Chickpea Taco Salad

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5 from 2 votes

Quick, easy, and fresh weeknight dinner with a chickpea taco topping to keep it meatless.

Prep Time10

Cook Time15

Total Time25

Course: Main Dish

Cuisine: Canadian

Servings:

Calories: 229kcal

Author: Jacqueline Piper

Ingredients

Chickpea Taco Salad Topping

15.5 oz chickpeas 1 1/2 cups
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoons Homemade Taco Seasoning
¼ cup water plus 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon cornstarch if you want a saucier mixture

For the Salad

lettuce, tortilla chips, tomatoes, black beans, bell peppers, cucumbers, corn, pickled red onions, salsa, sour cream or the salad toppings of your choice
Shredded Cheese for topping
Avocado Cilantro Salad Dressing or other dressing of your choice for vegetarian

Avocado Cilantro Dressing

1 avocado
¼ bunch of cilantro
¼ cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon lime juice
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
water as needed ½ cup approximately

Instructions

Avocado Cilantro Dressing

Add ingredients to a small blender cup. Blend until smooth adding water as needed.

Chickpea Topping

Empty chickpeas into a bowl. Use a fork and break up the chickpeas. You don't need to mash them, just break them up a bit.
Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add the chickpeas and cook until crispy.
Add the tomato paste and spice mix and cook for a minute.
Add the water, heat until bubbling, and then turn down to simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes or until most of the water cooks off. Add 1/2 cup cold water mixed with 1 tablespoon cornstarch for a saucier topping. Let simmer for a few minutes until hot and thickened.

Make the Salad

Build your salad by starting with lettuce. Add the chickpea taco mix and the other vegetables of your choice. Add dressing, cheese, and tortilla chips. Serve.

Notes

For a meat topping:

In a large pan, over medium heat, brown 1 lb ground beef, and then add 2 tablespoons of taco seasoning and 1 tablespoon of tomato paste.

Cook that for a minute or so until the spices are cooked and the tomato paste blends in. Add a little bit of water, let the whole thing heat up, and then simmer for a few minutes and then turn the heat off.

You could add another cup of cold water mixed with one tablespoon of cornstarch and then simmer for 10 minutes. This will add a thick sauce to use taco meat instead of having flavored beef crumbles.

The nutrition estimate is for 1/4 of the chickpea mix and dressing and doesn't include toppings.

Nutrition