by Laura Miner, 11 Comments | This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Prep Time 5 minutesminutes
Cook Time 5 minutesminutes
Total Time 10 minutesminutes
This easy Mediterranean inspired Cannellini Bean Salad is made with canned beans and a few other flavorful ingredients… in only five minutes! It’s the perfect no-cook Vegetarian side dish for gatherings and busy weeknights. Make a bowl today!
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Say goodbye to boring bean salads! The flavors in this cannellini bean salad are so simple, but just absolutely wonderful. It’s got creamy white beans, juicy tomatoes, bright herbs, rich olive oil, and just the right amount of acid from the red wine vinegar.
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!! Serve with crusty bread, simple grilled fish, meatballs, or marinated chicken breasts.
This is one bean salad that’ll convert even those who aren’t thrilled with vegetarian dishes or beans. Even my meat-and-potatoes husband took one bite and said, “Oh! Wow! This is really good!” And then he had a second helping.
This salad is made mostly with pantry and household staples, but my favorite thing about it is that the salad and the dressing are made and tossed together in the same bowl, so there’s no extra dirty dishes or work for you!
You may also like: , Mediterranean Salad with Tuna.
Cannellini Beans. This recipe is made with canned beans for ease, but dried beans will work too – just plan to give yourself 7 to 8 hours of extra time to cook them!
Cherry Tomatoes
Red Onion. When the onion marinates in the vinegar dressing a bit before serving, it takes a lot of the harshness out of them!
Parsley or if you don’t have fresh herbs, substitute a mixture of dry Italian seasonings.
Red Wine Vinegar
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Optional Ingredients
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.
What are Cannellini Beans?
Cannellini beans are one variety of white beans. They look like cream colored kidney beans, their flavor is mildly nutty and earthy, and the skins are extremely tender.
Cannellini beans are the most commonly used white bean in Italian dishes, particularly those with mediterranean influences.
➡️ If you don’t have cannellini beans, you can substitute any other white bean. Great northern beans, navy beans, and baby lima beans all work
🔪 Recipe Steps
The beauty of this recipe is in its simplicity. The ingredient and the cooking process are incredibly easy to simple it is.
Do the prep work: Open the cans of beans, pour the contents into a colander, and rinse well under water. Mince the onions and parsley. Slice the tomatoes in half.
Mix & serve: Add all the ingredients to a large bowl and mix it together well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. You can serve it immediately or cover and set it the refrigerator until you’re ready to enjoy it, but give it a quick toss before serving.
đź“ť Notes & Helpful Info
To make in advance
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.
To store 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!
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This Cannellini Bean Salad is made in only five minutes! It's the perfect no-cook Vegetarian side dish for gatherings and busy weeknights.
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Mediterranean
Servings 6servings
Calories 182kcal
Author Laura Miner
Prep Time 5 minutesminutes
Cook Time 5 minutesminutes
Total Time 10 minutesminutes
Ingredients
3cupscannellini beans, about two 15 oz. cans, rinsed
1.5cupscherry tomatoes
1/4cupdiced red onion
1-8cupminced fresh parsley
1/3cupolive oil
1/8cupred wine vinegar
1/2teaspoonsalt
1/2teaspoonpepper
Optional Ingredients
1cupbaby arugula
1-2avocadodiced
1/4cupcrumbled feta
1/2bell pepperdiced
Instructions
Do the prep work: Open the cans, pour the contents into a colander, and rinse well under water. Mince the onions and parsley. Slice the tomatoes in half.
Mix Together: Add all the ingredients to a large bowl and mix it together well. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serve: Serve immediately, or cover and set it the refrigerator until you're ready to serve. Quickly toss the salad once more before before serving.
Video
Notes
*Nutrition information does not include optional ingredients.
To store leftovers: Transfer any leftovers to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator 3-4 days.
How to prepare cannellini beans. Canned beans just need to be drained and rinsed, then they're ready to use. For dried beans, soak them in lots of cold water for a minimum of 5 hours (they'll expand, so make sure your bowl is big).
You can indeed. Canned beans are already cooked. So you're not really cooking them, you're just heating them. All canned beans have been cooked, and in the canning process they are heated more.
Cannellini beans are wonderfully nutritious. They're fat free and an excellent source of fiber, folate, iron and magnesium. One 1/4 cup serving contains 11 grams of protein! Adding nutritious foods like dried cannellini beans to your diet may help control blood sugar levels; talk with your doctor.
Canned beans are packed in a solution of water, salt, and starch. That solution can leave a glossy film on the beans, interfering with not only mouthfeel (slimy beans are a little off-putting), but also the ability of the beans to cling to other ingredients in the dish and absorb those flavors.
Unless the recipe tells you to keep the canned beans in their liquid, you should drain your can and give the beans a good rinse before using. This will improve the flavor and texture of your finished dish. Open your cans of beans using a can opener. There may be sharp edges from opening the can.
Cannellini and great northern beans are similar but they do have subtle differences in flavor and texture. That said, if it's 30 minutes until dinnertime and you're staring at a can of the "wrong" kind of beans in your pantry, rest assured that you can swap one for another.
Beans are rich in soluble fiber. This type of fiber is water soluble and turns into a kind of gel in your gut. We can't digest these compounds, but our gut bacteria love them. As your gut bugs start to ferment the soluble fiber, they produce gasses.
As it turns out, the toxin Phytohaemagglutinin occurs naturally in several kinds of raw beans, including broad beans, white kidney beans, and red kidney beans. This toxin causes gastroenteritis, an unpleasant condition that sends most folks to the bathroom.
It may be confusing to you and others since some dried beans, like kidney and cannellini beans, are not safe to eat raw and must be cooked before consuming. They contain high amounts of the toxin phytohaemagglutinin. According to the FDA, boiling dried beans in water for at least 10 minutes breaks down this toxin.
Several types exist, though the most common are cannellini beans, which are also called white kidney beans. Tender, with an earthy, nutty flavor, they make a great addition to soups, stews, chilis, and other dishes. This article reviews the nutrient profile, benefits, and uses of white beans.
Low-calorie, nutrient-dense cannellini beans and other legumes are packed with disease-fighting antioxidants, have anti-inflammatory properties and have even been found to help people with diabetes (about half of whom also have arthritis).
In summary, cannellini beans are full of health perks. Eating them often can greatly improve your protein and fibre intake. They also supply you with key vitamins and minerals. Plus, their low glycemic impact makes them a good choice for managing blood sugar levels.
Cannellini beans are high in fibre and contain vitamin C as well as magnesium, a mineral that helps our muscles to function properly. Chickpeas are a good source of fibre and contain more than 10 different micronutrients, including copper, which keeps our skin and hair healthy.
The reason that beans are safe to eat straight from the can is pretty simple: They're already cooked. Per Epicurious, beans are blanched before being canned with water, salt, and other additives, and then sealed and cooked under steam pressure at a high temperature before landing at your local grocery store.
According to the Food and Drug Administration's Bad Bug Book, dried red kidney beans and cannellini beans contain toxic levels of lectin—proteins that bind to carbohydrates—and can cause vomiting, diarrhea and gastrointestinal illness for several hours when not cooked properly.
The liquid in good canned beans is just the water and salt the beans were cooked in… filled with delicious bean flavor. And this liquid is a great thickener for not only the specific dish you're making at the moment, but for any dish that could use some thickening, some salt, and some bean flavor.
Conversely, commercially tinned/canned beans are safe to eat without further cooking as they have been subjected to thorough heat-treatment. Consumers are advised to soak and cook beans thoroughly to minimise exposure to lectins, and not to use raw or inadequately cooked beans in the preparation of salad dishes.
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