We have veganised an all-time favourite British classic – a Coronation Chicken Sandwich! And it is AMAZING, with the creamy curried chickpea filling, bursting with flavours of cumin, lime, sweet sultanas and a hint of chilli heat! Our Vegan Coronation Chickpea Sandwich is a wonderful quick lunch option or something to pack for a filling snack on the go!
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The Roots of Coronation Sandwich Filling
The British love a good sandwich. It has been a go-to lunch option, a snack and even part of a posh afternoon tea for years! Coronation Chicken was first created in 1953 for the banquet of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, however, variants of the dish, known as jubilee chicken and the deviled chicken were known years before that! It was a little while later that Coronation Chicken became a sandwich filling though.
Why is Vegan Coronation Chickpea Filling Better Than Chicken?
For our vegan chickpea sandwich version, we substituted traditional chicken with a humble chickpea but kept all the other flavours and textures to retain the authentic flavours of the original. We used tinned chickpeas to make this recipe effortless, but if you wish, you can use dried chickpeas. BBC Good Food article here shows various ways to cook your dried chickpeas.
We love this Curried Chickpea Salad Sandwich because:
- We simply love chickpeas.
- It is quick and easy to make, yet tastes better than any other vegetarian or vegan sandwich we had.
- It has lots of interesting flavours and textures working in perfect harmony.

However, if you don’t fancy a sandwich, make it into a coronation salad. Simply toss your favourite green leaves, some cucumber and sliced peppers, then top with the Coronation chickpeas! Not impressed? How about a lovely Jacket Potato with creamy Coronation chickpea topping?
Method
Prep the Veg & Nuts
Separate and wash gem lettuce leaves. You may want to remove or thin the thick stalks of the lettuce. Slice the cucumber into rounds.
If using, toast your almond flakes in a dry pan, until slightly browned and starting to smell all nutty. Set aside for later. The almonds are completely optional and are used for extra texture and some nutty flavour.
Fry the Chickpeas
Then drain the chickpeas and run some cold water through them to remove any excess sodium and starch.
Heat a large frying pan with a drop of oil, curry powder, add chickpeas and cook stirring continuously for 3 minutes, until all chickpeas are well coated and warmed through. Leave aside to cool slightly.

Make the Chickpea Sandwich Filling:
Finely chop the coriander (including the stalks) and chilli. You can use any chilli you like, but if you can’t handle the heat, remove the seeds.
In a large bowl, mix vegan mayo (or yoghurt) with mango chutney, lime juice, sultanas, chopped chilli and coriander. Season with salt and pepper. It may look like a lot, but if you make your sandwiches with a large bread roll it will make sure your sandwich isn’t dry.

Then add the cooled chickpeas to the coronation dressing and mix well. Crush some of the chickpeas with a fork to thicken the sandwich filling up a bit.
Assemble The Sandwiches
Cut your bread rolls in half lengthways. Place some gem lettuce leaves on the bottom bread roll half, then spoon the coronation chickpea mixture and sprinkle with toasted almonds. Top with sliced cucumber and place the other half of the bread on top.

What Goes Well With This Curried Smashed Chickpea Sandwich?
If you want a substantial meal, serve the Coronation Chickpea Sandwiches with crisps or some french fries for an ultimate vegan British-style lunch! However, these are great to have on their own – moist and filling, they can stand as great lunch on their own!
These delicious vegan sandwiches are perfect the next day to take to work for lunch too!
Recipe FAQs:
The answer is simple: your favourite bread! For us, it is ciabatta rolls or seeded granary sliced bread! And if you want to make a Scandi-style open sandwich, toasted sourdough is perfect!
Absolutely! If you are not following, a plant-based diet, regular mayo works just fine in this recipe!
This may be a controversial thing to suggest, but we tried making this chickpea sandwich filling using apricot jam… Yes, it worked!

Other Vegan Recipe Suggestions
We hope you loved our Vegan Coronation Chickpea Sandwich as much as we do. For other plant-based recipe ideas, have a browse through our vegan recipe collection here, including:
- Vegan Pineapple Stir Fry with Curried Coconut Sauce
- Autumnal Red Lentil & Butternut Squash Dahl
- Green Bean and Chickpea Biryani with Crispy Onions

Coronation Chickpea Sandwich
Ingredients
- 2 bread rolls we like ciabatta, sourdough or panini rolls
- 1 tin of chickpeas (400g) drained and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon curry powder we used medium
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 20 g raisins or sultanas
- ½ lime
- 1 tablespoon mango chutney
- 5 g coriander finely chopped
- ½ chilli, red or green finely chopped
- 80 g vegan mayonnaise or yoghurt
- ¼ cucumber sliced into rounds
- ½ gem lettuce leaves separated
- 20 g toasted almond flakes optional
Instructions
- Heat a large pan with a drop of oil and curry powder, add chickpeas and cook stirring continuously for 3 minutes, until all chickpeas are well coated and warmed through. Leave aside to cool slightly.
- In a large bowl, mix vegan mayo (or yoghurt) with mango chutney, juice of ½ of lime, sultanas, chilli and coriander. Taste and season with salt and pepper. It may look like a lot, but if you make your sandwiches with a large bread roll it will make sure your sandwich isn't dry.
- Add the cooled chickpeas to the coronation dressing and mix well. Crush some of the chickpeas with a fork into the sauce.
- Cut your bread rolls in half lengthways. Place some gem lettuce leaves on the bottom half, then spoon the coronation chickpea mixture and sprinkle with toasted almonds, if using. Top with sliced cucumber and place the other half of bread on top.
- Serve with crisps or some french fries for an ultimate vegan British-style lunch!
Video
Nutrition

Florence
This makes THE BEST sandwich ever !! Never looked forward to a sandwich so much before. Made a double batch so will have for two lunches for the two of us. Was hard not to eat the creamy dip bit with a spoon while making it before adding chickpeas. Yummy! Thanks for the recipe.
Ieva
Haha, I always eat some of the dip before adding chickpeas too, and there’s only about half of the filling left before I get my bread out the cupboard 🙂
Kate
These are the BEST sandwiches ever! Made them with light mayo (we are not vegan) and brioche got dog buns and they were delicious.
Amanda Wren-Grimwood
This is such a delicious sandwich, All the flavours of coronation chicken with delicious chickpeas – perfect.
Ieva
Thanks, Amanda! We honestly like it with chickpeas a lot more than with chicken 🙂
Kara
very tasty sandwiches. My boyfriend didin’t even know that they were chickpea instead of his usual chicken until I said
Ieva
Glad you both liked them! They are definitely my favourite!
Andrea
Those fried chickpeas are everything! This makes a delicious sandwich, and that ciabatta bread is perfect with it.
Ieva
Thanks for the lovely feedback, Andrea! We cannot get enough of these sandwiches… 🙂
Jamie
The flavors of this sandwich were delicious! I loved the curry powder with the chickpeas. So flavoful!
Ieva
Thanks for the feedback, Jamie! These are by far our favourite sandwiches in the world! 🙂
Kate
Made these sandwiches for my kids and for the first time they ate everything!! Definitely making them again!
Irena
Such a great idea to adapt a classic chicken dish to a vegetarian version. I love the flavours of the coronation dressing, so yummy in a sandwich. Thanks!
Ieva
Thanks, Irena! We love the coronation dressing so much, we tend to eat a lot of it before the chickpeas even go in 🙈
AISilva
I love chickpeas but I’ve never tried making a chickpea sandwich. Love the idea for this coronation chickpea sandwich, thanks!
Ieva
It’s a great sandwich! Definitely worth a try 🙂
Elaine
I could eat these sandwiches every day. Thy look too good not to!
Ieva
Thanks, Elaine! They are real beauties! 🙂
Katherine
Yum! I love coronation chickpeas – such great bold flavors.
Ieva
Thanks, Katherine! Your coronation chickpeas with dried apricots are really good too! 🙂
Claudia Lamascolo
I love this vegetarian version its flavorful and terrific as opposed to others Ive tried this is a keeper!
Ieva
Claudia, thanks! We love it too! Our favourite sandwich ever! 🙂
Ana F.
Love how all of the flavors combined perfectly in this Chickpea Sandwich! It’s going to be on rotation for sure. Thanks for the recipe!
Ieva
That’s so nice to hear! Thanks for the feedback, Ana!
Dijana
These are amazing! Thank you so much for the vegan version! Love it!
Ieva
You are most welcome! Glad you enjoyed them 😉
Angela
Curry and chickpeas work so perfect together! This sandwich is perfection!
Ieva
I agree – it’s a perfect combination! 🙂