Sweetgreen Hummus Crunch Salad

This Sweetgreen Hummus Crunch Salad is a healthy and delicious, easy to make copycat recipe of one of Sweetgreen’s best salad recipes. This Hummus Crunch salad is made with chickpeas, kale, cabbage, tomatoes and za’atar bread crumbs for the “crunch”. Topped with Sweetgreen’s tasty pesto vinaigrette.

If you love Sweetgreen salads but want to save money, it is easy to make all of their recipes at home. Try their Harvest Bowl Recipe or make their seasonal Peach, Basil & Goat Cheese Salad year round.

Jump to:

• Recipe Highlights
• Ingredients & Substitutions
• Step By Step Instructions
• Expert Tips
• Recipe FAQs
• 📖 Recipe

Recipe Highlights

• Sweetgreen Copycat — This is an easy Sweetgreen copycat salad recipe that tastes just like the real thing! Save money and make this favorite at home any time you like.
• Crunchy Za’atar Bread Crumbs — Part of what gives this salad its “crunch” are the flavorful, homemade za’atar bread crumbs — made just the way Sweetgreen makes them! They are simple to make and really pull the salad together.
• Pesto Vinaigrette — This Hummus Crunch salad is topped with Sweetgreen’s pesto vinaigrette, made with fresh basil leaves, olive oil, garlic and apple cider vinegar. You’ll want to use this dressing on so many different salads!

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Hummus: Of course this salad has to have hummus! You can make your own, or use a store bought one. Sweetgreen uses a classic hummus, but if you want to add a bit of spice, you could use a chipotle or red pepper hummus instead.
• Kale: Sweetgreen uses a combination of Kale and Romaine lettuce for their Hummus Crunch. I chose just to use kale, but you can use whichever greens or combo of greens you like. Arugula or a spring mix would also work well.
• Chickpeas: You’ll need about a half can of chickpeas for this recipe. If you like to use dried chickpeas, you can, but you’ll need to prepare them in advance.
• Tomatoes: Use grape or cherry tomatoes.
• Basil: You’ll need basil leaves to add to the salad but also to make the pesto vinaigrette with. Dried basil does not work as a substitution.
• Cucumber: Cucumber adds in some crunchy texture to this Hummus Crunch Salad.
• Cabbage: Red cabbage also helps to give this salad its crunchy texture.
• Banana Peppers: A few banana peppers add just the right amount of spicy flavor to this salad, which tastes surprisingly delicious! If you don’t like spicy, feel free to skip this ingredient.
• Za’atar Bread Crumbs: Sweetgreen’s Za’atar Bread Crumbs add flavor and texture to really make this salad unique. They are really easy to make with old bread, olive oil and za’atar seasoning.
• Pesto Vinaigrette: Sweetgreen’s Pesto Vinaigrette Dressing is a 5 minute dressing made with fresh basil leaves, olive oil, apple cider vinegar and garlic.

Step By Step Instructions

Step 1: Add the bread to a food processor and pulse until it has broken down into large crumbs. Coat the crumbs evenly with the olive oil and za’atar seasoning.

Step 2: Bake the crumbs at 350F for 5 to 10 minutes until they are golden brown. Don’t over bake them or they can burn.

Step 3: Add the basil leaves, apple cider vinegar, water, garlic and umami seasoning to a food processor. Blend until smooth. Slowly add in the olive oil, blending on low until the dressing is well emulsified.

Step 4: In a large bowl, add a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle of salt over the kale and massage for 2 to 3 minutes until the kale becomes soft and turns a vibrant green.

Step 5: Add the hummus, kale, cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, chickpeas, basil leaves, banana peppers and za’atar breadcrumbs together in a large salad bowl. Top with the pesto vinaigrette and serve.

Expert Tips

• Don’t over-blend the bread crumbs. Use the “pulse” button on the food processor to prevent accidentally over-blending the bread crumbs. If they are blended too much, they will turn into a powder, rather than crumbs.
• Double up on the pesto vinaigrette. If you find your food processor isn’t blending the dressing very smoothly, it may be that you have a large food processor and need to double up on the dressing ingredients to get enough liquid to blend properly.
• Roast the chickpeas. Looking for an extra level of crunch? Try coating the chickpeas in a small amount of olive oil and roasting them in the oven at 425F for 20 to 25 minutes until they are golden and crispy.

Recipe FAQs

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📖 Recipe