Description
Creamy, crunchy, and bright, these lettuce cups are a real delight. (See what I did there!?) It’s our play on your classic tuna salad, but using protein and fiber-rich chickpeas instead. This recipe comes together in under 20 minutes (!!!) and is perfect for lunch, dinner, or as a hearty snack. During the coming warmer months, these would also be great for picnics and potlucks. I love using lettuce cups as a light vehicle for the salad, but you can absolutely use a tortilla, pita, or sliced bread to make this a little more filling.
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 heads butter lettuce or bibb lettuce, washed and patted dry (about 24 lettuce leaves)
- 2 15 oz. cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed (about 1 1/2 cups chickpeas)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 3/4 tsp salt, divided
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped (about half a red onion)
- 1/2 cup celery, finely chopped (from about 2 large stalks)
- 6 tbsp mayonnaise or greek-style yogurt
- 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp dill pickles or cornichons, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup chives, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Prepare the lettuce cups: Carefully peel off lettuce leaves from the head and stack 2-3 leaves on top of each other to create 6-8 sturdy lettuce cups.
- Make the chickpea salad: in a large bowl, combine the chickpeas, lemon juice, ½ tsp salt, and ½ tsp pepper. Using a potato masher or a fork, gently mash the chickpeas until they are partially smashed, with some coarse chunks remaining. Add in the red onion, celery, mayonnaise or yogurt, dijon mustard, and pickles. Mix well until everything is thoroughly combined. Taste and season with an additional ¼ tsp salt, if needed.
- Assemble: Spoon about ¼ cup of the mixture into each lettuce cup, then sprinkle with chives. Enjoy!
