As many of you know, I am the only vegan in my household. While the rest of my family eats less meat than they used to, they do eat meat. Lately my son has been on a chicken salad sandwich kick. When I was younger I made a mean tuna fish sandwich (mean to the tuna, right/?!?!) and I remember the flavors well.
This is my vegan version of tuna / chicken salad and I enjoy it so much that I have been eating it for lunch and snacking on it like crazy. In an attempt to drastically reduce the amount of mayonnaise used, I made a sauce with some of the chickpeas and let me tell ya…you won’t even realize that there is only 2 Tbs. of Vegenaise in this entire creamy recipe.
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INGREDIENTS
2 15 ounce cans chickpeas (Eden Organics Low Sodium BPA free)
1/3 cup dill pickle juice
2 Tbs. Vegenaise
½ cup onion, finely diced
½ cup celery, finely diced
½ cup dill pickles, finely diced
2 Tbs. Dijon mustard
Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
Place 1 cup of the chickpeas in the food processor with the pickle juice and Vegenaise. Blend until very smooth (you may need to stop and scrape down the sides a few times). Pour the chickpea/pickle/mayo mixture into a bowl.
Place the remaining chickpeas in the food processor (no need to clean it) and pulse until it reaches the texture you desire; I prefer chunky.
Combine the chickpea/pickle/mayo mixture, texturized chickpeas, chopped onions, celery, and pickles in a bowl and fold together gently.
NOTE – The mixture will firm-up a bit once it has been refrigerated.
Serve over toasted bread, crackers, on top of salad, etc.
For a printable version of this recipe click here.
we’ve been making this for years, with different variations for different occasions LOL. I have found that I missed mustard since I’ve gone vegan and I do love to add a hot and sweet mustard to mine (gross maybe, but it tastes great LOL)
That doesn’t sounds gross at all…sounds delish!
The dressing looks delish and I have to say- I like that you used chickpeas instead of the standard tofu…Nice!
If you make it let me know what you think 🙂
I just made this last night! I’m about to eat the leftovers for lunch. I like the look of it better today as it did firm up. Mine had sunflower seeds in it too. Yum!
Looks wonderful–I’ll be trying it today! I also LOVE Christy Morgan’s (Blissful Bites–my new cookbook obsession) un-tuna salad, also made with chickpeas. Thank you for sharing!
Oh, and I do want to say that your photos are always wonderful. I’m drawn to food pics, and yours always make me want to try a recipe asap. 🙂
You are so sweet Lex! I am a self-taught photographer, so it has been a fun journey trying to capture the food in print. I have heard of Blissful Bites…sounds like I need to check it out soon.
Oh this is GREAT! I am always looking for lunch things. I can’t heat things at work ( I won’t use a microwave!!) so the same old salads and spreads get boring! Can’t wait to try!
This looks delish…Will try it out this weekend!
This looks awesome! I had a chickpea “tuna” salad at Kripalu last year, but haven’t attempted to make it myself. It also looks filling enough for my hungry boyfriend.
I made this today and it turned out great! I didn’t have any Veganaise so I just substituted with a tablespoon of olive oil and an extra little slosh of pickle juice. Tastes great!
Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know how it turned out and for letting all of us know about the subs you made…great to know!
I think it tastes even better the second day once the flavors have had the chance to fully develop.
You’re right! Having it for lunch today and it is even better! My co-workers are eyeing it!!
A day of “marinating” always makes it taste great.
This looks really great! I wish I was eating this right now.
I’m always so inspired to try new recipes when I visit your site! I love all different kinds of foods, including vegan. I’m sure I would be better off if I could make the commitment to “go vegan,” but for now I will enjoy dabbling, thanks to you!
I am glad I can inspire you to dabble. Becoming vegan was a process for me and didn’t happen overnight…dabbling is the first step 🙂
I’ve mademsomething similar but I’ll have to try this version, it looks great!
I just made today for for my 7 year old self-proclaimed vegetarian son. We tried it without celery and onions and he gave it the thumbs up! I’m ALWAYS looking for good quick healthy vegetarian kid’s recipes. I’m so glad I found your site!
You just made my day! Thanks for taking the time to let me know how it turned out and for supporting your son’s decision to be vegetarian…you are a rock star mom!!!
This was delicious! I made it for dinner today and my husband and I loved it. I’m taking it to work for lunch tomorrow. I haven’t had tuna in… eight or nine years and this really hit the spot!
YAY…I am thrilled to hear that 🙂
This is SO good! It is a very inexpensive, healthy, and delicious alternative to the standard egg/chicken/tuna salad sanwich! I think this will be a regular lunch for me.
I am so glad you like it Meghan! It is one of my favorites too.
What kind of onion should I use? yellow or white?
I think either would work…just personal preference. I am loving Maui onions right now…
Thank you! Love this recipe!
I am glad you like it Tara…it is one of my favorite easy lunches.
Mmmm!! Yummy, delicious, satisfying!! THank you so much! I live in NYC, and while we have a few great vegan places, it sure is great to make it yourself, and be more economical about it! Not only that, but you can ensure everything is organic which is not the case for most restaurants(vegan or not).. thank you this recipe is GREAT!!
I am so glad you liked it!