Chickpea Yogurt Recipe

Make this super delicious light chickpea yogurt recipe for your next side dish. An easy gluten-free salad recipe made with canned chickpeas and cooked rice marinated with yogurt. This chickpea yogurt recipe has a nice smoky flavor from sauteed garlic and mint. You make this chickpea yogurt recipe in 20 minutes and serve it chilled or at room temperature.

Looking for inspiration for your next salad recipe? A recipe that kids will love too?

This chickpea yogurt recipe is one of our favorite side dish recipes and definitely will be yours too!

This is a great chickpea yogurt recipe for warm summer days to keep you cool and full!

I particularly like to serve this chickpea yogurt salad recipe chilled during summer. It is light, creamy, and flavorful. There is something incredible about this recipe’s ingredients combo that goes so well together. It is delicious, nutritious, and filling without making you feel heavy.

Try it and let me know how you and your family liked it and what you substituted.

Find more delicious nutritious salad recipes:

• Vegan veggies farfalle pasta in olive oil

• Watermelon avocado feta salad

Ingredients

• Chickpeas. Cook dry chickpeas from scratch or buy organic canned chickpeas when possible.
• Plain whole milk yogurt. Add tangy flavor and creamy texture to the salad.
• White rice. Read more in the post on how to prepare it! I like this rice (affiliate link).
• Oil. To saute garlic and mint.
• Dry mint. Add lots of flavors, and goes well with yogurt.
• Garlic. Adds lots of flavor to the salad.
• Salt &pepper to taste.

How to make chickpea yogurt salad

Follow along with my step by step instructions to see how to make chickpea yogurt salad at home!

Add oil to a hot skillet on low stove flame and sauté garlic until golden brown.

Then, turn the stove flame off and add the mint and sauté. Watch out; both garlic and dry mint burn fast. This will add more flavor and a unique taste to the dish.

Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix them all. Taste for seasoning.

Serve it at room temperature, or let it chill in the fridge first. ENJOY!

Tips

1. Use herbs as much as possible. This is an easy way to boost the dish’s flavor without adding more calories. Dry or fresh mint or peppermint goes well in this recipe.
2. Add a dash of your favorite spices: cumin, ginger, cayenne pepper …
3. Cook the dry chickpeas from scratch or buy organic canned chickpeas when possible.
4. If canned chickpeas have salt, use less salt in the recipe.
5. Drain the excess water in canned chickpeas. But no need to rinse them.
6. Use plain yogurt and not flavored or sweet ones. Plain whole milk yogurt makes the chickpea yogurt recipe creamy and yet light.
7. Add your favorite chopped vegetables or fruits to it. This recipe combo will work great with chopped cucumbers.
8. Toast the chickpeas for extra crunch. Or toss in some toasted chopped nuts or seeds.
9. Feel free to adjust the amount of ingredients in the recipe to your liking, and find the sections below for substitutes and more!

Substitutes

• Substitute chickpeas with beans of all kinds or other legumes or lentils. Or substitute chickpeas with chopped cooked chicken or hard-boiled eggs.
• Use sour cream, milk kefir, feta cheese, cream cheese, or cottage cheese. Or use dairy-free yogurt and cheese to make it vegan.
• Or substitute yogurt with nut butter like peanut butter, cashew butter, almond butter, etc. Tahini (sesame seeds butter) and other seeds butter are great options for making a vegan version of it.
• Substitute white rice with another rice you like, rolled oats, couscous, quinoa, or orzo. Or make it low carb/calorie and use cauliflower or broccoli rice.
• Olive oil is an excellent option.
• Substitute dry mint with dry or fresh herbs of choice, such as oregano, basil parsley, cilantro, and dill…
• Use leeks, chives, onion, or shallot instead of garlic.
• Add a dash of your favorite spices.
• Toss in some roasted nuts or seeds for crunch.
• Add some vegetables or fruits of your choice.

Variations

• Toss the toasted chickpeas in your favorite leafy green kale spinach salad to boost protein and fiber.
• Use the chickpeas in cauliflower broccoli salad.
• Add chickpeas to egg, avocado, or tuna salad for crunch.
• Chickpeas are great in potato and pasta salads.
• Toss chickpeas into a fruit salad.

How to store the salad

You can keep the salad in an air-tight container in the fridge for 3 days. I do not recommend freezing it.

What to serve with it

• Serve them with oven-roasted or grilled salmon fillet(my favorite), steak, or chicken.
• They go well with casserole, stews, or other skillet main dishes.
• Serve them with hard-boiled eggs or scrambled eggs for breakfast.
• Check out my dinner recipes for more ideas.

How to cook white rice

1. Rinse a half cup of dry rice with water before cooking (optional).
2. Next, add one cup of water to the rinsed rice in a pot, and season it with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Bring it to a boil and simmer on medium-low heat until most of the water is absorbed.
4. Then, cover the pot and cook for 10 minutes on low heat or until the rice is soft and fluffy.
5. Let it cool, and add them to the recipe.

Why soak dry chickpeas in water

Chickpeas have lots of phytic acid antinutrient substances. Soaking chickpeas in cold water lowers the phytic acid in them. Also, adding a tablespoon of lemon juice or other types of acidic food, such as plain yogurt and kefir, helps to naturalize phytic acid further.

How to cook dry chickpeas

1. First, In a larger pot, rinse one cup of chickpeas with cold water.
2. Then, add 5 cups of cold water and one tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice (something acidic) and let it soak overnight.
3. The next day, drain the water and add fresh cold water enough to cover the chickpeas.
4. Season it with salt to taste and bring it to a boil on the stovetop. Adding salt before cooking chickpeas will prevent the chickpeas’ skin from coming off while cooking.
5. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for 45 minutes or until the chickpeas are soft inside and have a firm shape.
6. Cooked chickpeas freeze well too. Put them inside an air-tight zip lock bag, let the air out, and flatten it. Place it flat in the freezer and use it within three months.

The exact instructions can be used to cook dry beans. But lentils need only 30 minutes of soaking before cooking, and they cook much faster.

How to roast chickpeas

The process is super simple, remove the excess water and season cooked chickpeas with salt, oil, pepper, paprika, etc. and toss them into a well-heated skillet (I like to use a cast-iron skillet) on medium-high heat. Stir around and let them toast until golden and crunchy. Or you could lay them on a sheet pan and pop them into a heated oven at 400 °F and let them roast for 10 minutes; make sure to stir them around mid-roasting. Let them cool, and then use them in a chickpea yogurt recipe or as a snack.

Chickpeas usages

• Roast cooked chickpeas with other vegetables such as potato, mushroom, cauliflower, zucchini, onion, pepper, brussels sprouts, broccoli, or butternut squash.
• Mix them in your favorite rice or potato side dishes.
• Toss chickpeas into a salad, pasta, or skillet dish.
• Add them to the omelet for breakfast.
• Add them to your favorite soup recipes for extra loads of protein.
• Mix them into main dishes with beef, chicken, shrimp, or fish—for example, casserole, meatloaf, or stews.
• Mash and add them to patty recipes. Or make chickpea patties.
• Melt some cheese over them and serve them as a side dish or snack.
• Use them as a substitute or add-on in my breakfast, dinner, or soup recipes:
  • Quick and healthy baked beans recipe
  • Easy ground beef and broccoli casserole
  • Creamy walnut chicken recipe
  • Vegetarian broccoli cheddar soup
  • Gluten free potato soup

What did you substitute? How did your family and kids like it? Let me know in the comment below your favorite combination. I love to hear from you!

Find more simple, delicious nutritious side dish recipes:

• Garlic sesame green beans
• Roasted honey cumin broccoli
• Easy sourdough discard naans
• Easy sourdough discard flatbread
• Biscuits without milk
• Vegan veggies farfalle pasta in olive oil

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