Gordon Ramsay’s chickpea salad is his Coronation Chickpeas from Ultimate Fit Food: tinned chickpeas, raw cauliflower, carrots and spring onions tossed in a spiced yoghurt dressing with curry powder, turmeric and cumin. It serves 4 and takes about 10 minutes.
He designed it as a vegetarian version of Coronation Chicken, swapping the mayo-drenched cold chicken for chickpeas in a lighter yoghurt base. Ramsay says “chickpeas carry spice brilliantly” which is why the curry dressing works so well here, coating every chickpea evenly without sliding off.
The real trick is making it ahead. He says it’s “almost better if you make it in advance, as the flavours really get a chance to meld together.” Most cold salads get worse overnight, but this one improves because the chickpeas soak up the dressing as they sit.
Gordon Ramsay Chickpea Salad
Course: SaladCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy4
servings10
minutes243
kcal10
minutesEasy
Coronation Chickpeas from Gordon’s Ultimate Fit Food. A spiced yoghurt chickpea salad that’s better the next day. 243 calories per serving, about £5 from Tesco.
Ingredients
2 x 400g tins chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 small cauliflower, cut into really small florets
2 carrots, diced
3 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
- For the Dressing:
200g natural yoghurt
2 tsp curry powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp cider vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
- Mix the salad base: Put the drained chickpeas, cauliflower florets, diced carrots and spring onions into a large bowl and toss together.
- Make the dressing: In a smaller bowl, mix the yoghurt, curry powder, turmeric, cumin, cider vinegar and Dijon mustard. Season well with salt and pepper.
- Dress and chill: Pour the dressing over the chickpeas and mix really well so everything is coated. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Cover and refrigerate until ready to eat. It stores for up to 3 days and tastes better the longer it sits.
FAQs
Why raw cauliflower and not roasted?
This is a cold salad designed for meal prep, so everything stays raw or tinned. The small florets give a nutty crunch that contrasts with the soft chickpeas. If you roast them first you lose that texture and the salad turns mushy after a day in the fridge. Ramsay keeps it raw on purpose because he wants it to last 3 days without falling apart.
What makes this different from regular Coronation Chicken?
Traditional Coronation Chicken drowns cold poached chicken in mayonnaise with a bit of curry powder. Ramsay swaps mayo for yoghurt and chicken for chickpeas, which makes it lighter and higher in fibre. At 243 calories per serving it’s less than half the calories of a classic Coronation Chicken. The yoghurt base also means the spices come through more cleanly because they’re not buried under fat.
Can I add chicken to make it more filling?
Ramsay pairs griddled chicken thighs with chickpeas in a separate recipe from Ultimate Home Cooking, using piquillo peppers, caper berries and a lemony dressing. If you want chicken and chickpeas together, that’s the one to follow. For this Coronation version, he suggests serving it with cold basmati rice and a green salad to make a full meal instead.
How much does this cost to make?
About £5 from Tesco. Two tins of chickpeas cost less than a pound, and the cauliflower, carrots and spring onions add another couple of pounds. The spices and yoghurt are the rest. One of the cheapest recipes on the whole site and it feeds four generously. Prices checked on Trolley.co.uk, May 2026.
What should I serve this with?
Ramsay suggests cold basmati rice and a crisp green salad. It also works as a side alongside lamb burgers or chicken nuggets where you want something fresh and spiced to cut through the richness. It’s brilliant for packed lunches too since it actually improves overnight. For more budget options, see his cheapest salad recipes.
