Italian Cannellini Bean Salad – 5 Minute Recipe!
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Cannellini bean salad is a delicious Italian white bean salad, perfect for potlucks and cookouts. This side dish takes 5 minutes to make, so it’s also great for busy weeknights!
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Made this earlier today and had it for lunch. I added the feta cheese. Very good! I’m trying to eat less meat so this is a good option for lunch.
–Becky
Why This Recipe Will Be a Favorite
If you ask me, any dish that takes less than 10 minutes to make is a busy mom’s best friend! In fact, this is such an easy side dish to make, you can probably manage it while juggling a toddler on your hip.
It’s versatile and customizable, too. The cannellini bean salad is a perfect side dish, but because this is a high protein recipe, it makes a wholesome dinner, too. The recipe works with any variety of red or white beans.
Another great thing about canned beans is that they are so budget-friendly!
Together, the Mediterranean inspired flavors are bright, and the finished dish is rustic, inviting, and just downright cozy. That’s a lot to say about a bean salad!!
Happy Kitchen Secrets
The beauty of this recipe is in its simplicity. I think you’ll love how easy it comes together. I have a couple of mom-tested tips to share with you:
- Be sure to rinse the canned beans well under running water before using them.
- For the best flavor, serve the cannellini bean salad within a day or two.
Recipe Ingredients and Substitutions
There are several ingredients, but all of them are budget-friendly and easy to find at any grocery store.
What are Cannellini Beans?
Cannellini beans (also known as white kidney beans), are one of several varieties of Italian white beans. The legumes have a deep nutty flavor and creamy consistency.
- Canned White Beans: This recipe uses canned Cannellini beans for ease, but dried beans will work too. Just plan to give yourself 7 to 8 hours of extra time to soak and cook them!
- Cherry Tomatoes: Feel free to use red or yellow cherry tomatoes, or any other small variety, like grape tomatoes.
- Red Onion: When the onion marinates in the vinegar dressing, it will remove a lot of the harshness! Feel free to substitute with any variety of onion that you like.
- Parsley: If you don’t want to use fresh herbs, substitute a mixture of dry Italian seasoning.
- Red Wine Vinegar: This a popular vinegar for most Italian dishes. Good substitutes for red wine vinegar are white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, and rice wine vinegar.
➡️ If you don’t have cannellini beans, you can substitute with any white bean variety. Great Northern beans, navy beans, and baby lima beans all work.
Optional Add-Ins for Cannellini Bean Salad
These would be fabulous additional ingredients. Depending on what you have on hand and what you enjoy, feel free to add in any or all of the following:
- 1-2 avocados, diced *
- 1 cup baby arugula*
- 1/4 cup crumbled feta
- 1 bell pepper, diced
*For best results, wait until just before serving to stir the avocado and/or arugula into the salad.
Meal Prep Instructions
This recipe is great to make in advance! I’ve found it’s even better if you make it a day in advance and give the flavors a chance to meld together. If you’re making it more than a day in advance, leave the tomatoes and parsley separate, then mix them in before serving. That’ll give you the freshest tasting salad.
Storing Leftovers
Transfer any leftovers to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator 3-4 days. Give it a good stir before you serve it to toss the dressing with the salad again!
If you make this recipe, please give it a star rating and leave a comment below to let me know how it went!
Italian Cannellini Bean Salad
Ingredients
- 30 ounces cannellini beans 2 15 oz. cans, drained and rinsed
- 1½ cups cherry tomatoes
- ¼ cup diced red onion
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Optional Ingredients
- 1 cup baby arugula
- 1 cup diced avocado
- ¼ cup crumbled feta
- ½ bell pepper any color, diced
Video
Instructions
- Do the prep work: Pour the canned beans into a colander and rinse well under water. Mince the onions and parsley. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half.
- Add all of the salad ingredients to a large bowl and stir well to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Serve immediately or cover and set it the refrigerator until you're ready to serve. Quickly toss the salad once more before before serving.
I am not a fan of white beans but everyone is saying how good they are for you that I am making myself to like them haha. That is why I am making this salad tonight – it has everything I love, so I just need the courage to add some white beans haha. Thank you for the recipe!
I made this exactly as written. It was very easy to prepare and my husband and I enjoyed it very much. We do feel it has too much olive oil, the flavor of which sort of hijacked our overall enjoyment of the leftovers (when it was colder). Will make again with much less and will try some of the suggested additions plus maybe a little more onion for additional flavor.
Thank you Sharon! I am so glad to hear you enjoyed it.
Liked this salad and it was very easy to make. I agree with the other commenter that it calls for way too much olive oil. Next time I will likely cut that in half.
Made this earlier today and had it for lunch. I added the feta cheese. Very good! I’m trying to eat less meat so this is a good option for lunch.
Hi Becky, I’m so thrilled you enjoyed the recipe and that it works well with your dietary preferences! Thank you for the lovely feedback. 🙂 -Laura
I just made this and OMG it is delicious. Only thing I changed was I used white wine vinegar instead of the red wine vinegar and put a Lil minced garlic in cause I love garlic with everything
Hi Penny! I’m SO glad to hear you enjoyed this salad. It’s one of my favorites too. I love the changes you made, too! Thanks for sharing!! 🙂 -Laura
Made this for a light salad to eat with some soup for dinner and while it is quite good, I think the recipe calls for too much olive oil. Next time I make it I will reduce the amount of olive oil.
Hi Robin, Thanks for the feedback. I’m glad you enjoyed the salad and found a simple way to make it more to your tastes! 🙂 -Laura
Delish !!! though I added cucumbers and sweet peppers… then goofed and added oregano (with the red wine vinegar. Again delish !! will try your other variations.
Love the macros included but what’s the serving size as printed??
I LOVE the addition of cucumbers and sweet peppers – yum! The great thing about this recipe is there’s no such thing as goofing — you can make it however you like it, and it’s so forgiving that pretty much any changes you make will work beautifully! I’m so thrilled you enjoyed it. The recipe makes 6 servings, so it would be ~1/2 cup.
This bean salad is my spring theme salad!!! Love it!!!
Hi Tasha, Thank you for your kind words! -Laura