This curried chickpea salad with barley is easy to put together and makes great leftovers for lunch for the week! It’s super flavorful, and the chew from barley makes it so satisfying.
Barley Salad with Chickpeas
I love how versatile this salad is. It can be a side dish, a meal prep lunch, a vegan main dish, or even sandwiched between slices of bread. Plus, it’s easy to make. What’s not to love?!
There are only a handful of ingredients (all of which are shelf-stable), and not too much cooking involved. And while this dish seems simple, the spices, lemon, and garlic all add so much delicious flavor. The nutritional yeast makes it taste cheesy while keeping it vegan, so it’s the best of both worlds!
Recipe Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to whip up this curried chickpea salad:
- barley (you can use the quick-cooking kind if you want to speed things up)
- chickpeas (canned)
- lemon
- garlic
- nutritional yeast flakes
- olive oil
- curry powder
- paprika (adds a wonderful hint of smokiness to the dish)
- cinnamon
Feel free to throw in any cooked proteins or veggies you have on hand!
How to Make Chickpea Salad with Barley
This recipe is super simple. The longest part is waiting for the barley to cook (which is mostly hands-off), and then it’s a breeze from there! And if you use quick-cooking barley, it makes the recipe super quick.
Start by cooking the barley in water per the package instructions. Once cooked, set aside. Pour all the other ingredients into a large, deep pan or pot. Cook, stirring, over medium high heat for 5 minutes.
Combine the cooked barley and the chickpea mixture, stir well until it’s all warm, then serve!
I added some fresh herbs and sliced cherry tomatoes here, but you can do whatever you like. This would also be very tasty with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt and some pita bread on the side!
I’m obsessed with the textures here. The combination of soft chickpeas and chewy barley is perfection.
You’ll find the full curried chickpea salad recipe at the end of this post. However you choose to serve it, I hope you enjoy!
If you liked this recipe, check out some of my other favorite grain salad recipes, too!
- Barley and Brown Rice Herbed Salad
- “Cheesy” Vegan Mushroom Quinoa
- Lemony Spinach Quinoa Bean Salad
- Spiced Raisin and Pine Nut Barley Salad
- Quinoa Chickpea Salad with Feta
- Strawberry and Fennel Barley Salad
Vegan Curried Chickpea Salad with Barley
This Curried Barley Chickpea Salad is easy to put together and makes great leftovers for lunch for the week! It’s super flavorful, and the chew from barley makes it so satisfying.
Ingredients:
- 1 C uncooked barley
- 1 15oz can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
- 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 C nutritional yeast flakes
- 1/4 C lemon juice (yield from 1 large or 2 small lemons)
- 1/4 C water
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp. curry powder
- 1/4 tsp. paprika
- 1/8 tsp. cinnamon (makes this dish!)
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions:
- Cook barley in water according to package instructions. Set aside.
- Combine rest of ingredients in a deep pan; saute together on medium high for about 5 minutes.
- Pour chickpea mixture over cooked barley, stir and serve! Enjoy
