This blueberry peach salad has an incredible combination of juicy fruit, zesty arugula, crunchy sunflower seeds, and marinated chickpeas.
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Don't you just love a dinner salad? I especially love a no-cook summer salad recipe, where I can just toss everything in a bowl and call it a day. This peach and blueberry salad it one of those recipes.
This recipe was inspired by another one of my salads: mason jar quinoa salad. In that recipe, I discovered that chickpeas turn into little flavor bombs when you marinate them in dressing.
So, I'm sharing this recipe using that same chipotle lime dressing to marinate the chickpeas and dress this salad. It pairs so beautifully with the peaches and blueberries and all of the other fresh flavors and textures in this bowl!
💖 Why You'll Love Peach Blueberry Salad
- incredible flavors from marinated chickpeas and onions paired with juicy blueberries and peaches and crunchy seeds
- easy to make! Marinate the onions and chickpeas together right in the dressing, then put it all together.
- naturally gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free
✓ Ingredients and Substitutions
- dressing - For this salad, I'm making my chipotle lime vinaigrette, but you can also use about 1 cup of your favorite bottled vinaigrette, if you prefer.
- chickpeas - You can use other beans, like white beans or butter beans.
- onion - Or use shallots.
- arugula - You can use other salad greens, like baby spinach or chopped romaine, but I love the buttery bite of arugula contrasted with the other flavors in this peach blueberry salad.
- fruit - We are using blueberries and peaches here, but you can substitute other berries for the blueberries, if you like. You can also use nectarines instead of peaches, if you prefer.
- sunflower seeds - You can use pumpkin seeds instead, if you don't love sunflower seeds. If you eat nuts, you can also use chopped walnuts, pecans, or almonds.
- vegan feta cheese - This is an optional topping and just adds more amazing texture and flavor to this salad!
🔪 How to Make Blueberry Peach Salad
In a large bowl, combine all of the dressing ingredients. Add the chickpeas and onions, tossing well to coat. Set that aside to marinate for 1 hour. You can just marinate while you gather the remaining ingredients, but the longer they can soak in that flavor, the better!
Add the arugula to a large mixing bowl, add the dressing and marinated chickpeas and onions, tossing to coat everything really well.
Divide this mixture between four salad bowls. Top with the blueberries, peaches, and sunflower seeds.
Sprinkle on the vegan feta, if using, and serve immediately.
💡 Helpful Tip
I like to start prepping the salad ingredients after the chickpeas and onions have been marinating for about 30 to 45 minutes. That way, things aren't sitting out, and the salad ingredients are all ready to assemble at once. If you don't want to wait an hour, you can make the dressing and toss in the chickpeas and onions, then prep everything else, so they at least get to sit for 10-15 minutes. The longer they marinate, the more amazing they will taste.
🫙 Storage Directions
You can make the dressing and marinate the chickpeas and onions up to 2 days in advance. They'll just get more flavorful as they sit! Assemble the rest of the salad ingredients just before serving for the freshest results.
💬 Frequently Asked Questions
For this salad, we are slicing the peaches just before serving, so browning shouldn't be an issue. If you do want to slice the peaches in advance, toss them in a little bit of lime juice to prevent browning.
You can, but you don't have to.
For this salad, I like the peaches cut into bite sized pieces, because that makes them easiest to eat with the rest of the salad. If you want to do bigger slices, because they are so pretty, just include a knife, so people can cut them down to size as they eat.
📖 Recipe
🫐🍑 Blueberry Peach Salad
Ingredients
For the Dressing/Marinade
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ cup lime juice You can also use 2 teaspoons lime zest for more flavor, optional.
- 2 teaspoons agave nectar
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- ½ to 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 15 ounces chickpeas drained
- 1 cup chopped yellow onion
For the Salad
- 5 ounces arugula
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1 peach sliced
- ½ cup sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds, almonds, walnuts, or pecans
- ¼ cup vegan feta optional
Instructions
Make the dressing and marinate the chickpeas and onions.
- In a large bowl, combine all of the dressing ingredients. Add the chickpeas and onions, tossing well to coat. Set that aside to marinate for 1 hour.
Assemble the peach blueberry salad.
- When the marinating time is almost up, gather and prep your remaining salad ingredients.
- Add the arugula to a large mixing bowl, add the dressing and marinated chickpeas and onions, tossing to coat everything really well.
- Divide this mixture between four salad bowls. Top with the blueberries, peaches, and sunflower seeds. Sprinkle on the vegan feta, if using, and serve immediately.
Got a question? Tried this recipe? Leave a reply!