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Home » Vegan Lebanese Recipes

Balela Salad (Lebanese Chickpea Salad)

Published: Mar 6, 2021 · Modified: Jun 6, 2022 by Janelle Hama

Jump to Recipe

This balela salad is a Lebanese chickpea salad that is made of chickpeas mixed with fresh tomato, onions, herbs, and spices. It can be enjoyed cold or warm for breakfast, lunch or dinner with your favorite flatbread or part of a mezze.

Balela salad in a brown bowl
Frehsly made balela salad

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Jump to:
  • What is Balela Salad? 
  • 😋Why You’ll Love This Recipe
  • ✔️Ingredients you’ll need
  • 🔪How to Make Balela Salad
  • 💡What to serve with?
  • 💭Pro Tips
  • 🍳Variations
  • ❓FAQ
  • 🥘Related Recipes
  • Balela Salad (Lebanese Chickpea Salad)

What is Balela Salad? 

Balela salad is a spin-off of traditional balila, a typical Lebanese breakfast food, made up of warmed tender chickpeas (semi falling apart) mixed through spices and topped with olive oil.

The spin-off is the addition of fresh vegetables and herbs. 

How to Pronounce Balela in English?

Balela is the Arabic word for cooked chickpeas. It is pronounced bal·lee·lah

Some pronounce it a little differently, according to region, it is also written as balilah or balila.

😋Why You’ll Love This Recipe

  • Super quick to make, simply throw all the ingredients together. Whenever I am stuck on what to eat that’s super quick and healthy, I throw a bowl of balela salad together and happily eat away.
  • Can be enjoyed both warm and cool 
  • This Lebanese chickpea salad recipe can be used as a base to add complementing ingredients
  • Naturally gluten-free, vegan, soy and corn-free.

✔️Ingredients you’ll need

balilah ingredients layed out

Notes on some of the ingredients, the full list of ingredients and their measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

Chickpeas (garbanzo beans)- dry or canned can be used. If using dry, make sure to pre-cook the chickpeas.

In this post (due to time constraints) I used organic canned chickpeas and kept the aquafaba to make vegan meringue.

Fresh white onion and tomato should be diced small.

Herbs should be fresh and not dried. These are finely chopped.

Garlic clove is best fresh without any blemishes and on the smaller side. You can adjust the amount of garlic used once this Lebanese chickpea salad is tossed.

Cumin is a strong spice and if overused can result in bitterness. A little goes a long way.

🔪How to Make Balela Salad

Step 1 - Over medium heat, add chickpeas with water, cumin, garlic, salt & pepper. Once warmed, turn off the heat.

Step 2 - Add all ingredients except fresh lemon juice and mix through. Serve by topping with lemon juice and sprinkling extra cumin.

💡What to serve with?

Balilah can easily be eaten on its own. It holds a good amount of protein and is filling. However, here are some suggestions;

Perfect for eating with Lebanese flatbread, also known as pita bread.

This pita bread can be eaten fresh or oven-baked to make them into pita chips.

This Lebanese chickpea salad normally features as part of a warm mezze where you can find items such as fragrant zaatar (a wonderful Lebanese herb blend that I can't live without), creamy baba ghanouj, hummus, cucumber and yoghurt salad, brined lupini beans and more.

a hand with a handful of balilah in bread

💭Pro Tips

Only fresh produce should be used, with the exception of chickpeas and spices. This ensures maximum flavor.

The ratios of ingredients can be altered to suit your taste, for example, I love to load mine up with garlic, however, my husband doesn’t.

🍳Variations

If you’d like your balela salad to be creamy, add a teaspoon of tahini (affiliate link) and mix it well. This adds a lovely hint of sesame nutty flavor.

Use this recipe as a base and then add additional fresh flavors through it. I sometimes love to add fresh cucumbers, red cabbage, and red capsicum (bell pepper).

Note - The ratio of chickpeas is generally always greater than all other ingredients.

Whilst traditionally balila is served warm, sometimes I like to make a bigger batch and store it in the fridge to eat the next day. I find the flavors to be a little deeper.

❓FAQ

Can you freeze balela?

Freezing balela is not recommended, it is always best to consume fresh. Any left overs can be placed in the fridge in an air-tight container for up to five days. Freezing cooked chickpeas can be done by placing portions into freezer bags and laying them flat in the freezer. Take out frozen chickpeas and defrost before using.

chickpeas salad in a brown bowl

🥘Related Recipes

For a simple side-salad check out one that is made of cabbage called Malfouf Salad. Or try Lebanese butter bean salad or this underrated tahini salad.

Another mouthwatering Lebanese chickpeas recipe is creamy Musabaha or Lebanese hummus.

Or for some different type of Lebanese food try Lebanese zucchini with burghul

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Did you enjoy making the balela Lebanese Salad I would love to hear from you, leave me a comment below and give me a rating. This will help me sustain Plant Based Folk. 

Alternatively, did you happen to take a photo? Tag me @plantbasedfolk on Instagram to be featured via stories.

a hand with a handful of balilah in bread

Balela Salad (Lebanese Chickpea Salad)

This balela salad is a Lebanese chickpea salad is cumin chickpeas mixed through fresh tomato, onions, herbs and spices. Can be enjoyed warm or cold, for breakfast, lunch or dinner with your favourite flatbread or part of a mezze.
Print Pin Rate Save Recipe Saved Recipe
Course: Breakfast, Main Course, mezze
Cuisine: Lebanese, Middle Eastern
Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 2 people
Author: Janelle Hama

Ingredients

  • 250 grams Chickpeas canned or dry (pre-cook dry variety)
  • 3 small Tomato diced small
  • ½ small White onion diced small
  • 1 handful Parsley flat leaf and roughly chopped small
  • 10 leaves Mint roughly chopped small
  • 1 small Garlic clove crushed
  • ½ teaspoon Cumin
  • 15 ml Chickpea water aquafaba
  • 15 ml Olive oil extra virgin
  • 15 ml Lemon juice fresh
Metric - US Customary
Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

  • Over medium heat, add warm chickpeas with water, cumin and garlic. Once warmed, turn off heat.
    250 grams Chickpeas, 1 small Garlic clove, ½ teaspoon Cumin, 15 ml Chickpea water
  • Add all ingredients except fresh lemon juice and mix through. Serve by topping with lemon juice and sprinkling extra cumin.
    3 small Tomato, ½ small White onion, 1 handful Parsley, 10 leaves Mint, 15 ml Olive oil, 15 ml Lemon juice

Video

Notes

Use the freshest produce available for best flavor
Chickpeas (garbanzo beans) can be from a can (fast method) or can be cooked from dry, which will need to be precooked. the chickpeas and use a tablespoon of the cooked chickpea water rather than just water. 
With the remaining aquafaba check out these recipes aquafaba to make vegan meringue.
Optional - for a creamy balela salad, add a teaspoon of tahini and mix it through well. I sometimes love to add fresh cucumbers, red cabbage and red capsicum (bell pepper).
Other Lebanese recipes you may like
Fragrant herb blend zaatar, found on the famous Lebanese pizza
Creamy baba ghanouj the best dip!

Equipment

pot

Nutrition

Calories: 304kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Sodium: 19mg | Potassium: 748mg | Fiber: 12g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 1357IU | Vitamin C: 28mg | Calcium: 90mg | Iron: 5mg

N.B., nutrition info is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator. This will vary based on the specific ingredients you use.

Tried this recipe?Mention @Plantbasedfolk or tag #plantbasedfolk

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Reader Interactions

Comments

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Nadia

    March 15, 2022 at 3:53 am

    5 stars
    this chickpea salad totally hits the spot and perfect side - great way to bulk up a meal

    Reply
  2. Anna

    March 14, 2022 at 6:36 am

    5 stars
    What a great hearty salad. I had it with pita bread and it makes a perfect light lunch.

    Reply
  3. Alexa

    March 01, 2022 at 3:06 am

    5 stars
    This balela salad is such a delicious Lebanese dish! It's super quick and easy to make, and perfect for meal prepping.

    Reply
  4. Michell

    February 05, 2022 at 3:15 am

    5 stars
    This is such a perfect combo of healthy ingredients and I LOVE this for lunch!!

    Reply
  5. ella

    April 16, 2021 at 4:48 pm

    5 stars
    thank you janelle for another fantastic vegan recipe. i’m so glad i came across your site

    Reply
    • Janelle

      April 19, 2021 at 9:02 am

      Awww, thank you for making my recipes, I appreciate your support

      J

      Reply

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A female brunette dressed in black and an apron juggling lemons

Heya, I'm Janelle! I've been a messy but delicious cook for a couple of decades now.

In the last few years, I've converted to a vegan diet and have fallen in love with the flavors that can be created from plants.

I specialize in vegan Lebanese food and I'm excited to share these amazing recipes with you.

Let's cook together!

More about me →

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