White Bean Salad

/5 –

By: Diana Posted: 8/27/22

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You will love this light and refreshing White Bean Salad made with simple pantry staples, cherry tomatoes, crunchy red onion, and herbs, and tossed in a zesty lemon garlic dressing.

Overhead shot of white bean salad with cherry tomatoes in a white bowl with a serving spoon

This protein-rich plant-based salad is one of my personal favorites! It uses simple pantry ingredients, and whatever I have on hand from vegetables and herbs. It comes together really quickly, and can be served as a light meal with some toasted sourdough bread (kinda like a large bruschetta!).

This salad is high in plant protein, fiber, minerals, and vitamins. I mean it’s so simple, but it’s very nutritious and flavorful too.

Table of Contents

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

One Bowl – That’s right, we’re making the salad dressing and the salad in the same bowl.
Canned Beans – We’re using two cans of cannellini beans that are drained and rinsed and ready to go! But I’ll provide instructions on how to use dried white beans here.
Inexpensive – The ingredients used to make this salad are quite cheap, just pick up a couple of white bean cans next time you’re shopping, some cherry tomatoes, and I bet you already have everything else in your kitchen.
Prepare Ahead – This salad is perfect for making ahead, or meal prep. I will share my tips and tricks on how to make this salad last longer.

The Ingredients

Ingredients needed to make white bean salad

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

White Beans: I’m using canned cannellini beans, but you can also try great northern or navy beans, butter beans will also work here but they’re quite large. Drain and rinse the beans, and they’re good to go in the salad!
Cherry Tomatoes: An optional ingredient, but I love the sweetness and tanginess that cherry tomatoes add to this salad. Regular tomatoes can also be diced and used here.
Onion: I use red onion, but a yellow or white onion would also work here. Just dice it small, and add it to the salad for a lovely crunch and sharpness.
Herbs: Almost anything goes! I like parsley, but mint would also be delicious. You can also use cilantro, rosemary, or dill. They all give very different flavors but the salad will still be delicious.
Dressing: Our dressing is so simple, all you need is olive oil, fresh lemon juice, a pressed garlic clove, salt, and pepper. Whisk everything together in the bowl before adding the rest of the ingredients.

How To Make White Bean Salad

To the bottom of the mixing bowl, add the dressing ingredients; olive oil, lemon juice (and lemon zest if desired), garlic, salt, and pepper.
Using a small whisk, whisk everything together until well combined.
Add the white beans, halved cherry tomatoes, diced onion, and chopped herbs.
Toss everything together until well combined. Now it’s ready to be served!

Tip!

If you’re not serving the salad right away, hold off adding the tomatoes and add them right before serving.

Recipe Tips

Refrigerate. This salad tastes better if you cover it and chill it in the fridge for 30 minutes before serving. This helps the flavors to meld, but it’s also an optional step.
Add cheese! Feel free to add crumbled feta cheese, it adds creaminess and saltiness to your salad. If you’re meal prepping, only add feta before serving.
Use Dry Beans. If you have dry beans that you’d like to use, you need 1 cup of dried beans that are soaked for at least 8 hours, then drained and cooked in plenty of water until they’re tender (about 1 hour). Make sure that you don’t overcook them as they’ll start falling apart.

At an angle shot of white bean salad in a bowl, with cherry tomatoes, parsley, and lemon zest.

Storing Tips

White bean salad is a refrigerator salad, which means that it lasts in the fridge when kept for a few days. Store it in an airtight container for 3-4 days. If you’re worried about the cherry tomatoes becoming soggy, just store them separately and only add them to the salad right before serving.

If you’re meal prepping, I recommend making the dressing in a separate bowl and dressing the salad right before serving.

What To Serve With

This lemony and garlicky salad can be enjoyed on its own, with a couple of slices of toasted sourdough. For a full meal, serve it with these simple Garlic Butter Chicken Tenders, Falafel, Lemon Baked Cod, or for a vegetarian spread, try my Hummus, Baba Ganoush, and Muhammara dips!

More Easy Salads to Try

Greek Salad

Panzanella Salad

Three Bean Salad

Mediterranean Chickpea Salad

All Salads ➜

FAQs

What can I substitute white beans with?

White beans (aka cannellini beans) can be substituted with navy beans, great Northern beans, butter beans, or even chickpeas.

Can I use lemon concentrate, jarred garlic, and dried herbs?

Yes, you can, but this is not something that I’d personally recommend. For such fresh and simple salads, I always recommend using the freshest ingredients possible. Take a whole lemon, get the zest, and juice it! If you only have dried herbs available, make sure that you use small quantities as the flavors will be concentrated compared to fresh herbs.

If you love white beans and you’re looking for more recipes to try, check out my Easy White Bean Soup, Creamy Crockpot White Chicken Chili, Ham and Bean Soup, and this classic Three Bean Salad.

If you give this recipe a try, don’t forget to rate it and leave a review in the comments section below! I hope that you love it as much as I do!