This spicy roasted chickpea salad bowl is the salad-grain bowl hybrid you need in your life!
Loaded with fluffy quinoa, spicy roasted chickpeas, tons of fresh veggies and herbs and loads of greens, this bowl couldn’t get any more fun…or healthy!
Did I mention that this roasted chickpea salad also has a creamy lemon tahini dressing? Yeah, it just got even better!
Not only that you can easily meal-prep this bowl to have on hand for busy weeknight or to take with you to work — I’ll link how to meal-prep this Mediterranean roasted chickpea salad here.
Spicy Roasted Chickpea Salad Bowl Ingredients
The list for this spicy roasted chickpea salad is long, but so worth it! Here’s what you’ll need along with a few notes and substitution recommendations.
- Quinoa — I posted a video on my Instagram detailing exactly how I make my quinoa super fluffy. I’ll link it here.
- Arugula — technically you can use any green you like, but I like the tang that arugula adds to the bowl.
- Cilantro — feel free to substitute this with parsley if you don’t like cilantro.
- Cherry tomatoes
- Persian cucumbers — this variety of cucumber tends to be on the sweeter side which is why I like it best. But use what you have on hand!
- Chickpeas
- Tahini
- Honey — feel free to use maple syrup instead to make this completely vegan
- Lemon juice
- Olive oil
- Cumin powder
- Dried parsley
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Cayenne pepper
- Salt
How to Make Spicy Roasted Chickpeas
Trust me when I say that these roasted chickpeas will be your new favorite protein to add to your salad bowls. Or to just snack on, because they’re just that good!
And like all of my recipes, they’re super easy to make!
- Start by preheating the oven to 450°F and lining a baking pan with parchment paper.
- Add the chickpeas onto the baking pan and sprinkle over the spices and olive oil.
- Using your hands, toss the chickpeas until they’re completely coated in the spices. Then evenly spread out the chickpeas on the pan and pop them in the oven.
- Bake the chickpeas for 20-25 minutes until golden-brown and fragrant. Make sure to give them a stir once or twice while they bake to ensure they bake evenly.
- If you want the chickpeas super crispy, I’d bake them for an additional 5 minutes, just be sure to watch them closely so they don’t burn.
How to Make the Creamy Tahini Dressing
This creamy tahini dressing is tangy, sweet and ultra creamy. And pairs perfectly with this spicy grain and chickpea bowl.
The best part of the dressing is that you literally stir all of the ingredients together and the dressing is done. It takes max 5 minutes to whip up!
One note, if you like your dressing on the thicker side, I would start with half the amount of water and increase it as needed.
Lastly, I recommend mixing the ingredients together with a whisk to ensure that the dressing emulsifies completely — a spoon usually doesn’t do the greatest job.
Meal-Prep This Bowl
As I mentioned, you can easily meal-prep this bowl for a busy weeknight dinner or take it with you as a work/school lunch.
Let’s get into how to prep this!
- Make the quinoa and chickpeas and add them into a large mixing bowl.
- Next, add in the arugula, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and cilantro. Mix everything together and transfer the salad into a tupperware or glass container you want to take with you to work.
- Lastly, make the dressing and store it in a little condiment container that you can easily transport.
- Now, when you’re ready to eat lunch, just pour over the dressing and mix it into the salad!
- The same applies for making this for dinner. With the exception of having to store the salad in portable containers.
Even More Healthy Salad Bowl Recipes
Looking for even more healthy salad bowl recipes? Here are three of my favorite bowls that I have almost every week!
- Roasted Fall Harvest Salad
- Soba Noodle Peanut Salad
- Cucumber Edamame Salad w/ Ginger-Soy Vinaigrette
- Vegan Pasta Salad
- Crunchy Thai Peanut Salad
Sharing Is Caring!
If you make this recipe, please leave a review and rating below. And don’t forget to snap a picture and tag me on either Instagram or TikTok (if you’re not already following me, make sure to for new recipes and wellness tips)!
Print
Spicy Roasted Chickpea Salad
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 1 person 1x
- Category: Salad
- Cuisine: American
Description
Loaded with fluffy quinoa, spicy roasted chickpeas, tons of fresh veggies and herbs and loads of greens, this bowl couldn’t get any more fun…or healthy!
Ingredients
Spicy Roasted Chickpeas
- 1 cup chickpeas, rinsed and drained (from a can)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp each cumin powder, garlic powder, onion powder, and dried parsley
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
Creamy Tahini Dressing
- 1 tbsp tahini
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 tsp honey
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- Pinch each of cumin, garlic powder and cayenne pepper
Salad
- ¼ cup dry quinoa, cooked according to package instructions.
- 2 cups arugula, roughly chopped
- 8 medium cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 1 medium persian cucumber, finely chopped
- Handful of cilantro, finely minced
Instructions
- Start by preheating the oven to 450°F and lining a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add the chickpeas onto the baking pan, sprinkle over the spices and drizzle generously with olive oil. Using your hands, toss the chickpeas until they’re completely coated in the spices. Then evenly spread out the chickpeas on the pan and baked in the oven for 25 minutes until golden-brown and crispy.
- Next, cook the quinoa according to package instructions. Linking my quinoa tutorial here with tips and tricks for making fluffy quinoa.
- While the chickpeas bake and the quinoa cooks, make the dressing. Simply whisk all the tahini dressing ingredients together in a small bowl until silky smooth. Add more water as needed to thin the dressing to a consistency you like.
- Once the quinoa and chickpeas are done cooking, add them to a large serving bowl, along with the arugula, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and cilantro. Pour over the tahini dressing and toss to mix. Adjust salt as needed and enjoy!
Just made this and it is delicious!! Thank you!!
Hi Monica! Amazing, so happy to hear you liked it. Thank you so much!!!
I found the dressing to be too salty for me. I added more tahini to adjust the taste and it was a lot better. It was simple to make and will definitely continue making it.
Hi Gloria! So sorry to hear that, glad you were able to adjust the dressing! I wanted to note that I used pink himalayan salt, which has a large grain, hence why I used more. So depending on the type of salt (fine grain, table salt, etc.) you may need to use less or more salt. Anywho, hope this helps! 🙂
Really liked it,and so Quick and easy to make
So happy to hear that, thank you for sharing María!
Delicious and super easy! We added some red onion, red peppers and kalamata olives. The dressing really brings it all together- will be making a vat of that!
Hi Jackie! So happy to hear this, the olives and red peppers sound like such a fun addition. And totally with you on the dressing! 🙂
I would loved to make this salad for a side dish for our holiday meal. It would need to serve 15 people. How would I do that?90
Hi Linda!
Perfect timing on this, updating the recipe card so it’ll have adjustable servings. Hoping to have this out by the end of this week!
Hi Linda! Just updated the recipe card so now you can adjust the serving size — I would recommend adjusting the serving to 5 or 6 people (not 15) if you’re serving this as a side dish/salad. Let me know if you have any other questions!
What would you recommend instead of cilantro? Looks delicious, but not a fan of cilantro.
I’d use parsley instead, or you can just leave it out entirely! Excited for you to make this 🙂
Do you consider this to be one meal, or could this last a few days as. lunch deconstructed? Thanks!
I usually eat this whole bowl for dinner, but you could leave everything separate and have it over the course of two days. Hope this helps!
I haven’t tried this yet, but I feel that the dressing is missing an ingredient. I just see the dressing being poured over the salad but there’s only 3 tablespoons in 1 teaspoon of liquid in the recipe. Is this correct or is it missing something?
Hi Rose! All the ingredients for the dressing ingredients are there — most of the ingredients are actually liquid so it’s easily pourable. Plus, you can thin it out with additional water which I called out in the recipe. Can’t wait for you to make this!
When roasting the garbanzos, for 4 servings do I still add 4 tsps of salt? It seems excessive. (or did I misread the recipe?)
Since you’re roasting 4 cups of chickpeas, I think that 4 tsp is appropriate, but you could do just 2 tsp and add more if needed when they’re done cooking. For sure add 4 tsp of the other spices though (that’s what makes these chickpeas so good!!). Can’t wait for you to make this!
I am typically not a fan of using arugula, but this salad is fantastic!! I ate the whole thing in one sitting. I’m glad I took the leap and gave this salad a try!!
SO HONORED!
Very nice. We used maple syrup instead of honey to make it vegan. Reduced the salt by half on the roasted chickpeas. Thanks for this recipe.
Thanks so much for sharing Susan! 🙂
Could I use dried cooked chickpeas instead of canned? Dressing is divine
Yep! Both work great!
The spicy chikpeas are everything!! And the dressing is just soo good! Thank you so much!
Sameee, the chickpeas are so good I end up making a double batch just to snack on them. Thank you so much sharing a review, appreciate it so much!!
I like the chickpeas crispy!! Better texture
Fantastic salad. I just discovered your recipes and I’ve loved everyone I’ve made. Do you have nutritional information on your recipes?
Aww so happy to hear that! I don’t, but feel free to plug the ingredients into MyFitness Pal or Cronometer (both are free).