Smashed Chickpea Avocado Salad Sandwiches

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These easy chickpea salad sandwiches are delicious, healthy and incredibly easy to whip up! Made with smashed chickpeas and sweet bell peppers in a creamy avocado dressing, they’re perfect for lunch or an easy weeknight dinner.

Cool salad sandwiches are where it’s at when it comes to winning at lunch. I have a whole collection of delicious vegan lunch ideas, but sandwiches like this chickpea avocado salad are among my favorites. They’re delicious, satisfying, and generally travel pretty well.

But these sandwiches aren’t just for lunch! We love enjoying them for dinner in my house, especially on warm spring and summer days, and even more so if it’s a busy weekday where I don’t have much time for meal-prep (they can be ready in about 15 minutes).

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Avocado. Choose an avocado that’s nice and ripe, so it’ll be easy to mash.
• Lemon juice. Freshly squeezed lemon juice will give you the best flavor. Please don’t use bottled!
• Salt & pepper.
• Chickpeas. We’re using canned chickpeas to make life easy. Feel free to soak and cook yours from scratch if that’s how you roll. You’ll need about 2 cups.
• Red bell pepper.
• Carrot.
• Red onion.
• Fresh cilantro. Try subbing scallions if you’re not a fan of cilantro.
• Sandwich bread. I love a good multigrain loaf, but anything works, including pita bread or tortillas. Just make sure to check the ingredients because many varieties of commercial sliced bread are not vegan.
• Toppings. Use your favorite sandwich toppers! I’m using lettuce, tomato and onion, but pickles, olives, or greens like spinach and arugula are also great options.

How They’re Made

The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you’d like to skip right to the recipe!

Start by placing your avocado into a large bowl. Mash it up well with a fork or potato masher. (I prefer a fork for this.) Add lemon juice and salt, then mash everything up some more.

Now add the chickpeas and mash them lightly. (I prefer a potato masher for this part, but a fork is fine.) Aim to break every chickpea, but keep some texture in the mixture.

Stir in diced bell pepper, carrot, red onion, and chopped fresh cilantro. Give the filling a taste and make adjustments to suit your preference. This could mean adding more salt or lemon juice. Add some black pepper as well.

Stuff the filling between bread slices, along with your favorite sandwich toppings. Your chickpea avocado sandwiches are ready to enjoy!

Variations

Try switching up the flavor of your chickpea sandwich filling with one of these options.

• Avocado lime chickpea sandwiches. Simply swap out the lemon juice with lime juice.
• Smoky chickpea salad sandwiches. Add ½ teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke to the filling. I know, this sounds weird! But if you enjoy smoky flavors, you’ll love it.
• Curry chickpea sandwiches. Add a teaspoon of curry powder to the filling.
• Chickpea avocado salad. Serve the sandwich filling over greens instead of on bread.

Leftovers & Storage

Leftover chickpea avocado filling will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about 3 days.

Avocado tends to turn brown over time. It’s still fine to eat, even if it doesn’t look super appetizing. To avoid browning, use a ripe but not overripe avocado, and arrange a layer of plastic wrap directly in contact with and covering the filling before sealing it up in an airtight container.