Avocado Chickpea Salad Sandwich

Avocado Chickpea Salad Bagel Sandwich. A healthy vegan sandwich! Smashed chickpea and avocado salad on poppyseed bagels. Ready in minutes for a delicious, plant-based lunch. 

File this under, ‘I can’t believe I haven’t shared this recipe with you yet.’

You know those recipes you make so many times, you almost forget it’s a recipe? Like my lentil soup or green goddess sandwich. I eat those both so often, I don’t even need a recipe. Sure, they’re a little different each time, but who cares? A little this, a little that; they always turn out exactly how I need them in the moment.

That’s how this avocado chickpea salad is. I’ve created at least 10 different versions, but all of them are my favorite. Mash a ripe avocado, add some chopped chickpeas, perhaps a little veggie or three and brighten the whole thing up with lemon juice and salt/pepper.

Sometimes I throw in feta cheese, or a hard-boiled egg. For extra creaminess, I like a touch of mayo but that’s completely optional. Delicious on a bagel as shown here, but also on a bed of lettuce, as an open face sandwich or in a wrap. 

It’s always delicious, it’s always satisfying. It’s also why I’m sharing it with you. My non-recipe that I wrote into a recipe but also highly encourage you not following it to a T.

 

Ingredients for Chickpea Avocado Salad 

The beauty of this avocado chickpea salad recipe is that you need only a handful of ingredients. As I mentioned above, it’s incredibly customizable to whatever you’d got on hand. I love it most served on a toasted bagel as the crunchy bagel texture pairs perfectly with the creamy salad, but any bread, pita or wraps will work. 

• 1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained. You can also use cooked chickpeas if you have them, you’ll need about 1 1/2 cups. 
• 2 ripe avocados, pitted, and chopped. There is such thing as a too-ripe avocado, where the inside has turned brown and stringy. I find they too-ripe avocados impart a bitter flavor and prefer a slightly underripe avocado to a too ripe one in this recipe. If you are having a hard time mashing a slightly underripe avocado, you can mix this in the food processor or add in a dollop of mayo or yogurt (regular or dairy-free, depending on preference). 
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro or other finely chopped fresh herbs. Fresh parsley is also delish in this recipe. 
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Juice of 1 lime or a lemon. 
• Salt and black pepper, to taste

How to Make Avocado Chickpea Salad

Rinse and drain the canned chickpeas. Next, add to a medium bowl along with the avocado and olive oil. Using a fork or potato masher, smash the avocado and chickpeas together until well combined. Mix in the fresh cilantro, red onion and a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 

Finish by spreading the avocado chickpea salad onto a toasted bagel, or your bread of choice, and top with your favorite sandwich toppings. I love microgreens or sprouts, fresh sliced tomatoes and sliced cucumber.

How to Serve this Avocado Chickpea Salad

Obviously, you can serve this one on any bread, but can I make the case for a bagel?

I haven’t had a bagel since I was pregnant. Of which you now know that I ate a bagel almost daily during the first trimester. I haven’t had a craving for one since, until I walked past a bagel shop a few weeks ago. Suddenly, all those carb feelings came rushing back to me and a chewy bagel sandwich was all I wanted.

So I grabbed a few to go, finished my walk and headed into the kitchen to create old faithful. My mashed chickpea and avocado sandwich that I knew would taste phenomenal on top of that bagel. And, it did. It really did. So much so that I measured out my ingredients, wrote it up and here we are.

Happy Friday! Hope you have a beautiful weekend planned. We are heading up to Madison for my sister-in-laws shower and I can’t wait to walk around the farmer’s market and drink some brandy. xo

More Vegan Sandwich Recipes 

• Smoky Miso Tofu Sandwich 
• Tempeh Bacon BLT Sandwich 
• Chickpea Salad Sandwich
• Cashew Cheese Veggie Sandwich 
• Vegan Egg Salad Sandwich 
• Curry Tempeh Salad Wrap 
• Vegan Italian Panini

If you try this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, and tag your Instagram photos with #delishknowledge . I absolutely love seeing your creations. Happy cooking! 

This recipe was first published in 2018 and updated in 2022.