QUICK UPDATE NOTE: I have evolved into an SOS Free vegan thank heavens....that means many of my earlier posted recipes like the one below does not discuss oil free mayo and the like.  Click here for my favorite (so far!) oil free vegan mayo.

Ok - I must say when I first ran across this "chicken salad" recipe from NoraCooks.com I was thinking, "NO way can that taste like chicken salad!" The recipe looked  like it was missing some seasonings or other ingredients. Because it had good reviews, however, and appeared so dang simple to make, I figured why not give it a try. 

By the way, I have made vegan chicken salad before with an entirely different recipe.  Its main ingredient was delicious, incredible jackfruit. You can check this out and a few of my other favorite vegan recipes by clicking here.  My preference between the two is now hands down this chickpea recipe although jackfruit is an often used staple in our house. Bottom line: I will be making this chickpea/almond-based  "chicken" salad again for sure!


Here's one of my favorite cartoons (used more than once in nbjconsulting.com). The checklist below it include the substitutes and additions I made to this incredibly good, fast and easy to make chickpea chicken salad recipe.

(If you can keep a secret --    Signore Wine has it right)

  • We had no sliced almonds so used whole raw unsalted almonds and they worked great although next time I plan to have some slivered almonds on hand.
  • We had no grapes or cherries (I would not add cherries in chicken salad any way) and I did not substitute with anything for them.
  •  I used Follow Your Heart Vegonaise.
  • I added a favorite of ours - nutritional yeast (although I still wished it sported a more delicious sounding name). Before adding it, however, I tasted the chicken salad. While it was certainly good, I knew that nutritional yeast would give it some added pop and it did just that. In the future, the nutritional yeast flakes will be a regular in this recipe for us.
  •  Next time I plan to definitely add a bit of red onion - just plum forgot to this time around.

We made sandwiches and added tomato, raw spinach, salt and pepper - absolutely wonderful! The glass of Pala i Fiori Cannonaugh red wine (my favorite) added a nice touch too.) 

Folks - this recipe requires no cooking and is an easy one to make. An added benefit was that the one sandwich filled me up so well that I passed on my typical after dinner piece  (or two or three) of extra dark chocolate.  It's rather late tonight as I am writing this post and I am still plenty full. Plus I'm full of good stuff for us to boot - that's a huge plus!

Please let me know if you try this recipe and if so, was it a pleasant surprise in deliciousness like it was for me.  Also, in what, if any ways did you alter the recipe to your liking?

Happy dining whatever your pleasure and until next time, play it safe out there with good ol' common sense and lots of smiles given and received. 

About the author 

Nancy Byerly Jones

Nancy Byerly Jones and her husband reside on their mountainside ranch (“Little Hee Haw Farm”) with an energetic “family” of horses, donkeys (large and miniature), dogs and cats. Their favorite pastime is sharing the joy and fun of their animals and ranch life with their family, friends and clients.

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