I love a “scoopable” salad that you can scoop up with corn chips, crackers or in this case, warm pita bread. My Moroccan Chickpea Salad Recipe is filled with delicious and healthy ingredients like tender chickpeas, fluffy quinoa, sweet dried cranberries, crunchy pistachios, fresh herbs and veggies. All of the salad ingredients are tossed in a lemon dijon dressing and then topped with crumbled feta. And for the pièce de résistance we scoop this delicious salad up with warmed pita for a filling, satisfying and delicious meal!
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This salad makes around 4-6 serves, depending on how hungry you are. If serving with warmed pita it makes closer to 6 serves.
For more “scoopable” salads you might like to try my Grilled Chicken, Charred Corn & Broccoli Salad or my Tuna Corn Salad.
What’s to Love About Moroccan Chickpea Salad
Literally everything! This recipe is made using healthy and wholesome ingredients that provide all of the essential macronutrients like complex carbohydrates, protein and healthy fats. The quinoa and chickpeas are a great source of fibre, complex carbs and protein while the extra virgin olive oil and pistachios provide healthy fats. Here are some more things that I love about this salad.
- healthy – as I mentioned, this salad is filled with vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.
- easy to make – there is nothing complicated about making this simple and easy recipe.
- great to meal prep – the salad continues to marinate in the dressing and stores well in the fridge for up to 3 days, making this dish great for meal prepping!
- allergy friendly – this salad recipe is gluten-free and can be easily made dairy free by using a vegan feta cheese or by omitting the cheese.
Ingredients Notes & Substitutions
All of the simple ingredients for this recipe were easily found at my local grocery store. Below is a list of the ingredients you will need along with any possible substitutions and ingredient notes. For the ingredient quantities, check the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- chickpeas – I’ve used canned chickpeas but you can buy dried and cook your own. This will of course add quite a bit of time to the cook time. Chickpeas are also known as garbanzo beans.
- spices – for this recipe you will need ground cumin, sweet paprika, sea salt (finely ground) and cracked black pepper. If you love a little spice feel free to add some red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper (add to your own taste).
- fresh herbs – for this recipe I’ve used flat leaf parsley (also known as continental parsley) and fresh mint. You can swap either of these herbs for coriander (cilantro).
- Lebanese cucumbers – feel free to use English cucumbers.
- Red capsicum – also known as red bell pepper.
- red onion – also known as Spanish onion.
- pistachios – I’ve used shelled pistachios and then toasted them. You can also use pine nuts or almonds.
- dried cranberries – can be substituted for dried raisins, golden raisins or currants.
- feta – use a vegan feta if vegan or dairy intolerant or omit the feta altogether.
- pita bread – I’ve used a gluten free pita bread but you can use your choice of pita bread.
Dressing Ingredients
- lemon juice
- dijon mustard
- honey
- extra virgin olive oil
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How to Make Moroccan Chickpea Salad
To make this seriously yummy salad start by preheating the oven and then cooking the quinoa. First, add the quinoa to a fine mesh sieve and rinse under cold water until the water runs clear. This is to rinse off excess saponins. Add the rinsed quinoa to a large saucepan along with 1 3/4 cups water. Bring to a boil with the lid on and then reduce to a simmer for 8 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the lid on, allowing the quinoa to steam for around 15 minutes.
While the quinoa is cooking, wrap up the pita bread in aluminium foil and place into the oven for 10 minutes to warm.
To make the salad, add the chickpeas, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper to a large bowl. Toss to coat all of the chickpeas in the spices. Next add the finely diced red onions, diced cucumbers and capsicum, finely chopped herbs, roughly chopped toasted pistachios and dried cranberries. Set aside.
Make the dressing by add the lemon juice, dijon mustard and honey into a small bowl. Whisk to combine and then slowly begin pouring the olive oil into the lemon juice mustard mixture. Continue whisking until all of the olive oil has been added and the dressing is smooth and creamy.
Once the quinoa has cooled, add the cooked quinoa to the salad along with the lemon dijon dressing. Toss everything really well to combine. Crumble the feta over the top of the salad. Cut the pita bread into quarters and serve.
Storage
Store leftover salad in an airtight container or divide between 4 individual airtight containers and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Store the pita bread separately to avoid it becoming soggy.
Moroccan Chickpea Salad Recipe
Equipment
- Chopping Board
- Sharp knife
- Measuring Cups & Spoons
- Large salad bowl
- Whisk
- Large saucepan
Ingredients
- 1 cup white quinoa
- 1 3/4 cups water
- 800 grams chickpeas, canned, strained and rinsed
- 1 teaspoon cumin, ground
- ¼ teaspoon paprika, ground
- ½ teaspoon sea salt, finely ground
- ¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper
- small bunch flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- small bunch mint, roughly chopped
- 2 Lebanese cucumbers, finely diced
- ½ medium red onion, peeled and finely diced
- 1 medium red capsicum, seeds removed and finely diced
- ½ cup shelled pistachios, toasted, roughly chopped
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- 90 grams feta
Dressing
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1/3 cup olive oil, extra virgin
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
To serve
- 4 pita bread
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
- Next, cook the quinoa. First add the quinoa to a fine mesh sieve and rinse the quinoa under cold water until the water runs clear. This is to remove the saponins. Add the rinsed quinoa to a medium saucepan along with the water. Place the lid on and bring to a boil. Continue to boil until the liquid begins to reduce. Turn the heat to low and simmer until all the liquid has been absorbed (around 8 minutes). Turn the heat off and leave the lid on the pan, allowing the quinoa to steam for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the lid and fluff the quinoa with a fork.
- Once the oven is hot, wrap the pita in aluminium foil and place into the oven for 10 minutes. Once warm, remove from the oven and cut into quarters.
- While the quinoa is cooking and the pita is warming, begin assembling the salad. To a large salad bowl add the drained and rinsed chickpeas as well as the cumin, paprika, salt and pepper. Use a spoon to toss the chickpeas through the spice mixture.
- To the bowl add the parsley, mint, cucumber, onion, capsicum, pistachios and cranberries.
- To make the dressing, add the lemon juice, honey and mustard to a small bowl and whisk to combine. Slowly pour in the olive oil while whisking and continue whisking until well combined.
- Once the quinoa is cool add to the salad bowl along with the dressing. Toss the salad well to combine.
- Crumble the feta over the top of the salad and serve alongside the warmed pita bread.
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