I just had to re-share one of my favorite AK salads of all time that’s perfect for spring & summer parties, BBQs, and weekday meal prep. When I first made it a rew years back Abra and I literally could not stop eating it, so you know it’s the real deal. It’s my vegan broccoli chickpea salad.
This is a recipe guaranteed to keep you coming back for seconds. Why? For starters, there’s no cooking involved and it only takes 15-20 minutes from start to finish. Easy, right? Not only is it super quick, but it’s also packed with flavor from an addicting tahini dressing.
Crunchy, flavorful, and packed with plant-based protein — trust me, you’re going to fall in love.
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Ingredients in this vegan broccoli chickpea salad
This curried broccoli chickpea salad is my new personal favorite. It’s BEAUTIFUL, crunchy, packed with veggies, protein and sweet and savory flavors dancing together. Here are the main ingredients in this broccoli chickpea salad:
- Veggies: we’re packing in finely chopped broccoli (of course), shredded carrots and green onion.
- Protein: this vegan broccoli salad has a protein boost from chickpeas!
- Mix-ins: what’s a salad without fun mix-ins? You’ll add toasted sliced almonds, fresh cilantro and dried cranberries for a punch of sweetness.
- For the dressing: OMG this dressing. It’s my #1 fav curry tahini dressing and you’ll need tahini (this is the brand I love!), lemon juice, garlic, a little pure maple syrup, yellow curry powder, fresh ginger, turmeric, salt & pepper.
By the way, if you haven’t tried my Moroccan-inspired chickpea quinoa salad yet, you need to ASAP. Both are plant-based party pleasers.
Wait, can you eat raw broccoli?
Yes! It’s super crunchy and so delicious as the base for salads. Raw broccoli will soak up all of that delicious curry tahini dressing and taste amazing. However, if you’re sensitive to raw vegetables feel free to give the broccoli a quick blanch before using it.
Make this salad your own
Looking to customize this curry broccoli salad a bit? It’s easy! Here’s what I can recommend:
- Choose your fav veggies: I think finely shredded brussels sprouts, purple cabbage, cauliflower or even kale would also be delicious.
- Pick a protein: while the chickpeas keep this broccoli salad vegan, feel free to add cooked, cubed chicken, shrimp or even my maple glazed salmon! To keep it vegan, feel free to add edamame or even a cup of cooked quinoa.
- Change up the dressing: trust me, the curry tahini dressing is out-of-this-world delicious. But if you’re looking for a different flavor, I think my Thai peanut dressing or sesame ginger dressing would be great!
Don’t forget these tips for amazing broccoli salad
- Chop the broccoli very fine. This will allow the dressing and flavors to marinade well throughout the salad. It will also make it easier to eat! Feel free to chop finely with a knife or even process the broccoli florets in a food processor very gently.
- Choose the dressing sweetness. I prefer only a teaspoon of maple syrup, but ultimately it’s up to you.
- Try making it ahead of time. This broccoli chickpea salad keeps well in the fridge, so if you’re looking for a healthy recipe to have during the week, THIS IS IT!
How to toast your own almonds for salads
I love toasting my own almonds and adding them to recipes because they turn out super flavorful. Here’s how to do it:
- Add sliced almonds to a pan and place over medium heat.
- Use a spatula to stir the almonds; stirring every 30 seconds or so until they are nice and golden brown, about 5 minutes total time. If pan begins to smoke, make sure to reduce the heat to prevent burning.
- Remove from heat, let cool and enjoy!
- OPTIONAL: add a sweet & spiciness by pouring in 1 tablespoon of maple syrup, pinch of salt and pinch of cayenne pepper after removing the almonds from the heat!
What to serve with this vegan curried broccoli chickpea salad
This curry broccoli salad packs plenty of protein, fiber & flavor to eat on its own for lunch, but it also makes the perfect side dish for a party. Here are some other delicious vegan recipes that you can serve it with:
- Ultimate Vegan Black Bean Burgers with Tahini Garlic Sauce
- Sesame Garlic Grilled Sweet Potato Fries with Yogurt Curry Dip
- Vegan Turmeric Pineapple Tofu Kabobs
- The Best Vegan Mac and Cheese You’ll Ever Eat
- Sheet Pan Roasted Veggie Tacos (with yummy sauce options!)
- Delicious Grilled Tofu (2 different ways!)
If you’re not vegan, I’d suggest serving it with these amazing Slow Cooker Pulled Chicken Sandwiches, One Pan Cilantro Chicken Meatballs in Mango Coconut Sauce, or my Moroccan-Spiced Turkey Burgers with Creamy Feta Sauce!
Store it for later
This crunchy curry broccoli salad will stay good in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. As I mentioned, it’s perfect for meal prep and gets even more delicious over time as the dressing soaks into all the veggies.
More salad recipes we love
- Cashew Crunch Shredded Brussels Sprouts Salad
- Vegan Caesar Pasta Salad
- Roasted Carrot Cauliflower Quinoa Salad with Sunshine Dressing
- California Roasted Sweet Potato Kale Salad
- Famous Crunchy Cashew Thai Quinoa Salad
Get all of our delicious salad recipes here!
I hope you love this vegan broccoli chickpea salad! If you make it be sure to leave a comment and rate the recipe below. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Vegan Curried Broccoli Chickpea Salad
Ingredients
- For the salad:
- 1 head of broccoli, very finely chopped
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds (can also use chopped roasted almonds)
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1 bunch green onions, chopped
- ¾ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- For the dressing:
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 1/2 large lemon, juiced
- 3-5 tablespoons warm water, to thin dressing
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- 1-2 teaspoons pure maple syrup, to sweeten
- 1 teaspoon yellow curry powder
- ½ tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add finely chopped broccoli, chickpeas, carrot, almonds, cranberries, green onion, and cilantro. Set aside.
- Make the dressing by whisking together the following ingredients in a small bowl: tahini, lemon juice, water, garlic, maple syrup, curry powder, ginger, turmeric, salt and pepper. Immediately drizzle over salad and toss to combine. Sprinkle almonds on top and toss a few more times.
- Serve immediately with fresh squeeze of lemon or place in the fridge for later. Salad will keep well up to 5 days.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on March 5th, 2018, republished on June 17th, 2021, and republished on April 3rd, 2023.
absolutely fabulous. do not skip the cilantro— it really sealed the deal of tasty. i used red onions (good but too hot). the dressing is amazing. I also added avocado when served. really 5 star salad. so much depth of tasty interests n
The perfect lunch!
After having some flu-like thing that took me down for awhile, I wanted to make myself something green and nutritious. I had pinned this in the past and thought it could fit the bill. The ingredients are among my very favorite things, so I should have known just how good this would be. But holy shitake mushrooms, Batman – This Is Delish! So fresh, satisfying, and nourishing. Thank You!
I’m so glad you found this one! Great way to pack in the nutrition. Hope you’re feeling better!
Have you ever added a grain? I wonder if quinoa would work.
I haven’t but quinoa would be delicious in here!
My family and I loved this salad! I usually make the sunshine dressing, so it was nice to switch things up by adding curry powder. This salad is delicious on its own, but I also included roasted, cubed sweet potatoes cooked in coconut oil, with cinnamon, salt, and pepper. They added a lovely warm sweetness to the dish!
Love that! This one’s great for customizing 🙂 So happy the whole family loved it!
Just made this for the first time and…..OMG, it is ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!!!! I made this for lunches and don’t want to share any with my husband, hahaha. But seriously, I’m already planning on picking up more broccoli so I can make more as soon as this bowl is gone.
Thank you so much for posting this recipe ❤️❤️
YES one of my all time favs! So happy you loved it!
If you wanted to add kale to this (in addition to, not as a substitution), when and how do you think you would incorporate? Thanks!!
Feel free to chop it very finely and add it in step 1! I might suggest making a bit more dressing, too.
For anyone who hasn’t yet made this and is considering it… definitely GO for it.
This is an amazing broccoli slaw type salad. I love it and make it often, usually ahead of time for my lunches. A few days in the refrigerator helps the flavors. Tastes great and keeps so well. I even made this during a hurricane power outage recently. Thanks, Ms. Volz
YES on of my all-time favs!
I’m looking forward to making this! l just checked the ingredient list. I’m not familiar with yellow curry powder (I just have generic curry powder) so I googled it and it turns out there is either Thai yellow curry powder or Indian yellow curry powder. Apparently they’re very different. Do you know which one you used? Thanks.
Hi! Hmmm the brands I use typically just say “curry powder” or “yellow curry powder” and are not denoted as Indian or Thai. If you have the option, I’d suggest using the Indian yellow curry powder in this recipe.
Absolutely delicious, I would never think to add curry flavoring to a salad but it’s delicious! Will definitely be making again!
The curry flavor makes it extra special! So glad you enjoyed 🙂
Hi from New Zealand!
I made this salad for Christmas Day dinner – it’s summer here, and we do a range of salads and meats for dinner (I’m mostly vegetarian, so I try out some different salads each year).
This one was the best I’ve ever made! The whole family loved it.
I made a couple of substitutions:
* more curry powder, as we like spicy food
* my tahini was out of date! So I used a natural peanut butter, made with just peanuts and salt.
*I used dry roasted almonds, and chopped them.
It was delicious, and we will make it again this week!
Thank you
Hi Pippa! Those swaps all sound perfect. So glad everyone loved it!
Las recetas se ven deliciosas, ideales para una dieta más nutritiva
The author and I must have very different tastes. The sauce was inedible. After much alteration it still wasn’t a very good salad. Other people seem to like it so I’m not sure what’s going on there.
Sorry to hear you’re not loving this salad. Did you change anything about the recipe?
Loved this sweet and nutty salad! Swapped cranberries for tart cherries and I will add more next time because they were a great compliment. Added hemp hearts for more protein, and considered edamame, too. Tasty and unique salad.
Excellent! Happy to hear this salad turned out amazing for you, edamame would’ve been a delicious addition for some added protein as well. Thanks for you comment 🙂
This salad was so delicious!😋The dressing with the curry was absolutely full of flavor. I’ll be making it again and again.
YUM! Happy to hear that you are loving this salad and it turned out great for you, Arlene!
I liked this salad. However, if I made it again, I might blanch the broccoli and increase the amount of dressing by a third. It was a bit dry.
Thanks so much for sharing, Christine. Blanching the broccoli could make it a little soft, so just be careful. Extra dressing is always recommended!
This was a great combo of veggies, and all of them were on hand as well as the Tahini which really helped me be motivated to try this. My husband was adamant he did not want any dressing so I casually gave him a small amount on the side just in case he changed his mind. After answering all his questions about what was in the dressing, he decided to go for it, emptying the dish and stating, “this was the best dressing he’s had in his life.” as a diabetic I’m always looking for ways to bring the sugars down which I did by using a sugar free Maple Syrup which added just enough sweetness. I also used ginger powder and added the zest of half the lemon along with the fresh juice. Instead of almond I decided to use toasted pecans halfed. I will make this again for sure.
YUM! Sounds so amazing, I am glad you gave this recipe a try and your husband ended up LOVING it! Thank you for sharing your comment 🙂
The dressing!!! Oh my! I totally changed the ingredients to what I had on hand. Cauliflower instead of broccoli, dried cherries instead of cranberries. Cashews instead of almonds. Lol!! Left out green onion and cilantro because I didn’t have any. So delicious. You could put the dressing on a shoe and it would taste good. Thank you! Will make again with the recipe ingredients!! 😋
AMAZING!! I am so glad you loved this recipe and it turned out great for you, thanks for sharing your subs 🙂
Absolutely delicious- made it exactly as written and put on top of some fresh spinach. Kicking myself for not making this WAY sooner!
AHH yess! Well now you can make it all the time. Thanks for giving this recipe a try, glad you’re loving it!
There are no words for how delicious this recipe is!!! Love it!!!!
It’s one of my favs, too!! Thanks so much for your sweet comment, Cheryl 🙂
This was so easy and boy is it delicious. Lots of crunch and the dressing is divine.
Yum! So glad you’re loving this salad and it turned out great for you ❤️
Each persons palate is different. In my opinion, the recipe was a good basic framework, but needed a lot of tweaking. I omitted the water, but added 4 times the amount of lemon juice, and at least three or four times the amount of curry powder. With those tweaks, plus letting the salad sit overnight, so that the flavors developed and soaked into the vegetables, I would give the recipe four plus stars.
Appreciate your feedback – everyone is certainly very different when it comes to flavor preferences. Glad you were able to make it work for you.
Your recipes look delicious. I look forward to trying them.
This was delicious! Just whipped it together for my lunch and couldn’t stop eating it! Sharing with my friends (not just the vegan ones). 🙂
Excellent as a main dish o side, very hearty and so so flavorful.
Yay! Happy to hear it came out great 🙂
This salad is amazing!! It’s the first dish my mind goes to when we get fresh broccoli, and I get so excited for it! The flavors are delicious and so satisfying. Thank you!
This sauce is so, so good. I mixed up the veggies I used and I added some ground turkey, which I cooked with some ginger, garlic, Tamari, and gochujang. Will definitely make again.
Made this yummy salad for a family get together. Left out the chickpeas since some family members don’t like them. Would double the dresser by next time around. So good!
Good to know about the dressing amount! Great idea to double it. Happy you loved it!
I love this recipe! I made this last week for my lunches at work, and it was a hit. My daughter loved it too. I made a double batch to last several days. I did add a splash of apple cider vinegar for a bit more tang in the dressing. Thanks for a great recipe!
This is a delicious salad! I make it on the reg. Know this, however: it does not come together as quickly as indicated. There’s a lot of labor in chopping the vegetables. Also, it’s a scant sauce for multiple cups vegetables. Be that as it may— it’s super easy to tweak. A great way to get more cruciferous and fiber into our diets! 🤓Thank you!!!
Glad it was worth the effort! And good to know about the dressing amount. Feel free to double it!
Looks delicious! If I’m making it for a potluck, should I wait to add the dressing until right before I leave? Or should I add it earlier to allow the dressing to infuse into the salad? I just don’t want it to get too soggy. Thanks !
Hi, Grace! I’d definitely put the dressing on ahead of time so it can soak up all those delicious flavors 🙂
Really good. Exactly what I wanted. The tahini is a creamy dream in this and the cranberries are a perfect sweet addition to the salad. I made it exactly as the recipe stated. Healthy lunch to make for week lunches.
Yay, so glad you loved it!!
Have made this salad twice now; once with your “Ultimate Vegan Black Bean Burger with Tahini Garlic Sauce”, and once with a Bolognese Lentil Pasta. Both were delicious! Love it!
I’m so happy you love it, Elizabeth! Thank you 🙂
Have made this salad twice now; once with your “Ultimate Vegan Black Bean Burgers with Tahini Garlic Sauce”, and once with Bolognese Lentil Pasta. Both were delicious! Love it!
my new favorite salad. the dressing is delicious and i used the recommendation to toast the almonds and then mix maple syrup, salt, and cayenne.
This is so vibrant and bright tasting!
I cannot wait to eat it tomorrow and see how the flavors have developed!