This fresh and easy Mediterranean White Bean Salad is packed with juicy herbs and tangy olives, all in a light vinaigrette dressing for a zesty and delicious salad that's perfect as a light lunch on it's own, or great to serve as a side for a BBQ or to take on a picnic.
I love to make this fresh Mediterranean bean salad bean salad in Summer. It's fresh bold flavors make it the perfect recipe to serve alongside rich grilled foods, plus it's robust enough to take on a picnic or to survive outside on a warm day, making it a great option for meal prep or for pot luck get togethers.
If you're a big fan of white beans, then check out some of my other bean recipes like this White Bean Puttanesca or why not try one of my favorite dips, Creamy Dill Pickle and Butterbean.
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🥗Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you'll need for this mediterranean white bean salad recipe. Head to the recipe card at the bottom of the post for full recipe and quantities.
- White Beans: I like to use cannellini beans in this recipe (sometimes called white kidney beans) but you can choose to use butter beans, baby lima beans or great northern beans .
- Red Bell Pepper: You can choose other colours of bell peppers if you wish, but I prefer red peppers!
- Green olives or Kalamata Olives: Choose good quality olives that have no seeds. My general rule for olives is if I wouldn't be happy to eat them on their own as a mezze then I won't add them to my salads or cooking.
- Capers in brine: Tangy and perfect in this salad.
- Fresh Parsley. Think of parsley as the main green vegetable in this salad. You need plenty of it!
- Fresh Mint: I love fresh mint in salads, however you can also add other fresh herbs such as dill or a few leaves of fresh basil.
- Green Onions or Red onion: Whichever you prefer best.
For the zesty dressing:
- White Wine Vinegar (Or apple cider vinegar)
- Good Quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil: The best you can afford.
- 1 clove minced garlic: I like to take some of the intenseness out of the garlic by letting is sit in the vinegar for a few minutes. It sort of 'cooks' the garlic and mellows the flavor.
- Dijon Mustard.
- Flakey Sea Salt
- Agave Syrup or Date Syrup - or sweetener of choice. This helps balance the flavours of the vinaigrette, you just need a few drops
See recipe card for quantities.
👩🍳Instructions
Follow along with these step by step instructions for the perfect salad.
1. Open a can or jar of white beans, drain beans and rinse in fresh water.
2. Make the vinaigrette by finely mincing garlic and adding it to a jar or bowl with vinegar for a few minutes. Add the rest of the vinaigrette ingredients and shake or mix. Taste for balance and add more salt/sweetener or mustard as needed.
3. Mix the beans with roughly ⅓ the vinaigrette in a large bowl. Leave to soak up the flavors while you chop the rest of the ingredients.
4. Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Top with extra fresh herbs to serve.
Hint: Mixing the beans with a little vinaigrette while you chop the other ingredients ensures you end up with a really flavorful salad.
🌶️Substitutions & Variations
Here are some great ways to switch up this salad according to what you have available or prefer to eat!
- Other beans-This salad can be made with almost any type of beans, for example black beans, navy beans or even garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
- Other fresh veggies - add chopped cherry tomatoes, cucumbers or peppery arugula.
- Other preserved veggies - switch up the flavors by adding jarred or canned artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomato halves or little pickled peppers.
- Swap the white wine vinegar for fresh lemon juice or red wine vinegar.
🔪Equipment
This salad really only needs a colander to rinse the beans, a sharp knife and cutting board and a small jar or bowl to mix up the vinaigrette, plus a large mixing bowl or serving bowl to serve in.
🫙Storage
Store this salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. This salad cannot be frozen!
Top tip
Grate the garlic first and let it soak in the vinegar for at least 5 minutes before mixing it up in the vinaigrette.
More Salads
Looking for other simple salads like this?
BBQ and Grilling
This salad is amazing as a side for a BBQ or cookout:
📖 Recipe
Easy Mediterranean White Bean Salad with Olives
Equipment
- 1 small jar to mix up the dressing
- 1 salad bowl
Ingredients Note:
For accuracy, I measure all ingredients in metric as standard, then convert and test the recipe for American cup measurements etc.
(Heads up Aussie and UK readers- your measurements in cups are sometimes different, so please use metric or check you have the correct cup and spoon type!!)
Ingredients
- 240 g cannellini beans ((equivalent of 1 drained tin/can))
- 1 red pepper
- 100 g (1¼ cups) fresh parsley
- 20 g (¼ cups) mint leaves
- 50 g (½ cups) spring onions (about 6 onions)
- 50 g (⅓ cups) pitted olives
- 25 g (3 tablespoon) capers
For the Vinaigrette Dressing
- 1 clove garlic
- 3 tablespoon vinegar
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon agave (or date syrup)
- ½ teaspoon flakey sea salt (or to taste)
Instructions
Make the Vinaigrette
- Finely mince or grate the garlic and add it to a jar or small bowl.1 clove garlic
- Cover with the vinegar and leave for a few minutes.3 tablespoon vinegar
- Add the rest of the vinaigrette ingredients to the jar or bowl and mix thoroughly. Check the flavor balance and add more salt/sweetener/mustard to taste.2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon dijon mustard, ¼ teaspoon agave , ½ teaspoon flakey sea salt
Make the salad
- Open a can or jar of white beans, drain and rinse.240 g cannellini beans
- Mix the beans in with ⅓ of the vinaigrette in a large bowl, and leave while you get on with the chopping of the rest of the salad.
- Finely dice the red pepper.1 red pepper
- Chop the parsley, finely chop the mint and slice the olives and spring onions.100 g fresh parsley, 20 g mint leaves, 50 g spring onions, 50 g pitted olives
- Add all the ingredients for the salad into the bowl with the beans. Dress with the remaining salad dressing and toss.25 g capers
- Serve with extra herbs on top if you're being fancy!
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