A few years back when I was on a huge Greek and Mediterranean food kick I decided to whip up this super simple healthy chickpea salad for spring. It’s full of fresh veggies, tomatoes, spices, feta, olives and protein-packed chickpeas!
The best part about this chopped Greek salad recipe is that there’s no cooking required; all you’ll do is chop the veggies and toss them with the light lemon dressing. You can marinate it in the fridge for an hour or so, but it isn’t necessary.
Normally I like to eat this salad for lunch over mixed greens or spinach but you can also enjoy it as is. It’s full of plant-based protein from chickpeas, a great option to pack for lunch, or even as an easy crowd-pleaser for a BBQ or potluck, so let’s do it up!
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What’s in a Greek salad?
I’ve loved Greek salads for as long as I can remember because they’re so fresh, flavorful, and super satisfying. Traditional Greek salads are filled with beautiful veggies like red onion, tomatoes, cucumber, and bell pepper, along with kalamata olives, and blocks of feta cheese. They’re dressed simply with good quality olive oil, oregano, salt, and a vinegar like red wine vinegar. Unlike many other salad recipes, Greek salads don’t have any leafy greens in them.
It’s common to keep the feta and the veggies in larger chunks, but in my take on a Greek salad I’m chopping everything up a little more finely (aka a chopped Greek salad!)
Ingredients in the best chopped Greek salad
This delicious Greek chickpea salad is packed with a rainbow of veggies and light, fresh flavor from a lovely lemon dressing. Here’s everything you’ll need to make it:
- Veggies: we’re packing this baby full of fresh vegetables like red, yellow & green bell pepper, red onion, grape tomatoes, and cucumber.
- Chickpeas: gotta have that wonderful, plant-based protein from chickpeas!
- Mix-ins: like a true Greek salad we’re mixing in kalamata olives and some crumbled feta cheese. YUM. Feel free to add a diced avocado, too, for additional healthy fats!
- For the dressing: you’ll need some olive oil, fresh lemon juice, garlic, oregano, salt & pepper. So easy and SO fresh.
More delicious protein options
This chopped Greek salad is super easy to customize with your favorite proteins! Here’s what I can recommend:
- For additional plant-based protein, try adding in a cup of cooked quinoa.
- Cooked, cubed chicken would also be delicious (if you’re not vegan/vegetarian). I recommend my Baked or Grilled Honey Mustard Chicken!
- Baked or grilled salmon would also be delicious. Try my Honey Lemon Garlic Salmon.
- Grilled shrimp would be another great option.
Making this Greek chickpea salad for a party?
I recommend doubling everything to feed all of the guests! You can even make the salad 1-2 days ahead of time as the veggies will marinate beautifully in the dressing.
Storing tips
Store any leftover salad in the fridge for up to 3-5 days. After a few days the cucumbers will break down a bit, so I recommend enjoying it within 3 days of making the salad.
More salad recipes you’ll love
- Vegan Curried Broccoli Chickpea Salad
- Roasted Carrot Cauliflower Quinoa Salad with Sunshine Dressing
- Avocado & Tomato Chickpea Pasta Salad with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette
- California Roasted Sweet Potato Kale Salad
- Spicy Cashew Chickpea Broccoli Salad with Ginger Peanut Dressing
Get all of our salad recipes here!
I hope you love this chopped Greek chickpea salad! If you make it, be sure to leave a comment below and rate the recipe! You can also snap and picture and post it on Instagram using the hashtag #ambitiouskitchen.
The Easiest Chickpea Greek Salad
This simple and easy chopped Greek salad recipe takes less than 20 minutes to throw together and is packed with Mediterranean flavors, colorful veggies, and plant-based protein from chickpeas. You’ll love this Greek chickpea salad for a quick & easy lunch or to bring to parties!
Ingredients
- For the salad:
- 1 (15 ounce) can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 1/4 cup diced red onion
- 15 grape tomatoes, halved (about 1 cup halved grape tomatoes)
- 1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped if desired
- 1 medium cucumber, sliced and quartered
- 4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled or cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- For the dressing:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- freshly ground salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
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Place all salad ingredients into a large bowl and toss to combine.
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In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and oregano. Pour onto salad and toss again to well combine. Taste and add salt and pepper as you'd like.
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Place in refrigerator for 1 hour to marinate, or serve immediately. Salad is best enjoyed within 2-3 days after making.
Recipe Notes
If you're making this salad for a crowd, I recommend doubling everything to feed all of the guests! You can even make the salad 1-2 days ahead of time as the veggies will marinate beautifully in the dressing.
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published March 17th, 2015, republished April 2nd, 2019, and republished May 18th, 2022.
115 comments
You should try Reza’s in Andersonville if you haven’t yet: http://www.rezasrestaurant.com they have great food!
Thanks for the recommendation 🙂
my two favorite places in greektown are Parthenon and Santorini – the chicken kabobs are the best!
xo, ellie
http://withlovefromellie.wordpress.com
I am following a vegan diet so this is perfect without the cheese for me.
If you eat tofu, you might like to try a marinated tofu “feta” with this salad.e
Wow, what a lovely salad! It’s one of my favorites in Greek cuisine! Yours has a nice punch of protein too!
I have been non stop craving Greek foods so I would be all over this if you placed it in front of me right now
Ah! This salad looks delicious! And so festive. It reminds me of summer, which I’m missing a whole lot right now! Pinning this. (:
It’s always a good time for Greek salad! I think that’s what I’ll be having for lunch today.
You are NOT a bad blogger! I enjoy your posts so much! This is a great salad. I think I have everything for it at home for tonight’s dinner! Yay!
So beautiful! I’m in love with Greek food as well, and this salad looks incredible 🙂
This looks amazing! I don’t get nearly enough Greek food in my life and I need to change that. Starting with this salad!
Seriously!!! I’m starving after this 🙂 yummy
https://aspoonfulofnature.wordpress.com/
Other than tabbouleh, Greek Salads are hands down my favorite. I love the chickpeas in this because I pretty much put chickpeas in everything!! Wish I had this now! Pinning.
So light and fresh! Greek and Mediterranean foods are definitely a favorite!
Ahhh, so glad i found this, my hubby and I are going to a friends house tomorrow and he wanted me to make a Greek salad. Bingo! Looks amazing, and in my eyes you’re the BEST blogger 🙂
Hi. Love your blog! I’m going to be making this for supper tonight. Just a question…where is the sugar from in this recipe? Thanks!
The tomatoes and bell peppers.
What an amazing flavors combination, that’s a phenomenal salad for warm days!
Hmm this look delicious, thanks for posting up this recipe, looks quite simple to make.
Simon
I made this tonight and it’s a keeper! Not too much dressing, which is nice. I added artichoke hearts (in water, drained, dried and cut up) and the quinoa, used reduced fat feta. It tasted as good as it looked! Very filling and healthy. Thank you for another great recipe!
Hi Monique!
I’m going to make this salad for dinner tomorrow night.
Best Greek Cuisine in Chicago = Takim! Best hummus in town plus many additional tasty vittles.
I’m trying to do a sugar detox for a yeast infection. Does the 12.4 g of sugar in the nutrition come from the lemon?
No it comes from the tomatoes and peppers.
Great recipe! Really easy to make. I did double the marinade though because I didn’t feel like their was enough dressing.
I know feta is a Greek staple, but is there another kind of cheese that would go well with this? Bleu, maybe? I’m not a fan of feta. Thanks.
You could use Queso Fresco or a goat cheese I would think. Both are going to be less salty though. I think bleu or gorgonzola would be way too overpowering as feta is mainly just “salty” without the intense tang that bleu cheese has.
Been trying to eat healthy and focusing on a more Mediterranean diet and this fit the bill perfectly! Didn’t have olives but otherwise made almost exactly and let sit in the fridge for a few hours. I seeded my cucumbers which helped keep it from getting soupy and added about a tablespoon or so each minced fresh parsley and mint (leftover from some tzatziki and marinated chicken kabobs). I think that knocked it out of the park, but I’d still make this if I didn’t have the herbs on hand. Thanks for sharing – this is in the repertoire now! 🙂
Hi as a disabled nurse(from orthopedics and rehab) who can barely stand, and can not exercise, I know the enemy (back and neck pain) too well, nursing is murder on the spine and my injuries are extreme. But I have some information and insights to share, privately with you. First, why give up Yoga? Hatha is a very good form of stretching exercise, provided you practice under a certified and very experience Practitioner. I think you are experiencing overuse injuries, I get the sense you were working out daily and and not allowing your muscles rest and recuperation. I see you in a photo doing an extreme pose and no mat or studio. No supervision, the crown villain for injuries. A mat is protection for you. It pads your body and protects against slippedge injuries. It sounds as though your injuries are a combination of over use and slipping or attempting an extreme pose your body was not ready for or you were an iota off the proper position in. The problem with not having a supervising Yoga Practitioner. To move into advanced Yoga you need a teacher. Did you know there is a whole school of Yoga for those with back injuries and you are in Chicago, a likely place to find a Yoga Practitioner to help you. From your picture I think you are at the age where the body first hits that wall where you can no longer do whatever you want as often as you want. If you hope to have children and not be restricted to bed, your back needs to be rehabbed the right way. 1. Please stop the running, it is infamous for tight muscle injuries. If you need to ask for stretching exercises, you missed a part of Yoga you need. Plus you won’t know whether people’s stretching injuries are safe and appropriate for you. Luckily you are feeling the muscle pain that is called tightness and soon becoming injury.. Running injuries often cause tears of muscle, tendons and ligaments that derail your exercise program for months and must be surgically repaired and may never be as good again. So stop running now, you are going too far, too fast without a good warmup and stretching program. Start walking for exercise. Not everyday but every other. Muscles need rest and repair time to repair the microtears and get rid of lactic acid and other post workout products. Use Naproxen or Motrin for pain and inflammation. If you have pain from muscle tightness, and have some of those muscle relaxants take one at bedtime only. Also hot showers after exercise and hot tubs with Epsom Salts before bed. You absorb the Magnesium Sulfates that help the cells release those products of exercise, so they can heal. During the day the anti inflammatories will help with pain and so will a heating pad on Low. Just take it with you and plug in where ever you are. Start a search on Yoga on back and neck injuries and stretching for a knowledge base. Then start a search for a Yoga Practioner(s) in the Chicago area. Look for certification and experience you want to place your body in the hands and eyes of someone you can trust. Make some interviews with the best you can find and talk with them about your situation and what you seek. Bring suitable workout attire. The best will want to see you to check your flexibility, your cooperation(you may have to do kiddy stuff while they consider your practical level and capability) and how badly you are injured. You may have to start with a basic exercise program to rebuild your strength and flexibility, so pick the person who will help you the best even if you feel held back. Remember the best in Pro Sports use these people too and they know the back to basics approach is the most valuable, so should you. If any have a diploma in Sports and or Physical Therapy they have a strong knowledge base. If they ask to see the poses you were using and attempting/ working on bring pictures or stick figures. Explain what the pain feels like, how often, and exactly where you feel it and what triggers it the most. Also where you are feeling tight. Pick a person you feel you can trust, who is going to return you to a safe level, who is frank and honest with you and is willing to risk bawling you out, to see if you are worthwhile to spend their time on. They should be willing to demonstrate the poses or have a top student demonstrate for you and spot you. Hope this helps. I think If you can find a good Practitioner and get rehabbed properly, you should be able to return to Yoga, which you obviously love and miss. But less often and more safely. If they say no, then you can’t and that is that. But at least you will know for sure. I just found your blog this evening. I am on Pinterest. You have some great recipes, I am training my palate to like Sweet Potatoes, They are so good for you and healthy but I hated them as a child and am trying to find recipes for them that don’t involve layers of Marshmallow. Did you know that Buddha and his followers only had food they begged using bowls, and Buddha was blind the last years of life, still common in India. After prayers they would sit and eat whatever had been placed in their bowls. Modern physicians think Buddha died of food poisoning, according to symptoms passed down through history. Probably Botulism if you think of how hot that country is and still refrigeration is uncommon there. Hard to tell if the donor was innocent or intentional. Indian religions are various and don’t always play nice. If he ate it unknowingly, it probably tasted ok, and botulinum toxin has no flavor. So a Buddha Bowl traditionally has many things and little to no meat in it. Reference if you have ever eaten a Buddha’s Delight at a Chinese Restaurant, it is the same. Buddha began Buddhism in India, it then spread to China via Tibet and of course Southeast Asia, and some of the Islands, and Taiwan and Japan. Hope this is helpful to you as you seek healing and health, I have added you to my secret board of bloggers and internet sites. Glad to see you work with PeaPod. I am dependent on their shopping and delivery service for groceries. I am going to seek out your Pinterest board tonight, feel free to visit me anytime. You don’t have to post this book, I wrote it primarily for information, I thought you could put to use in you quest for wellness. Do give your back a thorough rehab, because Pregnancy becomes agonizing if you have back trouble and is too wonderful an experience to have anything interfere with the complex of joy and wonder you can feel. You most assuredly don’t want to end up like me. Good luck. Nemasté. MaryAnn from Boston, MA 2/10/17
Why didn’t anyone tell me to put chickpeas in my Greek salad before now??? I added fresh dill to the dressing and marinated artichokes as garnish. Eternally grateful, this salad is PERFECT!
Such a delicious and refreshing salad. Made it with the addition of tri-colored quinoa and it was a hit at our Easter celebration. Will definitely make this again and again.
DELICIOUS! I didn’t add olives, feta or green pepper. Extra can of chick peas, and cucumber. Added roasted organic sweet corn. The dressing is perfect!!!!
Roasted sweet corn, yum!!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was super yum! Thank you! I added some canned tuna for an extra protein boost and it was perfect.
Delicious!!
Mmmm. Delicious! I made this without the onion, olives, and bell pepper since I had none on hand and it was snowing like crazy today. I love it. I ate it before I workout and I had s great workout! Can’t wait to try again with the other veggies.
Amazing! This is perfect for using your favorite veggies 🙂
SO GOOD! Will definitely be making more often for lunches. Thanks for creating salad recipes that are so colorful, healthy and delicious!!! No more sad desk salads for me!
Perfect! So happy you enjoyed this one 🙂 And yes – all of the colors are the best!
This salad was crazy good!
Isn’t it delicious?! So easy, too! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Loved it! Doubled the recipe. The peppers at the store were really big, so I added an extra can of chickpeas to the doubled recipe, and an extra tablespoon of olive oil and 2 of lemon juice. Had mine with the olives, hubby had his without. Will definitely make this again. Came together in just a few minutes with both of us chopping. Thanks for a new staple.
Delicious! This is a fun one to chop up and prepare. Glad you both enjoyed!
Does this keep well in the fridge? I’ve been trying different chopped salads, especially for my husband since he packs a lunch to work every day. We tried your Curried Broccoli and Chickpea salad and it was a HIT! Really amazing. But the best part was that it lasted a full 5 days without getting weird
Yes this does! Because it has tons of raw veggies I think it gets even better over time (like the broccoli salad!)
I put this into MFP calorie counter and it said 1/4 recipe was 574 calories. Did you modify at all to get 279?
My Fitness Pal is really never correct unless you input the exact amounts yourself. Just FYI. The nutrition information in this recipe is correct for 4 servings.
I haven’t been in ages, but the Parthenon was always my go to spot when I happened to be in the area when I lived in the Midwest. Opa!!
Love it!
You’re from Chicago and you’ve never been to Greek Islands?!? Girl, you have GOT to go 🙂 My absolute favorite xoxo
I’ll have to!!
I have made this salad using your recipe so many times. I always get compliments and when I tell folks I’m bringing it to a potluck, their eyes light up with excitement! It’s that delicious ❤️😋
So happy to hear that Dorothy! It’s one of my go-to’s to bring to parties 🙂
Just made this and it is SO good! The dressing is light and wonderful. Will definitely be making this often!
So happy to hear that! It’s a great lunch or party salad to feed a crowd 🙂
This is the best Greek salad I’ve ever had! I added goat cheese (flavored with sun-dried tomatoes & herbs) instead of Feta. I also added shredded chicken to the mix. Delish!!! 🙂
So happy to hear that Emily! LOVE your choice of add-ins – yum 🙂
Simple and delish. I added chickpea pasta.
Great idea! Glad you enjoyed.
great and easy recipe despite all the knife work
It’s pretty chop-intensive but so worth it! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
This salad is so delicious! The dressing is light and fresh and perfect to dress pretty much any salad, so much so that I plan to mix up more and do just that! I love knowing exactly what all the ingredients are in my food and eliminating artificial ones. Thank you for an excellent healthy recipe!! Also btw, do you think this dressing would be good as a marinade for fish or chicken?
So glad you love this one! It’s one of my favorite easy lunches 🙂 And YES this would be a great chicken marinade. Check out my other go-to’s here!
The perfect lunch!
This salad was amazing. It had all the veggies I was craving, and it’s so light.
Absolutely! Glad you loved it 🙂
This is amazing! Restaurant quality and so simple.
Absolutely! Glad you loved it!
This salad is so easy and so flavorful! The flavors are really nicely balanced. I modified the recipe slightly just to accommodate what I had on hand, and it was still wonderful. I used fresh oregano instead of dried, one medium/large fresh tomato, and a mixture of kalamata and castelvetrano olives. The dressing didn’t look like enough to me for the amount of vegetables that were in the bowl, but trust the recipe! It was the perfect amount once everything worked together for about 45 minutes. Will definitely make this again!
Perfect! This one’s great for customizing, too 🙂 glad you enjoyed!
Just made this salad and everyone really enjoyed it. I used vegan feta cheese and it was fabulous. It is so easy to make. Totally recommend it.
So happy to hear that!
I make this ALL THE TIME and absolutely love it. It’s a great lunch to bring to work and I find that if I make it Sunday night it will keep well through the week! Sometimes I add farro to make it more filling, but this is truly one of my favorite lunches to make!
Love that! One of my favs, too 🙂
This salad was so easy, light, filling, and most importantly delicious!
I prepped this for lunch this week, and it was so delicious and refreshing! So great for this warmer weather!
Perfect lunch for spring & summer! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Delish. Perfect, healthy lunch. Great for spring! I would bring this to a party….it’s so pretty with fantastic flavor!!!
Absolutely! So glad you loved it!
This recipe so easy to make. Very tasty, I’ve made it so many times,
Thanks
So happy to hear that!
I love making this salad for a quick and easy lunch. I usually use zucchini instead of cucumber because it holds up better/doesn’t get mushy as quickly. And I love Monique’s suggestion of eating this over salad greens to make it extra filling! This recipe stays in my summertime rotation!
Aw I’m so happy you’re a fan of this one! Great idea to use zucchini in here (it’s one of my fav summer ingredients!!)
I’m dying to try the Greek chickpea dish. It looks mouth watering! Keep the healthy recipes coming!!!
Can’t wait for you to try it, Douglass!
Great recipes. Please provide more of your amazing food recipes.
I could eat this every day. SO yummy! Here were my modifications: I soaked the red onions in red wine vinegar (maybe 1 1/2 Tbsp) while I made the rest of the salad; I then added the vinegar to the salad. I used only 2 oz of feta, and used an orange pepper instead of green. I also left out the olives, as I’m not a fan, and I cooked the chickpeas from dried instead of canned. Quick, delish, will make again and again. Maybe serve with manouche za’atar or fresh pita next time…will likely make later this week. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing, Elaine–that all sounds delicious!!
You NEED to make this! Insanely flavorful and also very easy to make. I brought this to a 4th of July BBQ and it was a huge hit! Also great for meal prep!
Woohoooo! So happy you and your friends loved this one! 🙂
This was so easy to make and delicious! Great for a light and healthy lunch.
So glad you loved it, Stephanie! 🙂
Is there such thing as being *to* obsessed with AK’s recipes?! (asking for a friend lol). Another home-freakin-run on the summer dinner list. I’m thinking next time I’ll add some TJ’s artichokes but don’t want to mess with it too much because it was a perfect 10. Try this ASAP people!!
Omg yayyyy I’m so happy you’re loving it!! SUCH a good idea to add artichokes 🙂
So easy to make and was so delicious! The dressing is light and compliments the salad so well. Will make again for sure!
Awesome, I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed it, Shannon! 🙂
Very good–excellent recipe. Super flexible. I only had a couple of tablespoons of Feta, My peppers were HUGE, so I only used 2. It was delicious, I’m looking forward to eating these veggies for several days. I recently read on SkinnyTaste of a “savory breakfast” of cut veggies over cottage cheese, sprinkled with bagel seasoning. I plan on using these cut up veggies over cottage cheese or plain greek yogurt for breakfast! Easy peasy.
I’m so happy you loved it, Kim! Thank you 🙂 And oooh that’s such an interesting breakfast idea!
I make this salad all the time – it is delicious. I use vegan feta and add 1/4 cup of peanuts or cashew nuts. If you can wait until the next day it is even better.
Yummm I love the idea of the nuts in here! So glad you love it 🙂
My fave salad ever! I have eaten it 4 out of 7 days for the last 6 weeks, no joking. Ha I have been using this as a meal prep over quinoa. Lasts about 4-5 days in the fridge. I’ve added pepperoncini too. So good! Thanks for a fantastic recipe.
This is sooo good! Love all the vegetables and the greek flavors. I doubled for two of us and will have no problem eating all of it up!
Yay!! So happy you tried and loved it, Linda 🙂
OMG Love this salad! So quick and easy and full of flavor! I probably used more olives than the recipe calls for, but that’s just personal preference. Thanks for always having the best recipes!
Yay!! Happy you love it, Katie. Totally fine to add more olives!
As well, I also made a greek salad with Cous cous and shrimp as my protein. I am not a fan of chick peas personally so I love how the options are there for substitutions. I used Tzatziki for my dressing this time! Love it!
Really delicious!! This is perfect to take to an outdoor summer party since all ingredients hold up well. I made it as written with the addition of a couple stalks chopped celery and an extra splash of red wine vinegar. Yum yum yum!
Yes, such a good one for summer gatherings! So glad you love it!
Delicious! I added some orzo and grilled chicken to make it a complete meal.
My go to for a summer bbq side dish!! So easy and everyone wants the recipe!! Thanks for sharing!!
Obsessed is an understatement right now. Has been my go to for lunches or dinners for a few weeks straight. I crave it. I also throw in some chunks of chicken. LOVE.
Your cooking is great. Thank you for this Salad
LOVE this salad! The dressing adds just the perfect flavor, and each ingredient in the salad adds so flavor AND color! ‘Can’t wait to serve this to company!
This one’s perfect for entertaining!
Easy and delicious. This is the perfect side dish when it’s too hot to cook. I prepped this for dinner and made Greek burgers to go along with it. It’s healthy and so flavorful!