Buffalo Chickpea Salad is a spicy chickpea salad with all the flavors of buffalo wings, only meatless, perfect for lunch!
Buffalo Chickpea Salad
This spicy Chickpea Salad is made with canned chickpeas tossed in a creamy, spicy buffalo sauce made with Greek yogurt, Frank’s Red Hot, lemon juice, and Tahini. The chickpeas are then topped with crunchy carrots and celery and sharp, tangy blue cheese. Buffalo flavor is one of my favorites, and I have tons of buffalo recipes on my site. I also love chickpea salad! For variations try my Chickpea Salad with Cucumbers and Tomatoes, Chickpea Avocado Salad, or my Greek Chickpea Salad.
You can toss just about anything with buffalo sauce and it will be delicious! This buffalo chickpea salad is easy to make and inexpensive. It’s great for meal prep and easy to double it if you want leftovers.
How To Meal Prep
To meal prep, cook the chickpeas, add in the carrots and celery, and cover the mixture in sauce. Squeeze lemon juice over the remaining carrots and celery. Store the chickpeas and vegetables in separate containers and refrigerate for up to four days.
How to Serve
The serving possibilities are endless with this buffalo chickpea salad. I love it over lettuce to make wraps, but you can eat it so many ways.
- Lettuce Wraps. Wrap in lettuce – kind of like a salad you can eat with your hands.
- Tortilla Wraps. Make a buffalo chickpea wrap using your favorite tortilla.
- Sandwich – Sandwich between your favorite whole grain bread.
- Appetizer – Use as a dip with tortilla chips or raw veggies, like bell pepper strips and cucumber slices.
- Right out of the fridge. Eat it as is with a spoon.
- Make it a Bowl! Make a buffalo chickpea bowl and serve over brown rice or quinoa and add in veggies, like cherry tomatoes and avocados.
Variations:
- The blue cheese is traditional but can be easily omitted or swapped out for something milder, like gorgonzola if it’s not your thing.
- Make this salad dairy-free by using dairy-free yogurt and omitting the cheese.
More Buffalo Recipes You’ll Love:
- Buffalo Shrimp Lettuce Wraps
- Buffalo Chicken Egg Rolls
- Buffalo Chicken Dip
- Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Skinny Buffalo Chicken Strips
Buffalo Chickpea Salad
Ingredients
- 15- oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or 1 1/2 cups cooked)
- 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup diced carrots, divided (1 large carrots)
- 1/3 cup diced celery, divided (about 1 large stalks), plus celery leaves for garnish
- 3 Tbsp Frank’s Red Hot Original
- 1 Tbsp plain Greek yogurt
- 1 Tbsp plus 1/2 tsp lemon juice, divided
- 1/2 Tbsp tahini
- 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese, optional
- Romaine or Bibb leaves for serving
Instructions
- Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add the oil.
- Once it begins to shimmer, add the chickpeas, spreading them in a single layer, and let cook undisturbed for 1 to 2 minutes, or until they brown a bit.
- Stir, add the garlic and salt, and cook for a minute more.
- Transfer the chickpeas to a large bowl and add 1/4 cup carrots and 1/4 cup celery.
- Fold in the Frank’s, yogurt, 1 Tbsp lemon juice, and tahini; stir gently until combined.
- In a separate bowl, toss the remaining diced celery and carrots with the remaining 1/2 tsp lemon juice and set aside.
- To serve the chickpeas, top them with blue cheese (if using), the reserved celery and carrots, and a big handful of celery leaves. Scoop the salad onto a lettuce leaf, wrap, and dig in.
Last Step:
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I doubled this and it was fantastic. I had broccoli slaw in the fridge that needed to be used so I added that, too. Worked really well and stretched it a little more!
What does the tahini add to the recipe? I’m allergic to sesame, so no tahini for me. Wondering what I can use in its place or if I should just use more Greek yogurt.
Delicious and so easy! I will definitely make this again. It’s also nice to have an option that is vegetarian friendly. My only thing is I combined all of the carrots & celery at the same time as I didn’t feel the need to have it as a topping as well. Thank you!!!
I did the same – I didnt need to be all fussy about it 🙂
I also used garlic powder instead of fresh as I had already finished chopping everything for dinner, which I was prepping at the same time as my lunch for the next day
I make these all the time for a quick protein packed lunch. I usually eat wo large romaine leaves filled with chickpeas (essentially 1/3 of the full recipe), or one stuffed leaf and a cup of smoky veggie chili or other soup, so there’s plenty for a few days.
I was out of tahini the last time I made this so I added a little more Greek yogurt and lemon juice, and discovered I like the recipe better without tahini.
Tip that might be handy for those watching salt-intake: Since Frank’s is high in sodium, I use no-salt-added garbanzo beans and omit adding salt to the beans along with the garlic. I’ve found that I don’t miss the extra salt at all, especially when I have a little blue cheese on hand.
I love this. I make it all the time for lunch.Â
I used dry chic peas and cooked them in the instant pot with garlic. They came out great.
For meal prep, do you intend this to be reheated or eaten cold? Thanks!
Cold
This was excellent. The first time I made it I used non-dairy yogurt and it came out great. The second time I made it I didn’t have any yogurt, so I just added another 1/2 tbsp of tahini, which also worked.
This is my new go-to recipe for lunches. Great in lettuce or in a wrap or tortilla with salad. I have to make a double recipe when my daughter and son-in-law come to visit.
This was delicious and easy! Loved it as a healthy lunch with a piece of toasted multigrain bread. My husband asked if I could make it again this weekend! 😄
I love this recipe! So easy and delicious. Has anyone made it with tofu?
Loved this! I just mixed everything together (didn’t do any separate veggies). I have a lot of leftovers for lunch tomorrow! I think I’ll stuff them into a pita with some spinach and tomato.Â
I do not know love at first sight exist but craving definitely happens.
Hi can you make this a day or so ahead. Â Wondering if I can make it today for lunch the week at workÂ
Yes, this is great for meal prep— there are tips in the narrative. 🙂
This is so delicious and easy to make. I added it to fresh lettuce from my garden and it was the best lunch.
Great lunch! Didn’t have tahini on hand but subbed with peanut butter and it was awesome. Ate it with the lettuce wrap. Easy, quick and filling. Nice to change up lunch a bit.
The peanut butter didn’t add a weird flavor with the hot sauce at all? I was thinking of doing it this way as well!
Another winner from Gina! Having it for lunch today. Great flavors!
Just made this for lunch. Quick, healthy and delicious!
Are the calories right? This seems high for the ingredients. Is it possible that it should be 2-15oz cans of chickpeas?
I have rechecked the nutritional info, and realized we had included the cheese- which is optional—info has been updated. Sorry for the confusion! 🙂
Do the points change if I leave off the oil and use the liquid from the chickpeas instead?
Quick, simple and tasty meal. Frying the chickpeas with garlic really enhances the finished product.
SOOOOO yummy! Thank you SkinnyTaste!!!
Just made this exactly as written and it is delicious! Satisfies my craving for wings! Next time I will mix the ‘dressing’ ingredients prior to adding chickpeas since my tahini is very thick. Thanks again Gina!
I had some leftover chickpeas in my fridge to use up for lunch today so this recipe was perfect! The tahini gives give it the richness that butter normally would in a hot wing sauce. I put mine in romaine leaves and it’s delicious! The hardest part will be not eating the whole bowl.
So good! I’m home sick and happened to have all of these ingredients. This was the perfect, quick comfort food! It only took ten minutes and made me feel much better!
Can the tahini be left out, or substituted with something else? I can only ever find tahini in large cans that I never end up going through and have to throw out. Thanks!
You can leave it out if you wish 🙂
Or a little Peanut Butter thats what Tahini tastes like. Is a good sub.
we found a squeeze tahini at the grocery store. way better to be able to keep it around!
I just put this into the recipe builder on the WW app, and it only came out to 2sp on the Blue plan. I’m wondering about the discrepancy? Do you use the same tool to calculate points, or do you enter the nutritional info into the calculator?
Hi Jan! The only accurate way to determine any recipe’s SmartPoints® value is to plug the ingredients into the recipe builder on the Weight Watchers website (Click on “My Foods,” select “Recipe,” and click “Create a recipe.”) which does not count fruits and vegetables in recipes in the calculations as they are now 0 points.
The SmartPoints® calculator isn’t meant for recipes and will often give you the wrong points (usually higher) because it’s counting the fruits and vegetables. So if you see a recipe with a SmartPoints® value that’s different from what the calculator tells you, now you know why.
I did plug all the ingredients into the “create a recipe” function, and only came up with 2sp for 1/6 servings on Blue. That’s why I was wondering why there was a discrepancy with the 3sp on Blue that you state?
Are you using fat free or full fat yogurt?
I tried it with both non-fat Green yogurt and whole-fat Greek yogurt, but the 1T for the whole recipe does not change the points. I still only get 2 on the Blue plan. For comparison, my recipe builder calculates for the entire recipe: 1/2T Olive oil (2sp), 1/2T Tahini (2sp), 1/4c Blue cheese (5sp). All other ingredients are 0sp. That shows 2sp each for 6 servings. I’m not trying to be nit-picky (honest!!) but it just doesn’t calculate the same for me. I’ll just enjoy and use the 2sp that my recipe builder shows! Thank you so much for all your hard work and delicious recipes!
Gina, can peanut butter be used instead of tahini?
I think pb would change the flavor. Tahini is fairly neutral in terms of flavor, especially with the other ingredients, whereas, pb, I think, would wind up a stronger flavor and have more prominence in the flavor profile of the dish. But, that doesn’t mean you couldn’t try it and see if you like it OR use different seasoning and make more of a peanut sauce instead 😉