Pregnancy · Lunch

Chickpea 'Tuna-Style' Salad Sandwiches

Name: Chickpea 'Tuna-Style' Salad Sandwiches
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients: 480 g canned chickpeas, drained; 4 tbsp Greek yogurt; 1 tbsp Dijon mustard; 1 celery stick, finely chopped; 2 dill pickles, chopped; 10 g dill, chopped; 1 lemon, half juiced; 4 slices whole-grain bread; 2 lettuce leaves

Mashed chickpeas with yogurt, dill and celery in soft whole-grain bread - the deli sandwich, minus the mercury math.

A mash-and-stir lunch that comes together about as fast as the kettle boils, with gherkins and dill doing the deli impression. It suits pregnancy days when lunch needs to be cold, quick and low on smell, and because the filling is made ahead, the next couple of lunches are already decided.

Chickpea 'Tuna-Style' Salad Sandwiches - Mashed chickpeas with yogurt, dill and celery in soft whole-grain bread

Easy

Vegetarian FolateFiberIronProtein

Ingredients

for 2 people

480 gcanned chickpeas, drained
4 tbspGreek yogurt
1 tbspDijon mustard
1celery stick, finely chopped
2dill pickles, chopped
10 gdill, chopped
1lemon, half juiced
4slices whole-grain bread
2lettuce leaves

Open this recipe in the interactive app to scale servings, switch to oz and cups, and tick ingredients off as you cook.

Per serving (approx.): 440 calories · 20 g protein · 58 g carbs · 14 g fat · 13 g fiber

Method

Mash. Tip the chickpeas into a mixing bowl and mash them with a fork for a minute or two, until mostly broken down but still chunky - closer to tuna salad than hummus.
Mix. Stir in the yogurt, mustard, celery, pickles, dill and lemon juice until everything is evenly coated and the filling holds together when pressed against the side of the bowl.
Build. Lay lettuce on half the bread slices and pile the filling on top, spreading it to the edges. Close with the remaining slices, press down gently and cut each sandwich in half.
Keep. Any extra filling keeps in a covered container in the fridge for 2 days, and the flavors deepen by day two - stir it once before spreading onto fresh bread.

Worth knowingCanned fish is fine in pregnancy within limits, but this filling asks no questions at all - and adds folate the original never had.

Is this safe during pregnancy?

Yes - there is nothing here that pregnancy guidance restricts. The yogurt is the only ingredient that even raises the question, and shop-bought Greek yogurt is pasteurized, which puts it squarely on the safe list in NHS guidance on foods to avoid. Wash the celery, lettuce and dill well before they go in, and keep the made-up filling in the fridge rather than out on the counter.

Substitutions & allergens

Swap the Greek yogurt for a plain unsweetened oat or soy yogurt - removes dairy and makes the filling vegan.
Swap the whole-grain bread for your usual gluten-free loaf - removes gluten; the filling itself contains none.
No dill? Parsley or chives keep it fresh without changing the character.
Swap celery for diced cucumber or extra gherkin - the crunch is the point, not the celery itself.

Storage & reheating

Assembled sandwiches do not keep - the bread softens within hours - so store filling and bread separately and build each sandwich fresh. Keep the filling covered in the fridge and eat it within 48 hours, the standard leftover window in FSA chilling guidance. It is eaten cold, so reheating never comes into it. Skip the freezer: yogurt splits and mashed chickpeas turn mealy on thawing.

Checked against the public guidance we follow - see our sources & editorial standards.