Fattoush Salad with Chickpeas

Fattoush salad is a Middle Eastern salad full of tangy lemony goodness.  Usually served as a side dish, the addition of chickpeas adds protein and makes this side salad a complete plant based meal.  On the table in 15 minutes, this is a delicious and easy to make meal.

 

I'm pretty sure I mentioned my love of entree sized salads before when I shared my Gado Gado recipe, and my love for this fattoush salad with chickpeas is just as large.

When the weather is hot and I'm craving lighter, healthier meals an entree salad never disappoints - and extra points go to salads like this fattoush salad with chickpeas that are also plant based.

Originally posted in May 2018, this recipe has been republished to give the photos a refresher.

Normally the fattoush salads I see are simple side dishes of lettuce, onion, toasted bread and tomato served up at quick service falafel shops.  I'm kind of a put all the things on the salad kind of girl, so I went all out here and threw in some radish and olives for extra texture and flavour and then top the whole thing off with some chickpeas to round it out with protein and call it a meal.

If you're feeling ambitous, check out our homemade falafel.  It's authentic, absolutely delicious and would go perfectly with this salad!

What is fattoush salad?

Fattoush salad is a Middle Eastern bread salad made with toasted bread, greens, and other vegetables. It's usually eaten as a side or appetizer, but we wanted to bulk it up and make it a main meal, so we added chickpeas for protein. For greens we used a mixture of romaine and baby kale because that was what we had on hand, but feel free to use whatever greens you prefer.

This salad is absolutely perfect for summer: crisp lettuce, cool refreshing cucumber, full of bright beautiful colours and easy to make with ingredients you may already have at home - with the exception of sumac. If you don't already have sumac in your pantry, don't skip it - it is the highlight of this salad! It adds a slightly sour taste which plays very well with the zesty lemon juice, and really is the ingredient that makes this dish special, and something that you will want to make over and over again this summer.

How to Make Fattoush Salad with Chickpeas:

1. Heat your oven to 400℉. Cut the pita bread into bite sized strips and spread out on a baking sheet. Bake in the oven until crispy about 5 minutes or so depending on the freshness of the bread. Mine were already a few days old, so they toasted pretty quickly.
2. To make the salad dressing combine the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, sumac and cinnamon in a small jar. Shake to mix.
3. Add all the salad ingredients to a bowl with about ⅔ of the salad dressing. Toss well to combine and enjoy!

Tips and Tricks

• Got leftover pita bread?  This salad is a great way to use that up! Slightly dry pita is perfect for toasting.
• Don't skip the fresh herbs - or the sumac!  These are easily the best parts of the salad and truly gives it the best flavour.

Dietary Considerations and Accommodations

This recipe for fattoush salad with chickpeas is suitable for the following diets:

• vegan and vegetarian
• clean eating
• dairy free

 

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More recipes you’ll love!

If you like this easy fattoush salad, you might want to check out some of our other awesome easy and healthy salad recipes:

• Rainbow Thai noodle salad
• Salmon Caesar salad
• Vietnamese Shrimp Salad

 

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