Easy Avocado Chickpea Sandwich (high protein)

This easy avocado chickpea sandwich is filled with chickpea smash and salad. It's a high protein, tasty and a healthy choice for lunch.

Sandwich fillers like this avocado chickpea mash, are perfect for making ahead and popping in the fridge so lunch is quick and easy to make in the morning.

Try this easy avocado chickpea sandwich filler, this easy egg mayo sandwich filler, which is so eggy or the very British vegan cheese savoury.

Make 2 or 3 different sandwich fillings and then vary the salad and sauces in each sandwich during the week, for something slightly different each day.

Jump to:

🥘 Ingredients for avocado chickpea smash
📖 Swap the pesto for other flavours
🥪 Making your sandwich
🥑 Avocado FAQs
👩🏻‍🍳 Adding protein to your lunch
💭 How much protein in chickpeas?
🍎 What to serve with a chickpea avocado sandwich
🥣 Storing chickpea sandwich filler
⭐ Hit the heart (NEW)
🥫 More vegan chickpea recipes
👩🏻‍🍳 How to make a vegan avocado sandwich
📖 Recipe
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🥘 Ingredients for avocado chickpea smash

Here are the ingredients for this easy chickpea mash followed by what you need to make this tasty vegan sandwich.

Avocado - look for ripe avocado
Chickpeas - canned or freshly cooked
Red pepper - fresh or roasted
Pesto - vegan
Lemon juice
Garlic powder
Oregano - dried
Paprika
Fresh coriander
Salt and pepper

See the printable recipe card at the bottom for quantities, method and calories.

📖 Swap the pesto for other flavours

I added some pesto, garlic, herbs and lemon juice to flavour my chickpea smash, but here are some other ideas.

Miso - with lemon juice and thyme
Red pepper paste - with lemon juice, oregano, basil and chilli flakes
BBQ sauce - with lemon juice and parsley
Hummus - with sriracha, paprika and coriander
Sundried tomato paste - with lemon and basil

🥪 Making your sandwich

How I like to make up this sandwich and a few other ideas.

Wholemeal brown bread - bloomers, tiger or sourdough bread are good too
Mayo - vegan of course
Salad leaves
Tomato - sliced
Sriracha - or spread the bread with this easy red chilli garlic chutney for a kick

For more sandwich inspiration check out 101 Vegan Sandwiches - Back to School Kids Lunch boxes.

🥬 Stack that sandwich

Here are a few other delicious bits and pieces you can stack up your avocado chickpea sandwich with.

Cucumber - slices
Beetroot - slices or grated (plain or pickled)
Spring onion - scallions
Carrot - grated
Mango chutney - try this easy homemade mango chutney
Pickle - if you're British, it has to be Branstons sandwich pickle
Pickled onions - sliced
Gherkins - dill pickles

Love a veg packed sandwich? Try these falafel chopped salad & cheese sandwiches

🥑 Avocado FAQs

Let's answer some of those avocado questions.

How long do avocados take to ripen?

Avocados take somewhere between 4 to 7 days to ripen. They start bright green and the colour darkens as they ripen.

How do you know if an avocado is ripe?

Avocados tend to darken as they ripen, but they should also have a bit of give (not soft or squishy) if you gently squeeze them.

Another sign they are ripe is you can easily remove the pip/stalk from the top of the avocado, it should be brown underneath. If the pip/stalk is hard to remove and green underneath it, it's not ripe.

How can you help avocados ripen?

Leave them in a paper bag to help them ripen quicker and just to be sure pop a banana in with it to help it ripen. Bananas give off a gas called ethene that ripens other fruit.

How do you safely remove the stone from an avocado?

The safest and easiest way to remove an avocado stone is to push it out from behind (the skin side) and it will pop out if the avocado is ripe.

Are avocados a healthy option?

Yes, avocados are a healthy choice. They contain a healthy type of fat and are full of vitamins C, E, K, and B6. They are also a good source of riboflavin, niacin, folate, pantothenic acid, magnesium, and potassium, as well as containing beta carotene and omega 3 fatty acids.

👩🏻‍🍳 Adding protein to your lunch

It's a really good idea to add protein to each meal.

Proteins are the body's building blocks, that give you energy.
They are also called amino acids, which help your body repair muscles and bones and they also help to lower blood pressure, boost your metabolism and help you to gain muscle.
As well as all that, protein leaves you feeling satisfied and fuller for longer.
15-30 g of protein is the recommended amount for each meal. Eating more than that in a meal isn't really more beneficial.

Check out this article on protein from the British Nutrition Foundation for more info.

💭 How much protein in chickpeas?

Each 100g (just over 1 cup) of chickpeas contains 19 g of protein.

So each sandwich (if you make three sandwiches with this mashed chickpeas sandwich filler) contains 15.2 g of protein from the chickpeas and another 7.2g of protein from the two slices of bread.

22.4g of protein in each chickpea mash sandwich (15-30g recommended per meal).

🍎 What to serve with a chickpea avocado sandwich

Here are some ideas of what to serve with this avocado veggie sandwich.

apple wedges
coleslaw - try carrot and dill coleslaw, balsamic beet slaw or coronation coleslaw
crisps - or tortilla chips
potato salad - try this delicious dill potato salad
pretzels
side salad

Also, try this vegan pepperoni cheese sandwich.

🥣 Storing chickpea sandwich filler

Make up a batch of this vegan avocado sandwich filler and keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.

I wouldn't recommend making this vegan sandwich filler for the freezer.

It's quick to make so just make the mashed chickpeas up fresh.

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🥫 More vegan chickpea recipes

Here are a few more easy and tasty chickpea recipes for you to try next.

👩🏻‍🍳 How to make a vegan avocado sandwich

Step-by-step photos. Keep scrolling for the full printable recipe (with full ingredient list, calories and nutritional info).

Step 1

Add your cooked (I use canned chickpeas) chickpeas to a mixing bowl and mash with a fork. You can make it quite smooth or leave it with some texture.
Add the finely chopped pepper and red onion.

Step 2

Add the spices, herbs, salt and pepper to the chickpea mash.
Now add the avocado, and pour the lemon juice over it before mashing it. The lemon juice will help prevent discolouring.
Alternatively, mash the avocado with the lemon first before adding to the chickpea mash. I was using the chickpea smash in sandwiches the same day, so didn't bother being extra careful.
Now add the pesto and coriander (or parsley if you don't like coriander).

Step 3

Mix well to combine.
Now make your sandwich. Spread both slices of bread (for each sandwich) with vegan mayo.
Top the first slice of each sandwich with salad leaves, then a generous layer of the smashed chickpeas.

Step 4

Add slices of tomato.
Then finish it off with a drizzle of sriracha (if you don't like hot sauce, sweet chilli sauce is a good option).
Cut your smash chickpea salad sandwich in half and enjoy!

📖 Recipe