This Mediterranean bean salad is one of my all-time favorite salads and sides. Bold claim, I know, but I can back it up. I’ve been loving this recipe for ten years running now!
This salad is crisp and satisfying, fresh and full of bright Mediterranean flavors. The recipe features hearty kidney beans and chickpeas, which balance crisp cucumber, celery and red onion. The remaining simple ingredients—lemon and olive oil, garlic and lots of fresh leafy herbs—yield truly irresistible results.
This Mediterranean-style salad is perfect for spring picnics, summer potlucks and cozy fall get-togethers. It’s a crowd-pleasing salad or side dish that suits most special diets, too. The recipe is vegetarian, vegan and gluten free.
With how quickly this salad comes together, it’s an easy addition to your weekend menu! It’s a simple chop, whisk and stir situation that’s ready in about 20 minutes. I hope this dish becomes one of your standby recipes, too.
How This Recipe Developed
Back in 2013, I found creative relief from a not-so-interesting office job in books like Ethnic Cuisine by Elisabeth Rozin. On the especially tough days, I treated myself to lunch at The Mediterranean Deli in Oklahoma City. It was my safe haven, a place where I could catch up with my favorite blogs while I waited for a delicious meal. I always walked out the door with a happy belly, feeling like everything was a little more right with the world.
I often miss their kidney bean salad, which was so much more exciting than it sounds. I found a recipe for a Lebanese bean salad in Ms. Rozin’s book that seemed similar. I tweaked it quite a bit, so I’m not confident that it qualifies as Lebanese. I omitted the tomatoes and added chickpeas, celery and garlic. It’s broadly Mediterranean in flavor profile.
If you’re looking for the lemon-parsley hummus that I originally shared with this recipe, here’s a PDF. Or, make my ultra-creamy hummus recipe and add up to 3/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley.
Watch How to Make Mediterranean Bean Salad
More Mediterranean-Style Salads to Make
Consider serving these salads with falafel, hummus or baba ganoush. Check out even more bean salads here.
Please let me know how your bean salad turns out in the comments. I love hearing from you.
Mediterranean Bean Salad
- Author:
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: By hand
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
- Diet: Vegan
This Mediterranean-style bean salad recipe is delightfully crisp and satisfying. Its fresh flavors include kidney beans, chickpeas, lemon, garlic and leafy herbs. This healthy salad is vegan and gluten free, but mostly just delicious! Recipe yields about six 1-cup servings.
Scale
Ingredients
- 2 cans red kidney beans (15 ounces each), rinsed and drained, or 3 cups cooked kidney beans
- 1 can chickpeas (15 ounces), rinsed and drained, or 1 ½ cups cooked chickpeas
- 1 small red onion, diced (about 1 cup)
- 2 stalks celery, sliced in half or thirds lengthwise and chopped (about ¾ cup)
- 1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
- ¾ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill or mint
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup lemon juice (about 1 ½ lemons)
- 3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- Small pinch red pepper flakes
Instructions
- In a serving bowl, combine the prepared kidney beans, chickpeas, onion, celery, cucumber, parsley and dill.
- Make the lemon dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper flakes until well blended. Pour the dressing over the salad and stir until combined.
- Serve immediately for the most flavor, or let it marinate in the refrigerator, covered, for a couple of hours or longer. Leftovers will keep well, covered and refrigerated, for up to 4 days. If necessary, wake up leftovers with a little sprinkle of salt or drizzle of lemon juice.
▸ Nutrition Information
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