Vegan Chickpea Tuna Salad

The best vegan tuna salad made with chickpeas! This easy chickpea tuna salad is gluten-free, allergy-free, and made with real plant-based ingredients! A simple recipe that's ready in 5 minutes; perfect for healthy lunches or quick dinners when served as a sandwich or in a salad bowl! It's customizable, kid-friendly, protein-packed, and ideal for meal prepping!

Let's play a game of Is It Vegan or Is It "Real"? This may be a bold statement, but I think fish and shellfish are some of the easiest foods to turn plant-based! From calamari to scallops, and now this mind-blowingly identical vegan tuna salad! The texture, taste, and creaminess, it's like a tuna dream but more delicious and allergy-free! No fish, no eggs, no soy, loaded with plant-based protein and fiber. Regardless if you're vegan or not, this recipe will turn even tuna haters into "tuna" lovers!

The Best Plant Substitute For Tuna

Chickpeas! The best meatless (fishless) substitute for tuna fish is the humble chickpea. Mashed chickpeas are a perfect hearty, nutritious, and neutral-tasting legume that can easily be transformed into a versatile plant-based substitute. Garbanzo beans hold up well to the eggless mayo and don't get mushy or lose their texture when mashed and left to chill in the fridge for multiple days. Using canned chickpeas is best since you get a more salty, briny taste compared to cooking dried chickpeas from scratch.

Why You'll Love This Chickpea Tuna Salad Recipe

No fish, no eggs, no fake meat substitutes, no soy...this recipe is perfect for vegans and food allergy friends. You can customize it by adding more veggies and herbs as well as serve it in so many different ways! This vegan tuna salad will be a staple meal prep recipe to keep in your fridge every week! This quick and easy chickpea tuna salad is:

• Gluten-Free
• Vegan & Vegetarian
• Allergy-free (Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Egg-Free, Nut-Free, Peanut-Free, Wheat-Free, Sesame-Free, Fish-Free, Shellfish-Free, Corn-Free, Coconut-Free)
• Sugar-Free
• Kid-Friendly
• Quick & Easy, 5 Minute Recipe
• Simple, Make-Ahead, & Budget-Friendly
• Meal-Prep Lunch or Light Dinner Idea

Ingredients For Vegan Tuna Salad

• Chickpeas: The mock tuna king! Canned chickpeas are best since they're soft and salty already, but you can also use your own pre-cooked chickpeas if you have a batch ready.
• Onion: Yellow onion or red onion are great for chickpea tuna salad. I loved the flavor of yellow onion in this recipe, but you can also use mild onion flavors like shallots, scallions, or chives.
• Celery: For a little refreshing crunch, diced celery stalks are a must-have veggie in this New York-style vegan tuna.
• Vegan Mayo: Store-bought or homemade. My favorite brands that are also allergen-free include Hellmann's and Trader Joe's.
• Pickle Relish: Dill relish or you can even use dill pickles finely minced. You have to have some salty tangy pickles in your vegan tuna salad!
• Dijon Mustard: A squirt of dijon will give the salad deep, rich, savory, and pungent flavor notes.
• Fresh Dill: Fresh dill adds more herby freshness to the chickpea tuna, but you can also use flat-leaf parsley or dried dill, parsley, or marjoram!
• Salt + Pepper: Salt and black pepper to taste! I love a ton of black pepper in my tuna salad.
• Nori (Seaweed): The secret to vegan fishy flavor? Nori sheets! These are the seaweed sheets you use for sushi and can be used in this fishy vegan salad by crumbling a sheet up into a fine powder (you can toss it in a blender or just use your hands. I used one of these snack-sized sheets). This is optional, but nori is also a healthy addition to add, containing generous amounts of vitamins A, B, and C, minerals like iodine and manganese, and omega-3 fatty acids.
• Lemon Juice + Vegan Fish Sauce: For bright acidity, a squirt of fresh lemon juice does the job. The vegan fish sauce adds umami, savory, and boldness to the dish. You can also sub in coconut aminos if you don't have vegan fish sauce.

Ingredient Variations

• Onions: Again, you can use any, but the best options are yellow (stronger) or red onion (milder). Chives, shallots, and scallions work well. If you don't want any onion...leave it out entirely!
• More Veggies: You can add in some diced carrots, bell peppers, chopped broccoli, peas, hearts of palm, artichoke quarters, and even some tart granny smith apple to add a pop or sweetness.
• Capers: In place of the relish or minced dill pickles, you can use some briny capers.
• Herbs & Spices: You can use any fresh or dried herbs and play around with spices. Try some garlic powder, chipotle, chili powder, Old Bay, or curry powder.
• Nuts & Seeds: If allergens aren't a concern, you can add in some sliced almonds or pecans. Sesame seeds and sunflower seeds are delicious. You can even try dried fruit like craisins or raisins. And of course, there's always smokey vegan coconut bacon!
• Vegan Mayo: My homemade eggless mayo or a store-bought brand is best. Other variations without mayo include using hummus or plain unsweetened vegan yogurt. Mix in some tahini for a sesame kick. Try some mashed avocado too for some extra healthy fats!
• Cheesy: Add 1-2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast for extra protein, B vitamins, and umami cheesy flavor!

 How To Make Vegan Tuna Salad

1. Drain and rinse your canned chickpeas before adding them to a large bowl. Use a potato masher or the back of a fork to mash the chickpeas. Leave some texture, but there shouldn't be any chickpeas left whole.
2. Add the diced veggies, relish, fresh herbs, seasonings, crumbled nori, vegan mayo, dijon, lemon juice, and vegan fish sauce to the bowl of mashed chickpeas.

3. Mix all the ingredients together until everything is fully incorporated and looks like...tuna.
4. Taste the mixture and adjust any seasonings to taste. Allow the vegan tuna salad to chill in the fridge for optimal flavor development, otherwise dig in right away!

Recipe Tips & Tricks

• If you don't feel like mashing the chickpeas by hand, you can toss them in a food processor or blender and pulse the garbanzo beans. Be careful not to blend them too smooth, like hummus!
• You can easily double, triple, or even half this recipe to suit your needs!
• Allowing the chickpea tuna salad to chill in the fridge for an hour or two before serving allowing the flavors to develop. If you have time, I highly recommend meal-prepping this recipe!
• If you want a creamier vegan tuna, add more mayo or add a few scoops of alternative options like hummus or dairy-free yogurt.

How To Serve Vegan Tuna Salad

• Serve it on a gluten-free toast or in a sandwich. A wrap would be delicious too. Dress it up with lettuce, tomato, and maybe an extra pickle or two!
• Make an open-faced vegan tuna melt! Great your favorite gluten-free bread, toast it, add some vegan butter, then the scoop of vegan tuna, add a slice of vegan cheese, place the open-faced sandwich on a hot skillet, or ideally under the broiler, to melt the cheese! (You can always add the extra top slice of bread and press the vegan tuna melt in a panini press!
• Use it in tuna noodles, aka, vegan tuna pasta salad!
• Add some vegan chickpea tuna to a large salad or grain bowl as your main plant-based protein.
• Use it as a filling in lettuce cups, baked sweet potatoes, or zucchini boats for an easy appetizer or low-carb lunch.
• Serve it with your favorite gluten-free crackers as a mid-day snack or after-school/work nibble. Perfect for those lunchboxes too!
• Serve it in a large serving bowl with crudités or raw crunchy veggies and crackers at holidays and parties!

How To Store Chickpea Tuna Salad

You can store vegan chickpea tuna salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days, making it perfect for meal prep! The chickpea tuna gets better with time as the flavors develop and the ingredients have had time to mingle and chill. Just give it a stir before serving!

Can You Freeze Creamy Vegan Tuna?

I don't recommend freezing this mayo-based vegan tuna salad. Luckily for you, this recipe takes 5 minutes to make and lasts for almost the entire week if you make it ahead of time!

More Plant-Based Seafood Recipes:

• Easy Vegan Maine Lobster Rolls
• Bagel with Vegan Carrot Lox & Cream Cheese
• New England Vegan Clam Chowder
• Vegan Scallops
• Air Fryer Vegan Calamari

Print

Creamy, delicious, fishless tuna salad with the almighty versatile chickpea! You are going to love this chickpea tuna salad and just how identical it tastes to the real deal!

So tell me:

+ Are (or were) you a tuna salad fan?

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