Chickpea Avocado Salad

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This easy chickpea avocado salad is creamy, crunchy and full of zesty flavor. It combines pantry and fresh ingredients with crisp romaine, feta and red onions, all tossed in white wine vinaigrette. Instead of croutons, I make toasted pita chips for good crunch. It’s a salad I make all the time because it’s quick and satisfying, and it goes with just about any Middle Eastern or Mediterranean meal.

Chickpea avocado salad in a serving bowl.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Chickpeas and avocados are the stars of this salad. I know I’m not the only one who loves these two ingredients. Avocados add rich creaminess and chickpeas have a permanent spot in my pantry.

Pita chips add fantastic toasty crunch. A great salad is all about texture and flavor. Before I toast them, I tear pita bread into pieces, drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle them with sumac, a Middle Eastern spice that’s bright, lemony and tart. It’s another way to do homemade croutons.

This salad is a starting point. Depending on the season, you can make additions. Halved cherry tomatoes, olives and cucumbers transform it into a fresh an exciting Greek salad. I also make a white bean cucumber salad with pita chips

The Ingredients

Ingredients including chickpeas, avocados, pita, feta, shredded romaine, lemon, oil, red onions, garlic, mustard, sumac, salt and pepper.

This is what you need:

  • Avocado: Look for avocados with darker skin. This is a sign that they are ripe. When you gently squeeze them, they should give a little. If they’re too soft and ripe, they will be messy and mushy in the salad.
  • Chickpeas: It’s up to you if you want to take the time tot rub the rinsed and drained chickpeas with a towel and pull off the skins. This is a cosmetic choice and won’t impact how the salad tastes.
  • Pita: I like whole wheat pita because it adds more flavor to the salad, but it is also fine to use white pitas.
  • Feta: You can use crumbled feta from a tub or break a block into pieces. If you want more variety in the size of the crumbles, then do it yourself.
  • Romaine: Lately, I have been obsessed with fresh chopped salads that I can eat with a spoon. That’s why I like finely shredding/chopping a romaine heart.
  • Red onions have a crisp bite with a sharp accent. They’re important to include in the background to support the feature ingredients.
  • Parsley: To round out this avocado chickpea salad, I toss in chopped fresh parsley to give each bite an herby finish.
  • White wine vinaigrette: The dressing has minced garlic, whole grain mustard, kosher salt, black pepper, fresh lemon juice, white wine vinegar and olive oil. You can substitute with red wine vinegar. 

How To Make This Chickpea Avocado Salad

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

1. Toss the torn pita with oil and season with sumac. I do this right on the baking sheet and spread them out, using all the space on the pan.

2. Toast the pita. Give it 8-10 minutes to get golden brown and crisp. Move the pita chips to a plate to cool when you prep the rest of the salad.

Pita chips on a sheet pan before and after they toast in the oven.

3. Make the vinaigrette. Stir the garlic, mustard, salt, pepper, lemon juice, white wine vinegar and oil in a small bowl.

4. Assemble the salad. In a big bowl combine the chickpeas, avocados, red onions, feta and parsley.

White wine vinaigrette whisked in a small bowl. Salad ingredients asesmbled in a large bowl.

5. Toss the salad with half the vinaigrette.

6. Fold in the pita chips. Drizzle in more vinaigrette as desired. 

Salad tossed with dressing in a large bowl. Pita chips folded into dressed salad.

Serving

This can be a side dish or an entree. Even though it has avocados, which you usually find in Mexican recipes, this salad has Middle Eastern and Mediterranean flavors. If you want to make it more filling, you can add shredded rotisserie chicken or shrimp or serve it with salmon.  

Recipe Tips

  • Tear the pita bread and don’t cut it with a knife. Having those rough edges and different sized pieces gives the salad even more texture. If the smaller pita pieces are browning faster, take them off the pan when they are ready. Then give the larger ones more time to toast.
  • You can use store-bought pita chips for a shortcut. It is ok to experiment and try flavored pita chips.
  • For meal prep, store the pita chips in a separate container and wait to toss them into the salad until you are about to eat it. The salad and dressing should go into the fridge and the pita chips should be stored at room temperature.

If you’re a salad person like me, then don’t miss my seasonal salad guide for inspiration all year long.

Explore more recipes in my chickpea guide to easy, everyday meals from hearty soups to vegetarian weeknight dinners.

Chickpea Avocado Salad

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Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes
Total: 20 minutes
Servings: 4
This easy chickpea avocado salad is creamy, fresh and crunchy with romaine, feta and homemade pita chips tossed in white wine vinaigrette.

Ingredients 

For pita chips

  • 2 pitas, torn into pieces
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon sumac

For vinaigrette

  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 lemon, juice
  • 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup olive oil

For salad

  • 1 15 ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 2 avocados, diced
  • 1 romaine heart, shredded
  • 1/4 cup finely diced red onions
  • 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
  • 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

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Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
  • On a baking sheet, toss the pita with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Spread them across the pan sprinkle with sumac.
  • Bake the pita until golden brown and crisp, about 8-10 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool while you make the rest of the salad.
  • For the vinaigrette, whisk the garlic, mustard, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, lemon juice, white wine vinegar and 1/4 cup olive oil in a small bowl.
  • To assemble the salad, combine the chickpeas, avocados, romaine, red onions, feta and parsley in a large bowl.
  • Toss the salad with half the vinaigrette.
  • Fold in the pita chips, adding more vinaigrette as desired.

Notes

You can use store-bought pita chips for a shortcut.
For meal prep, only add pita chips to the portion you plan to eat right away. Store the salad in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3 days. Keep extra vinaigrette in a jar also in the refrigerator. Put pita chips in a separate container at room temperature to stay crisp. Let the salad and vinaigrette sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.
If you’ve already tossed the pita into the salad, don’t worry. The chips will soften, but the salad will taste good. You can add a fresh batch of homemade or store-bought pita chips when serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 444kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 23g | Cholesterol: 11mg | Sodium: 638mg | Potassium: 675mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 2838IU | Vitamin C: 29mg | Calcium: 124mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Salads
Cuisine: Mediterranean / Middle Eastern
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Hi, I'm Paige.

Welcome to Last Ingredient where you will find simple seasonal recipes with plenty of fruits and vegetables, all for the home cook.

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