Chickpea 'tuna' mayo pasta salad

This creamy vegan chickpea tuna pasta salad uses crushed chickpeas mixed with nori seaweed flakes to give a fish like flavour. Just throw in your favourite salad vegetables and you've got a delicious lunch!

I love a good sandwich for lunch however sometimes I get bored of it and fancy switching it up. This chickpea tuna pasta salad is one of my favourite cold lunches and is so easy to whip together. I tend to use whatever salad bits I’ve got laying about in my fridge and whatever pasta I can find in my cupboard. The use of tinned chickpeas is always convenient and cheap for me as I tend to bulk buy the tins and leave them in the cupboard. The mix of mashed chickpeas and blended nori sheets are as close to a wholefood version of tuna you could get, I was a bit hesitant at first but since trying chickpea tuna I am obsessed and eat it in sandwiches and salads often! This lunch recipe is really minimal effort, once you’ve boiled pasta and diced up all of your veggies chuck it in a big mixing bowl and mix away! You could even eat of the mixing bowl to save on washing up. This recipe makes a portion that serves four portions which is necessary because once you try it you’ll want to eat it the next day and the next and the next so whip up the batch and keep in the fridge for up to four days- super meal prep friendly and great for BBQs and picnics- guaranteed everyone will love it!

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Ingredients and substitutes-

• Chickpeas- Ordinary tinned chickpeas will do fine for this recipe, just drain and pat dry before mashing. This recipe would also work with your favourite plant based tuna substitute.

• Fusilli pasta- This is my favourite pasta shape for pasta salad, it is cheap and I usually have a bag in the cupboard. Feel free to use whichever pasta you have in your cupboard. If you are wanting a lower carb pasta salad use less pasta and replace with lettuce and more spinach.

• Nori- Nori are sheets of sushi seaweed that you should be able to buy in most mainstream supermarkets in the Asian section. It can also be found in Asian supermarkets, health food stores or online. The nori sheets give a fishy flavour without any actual fish which is great to replicate the tuna taste for this dish. Of course if you are not into the fishy flavour you can reduce the amount used or omit all together just make sure that the pasta salad is seasoned well enough before serving.

• Vegan mayonnaise- This recipe calls for heaps of mayo which I love however if you are looking for a slightly lighter version feel free to sub out some of the mayo for some unsweetened yoghurt. Or alternatively you could dress this pasta salad with a vinaigrette for an even lighter version if you’re feeling the need to be super healthy! I used Hellmann’s (the best) vegan mayo for this.

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Top Tips!

Fridge raid-

This recipe is a wonderful fridge raid recipe- there isn’t any salad that doesn’t belong in this so get creative and dice up whatever you have and find your favourite salad veg combination!

Cooling the pasta-

If you are going to boil the pasta ahead of using and leaving to air cool drizzle a little olive oil over the cooked drained pasta to prevent it from sticking together. If you’re short on time pop the pasta into a colander and run cold water over it until cool enough to add the rest of the ingredients into.

Blending the nori sheets-

I used a high speed ninja blender to make the nori sheets into flakes however if you don’t have a blender you can chop small with scissors or a knife.

And now for the recipe!

Creamy vegan chickpea tuna pasta salad

Serves- 4 Time- 15 minutes

Ingredients-

• 480g Cooked chickpeas

• 250g Fusilli pasta (dry weight)

• ½ A red onion

• ½ A red pepper

• A handful of raw spinach

• 150g Cooked sweetcorn

• 3 Nori sheets

• 1 Tsp Dill

• 1 Tsp salt

• 1 Tsp black pepper

• 3 Heaped tablespoons of vegan mayonnaise

Method-

1. Cook the pasta according to packet instructions, drizzle some olive oil onto the cooked pasta and mix well. Leave to cool whilst you prep the rest of the ingredients.

2. Drain, rinse and pat dry the chickpeas and pop them onto a flat plate. Use the back of the fork to mash them. I tend to leave some whole- crushing about 80% of them to vary the texture.

3. Dice up the onion, spinach and red pepper as small as you like.

4. Pop the nori sheets into the blender cup and blend until they’ve gone from sheets to flakes.

5. Once the pasta is cool add everything into a big mixing bowl and mix well to make sure all of the ingredients are coated in mayo.

6. And as simple as that its all done and ready to serve and enjoy.

7. Happy lunching!

FAQ-

·         How long can I store this pasta salad?- I always make a big batch and keep in a big Tupperware in the fridge for up to four days which sorts me out a few work lunches for when I don’t have time in the afternoons. Please note that it’s not suitable for freezing though!

·         How can I make this healthier?- Feel free to use less pasta and replace with lettuce/ other salad leaves. Sub out some of the mayo with plain unsweetened yoghurt to lower the fat content.

Why not try these other chickpea recipes?

• Creamy coconut chickpea curry

• Lebanese style hummus

• Moroccan tagine style chickpeas

Did you make this recipe?

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Click here to watch the recipe video

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