Mediterranean Dense Bean Salad

This mediterranean dense bean salad is loaded with crisp veggies, butter beans, chickpeas, feta and a simple olive oil vinaigrette. Make a big batch and enjoy for lunch all week long! This recipe is gluten free and vegan friendly.

If you aren’t familiar, a dense bean salad is a salad that has a base of beans – usually two or so types – plus other veggies, a little cheese and a dressing. It’s one of my favorite things to prep in the summer because it’s great for an at home lunch, side for a pot luck or something to bring to the beach or a picnic.

The name is derived from the fact that it’s made with dense beans and veggies, usually no lettuce, so it holds up well in the fridge and is super hearty and filling. For this recipe we’re using chickpeas and butter beans, but you can really use whatever you like. I also love navy beans and black eyed peas.

The beauty of a dense bean salad, or really any salad, is that it is so versatile and you can easily customize it how you like. Feel free to swap in or out any additional veggies. I also love adding some pepperoncini here! If you love this recipe, try my chickpea pasta salad or Mediterranean lentil salad next!

Before we get started…

• Be sure to drain and rinse your beans really well. The water will probably get a little foamy, so keep rinsing until it’s clear.
• You can use beans cooked from scratch if you prefer that over canned. You will need 1.5 cups of beans to replace every 1 can.
• For this recipe, I like dicing the veggies pretty small. I did this by hand, but you can also use one of these veggie dicers to make it easy!

How to make a dense bean salad

Drain and rinse both cans of beans and add to a large mixing bowl. Wash and dice your veggies and add to the bowl.

Add all ingredients for the dressing to a shaker bottle or jar and shake or whisk really well to ensure all ingredients are fully combined.

Pour the dressing over the salad, using as much or as little as you like. The dressing recipe makes a solid amount in case you want to add extra veggies, some leafy greens or just have leftover!

Toss well to combine, then taste and adjust as desired, adding more salt etc as needed. Enjoy and try my Mediterranean chopped salad or copycat Jennifer Aniston Salad next!

How to store

Once prepared, this dense bean salad will keep in the fridge for about 3-4 days. Beans really start to smell once they start to go bad, so I promise you will be able to tell when this salad is past its prime! The beauty of a dense bean salad is that is holds up really well since there are no veggies or anything in there that will get soggy.

Ingredient swaps

Beans. You can use whatever you like here, however, I recommend sticking with a white bean rather than black or pinto beans. My favorites include chickpeas, butter beans, navy beans and black eyed peas.

Veggies. I kept things on the Mediterranean side, but feel free to get creative! You can use different colored bell peppers, add some carrot, olives, cabbage etc. I suggest sticking with hearty veggies and not leafy greens.

Cheese. I opted for feta which pairs well with the other flavors in the salad, but you can leave it out, swap for a vegan version or try some parmesan etc.

Dressing. This dressing is just a simple olive oil vinaigrette but you can also try my lemon dijon dressing. You can add some spice from red pepper flakes, make it sweeter with more honey, more tangy with extra lemon etc.

More hearty salads to try!

• Edamame Peanut Crunch Salad
• Thai Noodle Salad
• Mexican Three Bean Salad
• Thai Quinoa Salad

If you make this Mexican bean salad, leave a comment below and let us know how it turns out! As always, be sure to follow me on instagram for more recipes!