Mediterranean Red Kidney Bean Salad

This simple and nutritious red kidney bean salad is dressed with a bright, tangy Mediterranean-inspired vinaigrette. It’s a wonderful side dish for grilled or roasted meats, and on its own is vegan-friendly too!

I love the bright colors and fresh flavors in this kidney bean salad recipe, and I know that you will too!

A simple yet delicious combination of canned beans, fresh vegetables, chopped herbs, and a homemade dressing requires absolutely no cooking and can be whipped up in just minutes.

This makes it perfect for last-minute entertaining, or just a simple weeknight meal.

Serve this salad as a fiber and veggie-packed side dish, or enjoy it on its own as a vegetarian and vegan entree.

If you’re looking for more delicious Mediterranean-style salads, you’re also going to love my Greek Salad, Fattoush Salad, and Greek Orzo Salad.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

1. No Cooking – Canned kidney beans and garbanzo beans make this no-cook salad recipe super simple. It’s similar in this way to my Cowboy Caviar, Three Bean Salad, and White Bean Salad recipes. Simply stir everything together and it’s ready to eat!
2. One Bowl – Make the dressing right in your salad bowl, then mix in the other fresh ingredients. You’ll have barely any dishes to do later.
3. Easy to Make Ahead – While this salad is delicious right after it’s made, it can be stored in the fridge for several days too.

Key Ingredients

Here’s what you need to make this delicious kidney bean salad:

• Beans: Start with one can each of kidney beans and chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans). Drain and rinse them well.
• Vegetables: Chopped red onion, English cucumber, bell pepper (any color) and cherry tomatoes give this salad so much color, crunch, and flavor.
• Fresh Herbs: Parsley and basil, chopped coarsely add a pop of earthiness to the salad.
• For the Dressing: Blend extra-virgin olive oil with fresh lemon juice, minced garlic, dried oregano, salt and pepper. It’s so simple to make this dressing from scratch!

Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.

How To Make This Easy Kidney Bean Salad

1. Make the Dressing: In a large salad bowl or mixing bowl, whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, salt, black pepper, and minced garlic to create the dressing.

2. Make the Salad: Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl with the dressing (kidney beans, chickpeas, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, bell pepper, and fresh herbs). Stir gently to ensure that everything is well coated with the dressing.

Recipe Tips

• Use fresh, high-quality ingredients. Since we’re not cooking anything in this salad, all of the ingredients must be delicious and fresh to start with. This will mean that you can keep the salad for longer in the refrigerator as well.
• Add cheese. If you don’t need this salad to be vegan, try adding crumbled feta, goat cheese, or shredded cheddar.
• For added sweetness, you can add 1 teaspoon of honey or maple syrup to the dressing. As written, this recipe is free from any added sugar, but it doesn’t need to be.
• Change up the vegetables. This salad will be delicious with any fresh salad veggies you have on hand. You can also swap out the kidney and garbanzo beans for others, such as butter beans or cannellini beans.
• If you’d like to use dry beans, simply cook them using your favorite method first. You’ll need about 1 cup of dried beans in total to equal the two cans of beans needed for this recipe.

Storing Tips

You can store this salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

If you need to keep it a bit longer than that, I suggest keeping the dressing and salad separate and mixing them together before serving. As long as your ingredients are fresh, this should allow you to make it up to 5 days ahead.

How to Serve Kidney Bean Salad

• By itself, straight out of the bowl!
• As a vegetarian sandwich filling, in a warmed pita with hummus or baba ganoush.
• As a summery side salad, with grilled portobello mushrooms, shrimp kabobs, or grilled halloumi cheese.

Recipe FAQs

What can I use instead of kidney beans?

Any kind of beans can be used in this bean salad recipe! Try it with white cannellini beans or navy beans instead. You can also just double the amount of chickpeas, and make this a Mediterranean Chickpea Salad instead of a kidney bean salad.

Are Red Kidney Beans Good for You?

Generally, red kidney beans are high in protein, fiber, and iron. Beans are a staple in vegetarian and vegan diets, and as a bonus, they’re delicious too!

How long can I keep bean salad in the fridge?

Once mixed, this salad will last for a maximum of 4 days in the refrigerator. With time, the vegetables will start to soften too much, so try to eat the salad before that happens.

Don’t forget to pin this easy red kidney bean salad recipe for later! I hope that you love it as much as I do!