Balela Salad (Mediterranean Chickpea Salad)

Balela salad – a middle eastern chickpea salad – is hearty, refreshing, and bursting with fresh herbs, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and zesty flavor from the fresh lemon garlic dressing. So easy, so delicious, and so satisfying! Turn it into an easy, weeknight meal with some pita bread or flatbread. (gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free). This recipe was originally published on sept 22,2020

Protein-packed, vibrant balela salad is such a satisfying side dish! This popular Middle Eastern or Mediterranean salad is so fresh and festive! Serve it as a side or spoon into flatbread or pita for a quick, flavor-packed lunch.

This salad has hearty chickpeas. It can also have black beans. You can use a combination of the two or just chickpeas. They pair beautifully with crunchy veggies, like cucumbers and peppers, fresh herbs, and a zesty sumac lemon garlic dressing that takes this chickpea salad to the next level.

Balela salad is simple, wholesome, bright, and flavor-packed and you will LOVE every bite of it!

Serve it as your summer salad or make wraps with pita bread or flatbread and tahini dressing! Pictured above with my gluten-free sweet potato flatbread.

Why You’ll Love Balela Salad

• no-cook bean salad packed with crunchy veggies and lots of flavor!
• versatile! Serve as a side dish or stuff into wraps for a quick lunch.
• easy mix-and-serve recipe
• naturally gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free

Ingredients

• chickpeas – Use canned or home cooked chickpeas
• veggies – This salad is veggie-packed with garlic, halved cherry tomatoes, diced red bell pepper, and chopped cucumber. You can also add chopped olive and sun dried tomato, if you want even more veggies!
• fresh herbs – Parsley and mint add fresh flavors to this salad.
• oil and vinegar – Definitely use extra virgin olive oil, and you can use either red wine vinegar or a mix of balsamic and apple cider vinegars.
• lemon juice – Brings out this salad’s bright flavors.
• sumac – a citrusy-tasting, red Middle Eastern spice made from the berries of the sumac bush. Sumac looks a little like chili powder but is not spicy, but rather lemony. If you cannot find it, use lemon zest instead. Or use za’atar or cumin instead
• cayenne – For heat. You can use crushed pepper flakes instead, if you prefer.

How to Make Balela Salad

Chop up all your veggies. Add the washed and drained chickpeas, garlic, cherry tomatoes, and bell pepper to a bowl and toss.

Add the mint and parsley, and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, and toss well.

In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients for the dressing, and mix well. Add the dressing to the salad bowl, and toss well to combine, then season to taste with more salt and lemon.

Serve immediately, or chill and store for up to 2 days. You can serve this as a side dish or make it a quick lunch served in toasted pita bread or flatbread with hummus or tahini dressing.

What to Serve with Mediterranean Chickpea Salad

Balela salad is delicious as a side dish or part of a mezze platter. As a side, serve it with harissa cauliflower or a grilled veggie sandwich. For a mezze platter, pair it up with dishes like hummus, baba ganoush, falafel, pickles, and warm, toasted pita.

To make this chickpea salad into a meal, stuff it into warm pita or flatbread with some hummus, baba ganoush, or tahini dressing!