Vegan Chicken Salad

This vegan chicken salad is amazing piled on a sandwich, stuffed in a wrap, or on top of a crunchy salad! Made with protein-packed seitan, hearty chickpeas, and creamy vegan mayo seasoned with fresh dill and scallions. Whip up a batch for lunch today!

My husband and I recently added a new member to our family. He's a cat! Well, a kitten that's almost a cat, at eight months old. And he's really bad. I mean, we love him. We're completely obsessed with our new furbaby, but he's SO BAD!

I've always had cats but it's been a while since I lived with a kitten, and I forgot how much trouble they can get into. He keeps us up all night while he runs around the house like a maniac (sometimes chasing our older cat). He tries to eat my hair. And clothes. And furniture.

And lately, he is relentless about getting into the kitchen and onto the counter while I work.

That last thing didn't start happening until the last time I made this vegan chicken salad. He was pretty good until the day I started shooting the video (which you can view at the bottom of this post) and during the 15 seconds while I had my back turned to get some dill out of the fridge, he made his way onto the counter and started stuffing his little face with chickpeas.

Oh well. At least chickpeas are the cheapest and easiest to replace of all the ingredients in this recipe.

My husband and I have since installed an extra high baby gate in the doorway leading to the kitchen, which our little guy has already defeated by jumping, squeezing through the (2-inch spaced apart!) bars, and climbing the molding in the doorway. He's resourceful, that guy.

Vegan Chicken Salad Ingredients

So, what else goes into this recipe, aside from those chickpeas my cat loves so much? Seitan is the main ingredient that I've used to replace chicken.

Some recipes for vegan salady sandwich fillings use chickpeas on their own (like this one), and while chickpeas are great, they're not fooling anyone. Seitan on its own is quite chickeny, but it's a little too firm for chicken salad by itself. Mix it with some smashed chickpeas and you've got the perfect texture.

You can use homemade seitan or store-bought. If you use store-bought, you'll need exactly one eight ounce package. If you make it yourself using my recipe, go with the chicken flavor (I guess that's kind of obvious!), and you'll need about a half of a batch, or one slightly scant cup once it's diced.

I used vegan mayo for the dressing, along with some celery and almonds for crunch, and garlic, dill and scallions for flavor.

How It's Made

It's so easy! Grab a bowl and lightly mash your chickpeas. I used a potato masher, but a fork will work too. Add in the rest of your ingredients and stir everything together. Give it a taste-test, and make any adjustments you think are needed.

That's it! Pile it on a sandwich, stuff it in a wrap, or use it to top a salad.

FAQ & Tips for Making Amazing Vegan Chicken Salad

• Can this recipe be made gluten-free? I haven't tried making a gluten-free version, but soy curls may work as a substitute for the seitan. You could also probably omit the seitan and double the chickpeas, which will give you something that isn't quite as chickeny, but should still be tasty.
• Where do I get vegan mayo? Lots of regular supermarkets sell vegan mayo — check near the regular mayo or in the natural foods section. Just Mayo is my preferred brand.
• This vegan chicken salad will keep in the fridge for about 4 days once mixed.

Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!