Chickpea Salad Niçoise with Dairy-Free Lemon Dijon Dressing

|Updated Jan 4, 2023

This vegan niçoise salad is fully loaded with hearty potatoes, colorful vegetables, crispy lettuce, and seasoned chickpeas instead of the traditional tuna. It is summery, crunchy, and full of flavors you would typically find in a salad niçoise from the South of France — one of my favorite places in France to visit.

The freshness of this chickpea salad recipe takes me back to the morning markets in the Old Town of Nice, where I used to buy the ingredients to prepare this vibrant salad. We loved to pack it in containers and picnic on the stony beach. Enjoy this salad as a delicious healthy lunch, dinner, or side salad.

What is a Niçoise Salad?

Niçoise salad originates from Nice, France on the Mediterranean sea. Niçoise salads typically contain tuna, green beans and potatoes. Sometimes this classic salad does have a hard-boiled egg in it as well. This salad can easily be made vegan by swapping tuna for protein-packed chickpeas and omitting the hard-boiled egg.

Vegan Chickpea Niçoise Salad Ingredients

Olive oil
Lemon juice
Dijon mustard
Shallots
Garlic
Agave
White miso
Sea salt
Black pepper
Dried oregano
Chickpeas
Green beans
Baby potatoes
Romaine lettuce
Grape tomatoes
English cucumber
Mixed Greek olives
Red onion
Fresh chives
Drained capers

How to Make a Vegan Niçoise Salad

Make the Lemon Dijon Dressing: In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, shallots, garlic, agave, miso, salt, pepper, and oregano. Whisk to combine. Set aside to allow the flavors to meld together.

Prepare the Chickpeas: In a medium bowl, combine the chickpeas, lemon juice, mustard, oregano, and salt. Stir to combine. Set aside.

Make the Salad: Fill a medium bowl with ice water. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. When the water is boiling, reduce the heat to medium-high, add the green beans, and cook until the beans are vivid green and just tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, scoop out the green beans and submerge them in the ice water. Add the potatoes to the boiling water and cook until fork-tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain the potatoes and rinse under cool running water.

Drain the green beans. Pat dry the potatoes and green beans.

Spread the romaine lettuce on a large serving platter. Evenly arrange the green beans, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumber, olives, and red onion over the romaine. Sprinkle with seasoned chickpeas, chives, capers, and a pinch each of salt and pepper.

Serve the Lemon Dijon Dressing on the side for drizzling. (Alternatively, you can toss all the ingredients together in a large salad bowl and toss with the dressing to taste just before serving.)

Tips to Make This Vegan Niçoise Salad Recipe Even Easier

The Lemon Dijon Dressing can be prepared up to three days in advance. Store in a jar in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature and shake before using.
If you prefer to cook chickpeas from scratch, you will need to soak and cook - ½ cup of dried chickpeas to get 1½ cups cooked (the equivalent of 1 can).
Save time by boiling the potatoes and cooking the green bean a day before you are planning to serve the salad. You can also cut the lettuce and tomatoes ahead of time. Cover and refrigerate the ingredients separately.
Avoid dressing or seasoning any prepped ingredients until right before serving.

Vegan Chickpea Niçoise Salad

Serves 4

Lemon Dijon Dressing

⅓ cup olive oil
¼ cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons finely diced shallots
1 clove of garlic, finely diced
1½ teaspoons agave
½ teaspoon white miso
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon dried oregano

Chickpeas

1 can (14 ounces/400 mL) chickpeas, drained and rinsed (see Tip)
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Pinch of fine sea salt

Salad

7 ounces (200 g) of green beans, trimmed
7 ounces (200 g) of baby potatoes, the color of choice, cut into bite-size pieces
2 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup thinly sliced English cucumber
¼ cup pitted mixed Greek olives
½ small red onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
¼ cup drained capers
Pinch of fine sea salt
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Make the Lemon Dijon Dressing: In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, shallots, garlic, agave, miso, salt, pepper, and oregano. Whisk to combine. Set aside to allow the flavors to meld together.
Prepare the Chickpeas: In a medium bowl, combine the chickpeas, lemon juice, mustard, oregano, and salt. Stir to combine. Set aside.
Make the Salad: Fill a medium bowl with ice water. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. When the water is boiling, reduce the heat to medium-high, add the green beans, and cook until the beans are vivid green and just tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, scoop out the green beans and submerge them in the ice water. Add the potatoes to the boiling water and cook until fork-tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain the potatoes and rinse under cool running water.
Drain the green beans. Pat dry the potatoes and green beans.
Spread the romaine lettuce on a large serving platter. Evenly arrange the green beans, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumber, olives, and red onion over the romaine. Sprinkle with seasoned chickpeas, chives, capers, and a pinch each of salt and pepper.
Serve the Lemon Dijon Dressing on the side for drizzling. (Alternatively, you can toss all the ingredients together in a large salad bowl and toss with the dressing to taste just before serving.)

Chickpea Nicoise Salad Nutrition Facts