Lemon Chickpea Tuna Salad

A salad of shredded cabbage, chickpeas, diced cucumber, carrots, and herbs.

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Lemon Chickpea Tuna Salad

🍋🥒🥕 Easy, bright and vibrant from the lemon, and packed with protein! There's so much crunch and TEXTURE in every bite from the veggies including cucumbers, celery, carrots, and cabbage. Ready in 10 minutes, made with simple fridge and pantry ingredients, and extremely customizable based on what you have on hand. Meal prep it for weekday lunches or enjoy as a light, no-cook dinner.

If you're serving this as a side with other things, it'll serve 4-6ish. If you're serving this as the only thing, it'll serve 2-3. Appetites vary! This recipe is very easy to inexpensively bulk up with extra veggies or greens - or add more tuna or more chickpeas.

Prep Time10

Course: Dinner, lunch, Salad, Sides, Sides, Salads & Vegetables

Cuisine: Fish, Salads, Sides

Diet: Gluten Free

Keyword: chickpea tuna salad, garbanzo bean tuna salad, lemon chickpea tuna salad, tuna salad with chickpeas

Servings:

Calories: 171cal

Equipment

veggie chopper optional but recommended
Large Bowl

Ingredients

15 ounce can garbanzo beans drained and rinsed (I use reduced sodium)
6.4 ounces canned tuna (I use Fishwife Albacore Tuna with Spanish lemon, or use another lemon tuna; or use regular canned tuna & add more lemon juice or zest; either oil or water packed are fine)
1 large cucumber finely diced (I didn't peel it or seed it; or substitute with English cucumber)
1 cup celery finely diced (from about 2 large stalks)
1 cup carrots finely diced (I used about 15 baby carrots so I didn't need to bother peeling anything)
2 cups shredded cabbage or to taste (about 2 heaping handfuls from a bag of coleslaw mix; kale, chard, romaine or other hearty greens may be substituted)
3-4 tablespoons fresh cilantro finely minced (fresh basil would also be lovely; fresh parsley may be substituted; mint would be nice too but use a bit less)
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice plus more to taste (add 1/2 to 1 tsp lemon zest for extra lemon flavor)
1 teaspoon salt or to taste (I used about 2 teaspoons total)
¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or to taste
red pepper flakes optional for heat (I used 1 teaspoon)
red onion optional and to taste (green onions may be subsittuted)
cherry tomatoes optional and to taste
bell peppers of any color, diced small optional and to taste
olive oil if desired and to taste

Instructions

Tips - I strongly recommend a vegetable chopper for this recipe because it makes everything go much faster.
All the veggies are mix-and-match and very flexible so feel free to make swaps based on what you have and your preferences.
To a large bowl, add the garbanzo beans, tuna, cucumber, celery, carrots, and stir to combine.
Tuna Tips - I used two 3.2-ounce cans Fishwife Tuna with Lemon. Because the lemon flavor is concentrated in the lemon oil and because that oil also serves to coat everything else in the salad, I do NOT drain the tuna. You can also use another lemon tuna like this Bumble Bee Lemon Pepper Tuna.
If you're using 'basic canned tuna' that's packed in water, drain it. Then add olive oil at the end, to taste.
If you want to amp up the lemon flavor without buying lemon-flavored tuna, add lemon zest and/or additional lemon juice.
I suggest at least 5.5 to 6 ounces tuna but canned tuna is sold in slightly different quantities so use your judgment.
Add the cabbage, to taste, and stir to combine.
Cabbage Tips - I use bagged coleslaw mix and grabbed two heaping handfuls and then ran my knife over it on a cutting board because some of the pieces were still a bit big. If you want to bulk up this recipe without adding cost or calories, add more cabbage!
Add the cilantro, lemon juice, salt, pepper, optional red pepper flakes, and any optional ingredients like red onions, green onions, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, etc. and stir to combine.
Taste the salad and make any necessary flavor adjustments.
Flavor Tips - If it tastes at all flat or boring, it likely needs more salt. We're flavoring a lot of veggies and salt brings out their natural flavor, and is necessary. Don't be afraid to salt your food properly. The same goes for pepper, but it's not as critical. If you want more lemon flavor, add a touch more lemon juice and/or lemon zest. If it's dry, add olive oil a tablespoon at a time. If you have any bottled Italian salad dressing on hand, 1-2 tablespoons of that are a nice touch.
Serve immediately OR cover and chill before serving. I eat it as-is but it's also great with pita crackers, tortilla chips, crackers of any kind, or on homemade sourdough.

Video

Notes

Storage: Salad will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 4-5 days. It's a great work lunch or meal prep recipe to have on hand. Note that as the salad sits, the flavors marry and blend and I like it even better the next day. There will be some natural juices from the veggies that are released because as they sit in the presence of salt, that just happens. Either drain it or enjoy it.

Nutrition