Classic Bean Salad

By Melissa Clark

Classic Bean Salad
Bobbi Lin for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Eugene Jho. Prop Stylist: Christina Lane.
Total Time
20 minutes
Rating
4(309)
Notes
Read community notes

You can use any kind or combination of canned beans to make this classic picnic salad, but a mix of white beans, chickpeas and red kidney beans makes it especially colorful. Although this is delicious when freshly made, it gets even better as it sits. If you have time, make it at least an hour or two before serving; it can rest at room temperature for up to 4 hours — but after that, slip it into the fridge. If you want to make this the day before, add the celery and parsley just before serving, so they stay crisp and green.

Featured in: 20 Easy Salads for Every Summer Table

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings
  • 2small shallots (or 1 large shallot), peeled
  • 3tablespoons apple cider vinegar, plus more to taste
  • 1tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • ½cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to taste
  • 1(15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1(15-ounce) can cannellini or Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1(15-ounce) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • ½cup thinly sliced celery
  • 1cup mixed coarsely chopped fresh parsley and celery leaves
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

450 calories; 21 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 14 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 51 grams carbohydrates; 13 grams dietary fiber; 8 grams sugars; 17 grams protein; 659 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Mince 1 shallot and place in a large bowl. Thinly slice remaining shallot and set aside.

  2. Step 2

    Add vinegar, mustard and a pinch each salt and pepper to the bowl with minced shallot and whisk to combine. Slowly whisk in oil. Season with more salt and pepper to taste.

  3. Step 3

    Add chickpeas, cannellini beans, kidney beans, celery, herbs and sliced shallot to the bowl and toss until evenly coated. Taste and add more salt or vinegar. Drizzle with additional olive oil and top with more black pepper, if desired, and serve.

Ratings

4 out of 5
309 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

Nana

Here's my mom's recipe, at LEAST 60 years old (the recipe, not my mom): 1 15 oz. can kidney beans, rinsed and drained 1 15 oz can cut green beans, rinsed and drained 1 15 oz can cut wax beans, rinsed and drained 1 cup chopped red onion 2 cups chopped celery 1 large green bell pepper, chopped 1/2 cup white vinegar 1/2 vegetable oil 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 tsp salt Mix all together and refrigerate overnight. I've monkeyed with this over the years and settled on 1/4 cup sugar and 1/3 cup oil and vinegar

kb

Even better with added fresh green beans from the garden.

Dave in SF

This salad is excellent. Guess I grew up in a weird family- my mothers bean salad tasted very similar to this. Try to ignore people in comments posting recipes with lots of sugar like you get at the supermarket. This dish is way better. Only suggestion I have is to add a can of cut green beans to the mix. Otherwise it’s a perfect bean salad recipe.

Kristin J

My Grandmother made this with sugar. The vinegar and sugar create a delicious dressing. No mustard.

steph

I really enjoyed this salad! I did not find the mustard overpowering at all. I would not recommend adding sugar - it doesn’t need it and our diets are already flooded with sugar. I added more vinegar and used a good amount of salt and pepper. Will definitely make again.

Patty

I can't digest beans so I used 1 c garbanzo beans and a genrous amount of fresh green beans, boiled for 2-3 minutes. Added 1 tsp of monk fruit sugar, 1/4 c oil and 2 T lemon juice. I was short on parsley so added 4 chopped basil leaves but it tasted bland so I added 2 T of Trader Joe's olive-basil pesto. I also used the mustard. Yum

THEA S

I added a touch of honey to the dressing to cut the acidity a little and added diced red bell pepper and one green onion, white and green parts. I used black eyed peas as the bean only. I like their smokiness and texture. It’s great, fridge staple

Kimmie

Yummy as is. Easy and tasty. If you don't like celery, carrot worked well in place of.

Kim D

A perfect spring side dish! I love this take on the popular tri-bean salad. No need to add sugar. Delicious without any modifications (although I did add chopped red pepper b/c I had some extra and it was fantastic!).

Molly

This is delicious! I chopped a small amount of tarragon and added it too. There’s a restaurant in Big Sur that adds a bit of tarragon and it adds a nice touch if used judiciously.

carol

Really good. I did add about a tablespoon of sugar, a handful of chopped cilantro and some steamed fresh green beans.

mark

Omitted mustard because I dislike it. 2 tbsp of sugar was too much. Will maybe try 1tbsp of sugar. Be sure to use olive oil and not accidentally use avocado oil like me.

Meme

I only used 1/2 the olive oil and it was excellent. Try that.

Scott

What did I do wrong? I was dubious about using oil, instead of the traditional vinegar and sugar, and I think my doubts were well founded. After one night in the refrigerator, this was an unpalatable, gelid mess.

steph

I really enjoyed this salad! I did not find the mustard overpowering at all. I would not recommend adding sugar - it doesn’t need it and our diets are already flooded with sugar. I added more vinegar and used a good amount of salt and pepper. Will definitely make again.

Dave in SF

This salad is excellent. Guess I grew up in a weird family- my mothers bean salad tasted very similar to this. Try to ignore people in comments posting recipes with lots of sugar like you get at the supermarket. This dish is way better. Only suggestion I have is to add a can of cut green beans to the mix. Otherwise it’s a perfect bean salad recipe.

Kevin

This is a wonderful summer treat! I was out of celery, so chopped some seedless cucumber instead and used celery salt in lieu of kosher salt. I also added just a smidge of agave syrup to make it just slightly sweet/sour. Will try other fresh herbs with the celery leaves too (or I think that lovage would be a perfect add/substitution in place of the parsley/celery leaves in this recipe).

Alena

Based on other notes, added 2tbsp sugar to the vinegar/shallot marinade and 1/4 cup finely chopped sun dried tomatoes, and left out the mustard. Was an absolute hit! I couldn’t stop eating even before it had a chance to sit.

candy

I love this perfect recipe anytime of year! Instead of red kidney beans, I usse black beans. Just my preference.

Heidi S. (Woodinville)

I halved the recipe but otherwise made as written. I didn't think the mustard was too much. I'll make this again.

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