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Home » Recipes » Lunch » Sandwich + Burger » Vegan Chickpea Tuna Salad

Jan 6, 2019(updated June 29, 2021)

Vegan Chickpea Tuna Salad

4.65 from 17 votes
By Dani Spies
Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

This post may contain affiliate links.

vegan tuna salad

Did you know that you can make a delicious vegan tuna salad by swapping the tuna out for some garbanzo beans?

I know that may sound crazy, but vegan tuna salad is not only a real thing it’s also absolutely delicious.

The secret to making your vegan tuna salad to taste like regular tuna salad is capers.  The capers add a bright, briny flavor that the tuna would normally provide, so we get all the flavor of traditional tuna salad, without the tuna.

Basically, you just sub in some chopped chickpeas for the tuna and everything else stays the same, and you end up with this super delicious, plant-based, tuna-like salad (without the tuna).

You do, however, want to make sure that you buy plant-based vegan mayonnaise (like this one) if you want to keep your vegan tuna salad, 100% vegan.

On the flip side, if you want to give this vegan tuna salad a try but you’re not really worried about the vegan part, you can of course use any mayonnaise you have on hand or try swapping in some greek yogurt for the mayonnaise to lighten things up a bit.

However you choose to approach this vegan tuna salad, I can’t wait to hear what you think!

MORE HEALTHY TUNA SALAD RECIPES:
  • Veggie Packed Tuna Salad
  • Tuna Salad Cucumber Boats
  • Tuna Pasta Salad

vegan tuna salad
Print Recipe
4.65 from 17 votes

Vegan Chickpea 'Tuna Salad'

Course: DIET, LUNCH, salad + dressing, sandwich + burger
Cuisine: American, vegan
Author: Dani Spies
Prep Time10 minutes mins
Total Time10 minutes mins
Servings: 2 servings
Calories: 194kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 can garbanzo beans drained and rinsed
  • 1/3 cup finely diced red onion
  • 1/3 cup finely diced celery
  • 1/3 cup finely diced radish
  • 3 tablespoons capers roughly chopped
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise be sure to buy a vegan brand to keep this recipe 100% vegan
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Add garbanzo beans to food processor and pulse a few times until you have a gravel-like consistency.
  • Transfer beans to a medium bowl and add in the onion, celery, radish, capers, mayonnaise, salt and pepper. Combine well.

Nutrition

Calories: 194kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 12mg | Sodium: 511mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin C: 0.5mg | Iron: 0.2mg

Recipes, Salad + Dressing, Sandwich + Burger, Vegan

About Dani Spies

Dani Spies is the founder and host of Clean & Delicious; a weekly cooking show on YouTube and a healthy eating blog that celebrates real, whole foods! She takes a holistic approach to health and wellness and is loved for her approachable, down to earth style both in and out of the kitchen.

Learn MoreWork With Me

Reader Interactions

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    If you loved this recipe please leave a comment and star rating below. Questions are also welcome. Cheers!

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    Comments

  1. debbie says

    October 27, 2016 at 2:50 pm

    5 stars
    Oh my Goodness I felt this needed to be spelled out, the chic pea tuna is soooooo good, I did it with the half mao half yogurt, makes a delicious sandwich and I cant wait to stuff some tomatoes with it and spread on a piece of celery, crackers, spread on a piece of romaine lettce, omg so many uses for this scrumptious mixture. Thank you so much for all your posts we love them all.

    Reply
    • Dani says

      October 29, 2016 at 12:19 am

      5 stars
      Thank you so much for sharing, debbie!! I’m so glad you enjoy the posts 🙂

      Reply
  2. Patricia says

    October 28, 2016 at 9:26 pm

    5 stars
    If it’s a chickpea salad, why do we call it garbanzo beans in the list of ingredients.  It’s a little confusing.
      

    Reply
    • Dani says

      October 29, 2016 at 12:22 am

      5 stars
      It’s funny because most people call them chick peas, but they are typically sold as garbanzo beans, but they are the same thing 🙂

      Reply
  3. Heidi says

    April 11, 2017 at 10:11 am

    5 stars
    How does it have cholesterol in it when plant foods don’t have it? It says 10mg cholesterol…

    Reply
    • Rach says

      August 10, 2017 at 1:56 pm

      5 stars
      That’s a good question… I wonder if the vegan mayo had some coconut oil in it. That is the only plant I beleive that has some cholesterol.. even still this tiny bit is nothing compared to it’s animal counterpart. I would just check the label of the vegan mayo you buy 🙂

      Reply
    • Dani says

      August 11, 2017 at 1:20 pm

      5 stars
      It’s from the mayo:)

      Reply
  4. Daphne says

    July 11, 2018 at 3:30 pm

    5 stars
    I haven’t used capers before and don’t know what they are. Could you tell me where I would find them in the grocery store?

    Reply
    • Dani says

      July 17, 2018 at 10:32 am

      5 stars
      They are usually in the same section as the pickles/olives/roasted peppers/etc.

      Reply
  5. Carolyn says

    January 20, 2019 at 4:41 pm

    5 stars
    This recipe is delicious!!!

    Reply
    • Dani says

      January 27, 2019 at 11:46 am

      5 stars
      Yay!! So glad you enjoyed it!! Thanks for letting me know.

      Reply
  6. Sally Wilson says

    November 4, 2019 at 12:39 pm

    Hey there,
    Just wondering what size can of Chickpeas you’re using?

    Reply
    • Dani says

      November 4, 2019 at 10:06 pm

      15 ounces 🙂

      Reply

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