We can't get enough of this white bean salad with lemon, artichokes, herbs, feta and edamame. It's light, refreshing, tangy, briny, and packed with plant-based protein. It makes for a wonderful side dish for any occasion, or a light dinner or lunch.
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Why We Love This Recipe
- Light on the greens: This salad is a great change up from the norm because it's totally lettuce-less. Sure, there's a time and a place for a kale salad (preferably drenched in a tahini caesar dressing), but my personal favorite salads are light on lettuce. This also makes it great for picky eaters, especially kids who don't like leafy greens.
- Full of plant-based protein: With white beans and edamame, this salad has a good amount of protein and will actually fill you up.
- Tons of flavor: With feta, capers, artichokes and an lemony vinaigrette, this salad is packed with flavors that will transport you to the Mediterranean.
- Meal prep friendly: Since this salad doesn't contain any lettuce, it stores well in the fridge for several days without getting soggy!
- Side dish, appetizer, light lunch or dinner...this white bean salad does it all!
Ingredients
Here's what you'll need to make this white bean salad:
Ingredient Notes
- White beans: Check out the section below for more info on white beans and which ones you should use in this salad. If you don't have any white beans, you can swap in chickpeas.
- Edamame: We love the addition of edamame, which adds color, textural variation and more plant-based protein. Use frozen, shelled edamame and steam or add to boiling water for 2-3 minutes before adding to this recipe.
- Feta: If you are dairy free, we love this brand of vegan feta. Otherwise, just use regular feta.
- Artichokes: We used marinated artichokes from a jar. You can also use water-packed artichokes but marinated add extra flavor.
- Capers: Optional, but they add so much salty, briny, delicious flavor!
- Fresh herbs: Using fresh herbs will go a long way. If you opt for dried, just remember the rule: 1 teaspoon of dried herbs = 1 tablespoon of fresh.
- Pine nuts: Feel free to sub with another nut of choice (like pistachios or almonds) or leave out altogether if preferred.
Choosing Your White Beans
If you go to the store looking for a can labeled "white beans", you won't find what you're looking for. There are quite a few different varieties of white beans, all of which would technically work in this recipe.
The most common varieties include cannellini, Great Northern and Navy beans. To further confuse you, cannellini beans are sometimes referred to as white kidney beans.
Don't fear! Despite the many varieties (which differ slightly in size, shape and taste), they're all relatively interchangeable. My personal favorite are cannellini or navy beans.
If you have another variety on hand, feel free to use those instead. In fact, you could actually also use red kidney beans for this recipe. It would taste a bit different, but not enough to fundamentally change the flavor profile.
Step-by-step Instructions
(1) If using dried white beans, cook according to package directions. If using canned, drain and rinse well.
Boil or steam edamame for 2-3 minutes. Then drain and set aside to cool while preparing other ingredients.
In a small pan over medium-low, toast pine nuts until golden brown, stirring very often. Keep a close eye on them - they tend to burn very quickly. It should take about 3-4 minutes.
Whisk together all ingredients for vinaigrette.
(2) In a large mixing bowl, toss together all ingredients until well coated in vinaigrette. Top with more feta, pine nuts, fresh herbs and black pepper.
Expert Tips and FAQs
- Add-ins: To make this salad extra filling, try adding in cooked farro or another grain of choice. We also love adding in celery for extra crunch. We add in 2 cups of cooked farro, 1 cup of diced celery, and increase the dressing quantity by 1.5.
- Canned vs. dried beans: To save on time, use canned instead of dried white/cannellini/great northern/navy beans. They're all slightly different but interchangeable. You can certainly use dried, but you'll need to factor in extra prep time to soak and cook the beans.
- How to enjoy this salad: I personally love eating this as a light lunch on its own. It also makes for a great compliment to a grilled protein. It would also make a great addition to a summer bbq spread with other salads like this caprese salad, Mexican street corn salad, or this black bean, mango and avocado salad. However you eat it, we're pretty sure you'll go back for seconds!
- Meal prep / storage: This salad holds up well for meal prep. In fact, the longer the beans sit in the flavorful dressing, the better they'll taste. Just hold off on the pine nuts and feta until just before serving, otherwise they'll get too soggy. You can keep the salad (without feta and pine nuts) in the fridge in an airtight container and enjoy within 3 days.
First things first, rinse and sort through the dried beans and discard any small rocks or debris.
Whether or not you want to soak the beans is up to you and your beliefs. The old myth states that dried beans must be soaked before cooking in order to soften them for faster cooking. Epicurious does a great job of debunking that myth in this article.
The general consensus is that they don't need a super long soak. About an hour will do.
Next, add the beans to a pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and let them simmer until they're tender. Depending on the beans and whether or not you pre-soaked them, this may take anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours. It took about two and a half hours for us.
Towards the end of the cooking time, throw in a large pinch of salt to add extra flavor. Don't worry if you think you added too much - you'll be draining them anyways, which will discard of most of the salty liquid.
You can keep this salad in the fridge for 3 days, just be sure to leave off the pine nuts and feta until you're ready to serve.
More Salads Without Lettuce to Try
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📖 Recipe
White Bean Salad
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
We can't get enough of this white bean salad with lemon, artichokes, herbs and edamame. It's light, refreshing, tangy, briny, and packed with plant-based protein.
Ingredients
Salad:
- 3 cups (2 15oz cans) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups frozen, shelled edamame, cooked according to package directions
- 1 cup marinated artichokes, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons capers (optional)
- ¼ scallions, finely chopped
- ½ cup crumbled feta cheese
- ⅓ cup toasted pine nuts
- Optional add-ins for a more filling salad*: 2 cups cooked farro + 1 cup finely chopped celery (see notes section about increasing dressing quantity)
Vinaigrette:
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- ½ tsp dijon mustard
- ¾-1 teaspoon kosher salt (adjust to taste)
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 clove grated garlic (or ½ tsp garlic powder)
- 1 tsp dried oregano
Instructions
- If using dried white beans, cook according to package directions. If using canned, drain and rinse well.
- Boil or steam edamame for 2-3 minutes. Then drain and set aside to cool while preparing other ingredients.
- In a small pan over medium-low, toast pine nuts until golden brown, stirring very often. Keep a close eye on them - they tend to burn very quickly. It should take about 3-4 minutes.
- Whisk together all ingredients for vinaigrette.
- In a large mixing bowl, toss together all ingredients until well coated in vinaigrette.
Notes
*If you add in the farro and celery, you'll need to increase the dressing quantity to the following: 3 oz (a little over ⅓ cup olive oil, ¼ cup lemon juice, 2 teaspoon lemon zest, 1 teaspoon dijon, 1 large clove garlic, 1 ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon dried oregano. We also add in an extra ¼ cup of feta and another small handful of pine nuts.
Cannellini beans can be substituted for another variety of white bean, including navy or Great Northern beans.
Feel free to use dried or canned beans. Read the full blog post for more info on cooking dried beans from scratch.
Meal prep/storage: This vegan white bean salad holds up well for meal prep. In fact, the longer the beans sit in the flavorful dressing, the better they'll taste. Just hold off on the pine nuts and feta until just before serving, otherwise they'll get too soggy. You can keep the salad (without feta and pine nuts) in the fridge in an airtight container and enjoy within 5 days.
Capers: Optional, but they add so much salty, briny, delicious flavor!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Salads
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bowl
- Calories: 330
- Sugar: 1.9 g
- Sodium: 810.7 mg
- Fat: 15.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 36.3 g
- Fiber: 10 g
- Protein: 15 g
Blythe Hill says
Hi! Can you clarify what the serving size “one bowl” means? One cup? Two? 12 ounces? Thanks in advance.
Linda Kurkechian says
This salad is packed with a great variety of flavors that come together so beautifully. Truly yummy!!
Shawna says
Love this recipe!! I’ve made it several times now and it is always delicious. You MUST use fresh herbs and fresh garlic and fresh lemon juice. Seriously, the fresh ingredients are what make this salad the best. I took this to a potluck and my friends now call me a chef because of this recipe. The garlic is strong in this but I love it. My favorite way to eat this is tossing all of it over some arugula as a salad and adding some extra olive oil, it’s delicious and makes the salad go a long way! It’s a great salad to have on your list for summer dishes especially, but you can’t go wrong with it year-round!
Brent Harrison says
Thanks for the review, glad you're enjoying it!!
Debra says
Fresh, light, flavorful, and you can adjust the ingredients. I use goat cheese instead of the feta.
Gina says
Finally got around to making this and it was delicious!!! Not something I normally make/eat but will for sure be making it again and excited to take it to a pot luck to introduce others. I did up the amount of vinegarette a bit because I like it a little “wetter”. My question please is why do you say this only lasts 3 days in the fridge? I kept it longer than that, enjoyed it very much. Didn’t notice what would make it not last beyond 3 days? Thanks in advance for your answer.
Alice says
This looks so tasty! I can't wait to try it. I'm out of pine nuts but I do have brazil nuts. Do you think the flavours would match?
Lexi says
Hmm, I'm not sure brazil nuts would be the best option. I would maybe try pistachios, pumpkin seeds or slivered almonds!
Tracy says
I needed a quick light dinner. I had a couple cans of canellini beans on hand, so searched for recipes and found this one. So glad I did! This salad is amazing. I will definitely make it again. It has plenty of protein and the flavors and textures are so well balanced. Thanks!
Kristin says
This is SO good. I added grilled chicken sometimes and omit the feta for dairy free but I've remade this and eaten it every day the last couple weeks 🙂 YUM!
Lexi says
So glad you love this recipe!
Jamie says
This salad was AWESOME!! I am not a vegetarian but I don't mind a meatless meal and this did not disappoint. I love it!! Great flavors!
Annick says
This salad turned out incredibly delicious! I served it with some heated pita bread and it was amazing. My whole family loved it too! It is also so easy to make, and makes for great meal prep and leftovers 🙂
Lexi says
So glad to hear that! Thanks so much for your comment!
Gwen says
This is my new favorite salad! I have doubled and even tripled it as it is a popular one when I make it for a crowd. I use the leftovers for lunches and add chicken and blackberries. The gift that keeps on giving!
Lexi says
That's so great to hear!! I love how you repurpose it for lunches. Such a versatile salad! Thanks so much for your review.
Kristin says
I love this SO much! It is so good! Love the flavor. I think I need to start making this often. Thank you for sharing a great recipe!
Janna says
This is so good. I can’t eat it as fast and was wondering if I can freeze the left overs?
Lexi says
Hi Janna, so glad you enjoyed! I haven't personally tried it so I'm not 100% sure, but I just did a quick google search and it looks like it would work okay! I would just defrost overnight in the fridge.
Janna says
Thank you, I will give it a try. So delicious.
Tell Linda says
Thank you for this. Cant wait to try it.
Are you still doing design work by chance?
Lexi says
Hi, thank you, hope you enjoy! What kind of design work?
Emma says
For years, I didn't know salads could even be made like this. Wow! I could eat this every day. This is delicious.
Lexi says
Thank you, Emma! I totally agree - this is my favorite kind of salad!
Abi says
Made this today for a family lunch, absolutely delicious! Will definitely be adding it to the weekly meal rotation.
Lexi says
So glad to hear that! Thanks so much for your comment!