Mediterranean Bean Salad
on Jun 08, 2023, Updated Aug 11, 2026
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Ready in 10 minutes, this Mediterranean bean salad is an exciting twist on a three bean salad. It has cannellini beans, kidney beans and chickpeas along with red peppers, olives, cucumbers, tomatoes and crumbled feta. It is fresh and full of flavor and tossed in an Italian vinaigrette. This is a great salad for sharing.
You can also try this herby white bean salad if you’re looking for another bean salad recipe.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Salad
It’s a three bean salad, but better. No offense to the American picnic classic that is a three bean salad, but you can make it so much more interesting. This just involves adding a few more ingredients and whipping up a really good dressing.
It won’t wilt since there are no greens. Beans are a wonderful salad base alternative instead of lettuce. They come in handy for potluck and picnic salads. That’s because these dishes tend to sit longer, so there is more of a risk of them getting soggy.
This dense bean salad is a salad and a side dish. I love when a salad can do more than just that. Beans make it more like a side, but the vinaigrette still gives it the freshness that you want from a salad.
Best Beans for a Three Bean Salad
First of all, canned beans are my go-to for salads. Rather than cooking dried beans, I prioritize convenience. I like to use a few kinds of beans that are different sizes and colors. This is for looks, texture and taste. If a recipe has three varieties of the same ingredient type, they should all bring their own distinct personalities to the final dish.
One exception to canned beans is green beans. I don’t use green beans in this recipe, but they are a mainstay in many three bean salads. Never use canned ones. Quickly cook fresh green beans like I do for this green bean salad with tomatoes & olives. You want them to have some bite and be crisp tender.
The Ingredients
This is what you need:
- Beans: Cannellini beans, chickpeas and kidney beans give you a medley with variety in taste and texture. For white beans, you can substitute with smaller great northern beans. If you’re a fan of big beans, make this butter bean salad.
- Bell peppers: Eaten raw, red peppers have lots of fresh crunch. You can use orange or yellow pepper. Skip green peppers because they are more bitter.
- Cucumbers: I prefer using an English cucumber because the skin is more delicate and it has less seeds.
- Tomatoes: Keeping with the sizes of the beans and the rest of the ingredients, the recipe calls for halved cherry or grape tomatoes.
- Red onions are crisp and add nice sharpness and contrast to texture of the soft beans in the salad.
- Kalamata olives have good salty flavor. I slice pitted olives in half, so they are a complementary size to the beans.
- Feta: Taking inspiration from a classic Greek salad, I stir in feta cheese. You can substitute with goat cheese or sprinkle in Parmesan.
- Parsley: I fold in chopped fresh herbs. Basil will also work, but parsley is better for leftovers because it isn’t as delicate.
- Italian vinaigrette: The vinaigrette is a combination of garlic, mustard, honey, dried oregano, red pepper flakes, red wine vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, red pepper flakes, kosher salt and black pepper.
How To Make This Mediterranean Bean Salad
1. Make the dressing. Whisk the minced garlic, mustard, honey, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, vinegar and olive oil in a small bowl.
2. Assemble the salad. Combine the cannellini beans, kidney beans, chickpeas, onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, feta and parsley in a large bowl.
3. Drizzle the vinaigrette into the salad. Stir everything together.
Serving
This Mediterranean bean salad is good choice for a potluck or picnic. Since it doesn’t have lettuce, it is more sturdy, and there’s no risk of it wilting. I also like serving this recipe in a trio of salads along with my arugula salad with lemon vinaigrette and grilled vegetable orzo salad. This works because you have a leafy greens salad, a pasta salad and a bean salad.
Recipe Tips
If you want to stretch leftovers, you can combine them with cooked grains. Try stirring the bean salad with quinoa, barley or farro. Also, this makes the salad lean more toward being a side dish.
Depending what beans you have in your pantry, you can swap out this combination of beans or use a single type. You will miss out on some of the variety, but you can make a Mediterranean white bean salad instead.
More Bean Salad Recipes
Black Bean and Corn Salad
Quinoa Black Bean Salad
Cannellini Bean Salad
Pesto Tortellini Salad with White Beans
Asparagus White Bean Salad
This salad is part of my guide to easy salad recipes for every season featuring fresh ideas for all year long. Also, if you’re a chickpea person, you will love my chickpea recipe collection with tips and more.
Did you make this bean salad recipe? Please leave a rating and comment below. Thanks!
Mediterranean Bean Salad
Ingredients
For vinaigrette
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
For salad
- 1-15 ounce can cannellini beans drained and rinsed
- 1-15 ounce can kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 1-15 ounce can chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes
- 1 cup diced cucumbers
- 1/4 cup finely diced red onions
- 1/2 cup halved pitted Kalamata olives
- 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
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Instructions
- For the vinaigrette, whisk together garlic, mustard, honey, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, vinegar and olive oil in a small bowl.
- In a large bowl, combine the cannellini beans, kidney beans, chickpeas, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, olives, feta and parsley.
- Drizzle in the dressing, stirring to combine the salad.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Browsing for recipes and found great ideas for something new.
Simple and delicious. Even my usually finicky son enjoyed it.
Can you make this a day ahead?
I recommend only making it 2 hours in advance so it’s at its freshest and best texture.
I actually disagree with the author. Of course she’s the expert, but I think this salad is SO GOOD after it’s been sitting and marinating overnight. And if you can store it in a tupperware bowl/comtainer with a top, flip it upside down halfway through so everything marinates evenly.
I’ve been trying to find a recipe for these beans for years. Greek diners in NYC always had them! This was excellent and exactly how I remember them.
This was delicious. And easy to prepare.
Love these recipes!!!
We loved this easy and healthy recipe! Thanks for sharing your delicious recipes!
Delicious salad! Thanks for sharing!