Cannellini Bean Salad

This Cannellini Bean Salad is the ultimate spring and summertime recipe! It's made with cannellini beans (aka white kidney beans), tomatoes, cucumbers, and onion, and drizzled with a simple lemon dressing. It's light yet flavorful, plant-based and ready in just 10 minutes!

It’s about time I create a recipe with cannellini beans (aka white kidney beans), and this cannellini bean salad is SO perfect for spring! 

If you need a plant-based lunch/dinner/side recipe, this salad is for you. It kind of reminds me of my Mediterranean chickpea tuna salad, and I guarantee I’ll be making it all summer long. 

Recipe features

• Uses beans as the main ingredient and the protein, so it’s filling while still staying vegetarian
• Loaded with good-for-you veggies like tomatoes, cucumber and red onion
• Drizzled in a super simple “dressing” that gives it a light flavor 

Ingredient notes:

• Cannellini beans: Though these are the main ingredient, you can also sub great northern beans or baby lima beans. Just know that they all have slightly different flavors, so it won’t taste exactly the same. 
• Tomatoes: Grape, cherry, or diced roma 
• Cucumber: Chopped; I almost always prefer seedless 
• Red onion: Sliced or diced; can sub shallot if you’re in a pinch, though I would cut the amount in half 
• Radishes: If there’s one ingredient to omit, it’d be the radishes. I love them, but they aren’t 100% essential (though they do add a lovely color to it!) 
• Parsley: No substitution 
• Lemon: Again, no substitution; Always buy fresh lemons and squeeze the juice out rather than buying pre-made lemon juice 
• White wine vinegar: Can use red wine vinegar if you prefer (both are delicious!) 
• Olive oil: I love providing alternatives to olive oil (like avocado or coconut); however, in this case, ya gotta use olive oil. Trust me! It pairs so well with white beans and is the base in the “dressing”.

Method

Step 1: Rinse the beans. We’re using canned beans, so be sure to pour them into a strainer and rinse them with cold water to remove any of the juices from the can. 

Step 2: Chop the veggies. Next, dice or chop up any of the vegetables you’re using. For this recipe, that’s tomatoes, cucumber, onion, radishes, and parsley. 

Step 3: Combine. Last, whisk the olive oil, lemon juice and vinegar together. Add the beans and vegetables to a large bowl, drizzle the dressing overtop and stir to combine. 

Tips and FAQs

-Feel free to add feta (regular or vegan) to this to take it up a notch! 

-This salad tastes even better the next day (in my opinion), so prepping it at the beginning of the week is a great idea. 

-Feel free to customize this to your liking; other delicious add-ins include:

• chicken
• baked tofu
• zucchini
• red bell pepper
• yellow squash
• black olives
• ...so many more options!

What’s the difference between cannellini beans and great northern beans? 

According to Camellia brand, cannellini beans are the largest white bean (hence why they're sometimes referred to as white kidney beans) and they have a slightly nutty flavor. Great northern beans are known for their mild flavor, and they're medium in size.

You can read more about white beans and their differences here.

Can this be prepped ahead of time? 

Yes! I wouldn't prep it more than 24 hours in advance, but the longer it sits the more the beans will absorb the lemon juice and white wine vinegar, which makes it even more delicious.

Storage

• Refrigerator: Store cannellini bean salad in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. 
• Freezer: Since this salad is already cold, you can make it then immediately transfer it to 2 sealed plastic bags and store it in the freezer for up to 2 months. 

More delicious bean recipes:

• Easy Vegan Chili
• Tomato Bacon Green Bean Salad
• Vegan Minestrone Soup
• Fudgy Black Bean Brownies 

If you made this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and star rating below. Thanks!