Vegan chickpea tuna salad is one of my favorite quick & easy make-ahead lunch recipes! It only takes 15 minutes to make and tastes SO good. Perfect for use in sandwiches, salads or on its own!
Why we love this recipe
- Quick and easy: just about 10 minutes of prep and 5 minutes to combine everything!
- Great for meal prep: this is my #1 favorite recipe to meal prep for busy weekdays! It stores really well in the fridge and tastes just as great a few days later.
- Vegan & gluten free: suitable for just about any dietary needs.
- Versatile: you can enjoy in a sandwich, lettuce cups, or on its own. The options are endless!
Ingredients
Here are the key ingredients you'll need to make this vegan tuna salad:
Ingredient Notes
- Chickpeas: you could also sub with white beans (cannellini or navy), but note that the texture will be quite a bit softer (and less similar to tuna).
- Carrots: you can buy the carrots pre-shredded, or you can use a cheese grater, microplane or food processor to quickly shred on your own.
- Dill pickle relish adds SO much flavor and tanginess to this vegan tuna salad. If you don't have any, you can sub with finely chopped dill pickles, or you can leave out altogether.
- Miso: we use a mild white miso in this recipe. It adds saltiness and a seafood-like taste to the sauce to help mimic the flavor of tuna. You could also use yellow miso, but we wouldn't recommend red miso in this recipe.
- If you don't have any miso, leave it out and add salt to taste.
- Vegan mayo: pretty much any variety/brand will do! For extra flavor, you can even use a garlic-flavored mayo (or my favorite: spicy mayo).
- Parsley and dill: if you don't have any fresh parsley and dill, you can substitute with 1 teaspoon each of dried parsley and dill.
Step-by-step instructions
Drain and rinse chickpeas.
Whisk together the miso and tamari in a small bowl. Use the whisk or the back of a spoon to break up the miso paste until it's well incorporated with the tamari.
Add the mayo, lemon juice, dijon, garlic powder and pepper and whisk well.
Add the chickpeas to a large mixing bowl. Use a fork to roughly mash them, leaving some whole for a texture more similar to tuna.
Add celery, carrot, onion, dill pickle relish, parsley, and dill to the chickpeas and stir well.
Pour the sauce over the chickpeas + vegetables and stir well to coat. Enjoy right away or chill for a few hours before serving.
Serving suggestions
My favorite way to enjoy this vegan tuna salad is in a tuna melt!
To make, heap a generous serving of the chickpea salad on a large slice of bread. Top with 1-2 slices of your favorite vegan cheese (we love Chao slices).
Place on a baking sheet (with another slice of bread next to it). Broil for a few minutes, until the cheese is melty and the bread is slightly toasted.
(Optional) Top with microgreens or other fresh greens and other slice of bread. Slice in half and enjoy!
You can also enjoy this chickpea tuna salad atop a bed of fresh greens as a salad, in lettuce cups, stuffed in an avocado, as a dip with pita chips, or plain.
Expert Tips
- Not a fan of raw red onion? Swap with pickled red onion, or rinse the diced red onion under super hot tap water for 30-45 seconds, then under cold water for a few seconds. This helps remove some of the bite.
- Storage: store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Stir well before eating.
- For best results, I suggest chilling the chickpea salad for about 2 hours before enjoying. It tastes great right away, too, but I think it tastes better chilled and this allows the flavors to meld together a bit more!
- If you really want to make this taste like real tuna, we highly suggest trying this plant-based tuna substitute from Good Catch in place of the chickpeas. It tastes insanely similar to real tuna and it's great mixed with the other ingredients in this recipe!
FAQs
If you don't want to use mayo, you can try subbing with mashed, ripe avocado or hummus. (Disclaimer: we haven't personally tried either of these alternatives, but several others have had success!)
Related recipes
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Vegan Tuna Salad
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Vegan chickpea tuna salad is one of my favorite quick & easy make-ahead lunch recipes! It only takes 15 minutes to make and tastes SO good. Perfect for use in sandwiches, salads or on its own!
Ingredients
- 1 15 oz can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
- ⅓ cup finely diced celery
- ⅓ cup finely shredded carrot
- 2 tbsp finely diced red onion*
- 2 tbsp dill pickle relish (or finely diced dill pickles)
- 1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
- 1 tbsp fresh chopped dill
- ¼ cup vegan mayonnaise
- 2 tsp lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
- 2 tsp mild white miso
- 2 tsp low sodium tamari or soy sauce
- 1 ½ tsp dijon mustard
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp ground pepper
Instructions
- Drain and rinse chickpeas.
- Whisk together the miso and tamari in a small bowl. Use the whisk or the back of a spoon to break up the miso paste until it's well incorporated with the tamari. Add the mayo, lemon juice, dijon, garlic powder and pepper and whisk well.
- Add the chickpeas to a large mixing bowl. Use a fork to roughly mash them, leaving some whole for a texture more similar to tuna. Add celery, carrot, onion, dill pickle relish, parsley, and dill to the chickpeas and stir well.
- Pour the sauce over the chickpeas + vegetables and stir well to coat. Enjoy right away or chill for a few hours before serving.
Notes
*Red onion: Not a fan of raw red onion? Swap with pickled red onion, or rinse the diced red onion under super hot tap water for 30-45 seconds, then under cold water for a few seconds. This helps remove some of the bite.
Chickpeas: you could also sub with white beans (cannellini or navy), but note that the texture will be quite a bit softer (and less similar to tuna).
Carrots: you can buy the carrots pre-shredded, or you can use a cheese grater, microplane or food processor to quickly shred on your own.
Dill pickle relish adds SO much flavor and tanginess to this vegan tuna salad. If you don't have any, you can sub with finely chopped dill pickles, or you can leave out altogether.
Miso: we use a mild white miso in this recipe. It adds saltiness and a seafood-like taste to the sauce to help mimic the flavor of tuna. You could also use yellow miso, but we wouldn't recommend red miso in this recipe. If you don't have any miso, leave it out and add salt to taste.
Parsley and dill: if you don't have any fresh parsley and dill, you can substitute with 1 teaspoon each of dried parsley and dill.
Storage: store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Stir well before eating.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Lunch
- Method: No cook
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 174
- Sugar: 3.4 g
- Sodium: 610 mg
- Fat: 7.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 21.3 g
- Fiber: 5.8 g
- Protein: 7.2 g
Keywords: vegan tuna salad, chickpea tuna salad
Marissa
This is my new favorite!! Planning on making it for the third time tomorrow. The flavor is amazing!
Andrea Siegel
I made this last night and we all loved it! I will definitely be making this again.
★★★★★