Chickpea Salad Wraps w/ Avocado Dill Sauce

This easy chickpea salad is my vegan version of a classic tuna salad. It’s tangy & light, made with Dijon mustard, crunchy celery & cornichons.

vegan / spring / appetizers

I think there are 2 types of people in this world – those who love tuna salad and those who hate it. Because my mom made it all the time when I was growing up, I definitely fall into the first category. But today, I’m hoping to bridge the “hater” gap with these chickpea salad lettuce wraps. If you’re not into fishy things, no worries, these wraps are completely vegan. If you are into fishy things, I think you’ll love them just the same – mashed chickpeas combined with salty, briny flavors (i.e. good Dijon mustard, capers, and cornichons) and finished with crunchy celery and scallions recreate that tuna salad taste to me.

You could definitely make a great sandwich or mock-tuna melt out of this chickpea tuna salad, but since it’s spring, and we’re trying to eat lighter and brighter, I made lettuce wraps.

To balance the bright and briny flavors of the chickpea salad, I made this creamy avocado dill sauce using Almond Breeze Almondmilk to whip it all together.

This chickpea tuna salad is a great lunch, especially if you make the components in advance – the dill sauce should last 2 to 3 days, and the chickpea salad will last a week. These wraps will also make a lovely Easter brunch appetizer for the same make-ahead reasons. Plus – how pretty and springy?

The chickpea salad recipe below will make about 12 lettuce wraps with a little extra avocado dip. If you’re looking to use up the rest of the dip, I suggest you break out a bag of tortilla chips! Or, at the very least, slather it on a veggie sandwich the next day (#notasaddesklunch). It’s so luscious and delicious – I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

And if you’re as crazy about chickpeas as I am, try them in this summer salad, this spring salad, this kale salad, or as a salty, crunchy snack!

5.0 from 5 reviews

Chickpea Salad Wraps w/ Avocado Dill Sauce

  PrintPrep time 30 minsTotal time 30 mins This easy chickpea salad is a wonderful healthy vegan lunch! Modeled after a classic tuna salad, it’s full of fresh herbs, crunchy celery & tangy cornichons. It will keep in the fridge for a week.Author: Jeanine DonofrioRecipe type: Main dish, appetizerServes: 4 to 6Ingredientschickpea salad

• 1 14-oz can chickpeas, drained, rinsed, set aside to dry
• ⅓ cup chopped celery
• ¼ cup chopped scallions
• 6 small cornichons, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice, plus 1 teaspoon zest
• 1 tablespoon vegan mayo
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon capers
• 1 small clove of garlic
• freshly ground black pepper

avocado dill sauce

• 1 large avocado
• ½ cup Original Almond Breeze Almondmilk Unsweetened
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• ¼ teaspoon salt, more to taste
• freshly ground black pepper

to assemble:

• 12 bibb lettuce leaves
• ¼ cup thinly sliced radishes
• ¼ cup pickled red onions*

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, combine the chickpeas, celery, scallions, cornichons, garlic, dill, lemon juice and zest, mayo, Dijon mustard, capers and several grinds of pepper. Mash with a potato masher, or pulse in a food processor. If you use a food processor, just process about half of the mixture and stir in the other half by hand so that the final texture is not too pureed (i.e., we’re not making hummus). Taste and add a pinch of salt if you like. Chill until ready to use.
2. Make the avocado dill sauce by blending the avocado, almond milk, lemon juice, dill, salt and several grinds of pepper. Blend until creamy, adding more almond milk if necessary.
3. Assemble lettuce wraps with the chickpea salad, dollops of avocado dill sauce, radishes and pickled red onions.

Notes*To make the quickest pickled red onions, I combine one small red onion, covered with rice vinegar, a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar. Stir and let chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. They will last in the fridge for at least 2 weeks.3.4.3177

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22 comments

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1. Diana Koehn
   04.08.2021

   These are amazing! So much flavor and great for picnics…or anytime!! Yumm! This will be one of my favorite…go-to recipes.

   Reply ↓

2. Geneva
   10.24.2020

   Do you post nutritional values
   Carbs?
   Protein?
   Chickpea salad I am interested in

   Reply ↓

3. Katie | Whole Nourishment from wholenourishment.net
   01.23.2018

   This was seriously delicious, Jeanine! It’s similar to a salad I make but I love the extra brininess in yours with the capers and lemon zest. I also added finely diced apples since I had one on hand I needed to use. And topped the wraps with your pickled onions and sun dried cherry tomatoes. Will definitely be repeating this one!

   Reply ↓

4. chelsea
   09.14.2017

   can I use original almond milk instead of unsweetened? Thats all I have in the house right now

   Reply ↓

   • Jeanine Donofrio
     09.15.2017

     it might give it a funny sweet taste, I’m sorry, I think unsweetened is necessary. (If it were a baking recipe, I’d say either would be fine). You could also try using a few splashes of olive oil and a few splashes of water in place of the almond milk – just enough to get a saucy consistency. Hope that helps!

     Reply ↓

5. MamaSarah
   04.16.2017

   Just curious how I might substitute dried dill in this recipe?

   Reply ↓

   • Jeanine Donofrio
     04.16.2017

     use much less than fresh – I’d start with 1 teaspoon dried dill and taste from there. You can also just skip the dill if it’s the only ingredient you don’t have (I’d add a bit more salt in that case). Hope that helps!

     Reply ↓

     • MamaSarah
       04.17.2017

       Hi! I used dried dill as I missed the farmers’ market this weekend. The chickpea salad is so easy to make! It’s chilling in my fridge as I type. Thank you for a great recipe.

       Reply ↓

6. Omigy from omigy.com
   04.15.2017

   Chickpeas are my daughter’s favorite and avocado is my favorite, so I guess this is a tailored made recipe for both of us. Today is a hot spring day, so I need some salad ideas and your recipe is the one that will be on my table Jeanine. By the way I lemon lime too! And cornichons are just brilliant. I try to avoid eating too much of them too as I may end up finishing the lot in one meal 😉

   Reply ↓

   • Jeanine Donofrio
     04.15.2017

     I hope you both love the recipe! 🙂

     Reply ↓

7. Amanda
   04.13.2017

   This is amazing. Lots of dill and vinegar flavors but I am in love with it. I tried mine on a coconut wrap. I will be making this often. Thank you.

   Reply ↓

8. Lisa Favre from marblecrumbs.com
   04.13.2017

   Those avocado tartines are sheer perfection. I’d love to serve that as a starter for any of my parties!

   Reply ↓

9. Pamela @BrooklynFarmGirl from brooklynfarmgirl.com
   04.11.2017

   Avocados go so well with dill, this looks delicious.

   Reply ↓

10. Chloe
    04.11.2017

    This looks great! Do you have a favorite type of vegan mayo you can recommend? Canola, avocado, coconut, etc? Thanks!

    Reply ↓

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      04.11.2017

      Hi Chloe, I like Sir Kensington’s Fabanaise.

      Reply ↓

11. Genevieve
    04.11.2017

    These look yummy! I can’t wait to make these for an appetizer form my Easter brunch.

    Reply ↓

12. Laurina
    04.10.2017

    Hi Jeanine,
    I made this today. I had never heard of cornichons and had to search for them at the grocery store. It was superb. We are going to use it as a sandwich filling as well. I have been on a roll making your recipes this past week. Last evening I served guests your roasted cauliflower soup, millet cakes with homemade pear chutney and a salad. It was the first time I made those recipes, everyone raved how good they were. Does anyone else do that? Serve guests a recipe you have never made before? You never let me down.
    Your sesame tahini soba noodles is wonderful. I was eating the sauce by the spoonful, so I made a double batch. We use it as a salad dressing as well, yummy.
    I have never left a comment to a blog until now, that is why I am commenting on several recipes. Thanks for all the work you put into these inspiring recipes.

    Reply ↓

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      04.11.2017

      Hi Laurina, you have no idea how happy this makes me to hear!! Thank you for taking a moment to comment – I’m SO SO thrilled that you’ve been enjoying the recipes 🙂

      Reply ↓

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      01.27.2018

      Hi Laurina – omg, thank you for leaving this wonderful feedback! I’m so glad you’ve been loving the recipes. It’s SO SO helpful to hear which ones have been favorites!

      Reply ↓

13. Izzy from pinchofdelight.com
    04.10.2017

    Looks so good!
    Izzy |http://www.pinchofdelight.com

    Reply ↓

14. Stephanie from aneducationindomestication.com
    04.10.2017

    This looks delicious! It would be great to make for a week’s worth of work lunches!!

    http://aneducationindomestication.com

    Reply ↓

15. Lindsay | With Salt and Pepper from withsaltandpepper.com
    04.10.2017

    I love salad wraps and this idea of making a chickpea salad here. We are always trying to come up with new ways to eat more veggies in leu of animal protein and will have to try this out sometime!

    Reply ↓