Simple Italian Chickpea Salad

Italians love their chickpeas and this simple and classic Italian chickpea salad is a great example of that. With fresh tomatoes, onions, olive oil and Italian parsley, this easy chickpea salad is the perfect summer salad and it is so easy to make. Serve it with a side of ciabatta garlic bread or with crispy Italian fried eggplant for a complete meal everyone will love.

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I, like many Italians love a good meal or side dish that is made with beans. Maybe you have tried our fagioli all'uccelletto (beans and tomatoes), an entire main dish that is essentially Italian baked beans and so good.

Unlike that dish which is slow cooked in the oven and takes a bit of time, this Italian chickpea salad can be made in minutes because it uses canned chickpeas and only a few ingredients. It stores really well in the fridge so it makes a great make ahead side dish as well (the way I like to use it!)

Although these are called chickpeas (or garbanzo beans) they are actually a bean or legume and so nutritious. So, if you are looking for a tasty and healthy meal to make with chickpeas, this is the recipe for you.

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• Ingredients needed
• How to make Italian Chickpea Salad
• Pairing Ideas
• More Like This
• Simple Italian Chickpea Salad

Ingredients needed

There are only a few ingredients you will need to make this Italian garbanzo bean salad:

• Chickpeas. Also called garbanzo beans. I use canned chickpeas for this recipe but you could certainly use dried chickpeas and cook them yourself.
• Fresh tomatoes. This simple chickpea salad relies on the freshest of ingredients so make sure you are using only very ripe tomatoes if you can.
• Italian parsley. Italians use fresh Italian parsley in so many dishes. You may not think of using it but it really does add a touch of freshness to dishes along with color.
• Red Onion.
• Olive oil. You can use regular olive oil or extra virgin.
• Kosher salt.

How to make Italian Chickpea Salad

This recipe is really so simple that I probably do not even need to write out the steps here. Just in case, here is what it looks like:

1. Prepare the chickpeas. This Italian chickpea salad recipe uses canned chickpeas to make it easy. You want to make sure you rinse the chickpeas well since they will be sitting in a brine.
2. Chop the ingredients. Here you chop the onions, parsley and tomatoes.
3. Toss it all together. Add all of the ingredients to a bowl including the olive oil and salt and gently toss it together.
4. Let it sit. This Italian chickpea salad tastes best if you allow it sit out covered on the counter for about 15-30 minutes before eating it. You can let it sit even longer if your prefer.

If you want to add even more flavor to this Italian chickpea salad, you could make a quick sherry shallot dressing which pairs so well with these ingredients.

Pairing Ideas

If you want some ideas of what to serve with this Italian chickpea salad, here are some ideas for you:

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If you love this easy Italian garbanzo bean salad, you may also like these: