White Bean Salad Easy And Refreshing

It features tender and creamy cannellini, fresh herbs, and veggies tossed in a delicious Mediterranean olive oil and lemon dressing. White bean salad is perfect for a light and fulfilling lunch or a healthy dinner with pita bread and yogurt tahini sauce. Or you can bring bring it to a potluck, picnic, or barbeque. Dietary Note: this recipe is suitable for a vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free diet.Don’t have time to read the full blog post? JUMP TO RECIPE HERE!

What is white bean salad?

Ingredients and substitutions for cannellini bean salad

How to make a white bean salad

Serving suggestions

Storage & Make Ahead

More cannellini bean recipes

More easy salads

Black bean salad Greek salad Chickpea salad Israeli couscous salad Mediterranean salad Mango black bean salad Vegan pasta salad

You’ll love the combination of textures and flavors of this dish! Like our Mediterranean salad and Shirazi salad, this white bean salad is packed with fresh ingredients like tomatoes, herbs, and cucumbers. The dressing is inspired by Turkish and Levantine cuisine. It’s made with olive oil, lemon juice, and sumac, a beautiful red spice with a mild citrusy flavor. Like tabbouleh salad, we rely on a good amount of chopped fresh parsley and scallions to add a fresh, tangy, and herby flavor that pairs beautifully with the white beans. Inevitably, this Mediterranean white bean salad goes well with most of our other Mediterranean recipes. For example, make it a meal by serving it with yogurt tahini sauce, sumac marinated onions, and warm pita bread. This combination reminds us of Turkish Fasulye Piyazi, a delicious, ultra-creamy white bean salad with tahini and onions. But you can also serve it next to spreads and small dishes like hummus, falafel, muhammara, avocado spread, chickpea fritters, or zucchini fritters.

White beans

We like cannellini beans because they are smaller than other white beans and are buttery-tender. You can use canned cannellini beans, drained and rinsed. Or you can use dry cannellini beans that you soaked in water for 8 hours and boiled until tender—about 1 to 2 hours. Here’s our guide on how to cook white beans, should you need it. Substitute navy beans, great northern beans, baby lima beans, butter beans, chickpeas, lentils, or black beans for cannellini.

Tomatoes

We use ripe vine tomatoes cut into wedges. Substitute Roma, grape, date, and cherry tomatoes for vine tomatoes.

Cucumber

You can use Persian, English, or American cucumber.

Scallions

Scallions, also known as green onions or spring onions, are perfect in this white bean salad because they add a slightly pungent flavor without overpowering the salad. Substitute a shallot or mild red onion for scallions.

Fresh parsley

Use fresh flat-leaf parsley, also known as Italian parsley. You can combine the parsley with fresh basil, mint, or coriander. You can also substitute fresh dill for parsley.

Sun-dried tomatoes

Sun-dried tomatoes in oil add an irresistible bold, savory flavor and a slightly chewy texture. We love them in white bean salad! Substitute Kalamata olives or marinated artichokes for sun-dried tomatoes.

Dressing

Extra virgin olive oil. Fresh lemon juice. Red wine vinegar: substitute apple cider vinegar. Sumac: substitute ground cumin. Freshly grated garlic. Sea salt or kosher salt and black pepper.

Optional ingredients

Jalapeños: Optionally, you can add pickled jalapeños or any other chili pepper for some spiciness. Marinated onions: For extra tang, we like to toss in some quick pickled red onions or, even better, sumac-marinated onions. Feta cheese or non-dairy feta: for more creaminess and flavor. Other veggies: You can add diced red pepper, corn kernels, and a pinch of dried oregano, for example.

To a large mixing bowl, add drained and rinsed white beans, tomatoes cut into wedges, diced cucumber, thinly sliced scallions (both white and green part), chopped parsley, and chopped sun-dried tomatoes. In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients: extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice, vinegar, grated garlic, sumac, salt, and black pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad, toss well, then serve the salad immediately, or even better, let the flavors meld for 15 minutes before serving. For example, make it a meal by serving it with:

Yogurt tahini sauce on the side. Or crumbled feta cheese/non-dairy feta. Sumac marinated onions or quick pickled red onions on top. Warm pita bread or focaccia bread. A pickled cucumber, Kalamata olives, and/or toasted pine nuts.

Alternatively, mix it with quinoa, orzo, pasta, bulgur, buckwheat, or couscous. Serve at room temperature: For the best flavor, remove the salad from the fridge 15 minutes before serving it. Refrigerator: Keep the salad in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 to 3 days. Remove from the refrigerator 15 minutes before serving. Freezer: This recipe is not suitable for freezing.