Bright Cucumber Chickpea Salad with Feta

Name: Bright Cucumber Chickpea Salad with Feta
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed; ½ cup finely diced red onions; 4-5 (~2 cups) Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced; ¼ cup chopped parsley; 1 tablespoon fresh dill, minced; 3-4 tablespoons chopped mint; 2 handfuls arugula, optional; 6 ounces feta cheese, cubed or crumbled; 3 tablespoons olive oil; 3 tablespoons lemon juice; 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano; 1 tablespoon honey (see notes); ½ teaspoon kosher salt AND ¼ teaspoon pepper

Jump to Recipe

A Mediterranean-inspired Cucumber Chickpea Salad loaded with fresh herbs, crisp cucumbers, greens, and protein-packed chickpeas! The dressing is lemony and so refreshing. This is quick enough for a weekday lunch and is the perfect side dish for any meal!

cucumber chickpea salad in bowl topped with feta cheese

So bright and FLAVORFUL.

That’s exactly how I like my salads.

To say this is an easy salad recipe is an understatement. And I promise you, this cucumber chickpea salad delivers on all counts. The taste is phenomenal! Loaded with lots of ingredients but also something with such minimal prep time that I can toss this together in the middle of my workday.

It starts with a couple of cans of garbanzo beans that we’ll drain and rinse. This salad is big on fiber, which means that it’ll keep you going all day. I love a colorful power salad like that. Toss together with crumbled feta cheese, minced red onions, Persian cucumbers, parsley, dill, fresh mint, and arugula. You can omit the arugula if you want, but I love serving this on a bed of peppery greens to add even more flavor.

As written, my cucumber chickpea salad is gluten-free! You could also make this vegan – just use vegan-friendly feta cheese and swap the honey for maple syrup.

If you’re someone that strives to get in more protein at every meal, a simple shredded rotisserie chicken will bump up the protein macros without packing on too many additional calories.

Ingredients for Cucumber Chickpea Salad

Chickpeas: Also called garbanzo beans. You’ll need a couple of 15-ounce cans for this recipe. Be sure to drain and rinse the cans before adding them to a large bowl.
Feta Cheese: crumbled feta cheese adds a salty element to the salad. Goat cheese will work as a decent replacement if you aren’t a fan of feta. But keep in mind that goat cheese has less sodium than feta, so you’ll need a bit more salt to make up for it.
Red Onions: I like to finely mince my red onions so that they add only a bit of flavor to each bite. You can also soak the red onions in a bowl of water before adding them to the salad to make them less harsh. I typically just pop it all in and let the lemon juice in the dressing mellow them out!
Cucumbers: I like using Persian cucumbers anytime cucumbers are used! You can also use an English cucumber or other varieties – whatever you like will work here!
Fresh Herbs: I’m using fresh dill, chopped mint, parsley, and fresh oregano – all of which I grew in my garden. I’m still in shock that I haven’t killed my herbs yet!
Additional add-ins: I like to use a couple of handfuls of arugula to add a delicious peppery element to the salad. You could play around with kalamata olives, avocados, grape tomatoes, or even red bell peppers for variations on this salad. Feel free to add what you like!
Olive Oil: We’ll use this as the fat in the dressing. I prefer to use extra virgin olive oil of good quality for salad dressing but use whatever you have on hand.
Fresh Lemon Juice: Fresh lemon juice is the acid portion of our salad dressing.
Honey: Balances the tartness of the lemon juice just a tad bit.
Kosher Salt + Black Pepper: These are kind of givens!

How to Make My Chickpea Feta Cucumber Salad:

Add it all to a large bowl! Start with the drained chickpeas, then add the red onions, Persian cucumbers, parsley, dill, mint, and arugula. I like to give these ingredients a toss before adding in the feta so that it doesn’t get too crumbly!
Make the dressing. Add the olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, honey, salt, and pepper to a mason jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake the dressing together. You can also add it to a bowl and just whisk to combine.
Make the salad! When you’re ready to eat, add the dressing to the salad ingredients and just combine everything well. Taste and adjust with more salt and pepper as needed. Make sure to store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

close up of dill chickpeas, feta, and cucumbers

Serving suggestions with this chickpea salad:

You might also like these other chickpea salad recipes:

Yield: Serves 6