Vegan Pineapple Chickpea Salad! We couldn’t decide if this deliciousness should be named “heavenly chickpea salad” or “must have lunch everyday.” Well, we went a more descriptive name, but don’t let that stop you, it’s truly amaze-balls!

Creamy, flavorful, and hearty, this wholesome, oil-free Vegan Pineapple Chickpea Salad recipe is a vegan spin on the popular Pineapple Chicken Salad. Sweet pineapple, smashed chickpeas, crunchy veggies, and toasty pecans all coated in an irresistible sweet and tangy sauce for the perfect cold salad on a hot summer day. Great for lunches, picnics, and potlucks too!

Whole Food Plant Based, Vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients and gluten free.

Hi there, Ameera here!

Can you say YUMMMMM?  This delicious Vegan Pineapple Chickpea Salad is soooo full of tasty ingredients.  We ate it all up!  It’s absolutely perfect on a hot summer day.  It’s such a great tasting salad either by itself, in a wrap, lettuce cup, or in a sandwich.  Dad ate it all up with gusto!

Mom enjoyed it in a wrap, Dad loved it on toasted bread.  I loved it in a lettuce cup.  The flavor is unexpected.  The pineapple gives the chickpea salad great flavor.  It’s sweet and tangy all at the same time.  I just know you are going to love it!

Tips for Success:

• Cashews: If you wish, you can substitute the ½ cup of cashews for Vegan Mayonnaise. You may need a little more mayonnaise largely dependent on how dry or moist you prefer your salad.
• Pineapple Tidbits: We used a 20 oz. can of pineapple tidbits. You will need to separate the tidbits into 3 portions, ½ cup is in the sauce, ¼ cup is chopped with the chickpeas in the food processor.  The remaining amount is just over one cup, roughly 1 ½ cups and used in the salad portion of the recipe.
• Pineapple Juice: Place a strainer over a bowl and dump the pineapple tidbits into the strainer to collect the juice. You will use 1/4 cup of this juice when making the sauce.
• Celery: We love the texture and flavor of celery in this salad.  Feel free to use more or less than the recipe amount.
• Red Onions: We enjoy red onions.  If you have concerns, start low and build from there.  If you have an especially sharp-tasting red onion, you may wish to consider chopping the red onion, then placing it in a small bowl and cover it with some warm water for 7 minutes.  This will take some of the sharpness out of the onion.  Drain well, shake off any excess water, then use in the salad.
• Toasted Pecans: Toasting the pecans is an additional step and is totally optional. Toasting pecans adds an extra element of flavor that one doesn’t get with untoasted pecans.  If pressed for time and effort, you can add the pecans in untoasted.

Leftovers and Freezing:

Leftovers will generally keep for 4-5 days in the refrigerator.  Store in a covered container.

This pineapple chickpea salad does not freeze well due to using fresh vegetables and pineapple.

Pantry Products Used:

• Pineapple Tidbits: We used a 20 oz. can Dole Pineapple Tidbits in 100% pineapple juice.
• Hot Sauce: We used Frank’s RedHot Original Hot Sauce.

Kitchen Products Used:

• Food Processor. We like this 14-Cup Food Processor
• High-Speed Blender. We like this Vitamix Blender

We certainly hope you give this deliciousness a try.

If you try this awesome salad, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us!  We would love to hear from you.

Vegan Pineapple Chickpea Salad

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• Author: Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures
• Prep Time: 25 Minutes
• Total Time: 25 Minutes (+Rest Time)
• Yield: 4-5 Sandwiches 1x
• Category: Salad, Lunch
• Cuisine: American
• Diet: Vegan

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Description

Creamy, flavorful, and hearty, this wholesome, oil-free Vegan Pineapple Chickpea Salad recipe is a vegan spin on the popular Pineapple Chicken Salad.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Food Processor Ingredients:

• 1 – [ 15.5 oz. can ] chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• ¼ cup pineapple tidbits *

Salad Ingredients:

• 1 cup celery, diced (+/-) *
• ½ cup red onion, fine dice (+/-) *
• 1 to 1 ½ cups pineapple tidbits *
• ¼ to ½ cup toasted pecans, coarsely chopped (+/-) (optional) *

Sauce Ingredients:

• ½ cup (raw) cashews *
• ½ cup pineapple tidbits *
• ¼ cup pineapple juice (from can of pineapple tidbits) *
• 2 Tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup (optional)
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce *
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 Tablespoon dried minced onions
• ¼ teaspoon sweet paprika
• ½ teaspoon dried ground mustard powder
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper (+/-)
• ¼ to 1 teaspoon sea salt (+/-) *

Serving Ideas:

• Burger bun, toasted bread, flour tortilla wrap, or lettuce cup
• Shredded lettuce

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Instructions

1. Place the cashews into a small bowl, cover with boiling water for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, drain off water (discard water) and place the soaked cashews into a high-speed blender.
2. Make the Sauce by placing all the remaining Sauce Ingredients into a high-speed blender with the soaked cashews. Blend until smooth and emulsified. Refrigerate until ready to use.
3. Rinse and drain the chickpeas, shake off any excess water. Place the chickpeas into a food processor along with ¼ cup of pineapple tidbits, pulse a few seconds just until roughly chopped. Place the contents into a large bowl.
4. Place all the Salad Ingredients into the large bowl with the chopped chickpeas and pineapple mixture.
5. Pour the sauce over the mixture, gently toss. Taste test for flavor.  Add more seasoning, if needed.  Refrigerate for an hour to allow the flavors to marry.
6. Serve on your favorite burger bun, toasted bread, wrap or lettuce cup.

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Notes

*Please reference the blog post for Tips for Success, Pantry Items Used, Storage and Freezing, and Kitchen Products Used.

*Sea Salt:  Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.

*Serving:  4 to 5

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