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.
🥪 For more sandwich ideas, say hello to the 150 Easy Vegan Sandwiches (with 6 ingredients or less) ebook. You'll never be stuck for lunch ideas again! All for the price of a coffee.
Keep it on your phone when shopping or in the kitchen or print it out to keep handy to glance through. Get it now!
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
- 🥫 More vegan chickpea recipes
- ⭐ Sign up for a free recipe sent to your inbox every morning
- 👩🏻🍳 How to make a vegan avocado sandwich
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
At a glance - avocado chickpea sandwich
⏲️ Ready in: 10 minutes
👪 Serves: 3
🍽 Calories: 482
🧾 Main ingredients: bread, mayo, spinach, tomato, sriracha (or sweet chilli sauce, chickpeas, red pepper, avocado, red onion, garlic powder (granules), dried oregano, paprika, pesto, lemon juice & fresh coriander (cilantro), optional
👩🏻🍳 Suitable for: vegan, plant-based, dairy-free, egg-free, vegetarian
Summarise & save this recipe:
🥘 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.
Avocados take somewhere between 4 to 7 days to ripen. They start bright green and the colour darkens as they ripen.
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.
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.
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.
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.
🥫 More vegan chickpea recipes
Here are a few more easy and tasty chickpea recipes for you to try next.
- Air Fryer White Bean Falafel
- Chickpea Farinata (flatbread) with Rosemary & Black Olives
- Crunchy Air Fryer Pizza Chickpeas
- Easy Hummus
- Sriracha Chickpea & Avocado Wraps
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👩🏻🍳 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
Easy Avocado Chickpea Sandwich (high protein)
Ingredients
- 240 g chickpeas (400g/14oz can drained)
- ½ red pepper (finely chopped)
- 1 avocado (ripe - flesh only, removing stone tips in notes)
- ½ red onion (finely chopped)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder (or granules)
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon vegan pesto
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 handful fresh coriander (cilantro) (chopped)
- 1 pinch salt and pepper
Sandwich ingredients
- 6 slices wholemeal bread
- 3 tablespoons vegan mayo
- 3 handfuls spinach (or salad leaves)
- 1 large tomato (sliced)
- 3 teaspoons sriracha hot sauce (or sweet chilli sauce if you don't like hot sauce)
Instructions
- 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.
- Now add the finely chopped pepper and red onion.
- 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.
- Next add the pesto and coriander (or parsley if you don't like coriander).
- Mix well to combine.
- Now make your sandwiches. Spread both slices of bread (for each sandwich) with vegan mayo. Top the first slice of each sandwich with spinach (or salad leaves), then a generous layer of the smashed chickpeas.
- 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 sandwiches in half and enjoy!
Notes
- 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.
- Cut the ripe avocado in half, the push the stone out from the back (where the skin is). If the avocado is ripe it will pop right out, then just scoop out the flesh with a spoon and mash.
Colleen says
This hearty, healthy sandwich is so tasty and so filling. Thanks for sharing!
Jacqueline Meldrum says
I am so glad you enjoyed it Colleen. It is definitely tasty and filling.
Dana says
This is such a nice and wholesome lunch! So much flavor and SO filling!
Jacqueline Meldrum says
I'm so glad you enjoyed it Dana and yes very filling.
Beth says
This is great! I love the pesto but your idea for a variation of sun-dried tomatoes sounds delicious too! So many ways to make this fabulous sandwich!
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Oh yes the sundried tomato would be very tasty too. Hope you try it.
Nancy says
So satisfying and tasty. I love the ahoy and chickpea combo for a sandwich
Jacqueline Meldrum says
It looks like your phone is as naughty as mine for changing words.
Sara Welch says
This was everything a gourmet sandwich should be, and then some! Easily, a new favorite; hands down delicious!
Jacqueline Meldrum says
I'm so glad you enjoyed it Sara. We love this one.
Sam says
ohhhhhhh cannot wait to try this one 😍
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Haha yes it is good. I hope you enjoy it Sam.
Pat says
That looks awesome and i have a avocado in the salad drawer waiting to be used. Lunch sorted
Jacqueline Meldrum says
That has to be fate Pat. That avocado has this sandwich written all over it.