Packed with flavor, this delicious and easy Chickpea Tomato Salad is made with pre-cooked or canned chickpeas and cherry tomatoes that are roasted with spicy harissa. It's the perfect pairing with peppery arugula and a zingy lemon dressing. It makes the perfect side dish or eat as a hearty salad with some crusty bread.
This delicious salad is perfect on a hot summer's day as well as in Spring and Autumn. It's great to take on a picnic or to a BBQ as it has robust flavors that stand up to a bit of travel- which also makes it the perfect salad for meal prep too! Just prep the roasted ingredients and combine with the leafy greens salad and dressing just before serving.
If you love the idea of make-ahead salads, try my Asparagus Spring Pasta Salad. Plus if you're off on a picnic, you'll need a great dip, this Butter Bean Hummus is creamy and super easy to make.
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🍅Ingredients
The ingredients for this roasted tomato chickpea salad recipe are listed below. Check the recipe card for quantities and the substitutions section for delicious variations you can make.
- Cherry Tomatoes: Choose your favourite fresh and juicy tomatoes whether they're grape tomatoes or larger tomatoes which can be chopped up.
- Canned Chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans): you can also use any other pre-cooked chickpeas you like. (The fancy chickpeas in a jar are always extra delicious! )
- Harissa paste: Spicy harissa is a Morrocan spice paste that goes really well with chickpeas and tomatoes. Buy it in jars in larger supermarkets or delis, or at international markets. There are lots of different variations, some spicier than others!
- Arugula (aka Rocket): I love the pairing of sweet and spicy roasted tomatoes with peppery rocket leaves, but you can choose any leafy green salad you like best.
- Nuts of choice: toasted nuts such as pecans, walnuts or pine nuts add a lovely crunch and texture to the salad.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil: A little EVOO is used to roast the tomatoes and chickpeas but also in the zesty bright lemon vinaigrette to dress the leaves.
- Lemon Juice and/or White wine vinegar: Fresh lemon juice is best, however you can substitute or add a little white wine or red wine vinegar too.
- Flakey Sea Salt: to help balance the flavors!
- A little sweetener of choice- a dash of pomegranate or date syrup or just some sugar to balance the vinaigrette
See recipe card for quantities.
👩🍳Instructions
Use these easy to follow step by step instruction for the perfect salad every time.
- Combine the drained chickpeas and chopped tomatoes in an airfryer or on a parchment lined oven tray, mix through the harissa and olive oil and sprinkle with salt and spread out into a single layer.
2. Roast the chickpea and tomatoes for about 20 minute (air fryer) or 30-35 mins (Oven) at 180c/360f until the tomatoes are jammy and the chickpeas slightly toasted. Once cooked, let cool to room temperature.
3. Any nuts you wish to use, toast in a dry frying pan (carefully, don't burn them) and then roughly chop.
4. Mix together the lemon vinaigrette dressing ingredients in a jar and shake to combine. Taste and add more salt or sweeter if needed.
Assemble the salad by tossing the arugula/rocked with half the dressing. Arrange on a salad serving bowl, then top with the chickpeas and tomatoes. Finally sprinkle over the nuts, add any fresh herbs such as basil you have chosen and sprinkle over extra dressing.
Hint: If you wish to take this salad on a picnic or to a BBQ, pack the chickpea and tomatoes separately and mix it up along with the dressing just before serving.
🌶️Substitutions & Variations
The salad base of roasted chickpeas and cherry tomatoes makes a great base for adding in your favourite salad ingredients, or to adjust this recipe to what available ingredients you have.
- Onion - Add red onion or green onions to taste.
- Other Leafy Greens - I love making this with peppery rocket, however baby spinach, or a robust lettuce like chicory or cos lettuce also taste great.
- Other fresh veggies: choose crisp cucumbers or chopped bell peppers to enhance the salad, tossing through the green leaves before topping with the roasted chickpeas and tomatoes.
- Fresh Herbs - choose your favourite, fresh basil or fresh parsley are delicious and a great addition to the salad. You can also add a sprinkle of fresh oregano or fresh thyme to the chickpeas before roasting.
- Alternative nuts: Pine nuts, toasted pumpkin seeds or even sunflower seeds are great for adding crunch and variety.
- Other add ons: Chopped kalamata olives or green olives or a sprinkle of vegan feta cheese are all delicious with this salad.
NB: This salad is naturally vegan and gluten free.
🔪Equipment
You'll need a sharp knife to cut the tomatoes, plus either an air fryer or oven to roast the tomatoes and chickpeas. Plus you'll also need a large bowl to serve and a small bowl or jar to mix up the salad dressing.
🫙Storage
Store the dressing separately for up to a week. Keep the roasted tomatoes and chickpeas separate in an airtight container for up to a week. Combine with the rest of the salad just before eating.
This recipe is not suitable for freezing.
Top tip
For the best flavor, don't skimp on the harissa! I like to use rose harissa as it tends to be a little less spicy, but you can choose your favourite to combine in this easy salad recipe.
Salads:
Looking for other yummy salad recipes? Try these!
Picnics
Going on a picnic? Try these other delicious recipes to take along:
📖 Recipe
Harissa Roasted Chickpea and Tomato Salad
Equipment
- 1 baking sheet if not using air fryer
Ingredients Note:
For accuracy, I measure all ingredients in metric as standard, then convert and test the recipe for American cup measurements etc.
(Heads up Aussie and UK readers- your measurements in cups are sometimes different, so please use metric or check you have the correct cup and spoon type!!)
Ingredients
- 240 g tin chickpeas (equivalent to 1 x 400g/15oz/standard can of chickpeas. Drained)
- 2 teaspoon harissa (or more to taste.)
- 20 cherry tomatoes (, halved.)
- 1 Tbs olive oil
- salt
- 2 tablespoon pecans (or pine nuts or other nut)
- 60 g (3 cups) Rocket / arugula (or other leaves such as watercress or baby spinach- approx a handful per person)
For the lemon vinaigrette dressing
- 30 ml (2 tablespoon) lemon juice
- 15 ml (1 tablespoon) extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon flakey sea salt (or to taste)
- ½ teaspoon date syrup (or sugar or sweetener of choice)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180℃/360℉ or heat your air fryer.
- Rinse the chickpeas240 g tin chickpeas
- Chop the tomatoes in half20 cherry tomatoes
- Whisk together the oil and harissa.1 Tbs olive oil, 2 teaspoon harissa
- Put the tomatoes and chickpeas onto a baking sheet or a dish that can go in the airfryer and swish around so it's all covered in the harissa oil dressing, making sure everything is in a single layer. Sprinkle over sea salt.salt
- Put in the oven for 30 minutes, turning at around 15 mins OR air fry for 20 mins
- Remove from the oven when the tomatoes are jammy and starting to get a little dried & the chickpeas have started to crisp but are still tender in the middle.
- Toast the nuts in a dry frying pan until fragrant and chop roughly.2 tablespoon pecans
- Leave to cool for 5-10 mins
For the dressing
- Add the fresh lemon juice, oil, salt and sweetener to a jar and shake or mix thoroughly. Add more salt/sugar to taste.30 ml lemon juice, 15 ml extra virgin olive oil, ½ teaspoon flakey sea salt, ½ teaspoon date syrup
To Serve
- Swirl a little dressing onto a salad dish, then add the rocket or leaves in a pile.60 g Rocket / arugula
- Spoon the chickpea and tomato harissa mixture over the top.
- Drizzle over more dressing, sprinkle over the toasted nuts and any extra herbs.
caroline says
This looks absolutely delicious! The second I saw the pics I thought it would be so perfect for a summer picnic!
xo
styleontheside.com
louise says
Let me know if you try it Caroline! It's pretty easy, which is a bonus. x
Cate says
Sounds yummy!
You could try used coffee grounds to deter your slugs, or beer or wine traps if you want to actually kill them. Or the permy trick of interplanting in lots of different places, or with a few other sacrificial plants (large leafed mustard can be good as they will hide in the lbase of the leaves in the day so you know where to find them ) but I suspect 'the gardener' probably knows all this stuff anyway.
My rocket is naturalised now and pops up every year, but does tend to taste pretty strong due to sparse water in the Aussie climate.
louise says
Thanks Cate! We're trying a combo of things. The beer/wine traps I think bring MORE slugs slithering our way, so have kind of given up on those. I've used nemotodes, which is expensive & only kind of works- and have used eggshells- again, not brilliant. What seems to work best is making sure the plants are quite strong before planting out- and planting LOADS. We persevere!