Pesto Smashed Chickpea Salad.
This pesto smashed chickpea salad is one of my favorite things to make for lunch. Filled with incredible texture and flavor, it’s super satisfying and excellent on toast, in salads or wraps or with crackers. The best!
Grab some chickpeas and smash them!
This pesto smashed chickpea salad is full of wonderful summer flavor, made with my basil pesto and served on crispy, crunchy toast.
It’s a lovely summer lunch that you don’t want to pass up!
This is a version of my very favorite smashed chickpea salad, all jazzed up for summer with fresh basil pesto and sweet corn. It has a ton of texture and flavor – and it’s perfect no matter how you serve it.
One of the reasons I love this smashed chickpea salad is because you can make so many different versions of it. Especially this one – use whatever pesto you have! Pistachio pesto, kale pesto, sun dried tomato – the options are endless. It’s a great way to prevent lunch boredom and switch things up.
And of course, it can be eaten just about a million different ways. On toast – open faced or as a sandwich. In a wrap, in lettuce cups, in a salad, with crackers – heck, with a spoon. The options are endless.
This is what you need to make it:
Pesto! This can be freshly made or store-bought. Whatever your favorite variety is.
Chickpeas. I smashed about half of them to allow for some texture.
Diced crunchy veggies, like onions and peppers. You can also add garlic, but I put a good bit in my pesto, so I don’t add extra.
Sweet corn. It can be cooked or cut straight from the cobb. This punch of sweetness is everything.
Fresh herbs! In this case, I’m going with more basil. Parsley and thyme also work.
A few binding ingredients, like mayo, greek yogurt and a little lemon juice for flavor.
I mix everything together with a fork and let the flavors go to town. They really marry in the fridge and turn into something so crunchy and delicious. If I eat it on toast or as a sandwich, I’ll add on some arugula, sprouts or other micro greens.
Pro tip: it’s even better scooping this up with salty kettle cooked potatoes chips. Ummmm YES.
So there’s your delish summer lunch salad!
Pesto Smashed Chickpea Salad
Pesto Smashed Chickpea Salad
Ingredients
- 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 shallot, diced
- ½ cup sweet corn
- ⅓ cup diced red pepper
- ¼ cup pesto
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- 2 tablespoons plain greek yogurt
- 2 to 3 tablespoons mayo
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, plus extra for spritzing
- kosher salt and pepper
- toast for serving
- sprouts or greens, for serving
Instructions
- Place the chickpeas in a large bowl. Use a potato masher to smash about half of the chickpeas.
- Add in the shallot, corn, red pepper, pesto, basil, yogurt, lemon juice and mayo. Add in a big pinch of salt and pepper. Mix everything together until combined. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed.
- Eat the salad as you wish! On toast, on salad, in lettuce wraps, on crackers, etc. This stays great in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
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Super crunch!
