Mash together chickpeas, avocado, and a handful of veggies in this 15-minute chickpea avocado sandwich! This vegan sandwich is mayo-free, vegan, and super satisfying.
If you're a fan of chickpea salad but you're not a fan of mayo, or if you just want to try something different for lunch, chickpea avocado sandwiches are for you!
This is the kind of recipe that I love making for a few days of lunc prep.
Just mash up the avocado with canned chickpeas, spices, and a few other ingredients for a hearty and nutritious chickpea avocado salad. I like to serve it as chickpea avocado sandwiches, but it's also perfect in wraps, on salads, or with crackers!
Jump to:
Main ingredients
- Chickpeas: Use two cans of chickpeas, or about three cups of cooked chickpeas if cooking from dry using a recipe like these Instant Pot chickpeas. The chickpea avocado sandwich filling can also be made with an equal amount of white beans.
- Avocado: I use two medium avocados. One large avocado or three small avocados will yield similar results. Test if the avocado is ripe by pressing lightly on the outer skin. If it gives slightly, it should be ready.
- Spices & seasonings: Mustard powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper are my go-to chickpea avocado sandwich seasonings. You can also add freshly chopped herbs and a dash of hot sauce for additional flavor.
- Chopped veggies: Finely chopped celery, carrots, and red onion add flavor and texture to this otherwise soft mash. You can also add chopped cucumber, red bell pepper, etc.
- "Add-ins" like pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds make this meal more nutritious and flavorful.
Step-by-step instructions
Step 1: Start by mashing the chickpeas and avocado with the seasonings. You can use a potato masher or fork to mash the chickpeas and avocado together. The riper the avocado, the easier it will be to mash.
Step 2: Now all you have to do is stir in the veggies and optional add-ins. That's it! Taste for seasonings.
Serve as chickpea avocado sandwiches by spreading about ½ cup of the chickpea avocado salad on bread along with your favorite sandwich toppings.
Chickpea salad tips
- Texture: For a completely "smashed" chickpea avocado salad sandwich, just keep mashing the chickpeas until smooth instead of leaving a few pieces of whole chickpeas.
- Canned chickpeas can be hard to mash. To make the process easier, simply simmer the chickpeas in about a cup of liquid for 5-10 minutes. Drain off the liquid and mash the chickpeas.
- To make chopping quicker: Speed up the vegetable prep by chopping the onion, carrot, and celery in the food processor instead of by hand. You can also add the chickpeas to a food processor and process to break it down more quickly.
- Chickpea avocado sandwich color: If you've ever refrigerated leftover guacamole then you know that avocados are prone to browning. This is a natural process due to oxidization. This chickpea salad contains lemon juice to slow the oxidation process, but leftovers will not be as vibrant after the first day.
- To quickly ripen avocados: The easiest way is to place an avocado in a paper bag with an apple. The apple will give off natural ethylene gas, which causes the avocado to ripen. Leave the bag out on the countertop until the avocado is ripe. Don't store it in the fridge because this actually slows the ripening process.
Storage tips
- Storage: Keep leftover chickpea avocado sandwich filling refrigerated in a closed container for 3-4 days. The lemon juice slows the avocado from browning, but see below for more tips.
- I recommend making the chickpea avocado sandwiches just before eating, or the morning of, instead of making them in advance. This keeps the bread from becoming soggy.
- To keep the chickpea salad from browning too quickly, I recommend pressing plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the salad. This cuts down on the amount of surface area exposed to air, which decreases the speed of oxidation and browning.
- Freezing: I do not recommend freezing this chickpea avocado salad as the avocado will discolor and freezing affects its texture.
Serving ideas
- Sandwich: Add a scoop of chickpea avocado salad along with lettuce, tomato, and pickles to your bread of choice for an easy lunch.
- Snack: Pair with crackers or carrots for an easy snack or appetizer. You can also spread the chickpea avocado salad on a slice of toast for a snack.
- Salad: Serve a scoop of chickpea salad on top of spinach or romaine with tahini goddess dressing.
More vegetarian lunch ideas
Did you try this recipe? You can leave a star rating in the recipe card or a review in the comments below. Or check out my cookbook and keep up to date with my YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, or newsletter!
Recipe
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Cozy Peach Kitchen
Chickpea Avocado Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 2 medium avocados
- 2 15 ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed ~3 cups chickpeas
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice from ½ lemon
- ½ teaspoon ground mustard
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon coarse salt more to taste
- ½ cup red onion finely diced
- ¼ cup celery finely diced
- ¼ cup carrot finely diced
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds
- 10 slices bread of choice
- lettuce, tomato, onion for serving
Instructions
- Remove the skin and seed from avocado. Add avocado to a bowl with chickpeas, lemon juice, ground mustard, garlic powder and salt. Mash with a fork or potato masher until mostly broken down and only a few whole chickpeas remain.
- Add the onion, celery, carrot, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. Stir together until combined. Taste for salt and pepper.
- Serve smashed avocado salad on bread with sandwich toppings of choice. Enjoy!
Nancy Vickers says
Delicious! Is it possible to provide the nutritional breakdown including protein, etc? Great flavor!
Cassidy Reeser, RDN, LD says
Hi Nancy! I don't have a nutrition calculator set up right now but I find this calculator helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076 . The ingredients can be copied and pasted in.
Hope this helps and thanks for making the recipe.