Spinach Caprese Salad
with Herbed Chickpeas, Caramelized Shallots & Creamy Balsamic Vinaigrette
- Milk
- Soy
- Wheat
- Eggs
Don’t get us wrong—we love a good Caprese salad. But there never seems to be enough for a whole meal. So here’s a bigger, better version that’s chock-a-block with ingredients and totally dinner-worthy. Fresh spinach provides the leafy base with caramelized shallots throughout for pops of sweetness. Crisp roasted chickpeas add a protein boost while garlicky ciabatta croutons up the crunch factor even more. Of course, it wouldn’t be Caprese without the tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, but we made them bite-size so they’re more fork friendly. We even upgraded the balsamic dressing, making it creamier and heartier. Now, this is a main-course salad that won’t leave you hungry.
Ingredients
1 unit
Shallot
5 teaspoon
Balsamic Vinegar
13.4 ounce
Chickpeas
1 tablespoon
Italian Seasoning
4 ounce
Grape Tomatoes
4 ounce
Fresh Mozzarella
(Contains: Milk)
1 unit
Ciabatta Bread
(Contains: Soy, Wheat)
1 teaspoon
Garlic Powder
2 tablespoon
Mayonnaise
(Contains: Eggs)
2 teaspoon
Dijon Mustard
5 ounce
Spinach
Not included in your delivery
1 teaspoon
Cooking Oil
1 teaspoon
Sugar
6 tablespoon
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Adjust rack to top position (top and middle positions for 4 servings) and preheat oven to 425 degrees. • Drain and rinse chickpeas; pat very dry with paper towels. Halve, peel, and cut shallot into ½-inch-thick wedges. • Toss chickpeas and shallot on a baking sheet with a drizzle of oil, half the Italian seasoning (all for 4), salt, and pepper. • Roast on top rack until chickpeas are golden and tender and shallot is caramelized, 18-20 minutes. (You’ll add more to the sheet after 11 minutes.)
• Meanwhile, wash and dry produce. • Halve tomatoes. Dice mozzarella into ½-inch cubes. • Place tomatoes in a small bowl; toss with vinegar, 1 tsp sugar (2 tsp for 4 servings), and a big pinch of salt.
• Halve ciabatta lengthwise; cut into ¾-inch strips. Tear strips into rough cubes. Transfer to a large bowl; toss with 2 TBSP olive oil (4 TBSP for 4 servings), garlic powder, salt, and pepper. • Once chickpeas and shallot have roasted 11 minutes, remove from oven and push to one side of sheet; carefully add croutons to empty side. (For 4, add croutons to a second sheet; toast on middle rack.) Return to top rack until golden and crispy, 7-9 minutes. Wipe out bowl. • Once finished roasting, carefully transfer everything to bowl used to season croutons to cool.
• Remove tomatoes from bowl and set aside, leaving marinade behind. • Whisk half the mayonnaise and half the mustard into marinade until smooth. (For 4 servings, use all the mayonnaise and mustard.) • Slowly whisk in 4 TBSP olive oil (8 TBSP for 4), drizzling a little bit at a time, until creamy. Season with salt and pepper. Reserve 1½ TBSP dressing (3 TBSP for 4) for serving.
• Add spinach to bowl with cooled chickpeas, shallot, and croutons. Toss with remaining dressing until evenly coated.
• Divide salad between plates. Top with mozzarella and tomatoes. Drizzle with reserved dressing and season with salt and pepper to serve.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Feb 2026- Flavor: Many loved the combination of flavors and textures, with special praise for the homemade croutons and roasted chickpeas 🍲.
- Ease of prep: Some found it time-consuming for a salad, with multiple steps and dishes; others felt it was quick and easy.
- Suggestions: Consider adding protein like chicken or shrimp; some preferred less chickpeas and more cheese and tomatoes.
- Portions: Generous portions that were filling for most; some found it perfect for leftovers the next day.
- Dressing: The balsamic vinaigrette received mixed reviews; some loved it while others found it too strong or oily.
Reviews from our home cooks
This is listed as a Seasonal Favorite, and we can tell why! While a Caprese salad is always a classic dish, the Herbed Chickpeas, Caramelized Shallots, and Homemade Croutons brought this to another level. There was plenty of spinach provided, and the mozzarella was high-quality. The balsamic dressing was perfectly balanced with the mayo -- this was our main complaint with the Chickpea Ceasar Salad (too much mayo). Overall, this is one of our favorite Hello Fresh salads that we would make again. Good work!
I don't think Caprese is an accurate term to describe this, but this is one of the all-time best recipes I've ever gotten from HF. Super delicious, flavorful, great variety of textures. Kind of a pain to prepare (lots of steps) but def worth it. I wouldn't mind if it was Romaine instead of spinach, since raw spinach tends to weirdly coat the mouth and has stems, but otherwise, amazing
I'm usually not a big chickpea fan but the roasting with the shallots and Italian seasoning made them a great addition to the salad. The salad dressing had a nice flavor also. I loved the fresh croutons.
This was pretty tasty, but...We would have rated this much higher if the description did not include the word Caprese. One of my best friends lives in Livorno, Italy, so when we think of Caprese, we are expecting basil in the dish. There was zero basil, so our taste buds were disappointed. Had we not been expecting that flavor profile based on the word Caprese in the description, we would have enjoyed the dish more. Adjust the name of the dish, and you will have yourself a winner. But, please do not set people up for disappointment with inaccurate descriptions.
Add balsamic glaze to make the dressing to cut down on the heavy mustard flavor and enhance the caprese flavor goal. I also baked the chicken with the chickpeas and onions and seasoned it with the remaining Italian seasoning to save on dishes and ease of making the dish.
This is a beautiful dish! My husband was skeptical about the fact that it was spinach instead of Romain lettuce, but he ate a huge salad and loved it! The only thing I would do differently with the recipe is allow the garbanzo beans/shallots and croutons cool fully before putting in the salad and mixing. Also, i used all of the mayonnaise and mustard and added extra vinegar to make enough salad dressing for four instead of just the included recipe for the two servings that were included. We like our salad extra flavorful! Good stuff!
I love this salad and I always wanted to make it. I wish it wasn't made with spinach though. Spinach doesn't last as long in the fridge as I'd like it to.
A good dinner salad. A better version of a chick pea & spinach salad than the previous one I had. The vinegar in the dressing helped soften the spinach so it wasn't so unwieldy & overwhelming. The garlic croutons were wonderful. Flavors worked together well. Tasty, easy, healthy, & filling.
The chickpeas & shallots send this over the edge out of ordinary caprese. Improvements: there could've been a little basil? Perhaps roasted with the shallots and peas? I also would have added more mozzarella if I had some
We love this recipe! My only feedback is that the recipe must be an old format because it's really annoying that it doesn't say "roast chickpeas 11 minutes" then to bring in the bread - instead it states the whole time for the chickpeas cook and in parentheses it declares critical instructions. Definitely needs to be updated
