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Chickpea “Tuna” with Lemon Tahini Sauce
Chickpea “Tuna” with lemon tahini sauce, oh YES please. This sandwich is loaded with all my favorite things like chickpeas, red onions, celery, herbs, spicy pickles and spices! It’s then tossed with a 5 ingredient lemon tahini sauce (with pretty much all pantry staples!).
This recipe is SO versatile and there is something so perfect about when all these flavors come together. Here, we’re serving in sandwiches with tomatoes, sprouts and lettuce, but you can serve in just lettuce wraps, on some challah or just eat as in! (Another idea is to dip it with some cucumber wedges, um YUM!) Get in on this!
Ingredients You Need
- Chickpeas
- Red onions
- Celery
- Dill and parsley
- Spicy pickles
- Chili powder/chili flakes
- Lemon juice
- Tahini
- Mayo: To make this a vegan chickpea/vegan tuna salad, you can sub for vegan mayo here!
- Vinegar
- Black pepper and kosher salt
Fun optional add-ons could be:
Capers, dijon mustard, mash avocado, cucumbers, grated garlic, or anything in the fridge/pantry that you have on hand and love!
If You Want to Make A Sandwich
Serve on toasted sourdough bread/slices of bread, sprouts, lettuce and tomato
To take it one step further: you can make a chickpea tuna melt! Toast with a little bit of cheese to melt (or vegan cheese) and serve warm/hot!
Steps To Make This Recipe
Handle the chickpeas
Begin by straining, rinsing and drying your chickpeas. Place in a bowl and mash with a fork until your desired consistency. I like to leave it a little chunky with some parts more mushed.
Mix all your veg and spices in
In the same bowl, toss in your red onion, celery, dill, parsley, spicy pickles, chili powder, lemon and salt and pepper. Mix well and set aside.
Make your sauce
Next, make your quick sauce. In a bowl, whisk together tahini with water so it’s not as thick. Next, add in mayo, lemon juice, vinegar and salt and pepper.
Mix together
Pour over your chickpea mixture, toss well and marinate in the fridge for up to 30 minutes.
Serve in sandwiches with sourdough bread, sprouts, lettuce and tomato. You can also serve in lettuce cups or in your favorite vessel! Enjoy!
Tips, Tricks + Substitutions
You can eat it right away, but the flavors really combine and everything gets more “tuna” like with a little bit of time for all the flavors to develop.
What if I don’t like spicy?
Omit spicy pickles for regular pickles and remove the chili powder.
Can I sub any of the vegetables like celery or herbs?
Feel free to swap anything you don’t love with something you do love! This recipe is super versatile, so feel free to adjust with herbs you love, like basil or mint, or use white onion instead of red onion.
Can I remove the mayo from the sauce?
I like the creamy texture from both the mayo and the tahini in this sauce, however, you can definitely omit it, I would use more tahini in place. This will also make the dish completely vegan as well! You can also sub in some vegan mayonnaise if you want it vegan, too.
Some ideas & inspiration to serve with this dish:
- Grilled Baby Artichokes with Tarragon Aioli
- Steamed Mussels in White Wine & Lemon
- Creamy Potato Leek Soup
- Horseradish Kale Caesar Salad
- Broccoli Soup with Crème Fraîche
- Crispy Grilled Potato Salad with Horseradish Sauce
Looking for more vegetarian ideas? Check Out The Below Recipes!
If you do make this Chickpea “tuna” recipe (first of all, thank you!!), be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram so I can be sure to see what you’re making! If you’d like to stay in touch and get the latest to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter here as well!
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Watch How To Make This Recipe
Chickpea “Tuna” with Lemon Tahini Sauce
Ingredients
For The Chickpea "Tuna"
- 1 can chickpeas mashed
- 1/3rd cup red onion finely diced
- 1/3rd cup celery finely diced
- 2 tablespoons dill finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons parsley finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons Bubbie's Spicy Dill Pickles finely diced
- 1/4th teaspoons chili powder omit if you prefer no heat
- juice of 1 lemon
- salt and pepper to taste
For Your Lemon Tahini Sauce
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 2 teaspoons water
- 1/4th cup mayo
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon red wine or sherry vinegar
- salt and pepper to taste
If You Want To Make A Sandwich
- Serve on toasted sourdough bread, sprouts, lettuce and tomato
Instructions
- Begin by straining, rinsing and drying your chickpeas. Place in a bowl and mash with a fork until your desired consistency. I like to leave it a little chunky with some parts more mushed.
- In the same bowl, toss in your red onion, celery, dill, parsley, spicy pickles, chili powder, lemon and salt and pepper. Mix well and set aside.
- Next, make your quick sauce. In a bowl, whisk together tahini with water so it’s not as thick. Next, add in mayo, lemon juice, vinegar and salt and pepper.
- Pour over your chickpea mixture, toss well and marinate in the fridge for up to 30 minutes. Serve in sandwiches with sourdough bread, sprouts, lettuce and tomato. You can also serve in lettuce cups or in your favorite vessel!
What is the calories for this recipe
very yummy! I added tajin in lieu of lemon juice + chili powder because i didn’t have a lemon on hand and it was good lol
Hi Bella! Thank you so much for your review. Love the tajin addition!
This is my new favorite thing! Thank you for this recipe!
Thank you so much!!
This is so yummy and fresh! I didn’t have fresh dill so I used about one tablespoon of dried dill and it turned out great. I adore this recipe and have saved so many more I want to make from your site — can’t wait to try more from you! Thank you so much for sharing with us 🙂
Hi Anna, thank you so much for your sweet words and review! I’m so glad you enjoyed. 🙂