Vegan Chickpea Tuna Salad (No Mayo)

This is an oil-free vegan chickpea “tuna” salad sandwich made with no mayo.  It’s an easy and quick lunch that can be made in about 15 minutes using tahini and dijon mustard to give your chickpea salad a creamy texture.  

Ingredients

Chickpeas - for this recipe we’ll mash the chickpeas to form the base of the vegan "tuna" salad and hold all of the delightful flavor elements.

Tahini and water - gives the mashed chickpea salad a nutty, earthy flavor and a creamy texture: removing the need for mayo.  The water helps thin out the tahini providing a creamy texture and cutting down on the amount of it needed for the recipe.

Dijon mustard - gives the sandwich a tangy flavor and an acidic component.

Maple syrup - gives a subtle sweetness to balance the slight bitterness of the tahini.

Celery - helps with texture by giving some crunch to the sandwich.

Pickles - replaces the pickle relish usually found in tuna salad.  Use your favorite pickle brand.

Dill weed - is simply dried dill leaves and adds a slightly sweet anise-like flavor.

Substitutions

• The tahini can be replaced with vegan mayo or avocado.  I haven’t tested it, but hummus would probably work well too.  If you do substitute with any of these, I would at least reduce the maple syrup to 1 teaspoon or eliminate it all together.  I would also leave out the tablespoon of water if you substitute the tahini with mayo, avocado, or hummus (unless the hummus is thick).
• The teaspoon of dill weed (dried dill leaves) can be replaced with 1 tablespoon of fresh dill.
• The dried dill can also be substituted with chives.  It’s not the same flavor, but if you don’t have dill or just don’t like it, the chives will still add a little something extra to the chickpeas.
• The dijon style mustard can be replaced with yellow mustard.
• The celery is for the texture, so it can be replaced with another crunchy vegetable.  If you do substitute it, whatever you choose may alter the taste and texture of the chickpea salad.  Red bell pepper will add some crunch while also making the salad a little sweeter.  Diced cucumber will also add some crunch, but has a higher water content so it might introduce more liquid into the smashed chickpea salad.

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How to Make Chickpea “Tuna” Salad

Start by draining and rinsing the can of chickpeas.  Mash the chickpeas using a fork, or a potato masher.  Then add the diced celery and pickle to the bowl with mashed chickpeas along with the rest of the ingredients.  Then taste for seasoning. 

To fit your unique preferences does it need more salt, pepper, tahini, or Dijon mustard?  Some brands of dijon style mustard are milder than others.  For example, my store brand is milder than my Grey Poupon Dijon mustard, so if I’m using the store’s brand, I add more.

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Servings Suggestions

Serve the chickpea salad as a sandwich with your favorite toppings, in a lettuce wrap, or as a dip with crackers.  I like to serve it on toasted whole-wheat bread with lettuce, sliced tomato, and sliced red onion. It also works great for kid’s school lunches and can be made ahead of time.

How to Make Chickpea Salad Taste More Like Tuna?

To get the “from the sea” taste in mock tuna salad try adding Dulse flakes.  If you can’t find those, nori sheets that are used to make sushi can be substituted.  Grind the sheets up using a spice grinder or crumble them up.  Add them in after mashing the chickpeas when you add the rest of the ingredients. Dulse is saltier than nori, so you might want to hold off on the pinch of salt in the recipe.

Need More Vegan Lunch Ideas? 

• Easy veggie sandwich with roasted red pepper hummus
• Curry chickpea salad
• Curry chickpea salad wrap

I hope you enjoy this recipe for an oil-free creamy chickpea salad sandwich!

This was originally posted on September 10, 2018, and updated on May 27, 2021.

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