Make yourself a healthy rainbow of colors for your next vegetarian meal and top it with a creamy avocado lemon sauce! This salad is loaded with spiralized vegetables and crunchy roasted chickpeas.
Have you noticed the explosion of zoodles or spiralized vegetable noodle recipes lately? I mean what’s not to like when you’ve turned a simple vegetable into a much more beautiful curly string of wholesome goodness. It’s the cool thing to do.
Whoever would have predicted that eating healthy would be so fancy! Like any good scientist, I decided that I finally needed to do some investigating. I’m here to report back on my sleuthing. I must say, the results are delightful. Are you ready to check out this method for making eating your veggies more fun?
There are many choices out there to get the spiral action going with your vegetables. I purchased a spiralizer a little more affordable, about $15 to just get the basics down. The spiralizer I bought has two sides, a small and large noodle width.
You choose a side and then twist your vegetables like your sharpening a pencil. That’s it! This yields pretty long strings of twisted vegetables. I found that more hearty, robust vegetables like carrots and zucchini work great with this tool. This handheld spiralizer was quick and easy to use and store. They weren’t the most perfect noodles, but it got the job done.
If you want more versatility to spiralize larger vegetables like butternut squash and large sweet potatoes, than a unit that clamps in the ingredient and uses a handle to twist would be better. Those run up to $50 and take up more kitchen space. I wasn’t ready for that kind of commitment yet!
In this recipe, I used a variety of colorful carrots, zucchini, and yellow squash. These harder vegetables hold up very nicely when tossed in dressing, and gives a nice crunchy texture. Don’t they look so pretty? It only took me a minute or two to curl each vegetable. I cut off the ends first, then started spiralizing.
To give some contrast to the crisp vegetables, this avocado lemon cilantro dressing adds just the right creaminess. I quickly made the dressing in my blender. I just tossed in half an avocado, Greek yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, fresh cilantro leaves, and olive oil. So straightforward and easy! The creamy dressing sticks onto each ribbon of vegetable, so every bite captures the earthy flavors.
To take the crunch up a notch and keep the salad low-carb, I added roasted chickpeas. These protein and fiber-packed legumes add that extra crispy texture. Check out my step-by-step guide for how to roast chickpeas so you can customize the flavors. They make a great healthy snack!
Wow, I bet you didn’t even realize you ate a whole bowl of veggies with all of those beautiful elements combined in one bowl. The eye-catching colors, smooth and crisp textures, it’s some eye candy for sure. Each forkful is a powerful combination of phytonutrients, protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. This salad is delicious on its own, or you can add some grilled tofu, chicken or shrimp for a heartier meal.
More Spiralized recipes
- Apple Salad with Citrus Dressing
- Chicken Bruschetta with Zucchini Noodles
- Shrimp Pad Thai with Vegetable Noodles
What is a Spiralizer and how do you use it?
Are you looking to incorporate more vegetables on your plate or looking to reduce your carbohydrate intake? The spiralizer tool can be your new favorite kitchen buddy! Spiralizers work like a large pencil sharpener, making the curliest produce pasta. You can buy a simple handheld model that cuts smaller vegetables by you twisting the vegetable. Larger toaster-sized units are more versatile where you add a firm vegetable and hold in place with a clamp over the grinder, and then use the hand crank to make the gears cut the vegetables into ribbons.
Spiralized Vegetable Salad with Roasted Chickpeas
Ingredients
Salad
- 4 large carrots
- 1 large zucchini
- 1 large yellow squash
- ¼ cup greek yogurt, plain
- ½ avocado
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice, plus zest
- ½ cup cilantro leaves, plus ½ cup chopped for garnish
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup olive oil
- black pepper
- sesame seeds, for garnish
Chickpeas
- 15 ounces chickpeas, 1 can, garbanzo beans
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
Roasted Chickpeas
- Preheat oven to 400ºF.
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas and spread them out on a paper towel-lined baking sheet.
- Pat them dry with a paper towel, removing, and skins that came off the beans. Toss with oil and salt.
- Roast the chickpeas for 30-35 minutes until they are golden in color and crispy on the outside. The center may still be slightly soft. If you want the chickpeas even crispier, turn off the oven and allow the chickpeas to continue drying about 30-40 minutes more.
- Make the salad while you roast the chickpeas.
Vegetable Salad
- Cut your vegetables using a spiralizer. If you don’t have a spiralizer, use a vegetable peeler to create long strips, or you can thinly slice the vegetables into ⅛-inch thin strips. Add vegetables to a mixing bowl.
- Blend yogurt, avocado, water, lemon juice, zest, cilantro, garlic, and salt in a blender until smooth.
- Add in olive oil and blend for a few minutes more until creamy. Season with more salt and pepper as needed.
- Toss together the noodles with the dressing, adding a small amount of dressing at a time until coated to your liking. There will be extra dressing.
- Sprinkle salad with sesame seeds, chopped cilantro and serve with roasted chickpeas, croutons, avocado slices or any additional toppings of your choice.
Recipe Video
Equipment
Nutrition Facts
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000-calorie diet. All nutritional information is based on estimated third-party calculations. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods, and portion sizes per household.
Julie Boruff says
Looks so good! Any suggestion on what to add if you don’t like cilantro?
Jessica Gavin says
Parsley or basil would be nice substitutions for cilantro.
Samantha Nemazie says
This recipe is amazing and definitely a keeper. My fiancé was skeptical because of the raw veggies and he loved it too!
WILLIAM E BURKHART says
Do you have another suggestion for a dressing. I won’t eat avacados. Thanks.
Jessica Gavin says
Hi William- I have a classic balsamic vinaigrette dressing on the website you can check out that would be tasty.
Julie says
I just bought a ninja blender with a spiralizer and started looking for recipes. Yours was the first that sounded so yummy, I can’t wait for it to arrive so I can make this. Your pictures are beautiful, thanks for sharing this recipe.
Jessica Gavin says
Wow, I didn’t know that the Ninja blender has a spiralizer attachment! Let me know how the recipe turns out for you, would love to hear your feedback!
LisaR says
Just made this for guests and everyone loved it. They especially wanted the recipe for the dressing. Besides tasting good, everyone was happy that it was healthy as well. Thanks for a great recipe.
Lindsay S. says
Will it work to roast the chickpeas a day before serving? Or will they lose their “crunch”?
Jessica Gavin says
Hi Lindsay! You can definitely roast the chickpeas a day before, they actually last a few weeks in an air tight container and stay super crispy 🙂
Charlotte says
What could I use in place of the greek yogurt? I’m not a dairy fan and definitely not a yogurt fan. Thanks!
Jessica Gavin says
Hi Charlotte! I would try coconut milk cream, or just coconut milk and add until you get a pourable dressing consistency. Let me know how it goes!
Susi says
Looks amazing! How long can this salad be stored with the dressing on. Thanks
Jessica Gavin says
Thank you Susi! The vegetables are pretty robust, so I would say 2 days to store the salad with the dressing on it. Try to keep the chickpeas stored in an airtight container at room temperature so it stays extra crispy!
JUDI Swanson says
to make a day ahead, would it be best to leave the dressing off until right before serving?
Jessica Gavin says
Hi Judi- Yes, I would wait to add the dressing and perhaps serve on the side.
Michelle says
This looks amazing! And I love the roasted chickpeas. Your photo looks like it has one of the veggies roasted, but that is not listed in the recipe. Am I mistaken? Thanks.
Jessica Gavin says
Thank you Michelle! No roasted veggies, I think it may be the purple carrot that looks roasted? I can’t wait to hear what you think!
Msrilyn says
This looks like great salad but my daughter is allergic to Avocado. Do you think it would work without Avocado?
Jessica Gavin says
Thank you for your comment! 1/2 an avocado would be about 1/2 cup and it’s adding the creaminess to the dressing. I’m thinking perhaps you could use some cheese instead (feta, goat, ricotta, cream cheese). Perhaps start with 1/4 cup and add more to taste. You could also try some cashews, almonds or peanuts to add creaminess, again at 1/4 cup and them increase. Let me know what you decide to use!
Celeste says
What would you recommend for lactose intolerant people? I want to make this. It sounds delicious, but cannot use Greek yogurt. Would you use more avocado or something else?thanks
Jessica Gavin says
Thank you for your comment Celeste! To make the dressing dairy free you could use plain coconut, soy or almond yogurt if availble, coconut milk or coconut cream. You could absolutely use more avocado if you would like, it just will be a little different in creaminess. The yogurt adds some acidity so taste the mixture and add more lemon juice as needed. Please let me know how it goes for you!
Karen Belcourt says
I used spaghetti squash. Is this considered a yellow squash
Jessica Gavin says
Hi Karen! I usually usu summer yellow squash that looks similar to a zucchini but tapered on one side and yellow in color. How did the spaghetti squash taste?
Free says
I made this today and I was wondering if I can store the rest of the salad for tomorrow?
Jessica Gavin says
Yes absolutely! Did you mix all of the vegetables with the dressing already? You can store the chickpeas in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a month.
Barbara says
This looks deliciious! We hate the taste of cilantro – do you think I can sub parsley for it?
Karlie says
This looks amazing! adding it to the list 🙂
Jessica Gavin says
Thank you Karlie! I used the chickpeas for other salads and toppings, they keep a long time!
Michelle Aragon says
I’m obsessed with my spiralizer ($27 at Cost Plus World Market). I wanted to ask – do you think coconut cream would be an ok substitute for the yogurt if not eating dairy products? Thanks!
Jessica Gavin says
I’ll have to check the one from Cost Plus out Michelle! Yes, I think you could absolutely use coconut cream. If it’s really thick once you make the sauce just adjust with a little bit of water as needed 🙂
Michelle Aragon says
Hi! I was out of coconut cream so what I did instead was use a whole avocado which worked really nicely. Oh my gosh – this salad was AMAZING! I’ve never had roasted garbanzos and they’re my new favorite crouton substitute. We ate the salad as a side to our grilled lamb burgers. Thanks for sharing!
Jessica Gavin says
Wow, I’m so glad that the avocado worked too! Sounds like a wonderful substitution. I love the roasted garbanzos as well! I’ll have to stop by your place for some lamb burgers!
Marian says
Hi Jessica,
I got so excited about your recipe until I read the calorie count for a serving. How can 1.7 cups of mainly vegetables be over 600 calories? Something does not add up.
Jessica Gavin says
Hi Marian- Great question! I included the nutritional information for all of the ingredients (chickpeas and dressing), but I found that I didn’t use an entire can of chickpeas and just a portion of the dressing when I made the salad to serve. That is probably why the calories are higher than you would actually consume at one time, but I wanted to be transparent. The crunchy chickpeas lasted for a few weeks, I would add a tablespoon to my salads for dinner 🙂
Kristi says
This sounds amazing. I can’t wait to try it. However, it’s above my target caloric intake for one meal. So here is my question:
Are the nutritional facts listed for the entire recipe?
Thanks!
Jessica Gavin says
Great question Kristi! The calories are per serving, this one has 4 servings taking into account you actually ate ALL of the dressing and chickpeas. I found that I did not need to add all of the dressing, just enough to cover the noodles and it gave me leftover dressing (yummy as a dip too!). Also you probably wouldn’t eat a whole can of chickpeas. So if you didn’t use all of the dressing and say a tablespoon or two or chickpeas you would have a much lower calorie count. Let me know if you have any other questions 🙂
Kristik says
FANTASTIC!!!!!
Jessica Gavin says
Thank you Kristi! I love my spiralizer 🙂 Do you have one?
Kristi says
I do have a Vegetti. Picked it up at Ross for $8!!!!
Jessica Gavin says
What a great deal Kristi! I love Ross 🙂
Mary Lou says
This post prompted me to buy a spiralizer and I’m so glad I did. My husbands fave meal is pasta with meat sauce. But, he also has diabetes and needs to cut his carb intake. He also detests zucchini and any other type of squash — except his favorite pie–pumpkin! Go figure. Tonight I made spiralized zucchini noodles with meat sauce. He thought he was in heaven!! It was delish.
Jessica, your website is absolutely the best. Thanks for your wonderful recipes and food prep tips. ?
Jessica Gavin says
Wow Mary Lou, your comment made my day! Isn’t the spiralizer so fun and wonderful? That’s so great that you found a solution for your husband (my hubby loves pasta and meat sauce too!). I know how challenging it can be not to enjoy your favorite meals because of diet restriction. You are a kitchen rockstar! Thank you so much for your support, your feedback keeps me motivated and wanting to share even more with my readers! XOXO
Sasha @ Eat Love Eat says
These photographs are really beautiful 🙂 and the salad looks delicious too! You can’t go wrong with creamy avocado sauces. I must get myself a spiraliser!
Jessica Gavin says
Thank you so much Sasha! I had fun taking these photos 🙂 High five on avocado sauces! Yes, if you can a spiralizer is definitely a nice tool to have 🙂
Jerry says
when you buy the spiralizer – look for one that takes the whole vegy – some require you to cut up the vegys first. Mine is from Zest Kit – my sons u have to cut up the vegys to fit them in.
Louise says
Just bought myself a great spirilizer so it’s great to see this delicious recipe. Thank you.
Jessica Gavin says
How exciting Louise!!! This is a great first time spiralizer user recipe 🙂 Let me know how you like it!
Caitlin says
So beautiful! I love this – and I bet that avocado yogurt dressing is awesome. Such a good combination!
Jessica Gavin says
Thank you Caitlin! The creamy dressing definitely compliments the crunchy veggies so nicely 🙂