Greek Chickpea Salad with Tzatziki Dressing
on Feb 20, 2024, Updated Jul 09, 2024
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This quick and easy Greek Chickpea Salad with Tzatziki Dressing is great for a vegetarian lunch or side dish to serve with dinner. Everything you find in a Greek salad, minus the lettuce and tossed in a creamy, flavorful tzatziki dressing.
If you love this Greek salad then I think you’ll enjoy this Greek orzo salad and this Greek salmon salad with tahini yogurt dressing.
This post has been updated since it was originally published on 1/13/2020.
Why you’ll love it
Healthy vegetarian salad – This chickpea salad is a great option if you’re wanting a healthy vegetarian lunch or salad to serve with dinner. Chickpeas and the Greek yogurt in the dressing give the salad a fair amount of protein. It’s also full of fiber, which we could all use a little more of.
Salad made without greens – If you’re not a fan of salads that use lettuce or other greens in them, then I highly recommend giving this Greek chickpea salad a try.
Often times when people hear the word salad, their mind automatically goes to lettuce based salads. I have to say, some of my favorite salads don’t use greens at all.
A few more of my favorite salads that don’t use greens are this Mediterranean Lentil Salad, Thai Quinoa Salad and this Summer Vegetable Orzo Salad.
The ingredients
- Chickpeas – Canned chickpeas make this salad extra easy to make.
- Persian or English cucumbers – Super crunchy and you don’t need to peel them. I would scrape out the seeds so the salad doesn’t get too watery.
- Cherry tomatoes – They add pops of sweetness to the salad.
- Red onion – Bold onion flavor.
- Kalamata olives – A classic Greek olive.
- Fresh dill – Adds a wonderful fresh flavor to the salad.
- Plain Greek yogurt – Tart and creamy. Use 2% or whole milk Greek yogurt for the best flavor and consistency.
- Lemon – Fresh lemon zest and juice are best for this recipe.
- Red wine vinegar – Acidic and tart in flavor.
- Feta – Crumble feta from a block for the best flavor and creamiest texture.
- Garlic powder or a clove of fresh garlic
How to make tzatziki dressing
Combine the Greek yogurt, lemon zest and juice, red wine vinegar, dill salt and pepper in a bowl and whisk them together.
Stir or whisk in the crumbled feta and taste for seasoning. The dressing will be thick, but once it’s added to the salad it will thin out.
How to make Greek chickpea salad
In a large bowl combine the chickpeas, cucumber, tomato, red onion, olives, and dill. Season with salt and pepper and pour the dressing onto the salad.
Toss everything together until it’s coated in the dressing. Taste the salad and add additional salt and pepper if needed.
What to serve with Greek salad
This Greek chickpea salad with tzatziki dressing works great for lunch of dinner. It’s hearty enough to eat on it’s own with a piece of pita bread or side of rice.
However, if you want to add additional protein try making these Greek Lemon Chicken Skewers, Greek meatballs with tzatziki sauce, or sheet pan Greek chicken and potatoes to serve along with it.
Can I Use Dried Dill?
Yes. If you don’t have fresh dill or don’t want to spend the money buying it, you can use dried dill.
Since dried herbs are stronger in flavor than fresh, you’ll want to use less than what the recipe calls for. I recommend a teaspoon for the salad and another teaspoon for the dressing.
Variations and substitutions
- Add diced cooked chicken for extra protein.
- Add a grain such as farro or pasta such as couscous or orzo.
- Substitute fresh dill with 1-2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley.
- Add red or green bell peppers or roasted red peppers.
Leftovers and storage
The chickpea salad will keep for 3-4 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The longer the salad sits the runnier it will become due to the tomatoes and cucumber releasing their juices.
More Chickpea Salad Recipes
Did you make this Greek chickpea salad with tzatziki dressing? I’d love if you’d leave a recipe rating and review below.
Greek Chickpea Salad with Tzatziki Dressing
Ingredients
Salad
- (2) 15 ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups diced Persian, or English cucumber
- 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 cup diced red onion
- 1/2 cup kalamata olives, halved
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped dill
Dressing
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt, 2% or whole milk
- Zest and juice of a lemon
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped dill
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, or 1 clove grated or minced garlic
- 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
- Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add all of the salad ingredients to a large serving bowl. In a smaller bowl whisk together the dressing ingredients. Pour the dressing in with the salad and stir together gently with a rubber spatula until everything is coated in the dressing. Taste for seasoning and serve or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made this salad and it was really delicious the first day. Unfortunately very watery the next day. My personal suggestion: If making this salad for immediate and complete consumption (e.g. for a party or dinner with no leftovers expected), it’s great as per the directions and stays nice and creamy. However, if making it to eat over the course of a few days, then add the tomatoes and cucumbers just before eating it.
I do plan to keep it on my salad rotation, so thank you for the great recipe!
I liked this but was too lemony for me and the family. next time I’ll try it with half the lemon. and I’m a big lemon fan, but it overpowered the other ingredients in the sauce for me.
Just made this—best EVER!!
Thanks for the review Judith! I’m so glad you liked it.
This was AMAZING! My 12 year old and I had this for lunch on a bed of baby spinach. So, so delicious. This recipe will be on repeat for sure.
Oh my goodness! So amazing, its odd cause as I was buying my ingredients at the store I thought it had yellow bellpepper. So I added it anyway and still turned out delicious. I highly reccomend this salad to be given a try. Thank you for your recipe.
This chickpea salad is filled with classic Greek ingredients and looks absolutely delicious!!! I love to sprinkle my salads with fresh or dried oregano once it’s composed.