This creamy Chickpea Pasta Salad is an easy side dish, refreshing, and satisfying! Make this for your next dinner party or even for dinner tonight!
I love a good pasta salad. This one is served chilled and does not use the typical olive oil and vinegar base. This chickpea pasta salad recipe uses regular or gluten free pasta with a mayonnaise and yogurt based sauce, full of fresh herbs and filled with extra protein from the chickpeas!
You can easily make this vegan or not, and you can customize it by adding extras such as chicken breast, red bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, and so much more!
Table of Contents:
🎥 Watch the video of this recipe
🥣 Why you'll love this Chickpea Pasta Salad:
- Simple & Straightforward. The hardest part of this recipe might be chopping the herbs, otherwise, its so simple!
- It's unique! Most pasta salads use balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar as the base, while this one is creamy and uses lemon juice and mayonnaise and yogurt.
- So satisfying while still healthy. The creaminess makes this feel decadent. Make it even healthier by using chickpea pasta or protein pasta.
🥗What you need for this recipe:
Ingredients and Substitutions:
- Pasta - Use any type of pasta you like, but short shapes work best, like rotini pasta or penne pasta. Gluten-free pasta works well here, and whole wheat pasta would be good too! Of course, traditional pasta is always welcome.
- Chickpeas or Garbanzo Beans - I prefer canned chickpeas for simplicity, but you can always make your own from dry if you like!
- Plain Yogurt - Plain, unsweetened yogurt. For a vegan pasta salad, use a plain almond milk yogurt!
- Mayonnaise - Any kind you like is fine, I suggest Dukes or Kewpie!
- Lemons - Fresh lemon juice is always best, and you can add some lemon zest as well!
- Whole Grain Mustard - This is my favorite mustard, and it tastes very different from yellow mustard. I highly encourage NOT skipping this!
- Cucumbers - I prefer the firmer english cucumbers, but any kind will work. Diced cucumbers.
- Fresh Herbs - Dill, parsley, scallions or green onions, and more.
Tools and Equipment:
- Large Pot
- Sharp Knife
- Large or medium mixing bowl
📋 How to make Chickpea Pasta Salad:
Step 1: Prepare Ingredients
Begin by bringing a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Boil the pasta according to package instructions and cook just past al dente. Drain pasta entirely and rinse with cold water.
While the pasta cooks, drain and lightly rinse the canned chickpeas. Add them to a bowl and lightly mash with a fork. The chickpeas should still be whole, but slightly mashed.
Peel and dice the cucumbers, thinly slice the scallions, and very lightly chop the fresh herbs. Set aside.
Step 2: Assemble the Pasta Salad
In a large bowl, add the cooled pasta, the rinsed chickpeas, and all of the remaining ingredients (mayo, yogurt, lemon, mustard, herbs, cucumbers). Save a few sprigs of dill and parsley for garnish.
Mix everything together until well combined. Add salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste.
Step 3: Finishing Touches
Transfer to your serving dish of choice (or serve it in the mixing bowl). Sprinkle with salt and pepper and garnish with the remaining dill, parsley, and any leftover scallions!
💭 Expert Tips & Tricks
- This recipe is intentionally very basic, so that you can add what you want! I think chickpea pasta salad would be great with diced red onion, kalamata olives or black olives, fresh basil, bell peppers, or other crunchy veggies and/or complete proteins!
- Pay close attention to package directions on your preferred type of pasta as different pastas can have different cooking times based on type and shape!
- I recommend cooking the pasta just past al dente. Since the cooked pasta will be rinsed under cold water, it will stop the cooking process, and al dente may cause it to be a bit too firm.
Storage & Reheating Tips:
- Store in the Fridge: Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 4-5 days.
- Store in the Freezer: Store in a freezer-safe airtight container for up to about 3 months.
- How to Reheat: Always inspect leftovers for impurities or mold by using your eyes and nose. Eat chilled or at room temperature.
Recipe FAQs
Chickpea pasta is a great healthy pasta alternative that is gluten-free, high in fiber and protein, and it works great in this chickpea pasta salad!
A lot of times pasta salad will dry out if it sits for too long. The pasta absorbs the dressing, especially if using gluten-free pasta! Prevent this by waiting to dress the salad until you are ready to serve, or add a little extra mayo and lemon juice after storing.
Related Recipes
Love a recipe you've tried? Please leave a 5-star🌟 rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. Don't forget to tag me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook when you try one of my recipes!
📖 Recipe
The Best Creamy Chickpea Pasta Salad
Equipment
- Medium pot
- Colander
- Sharp Knife
- Cutting Board
- Mixing Bowl
Ingredients
- 8 oz Penne Pasta
- ½ cup Plain whole milk yogurt or almond milk yogurt
- 3 tablespoon Mayonnaise or vegan mayonnaise
- ¼ Red onion fine dice
- 3 tablespoon Lemon juice
- 1.5 teaspoon Whole grain mustard
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon Black pepper
- 3-4 tablespoon Fresh dill loosely minced
- 3 tablespoon Fresh parsley chopped
- 1 cup English cucumber peeled and diced
- ½ cup Scallions sliced
- 15 oz Canned chickpeas rinsed
Instructions
- Begin by bringing a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Boil the pasta according to package instructions and cook just past al dente. Drain pasta entirely and rinse with cold water.
- While the pasta cooks, drain and lightly rinse the canned chickpeas. Add them to a bowl and lightly mash with a fork. The chickpeas should still be whole, but slightly mashed.
- Peel and dice the cucumbers, thinly slice the scallions, and very lightly chop the fresh herbs. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the cooled pasta, the rinsed chickpeas, and all of the remaining ingredients (mayo, yogurt, lemon, mustard, herbs, cucumbers). Save a few sprigs of dill and parsley for garnish.
- Mix everything together until well combined. Add salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste.
- Transfer to your serving dish of choice (or serve it in the mixing bowl). Sprinkle with salt and pepper and garnish with the remaining dill, parsley, and any leftover scallions!
Video
Notes
- This recipe is intentionally very basic, so that you can add what you want! I think chickpea pasta salad would be great with diced red onion, kalamata olives or black olives, fresh basil, bell peppers, or other crunchy veggies and/or complete proteins!
- Pay close attention to package directions on your preferred type of pasta as different pastas can have different cooking times based on type and shape!
- I recommend cooking the pasta just past al dente. Since the cooked pasta will be rinsed under cold water, it will stop the cooking process, and al dente may cause it to be a bit too firm.
V
This was absolutely delicious! It was almost like a vegetarian version of the "tuna tarragon" salad I used to enjoy as a kid. The 3 Tbsp of lemon juice made the dressing a little too bitingly acidic for my taste (possibly because I was using greek yogurt as my base), but I balanced it out by adding some extra yogurt and salt. I also threw in a few diced radishes for some extra crunch. Will definitely be making this again with some lemon zest and kalamata olives!
Emily
I am so glad you loved it! Such a great addition of radishes and I think olives would be GREAT in this!
Courtney Paige
I made this for a summer BBQ and it was the first thing gone!