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This satay chickpea and quinoa salad from Sophie Waplington’s cookbook Soph’s Plant Kitchen is full of variety. It’s completely plant-based, with a base of tricolour quinoa, rainbow veg, and smoked tofu, then topped with chickpeas coated in a rich, creamy peanut sauce. The dressing hits all the right notes – sweet, salty, tangy, and nutty – with ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and sesame oil bringing plenty of depth.
The crunch from the carrots, red cabbage, and cucumber keeps things fresh, while the chickpeas and tofu make it hearty enough to count as a full meal.
It also scores high on plant points, with over 10 different plant-based ingredients including grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, herbs, and plenty of veg. Serve it cold straight from the fridge or let it come to room temp. It’s ideal for packed lunches, picnics, or a no-fuss dinner packed with flavor and color.
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How to make the satay chickpea and quinoa salad
Ingredients
- 150 g tricolor quinoa
- 1 large or 2 small carrots peeled and julienned or grated
- 1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
- ¼ red cabbage thinly sliced
- ⅓ green sweetheart cabbage thinly sliced
- 1 small cucumber deseeded and cut into 5mm (¼in) half-moons
- 150 g firm smoked tofu grated or crumbled
- 700 g chickpeas, from a can , drained and rinsed
- Salt and black pepper
FOR THE SAUCE
- 4 heaped tbsp crunchy or smooth peanut butter
- Thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger peeled and grated
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp agave or maple syrup
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 3–4 tbsp warm water plus more if needed
TO SERVE
- 70 g raw peanuts
- Small handful of fresh coriander leaves picked
- Lime wedges
- Red chili thinly sliced
- Sesame seeds
Instructions
- Cook the quinoa according to the packet instructions. You can add some stock powder for extra flavor here!
- Add all the sliced veggies to a large bowl, saving one or two bits of each on the side for garnish.
- Grate the tofu and add this, too, along with the cooked and cooled quinoa.
- In a blender cup, blend all the sauce ingredients together. Season to taste. Pour a third into the quinoa tofu mixture, tossing very well with your hands, then combine the rest with the chickpeas in another bowl.
- Gently toast the raw peanuts in a dry frying pan for 5–7 minutes, then roughly bash them while warm in a pestle and mortar with a medium pinch of salt. Taste and season to your liking.
- Divide into bowls or containers, then generously ladle the peanut butter chickpeas over the salad.
- Garnish with coriander, lime wedges, chill, the roasted and crushed peanuts, sesame seeds and the veggies you kept to the side.
Excerpted from Soph’s Plant Kitchen by Sophie Waplington, published in 2025 by Yellow Kite, an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton. Photography by Lizzie Mayson.
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