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Balela Chickpea Salad

Name: Balela Chickpea Salad
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 3 cups cooked chickpeas (or 2 15 oz cans); 1 1/2 cups cooked black beans (or 1 15 oz can); 1/3 cup white onion (diced); 1 cup roma tomatoes (diced, about 3 tomatoes with seeds/pulp removed); 1/2 cup curly parsley (minced); 1/2 cup fresh mint (minced, approx .5 oz); 2 tablespoons olive oil; 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar; 2 tablespoons lemon juice; 1 teaspoon sumac; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder; 1/8 teaspoon cayenne; 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

ByTracy June 17, 2025June 17, 2025

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Our Balela Chickpea Salad is a refreshing, cold Middle Eastern black and garbanzo bean salad packed with fresh, bright flavors. No cooking required for this one, which makes it a quick, easy, and delicious side for any meal!

You’ll also love our Chickpea Cucumber Salad!

a salad with chickpeas black beans, tomatoes, and parsley.

When it’s too hot to turn on the oven or stove, our favorite recipes are those that don’t require the oven or stovetop. Especially cold salads, like our latest recipe, our Balela Chickpea Salad! This Middle Eastern-inspired salad can be made in advance and is hearty, healthy, and packed full of plant protein, making it an absolutely delicious and nutritious side or lunch salad! Even better, this salad can be made in just 10 minutes!

What is Balela?

Balela is a Middle Eastern salad of beans and fresh herbs, and a lemon vinaigrette dressing. In Arabic, “balela” translates to “cooked chickpeas,” which is the main ingredient in this cold salad. What sets this bean salad apart from others is the use of sumac, a popular spice used in Middle Eastern cuisines. Its smoky, slightly sweet, tangy, and earthy flavor adds a uniquely Middle Eastern flair to this simple bean salad.

Ingredients Needed

basil, mint, black beans, chickpeas, onion, tomatoes, oil, spices, lemon juice, vinegar, all labeled.

Chickpeas – The base of this Middle Eastern salad! You can of course cook the chickpeas from dried beans or use canned – but for ease and no cooking required, canned is the best way to go!
Black Beans – As with the chickpeas, you can of course cook from dried. This is a great way to use some black beans leftover from another recipe, or canned beans are just as good.
Sumac Spice – This is the spice that makes this salad stand out as Middle Eastern from other bean salads. The sumac flavor adds a beautiful, earthy, tangy, smoky flavor.
Tomatoes and Onions – The onion adds some crunch and the tomatoes a little bit of subtle sweetness.
Mint and Parsley – Fresh bright herbs to complement all of these other flavors.
Olive Oil, Lemon Juice, Apple Cider Vinegar – For the bright acidic vinaigrette.
Spices – Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, and Cayenne – Complementary flavors to tie it all together!

So Easy to Make

to pyrex one with herbs and spices and one mixed all together.

The first step, mix the dressing. Just add it all to a small bowl, or (what we prefer), a spouted Pyrex, and give it a good whisk.

two pictures, a bowl of chickpeas, beans, tomatoes, and onions and then it all mixed and topped with herbs.

Next, add the beans and veggies, then add the dressing and mix. Finally, top it all with fresh, minced herbs.

Dicing the Tomatoes

We love the firmer, meatier Roma tomato for this recipe, and with the seeds removed so that only the tomato itself is diced. By removing the seeds and pulp first, it will reduce the added liquid from the tomatoes, which can dilute the dressing.

Once all mixed, you’ll have a beautiful cold, no-cooking-required Balela Chickpea Salad!

Plant protein packed, SO fresh and bright, and with a unique earthy, tangy, smoky touch from the sumac, this Balela Chickpea Salad will be a welcome healthy, hearty side for any summer get-together!

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a salad with chickpeas black beans, tomatoes, and parsley with a wooden spoon.