This Mediterranean White Bean Salad is a protein packed salad that mixes white beans with crispy fresh vegetables, fresh herbs and a light lemon dressing. You can make this salad during your meal-prep and enjoy it all week long as a lunch or a side dish to your meal! 

MEDITERRANEAN WHITE BEAN SALAD 

If you have been hanging around here for any amount of time you probably know I love salads.

Today’s Mediterranean White Bean Salad is perfect if you are trying to follow the mediterranean diet.

I will eat this salad as is or pair it with protein like chicken, grilled shrimp or salmon.

I eat them for lunches and pair them with my dinners.

I love being able to add whatever I have in my pantry and fridge and get a healthy and filling meal or for work lunches.

Bean salads are the top of my list when it comes to salads because they are filling and pack a lot of protein in them.

Today’s white bean salad is one of my favorites because of the creamy white beans. They are perfect in a summer salad.

Today’s salad mixes white beans with fresh vegetables like tomatoes, cucumber and green onions along with fresh herbs and a light dressing. 

When I have large groups over I like making bean salads because they are easy to make but also filling. 

They pair really nicely with grilled meats like this Greek Marinated Chicken, Greek Shrimp, Easy Beef Gyros, Lebanese Chicken Kabobs or Chicken Souvlaki. 

I love using beans in salads like today’s Mediterranean White Bean Salad, this Chickpea Salad Recipe, Mediterranean Bean Salad, Mediterranean Chickpea Salad and this Greek Chickpea Salad.

The nice thing about a salad like this White Bean Salad is that it is very customizable to what your family likes and what you have in your pantry and fridge. It makes a great side dish.

Sometimes I will add feta cheese and olives to this salad or artichokes and roasted red peppers. 

You can also easily meal prep this salad ahead of time for the week ahead.

It holds up really well and makes a great option to take for weekly lunches. 

I suggest adding more dressing as sometimes the dressing gets soaked into the salad. 

If you are making this salad before a get together or party I suggest using half of the dressing and then adding the last half of the dressing right before you serve the salad. 

Recipe Ingredients

• WHITE BEANS: This salad uses simple ingredients. I love using white beans in this salad. The texture of white beans is creamy and they are subtle enough that they pair well with the other vegetables and fresh herbs. You could change it up and use chickpeas, black beans, kidney beans or pinto beans. 
• CHERRY TOMATOES
• RED ONION
• ENGLISH CUCUMBER
• GREEN ONIONS
• FRESH MINT
• FRESH PARSLEY
• EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL: I suggest using a high quality extra virgin olive oil if you can. It really enhance the flavor of the dressing and pairs nicely with the spices. 
• LEMON JUICE: You can add more or less of the fresh lemon juice depending on much lemon flavor you like in the dressing. You can also add lemon zest for a more zesty flavor. 
• GARLIC
• SPICES: I love adding a teaspoon of za’atar or sumac to this salad dressing. Other ideas you can use are Italian seasoning, paprika, cumin or your other favorite spice.

How Do You Make a Cannelini Bean Salad?

Making this salad packed with mediterranean flavors couldn’t be easier!

1. Combine the Salad Ingredients: Start by chopping up all of your ingredients, draining and rinsing the beans and then mixing everything together in a large mixing bowl.
2. Make the Salad Dressing: In a mason jar or salad dressing jar you will mix together the ingredients for the salad dressing. Taste and adjust the seasoning in the dressing. 
3. Mix Together the Dressing and Add to Salad: Pour the dressing over this simple salad and mix well. Serve immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container. This salad is great for meal-prep and can be eaten all week. 

Recipe Modifications for this Cannelini Bean Salad

BEANS: I used cannellini beans in this salad but feel free to use different kind of beans or whatever beans you might have on hand. Garbanzo beans, white kidney beans, baby lima beans, great northern beans, black beans, butter beans, navy beans or kidney beans are always a nice option.

VEGETABLES: I love adding in any vegetables I have on hand. Some favorites are kalamata olives, carrots, celery, artichokes, zucchini, fire roasted tomatoes and radish.

CHEESE: This salad would be great with crumbled feta cheese or even goat cheese.

SPICES: I like to add sumac or za’atar to a salad like this. You could also use paprika, Italian seasoning or cumin. 

GREENS: Greens would be a nice, healthy addition to this salad. My favorites are kale, spinach, peppery arugula or a mixed green mixture. 

SPIRALIZING: To make this salad extra fun sometimes I like to spiralize a cucumber or zucchini and add that in. It adds texture and is visually appealing. 

PROTEIN: Boost the protein content by adding grilled shrimp, salmon, chicken, shrimp, or tofu. 

NUTS AND SEEDS: Adding seeds and nuts is nice to add crunch. Toasted pine nuts, almonds, or sunflower seeds can add crunch along with healthy fats and extra protein.

GRAINS: I love adding grains to this bean salad. Some that I will add are mixing in cooked quinoa, couscous, or farro.

PICKLED VEGETABLES: I love pickled vegetables. Try adding pickled red onions or these quick pickled vegetables. 

Are Cannelini Beans the Same as White Beans?

When someone tells you to add white beans to a recipe you might wonder if they mean cannelini beans or great northern beans.

Cannellini and great northern beans are similar but they do have small differences in flavor and texture.

If you are in a pinch and you only have one or the other you can use either one in this salad but typically I think that great northern beans lend themselves better to a salad like this.

Great northern beans are more delicate and lends themselves more to a salad where as cannelini beans have a thicker skin and bolder taste and are better in soups and stews.

What to Serve With This White Bean Salad?

This salad would be great alongside so many meals but here are a few of my favorites:

AIR FRYER COD

MOROCCAN CARROT RED LENTIL SOUP

MEDITERRANEAN BAKED TURKEY MEATBALLS

LEBANESE LENTIL SOUP

MOROCCAN CHICKEN THIGHS

BLACK SEA BASS 

OTHER SALADS YOU MIGHT LIKE: 

LEMON ARUGULA SALAD

SUMMER ORZO SALAD

EASY LEBANESE SALAD 

MEDITERRANEAN LENTIL SALAD 

MEDITERRANEAN EGGPLANT SALAD