Mediterranean Bean Salad

Here’s a speedy Mediterranean bean salad that combines fluffy beans with crispy cucumbers, tomatoes, savory olives, red onions and aromatic oregano. All tossed in a fresh lemon garlic dressing.

This bright salad packs some of the best Mediterranean flavor boosters and makes a healthy, filling plant based meal ready in 10 minutes.

First of all, I used convenient canned cannellini beans since I love their size and fluffy texture, but you can totally use any kind of beans or dried beans you have in the pantry.

In this recipe the soft white beans are combined with fresh cucumber, tomatoes, onions and cupboard essentials like juicy Kalamata olives, extra virgin olive oil, and oregano.

Everything is tossed with a super flavorful dressing made with lemon, extra virgin olive oil and a touch of garlic. It’s a quick homemade dressing that tastes deliciously fresh and brings all those amazing ingredients together.

And the beans don’t dominate, but thanks to their soft texture, they absorb the flavour from the dressing making a yummy and surprisingly filling meal!

It’s so YUMMY and easy to toss together that I would eat it everyday

Serve this Mediterranean bean salad with crusty panini bread or whole grains, it’s so good and substantial enough for dinner, work lunches and picnics with friends.

List of the ingredients

• Beans (cannellini, Great Northern beans, kidney beans…)
• English cucumber
• Cherry tomatoes
• Kalamata olives
• Red onion
• Lemon juice
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Garlic
• Dried oregano
• Salt & pepper

How to make Mediterranean bean salad

(Note: the full recipe is at the bottom of the page)

• Halve the tomatoes, cut the cucumber, and finely slice the onions. I usually use this slicer for the onions, it’s easy to use with any vegetables and it gets the job done in no time.

• Place the tomatoes, the drained beans, and the olives in a large salad bowl.
• Make the dressing by placing all the ingredients in a glass jam jar.

• Shake the jar vigorously until the dressing looks emulsified.
• Pour over the salad, toss to combine, and serve.

Mediterranean bean salad ingredients

Beans: canned cannellini beans are my favorite for this salad, but you can use other types of beans as well, not necessarily white beans. Black beans, kidney beans or other type of white beans will work as well. And you’re more than welcome to use dried beans if you wish, you will need 1 ¼ cups (notes in the recipe card).

Onions: I prefer red onions when it comes to salads. They’re sweeter than regular onions and packed with antioxidants. Make sure the onions are fresh and firm.

Kalamata olives: their fruity flavor and meaty texture make them way better than regular black olives and bring so much flavor.

Tomatoes: I used cherry tomatoes, but grape tomatoes, or large ones chopped into small pieces are fine too. Make sure you remove the excess water from large tomatoes.

Cucumber: crunchy, fresh cucumbers are best. Remove their seeds if needed.

Oregano: for fragrant and aromatic notes.

Dressing: use fresh lemon juice and good-quality extra virgin olive oil, it’s definitely the best for flavor and nutrition. I added some pressed garlic to the dressing for a more aromatic flavor.

Salt and pepper: the recipe for the dressing calls for salt and pepper too, but once the salad is tossed, feel free to taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking.

Salad variations

The recipe is so versatile, and if you decide to make it more substantial or if you love to amp up that beautiful Mediterranean flavor, there are many other ingredients that you can add:

• Flavor boosters: jarred sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes, red peppers, feta cheese add a ton of flavor.
• More vegetables: avocado, grilled peppers, eggplant or zucchini make a great addition to this Mediterranean salad. They bring flavor, color, texture and nutrition.
• Grains: to turn this salad into a full balanced meal, toss in 2 cups of cooked grains like brown rice, quinoa, barley or couscous.

Love beans?

Me too! Check out these quick salads and yummy bean recipes:

• White bean salad
• Cannellini bean salad
• Bread and beans
• Smoky beans on toast

More delicious salads?

If you look for more vegan salads packed with protein and ready in 10 minutes, I have a few fav recipes here:

• Cannellini bean salad
• Bean and artichoke salad
• Barley salad
• Lentil tabbouleh
• Italian chickpea salad
• Winter salad
• Potato salad with olives
• Salad with grapes
• Arugula pear salad

I’m sure you’ll love this Mediterranean bean salad, and if you make it, let me know!

Leave a comment, rate it or tag a photo #theclevermeal on Instagram. I would love to hear from you!