Greek Three Bean Salad

This Greek Three Bean Salad is the perfect summer side dish! It’s loaded with fresh herbs and veggies, packed with protein, and brimming with Mediterranean flavors. 

Easy Bean Salad Recipe

This bean salad recipe is one of my all time favorite protein and flavor-packed vegetarian side dishes. It’s loaded up with cannellini beans, navy beans, kidney beans, tons of fresh veggies, three types of fresh herbs, and a sprinkle of feta cheese. 

This simple salad is one of those dishes that just gets better the longer it sits, so you can make it hours before or a day ahead and have a fabulous meal prep item or dish ready to snack on or feed a crowd.

It takes just 20 minutes to prep and can easily be made vegan!

Ingredients Needed:

• Lemon Vinaigrette: we’re whipping up a simple homemade lemon vinaigrette with lemon juice, red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, salt, pepper, oregano, and olive oil. 
• Beans: the three beans for our 3 bean salad are cannellini beans, navy beans, and kidney beans.
• Veggies: we’re loading up our salad with red onion, grape tomatoes, cucumber, roasted red pepper, pepperoncini, and marinated artichokes. 
• Herbs: a combination of cilantro, parsley, and mint give this bean salad so much fresh flavor.
• Cheese: cheese is optional, but I love to add a sprinkle of feta cheese for a salty finish.

How to Make Three Bean Salad

This bean salad recipe is just about as simple as it gets…especially if you’re using canned beans!

1. Make the dressing: In a bowl, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients except the oil. Once combined, slowly add in the oil, whisking constantly, until fully combined.
2. Combine: In a separate bowl, mix together all of the salad ingredients. Pour on half of the dressing, mix, then add more dressing as needed. 
3. Rest and serve: Let the assembled bean salad rest for 20 minutes, then dig in. 

Dried Beans vs Canned Beans

Whether you use canned or dried beans for this recipe is totally up to you and your preferences!

Obviously using canned beans is going to be the simpler route to take, but you can totally cook and cool fresh beans too. You’ll need about ⅓ cup of dried beans for each of the bean varieties. 

If you are cooking dried beans, here are some of my best bean cooking tips:

• Make sure to soak the beans in plenty of water. The beans expand as they soak and you want them to remain covered the whole time.
• Before cooking, drain and rinse the beans well. 
• Add kombu, an edible sea vegetable found in most grocery stores, when cooking the beans. It contains enzymes that help break down the sugars in the beans that cause gas or intestinal issues.

Tips for Making this Bean Salad Recipe

• Make it uniform. I recommend slicing the veggies up so they’re all relatively similar in size. We want the bean salad to be nice and uniform for perfect flavor in every bite. 
• Let it rest. Before serving, let the finished salad sit for at least 20 minutes, but ideally overnight. This gives the flavor in the dressing time to really work it’s way into the beans and veggies. 
• Drain and rinse the beans. If you’re using canned beans, make sure you drain and rinse them before adding them to the salad. 
• If you’re cooking dried beans, make sure you cool them completely before mixing them into the salad. Any residual heat could affect the texture of your fresh veggies.
• If you have leftover dressing, store it in a jar in the fridge for up to 1 week.
• Make it into a main dish by mixing in some cooked and cooled shredded chicken.
• Feel free to use other varieties of beans as well! Try garbanzo beans, wax beans, black beans, lima beans, pinto beans, or even green beans. 

Serving Suggestions

This bean salad is perfect for summer potlucks or grill outs. Serve it with your favorite burgers, Grilled Pork Chops, Greek Chicken Kebabs, Greek Veggie Bowls, Sheet Pan Greek Meatballs with Veggies and Chickpeas, you name it. 

Check out more of my Healthy Summer Recipes for pairing ideas!

Can Bean Salad Be Prepped in Advance?

Yes! In fact, I even recommend making it a day in advance. The longer the salad sits, the more time the beans and veggies have to soak in all that flavor from the vinaigrette.

Does Three Bean Salad Need to Be Refrigerated?

Leftover three bean salad will last in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days. I don’t recommend freezing it because the texture of the veggies will be affected.

Watch The Video:

Greek Three Bean Salad

5 from 2 votes

This Greek Three Bean Salad is the perfect summer side dish! It’s loaded with fresh herbs and veggies, packed with protein, and brimming with Mediterranean flavors.

Servings 6

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

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Ingredients

  

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Lemon Vinaigrette:

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons dijon mustard more to taste
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil add more to taste

Three Bean Salad Ingredients:

• 1 cup canned cannellini beans drained and rinsed
• 1 cup canned navy beans drained and rinsed
• 1 cup canned kidney beans drained and rinsed
• 1 red onion diced
• 2 cups grape tomatoes sliced in half
• 1 cucumber diced
• 1/2 cup diced roasted red pepper
• 1/2 cup diced pepperoncini
• 1/2 cup marinated artichokes diced
• 1 tablespoon cilantro roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon parsley roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon mint roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese optional

Instructions

• Place all salad dressing ingredients except for olive oil in a small mixing bowl and whisk together. Slowly pour  in extra-virgin olive oil while whisking together. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl add all of the salad ingredients. Add half of the salad dressing to the salad bowl, mix well and taste. Add more salad dressing as desired.
• Let sit for at least 20 minutes before serving, the longer it sits the better! Best if made the night before.

Nutrition

Serving: 6gCalories: 239kcalCarbohydrates: 31.9gProtein: 10.2gFat: 9.2gSaturated Fat: 1.3gSodium: 406mgFiber: 10.7gSugar: 5.3g

Course: Salad

Author: Lexi

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