Buffalo Chicken Bean Salad (Print)

Chickpeas tossed in spicy buffalo sauce with celery, carrots, and blue cheese for a bold, satisfying salad.

# What You Need:

→ Beans & Legumes

01 - 2 cans (15 oz each) chickpeas, rinsed and drained

→ Vegetables

02 - 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
03 - 2 celery stalks, diced
04 - 1/4 small red onion, finely chopped
05 - 2 cups mixed salad greens (optional, for serving)

→ Sauce & Cheese

06 - 1/3 cup buffalo wing sauce
07 - 2 tbsp mayonnaise or plain Greek yogurt
08 - 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

→ Garnish

09 - 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (optional)

# Steps:

01 - In a large mixing bowl, combine chickpeas, diced carrots, diced celery, and finely chopped red onion.
02 - In a small bowl, whisk buffalo wing sauce with mayonnaise or Greek yogurt until smooth.
03 - Pour the buffalo sauce mixture over the chickpea and vegetable mixture. Toss well to combine evenly.
04 - Gently fold in half of the crumbled blue cheese into the salad mixture.
05 - Divide salad greens (if using) evenly among serving plates.
06 - Top salad greens with buffalo chickpea mixture, then sprinkle remaining blue cheese and chopped parsley on top. Serve immediately.

# Top Tips:

01 -
  • It scratches that spicy buffalo wing itch without any frying or baking, just pure shortcut genius.
  • The chickpeas soak up all that tangy heat and give you protein that actually sticks with you through the afternoon.
  • You can meal prep it in under twenty minutes and it tastes even better the next day when the flavors have had time to mingle.
02 -
  • Rinse those chickpeas really well or the salad will taste weirdly metallic and salty from the canning liquid.
  • If you make this ahead, hold off on adding the greens and parsley until right before serving or they'll wilt into sad little puddles.
  • Taste your buffalo sauce before you commit, some brands are way hotter or saltier than others and you might need to tweak the mayo ratio.
03 -
  • Use a whisk to mix the buffalo dressing so it emulsifies properly and doesn't separate into oily puddles on your salad.
  • Chill the chickpeas in the fridge for an hour before mixing if you want an extra cold, refreshing bite on a hot day.
  • Double the recipe and keep it in the fridge for grab-and-go lunches all week, it's one of those rare dishes that actually improves with time.
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