are looking for more delicious Indian style salads, you are also going to love my Onion tomato salad, Kachumber salad and Kala chana chaat.
Ingredients needed
Here's what you need to make this:
- Chickpeas: I prefer using canned chickpeas - its a time saver. If you’re cooking them from dried, you can easily pressure cook chickpeas in an Instant Pot or on the stove.
- Peanuts: I use roasted salted peanuts. This is a time saver ingredient that available readily in grocery stores and tastes delicious.
- Raw Mango: Unripe mango is my favorite ingredient in this salad. it adds the right tang plus texture.
- Cucumber: I like using English cucumber, but mini or Persian cucumbers are great alternatives. I don’t peel or deseed this kind of cucumber, everything can be eaten.
- Tomato: Any variety works well, whether it’s Roma, Vine, or Salad tomatoes.
- Red Onion: For the best flavor, go with red or Indian pink onions.
- Carrot: Grate the carrot using the coarse side of a grater. Thought this a chopped salad, grated carrots add the right texture than the chopped ones.
- Spices: I use a mix of Kashmiri red chili powder, homemade cumin powder, and chaat masala. if you can't find chaat masala, use dried curry powder instead. Like it spicy, add chopped green chillies too.
- Coriander: chopped. Adds a fresh flavour to this Indian chickpea salad. If you’re not a fan of cilantro, replace it with parsley.
- Olive Oil: While this salad can be made without oil, I find that olive oil adds a nice moisture.
- Lemon or Lime Juice: Either citrus works beautifully. This adds freshness to the salad.
PS: I missed the lemon and olive oil while capturing the ingredient shot.
How to Make Indian Chickpea and Peanut Salad
Making this quick chickpea salad recipe for lunch or dinner is simple:
- Combine all dressing ingredients in a jar or bowl.
- In a large bowl, mix all the veggies, chickpeas, peanuts, and dressing.
- Toss to combine, top with fresh coriander and lemon juice. Enjoy!
Substitutions and Variations
- Nut Allergy: You can substitute peanuts for roasted sunflower seeds, oven roasted pumpkin seeds or omit them altogether.
- Roasted Chickpeas: Try adding air fryer roasted chickpeas to this salad - its so good!
- Spicy: To make it spicy, I add chopped green chillies or extra chilli flakes. For a milder taste, reduce Kashmiri chilli powder in the dressing.
- Herbs: I love fresh coriander in my salad. you can substitute with mint and/ or parsley. When I have plenty of herbs, I love to add in all of them too.
- Grains: Make it a complete meal by adding homemade cooked white basmati rice, cooked at home brown basmati rice, quinoa, farro, barley or couscous.
- Cheese: Add feta cheese to the chickpea peanut salad for a Mediterranean twist, leaving out the chaat masala.
- Veggies: You can also add chopped boiled potatoes or sweet potatoes.
Storage
Like most fresh salads, enjoy the peanut chickpea salad right away after mixing. Once you add the dressing to the chopped salad veggies, chickpeas and peanut, the veggies will release liquid, leaving us with a softer salad.
Any leftover, just in case can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 days.
If you want to make this Indian salad ahead of time, keep the dressing and peanuts on the side and combine them with veggies and chickpeas just before serving.
What to Serve this Chickpea Peanut salad?
This vegan Indian salad with peanut and chickpeas is delicious on its own as a light lunch, dinner, or appetizer. It pairs well with soft yogurt flatbread or garlic naan bread without the yeast.
You can also enjoy it as a side dish with your favorite Indian curries such as paneer curry and wholemeal chapatis too.
For variety, try wrapping it along with lettuce, avocado, and air fried homemade falafels.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! I would eat the salad everyday. It’s packed with protein, vitamins, and low in calories— just what I would like to include in my diet. I would enjoy as an appetiser one and as a light meal on the other.
No, the salad is best enjoyed cold straight from the fridge. Heating the salad can alter the flavors and texture.
Avoid freezing the Indian spiced peanut salad with chickpeas. It will alter the texture, making the salad less enjoyable.
Quick vegan chickpea peanut salad recipe below
Ingredients
- 2 cans chickpeas drained or (420g)
- 2 cup roasted peanuts salted
- ½ cup cucumber peeled and chopped
- ¾ cup raw mango finely chopped
- ½ cup tomato finely chopped
- ½ cup red onion finely chopped
- ¼ cup carrot grated
- ¼-½ cup coriander finely chopped
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon chaat masala
- ½-1 teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder
- ¼-½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 green chilli finely chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Combine the chickpeas, peanuts, raw mango, cucumber, tomato, red onion, carrot, green chilli( if using) and coriander in a mixing bowl.2 cans chickpeas, ½ cup cucumber, ¾ cup raw mango, ½ cup tomato, ½ cup red onion, ¼ cup carrot, ¼-½ cup coriander, 2 green chilli, 2 cup roasted peanuts
- Prepare the dressing by adding olive oil, lemon juice, chaat masala, cumin, chili powder, black pepper, and salt to a jam jar. Shake well until the ingredients are thoroughly mixed.2 tablespoon olive oil, ½ lemon juice, 1 teaspoon chaat masala, ½-1 teaspoon cumin powder, ½ teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder, ¼-½ teaspoon salt , ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- Pour the dressing over the salad mixture in the bowl.
- Toss the salad until everything is evenly coated. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking. Serve!
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