White Bean Salad

Our white bean salad is inspired by ingredients and flavors used by the countries touched by the Mediterranean Sea.

You’ll love the combination of textures and flavors of this dish!

Like our Mediterranean salad and Shirazi salad, this white bean salad is packed with fresh ingredients like tomatoes, herbs, and cucumbers.

The dressing is inspired by Turkish and Levantine cuisine. It’s made with olive oil, lemon juice, and sumac, a beautiful red spice with a mild citrusy flavor.

If you don’t have sumac, you can use ground cumin instead. It’s equally delicious.

Like tabbouleh salad, we rely on a good amount of chopped fresh parsley and scallions to add a fresh, tangy, and herby flavor that pairs beautifully with the white beans.

Inevitably, this Mediterranean white bean salad goes well with most of our other Mediterranean recipes.

For example, make it a meal by serving it with yogurt tahini sauce, sumac marinated onions, and warm pita bread.

This combination reminds us of Turkish Fasulye Piyazi, a delicious, ultra-creamy white bean salad with tahini and onions.

But you can also serve it next to spreads and small dishes like hummus, falafel, muhammara, avocado spread, chickpea fritters, or zucchini fritters.

Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

White beans

We like cannellini beans because they are smaller than other white beans and are buttery-tender.

You can use canned cannellini beans, drained and rinsed.

Or you can use dry cannellini beans that you soaked in water for 8 hours and boiled until tender—about 1 to 2 hours.

Substitute navy beans, great northern beans, baby lima beans, butter beans, chickpeas, lentils, or black beans for cannellini.

Tomatoes

We use ripe vine tomatoes cut into wedges.

Substitute Roma, grape, date, and cherry tomatoes for vine tomatoes.

Cucumber

You can use Persian, English, or American cucumber.

Scallions

Scallions, also known as green onions or spring onions, are perfect in this white bean salad because they add a slightly pungent flavor without overpowering the salad.

Substitute a shallot or mild red onion for scallions.

Fresh parsley

Use fresh flat-leaf parsley, also known as Italian parsley.

You can combine the parsley with fresh basil, mint, or coriander.

You can also substitute fresh dill for parsley.

Sun-dried tomatoes

Sun-dried tomatoes in oil add an irresistible bold, savory flavor and a slightly chewy texture. We love them in white bean salad!

Substitute Kalamata olives or marinated artichokes for sun-dried tomatoes.

Dressing

• Extra virgin olive oil.
• Fresh lemon juice.
• Red wine vinegar: substitute apple cider vinegar.
• Sumac: substitute ground cumin.
• Freshly grated garlic.
• Sea salt or kosher salt and black pepper.

Optional ingredients

• Jalapeños: Optionally, you can add pickled jalapeños or any other chili pepper for some spiciness.
• Marinated onions: For extra tang, we like to toss in some quick pickled red onions or, even better, sumac-marinated onions.
• Feta cheese or non-dairy feta: for more creaminess and flavor.
• Other veggies: You can add diced red pepper, corn kernels, and a pinch of dried oregano, for example.

US cups + grams measurements in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

To a large mixing bowl, add drained and rinsed white beans, tomatoes cut into wedges, diced cucumber, thinly sliced scallions (both white and green part), chopped parsley, and chopped sun-dried tomatoes.

In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients: extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice, vinegar, grated garlic, sumac, salt, and black pepper.

Pour the dressing over the salad, toss well, then serve the salad immediately, or even better, let the flavors meld for 15 minutes before serving.

You can serve this white bean salad as a side, main, or part of a mezze dinner with other small dishes.

For example, make it a meal by serving it with:

• Yogurt tahini sauce on the side. Or crumbled feta cheese/non-dairy feta.
• Sumac marinated onions or quick pickled red onions on top.
• Warm pita bread or focaccia bread.
• A pickled cucumber, Kalamata olives, and/or toasted pine nuts.

Alternatively, mix it with quinoa, orzo, pasta, bulgur, buckwheat, or couscous.

Make ahead: This Mediterranean white bean salad is good for meal prep, and you can make it up to 3 days in advance. It’s excellent as a packed lunch for work, picnics, potlucks, and barbeques.

Refrigerator: Keep the salad in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 to 3 days. Remove from the refrigerator 15 minutes before serving.

Freezer: This recipe is not suitable for freezing.

• White bean dip
• White bean aglio olio
• Tuscan white bean soup
• Vegetable soup
• Kale soup

Soups

Tuscan White Bean Soup

Starters

White Bean Dip

Pasta

White Bean Aglio Olio

Soups

Kale Soup