The Best Vegan Tuna Salad Recipe Ever!

This vegan tuna salad recipe is perfect for a vegan child's sandwich, as a quick vegan dinner, and for vegan pregnancy, but at first I made it as a "push protein."

When my sister was having her baby, one of the things on the midwife's list was that she needed a high protein meal or snack for right after she gave birth. With all the effort of the pushing, and the blood loss, it's important to pack the iron and protein right back into your body.

The almonds give the chickpea salad recipe a slight creaminess and thicker texture, and they also load it up with more nutrients. You could substitute in other nuts if you're out of almonds.

You can load it onto high protein whole grain bread for a "tuna" sandwich, or add in some great grains like quinoa or amaranth to give it an extra punch. I've even made lettuce wraps with this faux tuna salad.

This vegan tuna salad is perfect for young children because it packs well and doesn't make sandwiches soggy. From the outside it will pass for the real thing in case your children are more self-conscious about what they eat around their friends.

This recipe makes about 2 cups of chickpea salad, and it's really easy to double, triple, or even divide it in half for larger or smaller groups. It also stores well in the fridge in an airtight container for a few days.

The Vegan Tuna Recipe

The almonds give the chickpea salad recipe a slight creaminess and thicker texture, and they also load it up with more nutrients. You could substitute in other nuts if you're out of almonds.

You can load it onto high protein whole grain bread for a "tuna" sandwich, or add in some great grains like quinoa or amaranth to give it an extra punch. I've even made lettuce wraps with this faux tuna salad.

This vegan tuna salad is perfect for young children because it packs well and doesn't make sandwiches soggy. From the outside it will pass for the real thing in case your children are more self-conscious about what they eat around their friends.

This recipe makes about 2 cups of chickpea salad, and it's really easy to double, triple, or even divide it in half for larger or smaller groups. It also stores well in the fridge in an airtight container for a few days.

Ingredients:

• 1 15 oz. can organic garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
• 1/2 c. almonds or almond meal
• 1 carrot, grated or diced finely
• 1 celery, minced or grated
• 1 green onion, minced
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1-2 tsp. kelp powder (to taste)
• 1 tsp. dill powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. dijon mustard
• 3 Tbsp. vegan mayonnaise (optional)
• 1 Tbsp. capers (optional)
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Using a food processor, finely grind the almonds into a meal, but not long enough that they turn to a paste. Add in the chickpeas and pulse until smashed and combined. Alternatively, you can use a potato masher to smash the chickpeas until no whole pieces remain and then add in almond meal. I've made it both ways, and the only difference is texture.

Put the almond and chickpea mixture into a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients, stirring to combine.

The combination of kelp with dill and capers helps to impart the fishier "tuna" flavor that a lot of people miss when they go vegan, so play around with those flavors to see what you like best. When you're pregnant, you might have some trouble eating foods with intense flavors like kelp granules, so you can leave those out if you prefer.

I also rarely use the vegan mayonnaise myself, simply because I have never liked mayonnaise and the vegan versions taste really similar to the "real" stuff. I usually just use a bit more mustard and sometimes a bit of liquid from the can of garbanzo beans. However, to get a more realistic vegan tuna salad, you might want to use more mayo, especially if you're serving it to non-vegan guests.

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