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Introducing my super easy Three Bean Salad! This tasty bean salad is surprisingly quick – ready in just 10 minutes and made in one-bowl! And it’s also gluten-free so all can enjoy!
Recipe Difficulty – Very Easy
Table of Contents
Why this recipe works
This super easy mediterranean bean salad recipe is so quick and easy to toss together and packed full of flavor! It is full of fresh veggies and three different kinds of beans that can be easily found in your pantry or most supermarkets.
This easy bean salad recipe is one of my go-to recipes for summer. It is a healthy side dish that is the perfect protein-packed summer salad for a salad bar, summer picnic, or a BBQ side dish.
The homemade dressing is optional, but adds that extra refreshing flavour. You could always just mix in olive oil, but I love the addition of cider vinegar and maple syrup. Either way, it’s absolutely packed full of veg, so it’s a great and easy way to increase your veg and bean intake.
This was inspired by my One-Pan Black Bean Quesadillas and pairs well with this amazing Vegan Potato Salad, Tuna Pasta Salad, Beet Hummus or as a delicious side to my Air Fryer Salmon.
Ingredients to make Three Bean Salad
- Black Beans – Black beans are a staple in many great recipes for a reason! They are good and good for you! If you have some spare then try my Mexican Soup, Sweet Potato & Black Bean Stew or Vegan Pasta Bake.
- Cannellini Beans – are also known as white kidney beans.
- Red Kidney Beans – I love having three different colours of beans in my delicious salad. It makes it look as great as it tastes!
- Celery Stalks – adds a great flavour and crunch to this classic bean salad.
- Pepper – I used a red bell pepper, but you could use any colour of bell peppers.
- Carrot – adds a nice colour and wonderful flavour.
- Cucumber – adds a nice soft texture as well as some water content.
- Fresh Coriander – tops off this easy side dish with a great taste.
Ingredients to make a Bean Salad Dressing
- Olive Oil – forms the base of this dressing. You could use just olive oil if you wanted to keep it super simple.
- Cider Vinegar – adds a nice ,tangy flavour.
- Maple Syrup or Honey – gives some sweetness to the vinegar dressing.
- Salt – brings out and accentuates all of the other great flavours happening in this dish!
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions
- Beans – One of the fun parts of this salad is that you can play around with other types of beans! For example, try pinto beans, garbanzo beans, white beans, lima beans, navy beans, chickpeas, lentils, etc.
- Vegetables – You can really add whatever vegetables you have! Try red onion, fresh green beans, or white onion!
- Coriander – could be replaced with parsley or other fresh herbs like fresh dill.
- Vinegar Dressing ingredients – You could simplify this recipe and just use olive oil. You could also try spicing it up by adding Italian seasoning, crushed garlic, smoked paprika, or other favourite flavours.
- Cider Vinegar – can be replaced with apple cider vinegar, red wine vinegar, or white wine vinegar,
- Olive Oil – can be substituted with other oils like vegetable oil, but note that it will affect the flavour.
Variations
- Spicy – A little black pepper will spice it up some. If you want more of a kick, chili powder and cumin are great options. You could also add in some jalepeno or mix through a teaspoon dijon mustard.
- Deluxe – There are lots of ways to bring this salad up a notch! You could add chopped onion or green onions, squeeze some lime juice or lemon juice on, and sprinkle with vegan feta cheese to finish it off with chopped fresh parsley or mint! Serving it along side my Vegan Quiche for a great summer spread!
- Kid friendly – Kids love dips! Serve this great recipe with some Garlic Hummus with tortilla chips and some vegan cheddar cheese to turn this salad into nachos!
See this Comforting Black Bean Chilli on my website for another great use of beans!
How to make Three Bean Salad
Step 1: Firstly, drain and rinse all of the beans and add them to a large bowl.
Step 2: Next, roughly chop the vegetables and coriander and add them to the large bowl.
Step 3: Add the dressing ingredients into the bowl
Step 4: Mix the salad well until it is combined.
Leftovers
If you have leftover three bean salad, you can store it in the fridge for up to 3 days. It is just as delicious the next day or a couple of days after that! I love to double the recipe and batch make it so I can enjoy it for longer!
Recipe FAQs
Canned beans work just great for most bean recipes. If you’d like to use fresh beans, you are welcome to, but it will add a lot of time to this generally quick dish.
One of the best things about bean salad is there are all sorts of different varieties that are delicious! My favourite combination is black, cannellini, and kidney beans. Experiment with your favourite kind of beans to see which your family prefers!
Your imagination is the limit when it comes to bean salad! Make a Mexican Bean Salad (sometimes referred to as Texas Caviar) by mixing in a can of sweet corn. If you want to keep it to just one type of bean, you have options as well! Make a green bean salad with just green beans and a few toppings like balsamic vinegar and a favourite cheese. Butterbean salad, kidney bean salad, Cannellini bean salad, black bean salad, and white bean salad are all made really similarly to mixed bean salads, but with just one type of bean.
Draining canned beans gets rid of the extra liquid they come packed in. Unless a recipe calls for it, not draining them will add unneeded liquid to your recipe. It is also important to rinse them to help improve the flavour and texture of the beans.
More Easy Salad Recipe
- Courgette Salad
- Prawn Salad
- Vegan Potato Salad
- Aubergine Salad
- Rocket Salad
- Chicken Satay Salad
- Tuna Pasta Salad
- Tofu Salad
- Beetroot Salad
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Three Bean Salad
Equipment
- Chopping Board
- sharp knife
- large mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 400 g canned black beans, drained & rinsed
- 400 g canned cannellini beans, drained & rinsed
- 400 g canned kidney beans, drained & rinsed
- 2 celery stalks, roughly diced
- 1 red bell pepper, roughly diced
- 1 carrot, roughly diced
- ½ cucumber, roughly diced
- handful fresh coriander , finely chopped
Bean Salad Dressing
- ¼ cup olive oil, (60ml)
- ¼ cup cider vinegar , (60ml)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup or honey, (15ml)
- large pinch salt
Instructions
- Firstly drain and rinse your beans and add to a large mixing bowl.
- Now roughly chop the veg and coriander and add to the bowl.
- Add in the dressing ingredients .
- Mix the salad until well combined.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
What is the individual serving size? This recipe is delicious!
Hey Jennifer, I always add that info into the recipe card at the top. It serves around 6 as a side dish or probably 3 as more of a substantial meal. Enjoy 🙂
Easy and delicious
Thank you Sophia 🙂
This is so like a recipe I have used for a couple of years now. It has changed so much from the original with trying alternatives, either the ingredients weren’t in the larder or I just fancy trying something new out. Very often I add bite size chunks of roast chicken or drained tuna. We grow a lot of our veg and very often radishes, tomatoes or raw peas get added. When it’s too hot to cook in the summer this is a dish I love to do, as very little effort is needed. Then I add in cooked pasta which has been well rinsed under the cold tap and a nice lunch becomes dimmer. It’s so worth making your own dressing too and the whole dish is budget friendly. So if there are any ingredients in this that you don’t like I’d encourage you to make it your own, because with bean salad, it is so adaptable.