You can never have enough easy side dish recipes, am I right?? I like to keep my side dishes simple so they don’t steal the show from my main dish, and they don’t add a lot of extra work to the overall preparation of the meal. Simple salads like this Mediterranean White Bean Salad only take minutes to prepare, they bring flavor, color, and texture to your plate, and they hold up really well as leftovers (hello, tomorrow’s lunch). Bookmark this one, because I know you’ll use this recipe a lot!
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This Mediterranean style bean salad was inspired by one of my all-time favorite salads, tabbouleh, but it uses white beans instead of bulgar. It has all that tangy lemon-garlic flavor that I love about tabbouleh, but without needing to spend time cooking and cooling bulgur.
What Kind of Beans Can I Use?
I used large butter beans for this recipe, but if you don’t have butter beans available try cannellini beans or chickpeas. I would avoid softer beans that tend to mash easily, like navy beans or great northern beans. Cannellini beans and chickpeas are large enough and firm enough to hold up to the stirring of this salad.
What to Serve with Mediterranean White Bean Salad
The flavors in this white bean salad (lemon and garlic) are so versatile that it makes a great side dish for a wide variety of mains. Try it with Yogurt Marinated Chicken, Garlic Butter Baked Cod, Baked Pizza Chicken, Mediterranean Turkey Burgers, Creamy Spinach Artichoke Chicken, Oven Baked Fish with Tomatoes, or Chicken Piccata. Or, this could be one part of a vegetarian spread with some homemade hummus, pita, and falafel.
How Long Does This Salad Stay Good?
This is another great example of a “refrigerator salad” or a salad that holds up really well in the refrigerator. This salad will stay enjoyable when stored in the refrigerator for a good four days or so. The flavors will blend and the beans will marinate in the dressing as it refrigerates, making it even better the next day! Make sure to give it a stir just before serving to redistribute the flavors.
Mediterranean White Bean Salad
Servings 4 1 cup eachIngredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.24)
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice ($0.06)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 2 15oz. cans butter beans* ($1.38)
- ½ bunch fresh parsley ($0.40)
- 1 pint grape tomatoes ($1.49)
- 2 oz. feta cheese ($1.10)
Instructions
- Prepare the dressing first. In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Set the dressing aside.
- Rinse and drain the canned beans. Allow them to drain while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Finely chop about 1 cup of fresh parsley (about ½ bunch). Cut the grape tomatoes in half.
- Add the drained beans, chopped parsley, tomatoes, and 2 oz. feta cheese to a bowl. Pour the prepared dressing over top, then stir to combine. Serve immediately or refrigerate up to four days.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Mediterranean White Bean Salad – Step by Step Photos
Make the dressing first. Combine 2 Tbsp olive oil, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, 2 cloves garlic (minced), ¼ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp freshly cracked pepper in a small bowl. Set the dressing aside.
Rinse and drain two 15oz. cans of butter beans (or cannellini or chickpeas). Let them drain well.
Finely chop about one cup of fresh parsley (about ½ bunch). Slice one pint grape tomatoes in half.
Add the beans, tomatoes, chopped parsley, 2 oz. crumbled feta, and the prepared dressing in a bowl.
Toss the ingredients to combine and serve!
Just made this for dinner, it was really good! The flavors are fresh, and it’s easy to prepare. I made it alongside the BBQ tofu sliders (also very good!). I’m returning to school this fall, and trying to save money by cooking at home as much as possible. Your blog is a lifesaver!
I just tried this and I’m quite pleased with it. I was afraid it would be too bland; sometimes I’m not a fan of bean salads for that reason. But I had the ingredients on hand, and gave it a whirl. I used a bit less parsley, and a bit more salt. I used 4 small tomatoes instead of the grape tomatoes because that’s what I had. Well done! I will be adding this to my collection. Thank you.
A simple, elegant and great tasting recipe. It’s what I expect from Budget Bytes.
This looks delicious and so perfect for summer. 843 calories per serving surprised me so I added them up myself. I think there may be an error there. I calculated about 330 per serving, estimating the ounces of the grape tomatoes and the 1/2 bunch parsley. Oil is 240. Lemon is 6. Garlic is 8. Beans are 797. Parsley is about 10. Tomatoes are about 110. Feta is 50. That’s 1321 divided by 4 servings equals 330 calories per serving. My calories for the tomatoes may be a little off as I didn’t have a pint to weigh. I didn’t want anyone to be afraid to make it thinking it was too caloric to fit into their daily menu.
I just realized that I entered the stats for the entire recipe instead of one serving. Fixing it now! :P
Love this but have a hard time wrapping my head around the 843 calories per 1 cup serving. Really?
I just realized I entered the nutrition for the entire recipe instead of one serving. Fixing it now! :P
What a splendid little salad! Light, but satisfying. Terrific on a scorching, summer day! It could be served as a side dish, but I found it filling it enough on its own.
Also: As mentioned by other reviewers, the garlic is a prominent flavor in this dish. My stomach can be sensitive to garlic, so I only used two cloves instead of the recommended four. Despite this small adjustment, the salad was still wonderful!
This hit the spot on a warm summer day! Made half the recipe, added a can of tuna and some romaine, sat down and ate the entire bowl! So good and quick to put together.
Yummy!! Letting it set for a couple minutes for flavors to blend. I did add a little bit of roasted red pepper and a couple artichoke hearts to beef it up a little as I am vegetarian and wanted to eat this as a meal.
Thank you! I am loving your site
Great additions!
I made this last night and really enjoyed it!!! It’s very easy to customize. I added some shredded red cabbage and chickpeas to mine. Next time I will try flaked salmon or tuna.
This is fantastic! I also made half a recipe, but then forgot to half the feta. I’m not mad about it :). Cranked some extra pepper in, but that’s just personal preference. Will make again!
What do you think about using basil instead of parsley? the deer ate my parsley oh, and I have more basil that I know what to do with in the garden.
This is so delicious! I used great northern beans that I cooked in a pressure cooker from dried, and only had less than an ounce of feta cheese in the fridge, so added 1/4 tsp extra salt, otherwise stuck with the recipe. Healthy, inexpensive, fabulous! This will be my go to lunch salad for a while.
Do you think this would work out ok with navy beans instead of butter beans? It’s what I have on hand.
It will probably be good. :)
OMG this salad was SOOO good!!!
I love all things stinky so i loved this
I served it to myself on a platter with a whole wheat pita.
Though be warned – those who aren’t so inclined to garlic won’t be so enamored with it (my bf had a spoonful and no more)
I’ve made this before several times and I LOVE it! However, I’m lactose intolerant and have to take handfuls of Lactaid when I eat dairy (yes, handfuls – not the 1-3 that the boxes say). It’s a pain! Is there anything I could sub for the feta that would still give it that creamy salty flavor that the feta does? I know it’s ridiculous to try and sub something for this, but sometimes I just want to enjoy a meal without popping pills :(
Eek, I really can’t think of anything! :(
Thanks, Beth! I made it last night, and used a much smaller amount of the feta so I wouldn’t have to take as much Lactaid. I also tasted it before I added the feta and it wasn’t half bad!
Unrelated – there seems to be a butter/lima bean shortage! We have 4 grocery store chains in my town and 3 of them didn’t have butter beans at all (they’ve carried them in the past), and I got the last 3 cans from the shelves of the fourth!
Hahah! That’s crazy about the run on butter beans! :)
My canned butter beans turned to mush when I stirred the salad so I’ll use chickpeas next time. I subbed diced green pepper for the parsley due to preference. Otherwise I like this and will make it again.
you can try marinating tofu in olive brine (the stuff leftover from a jar of olives). I’ve seen this tip somewhere in the comments, and it might work!
Wow, that’s a really cool idea!! I bet it would taste a lot like feta.
Kalamata olives might be nice in place of feta.
I know you wrote this quite a while ago but I am just seeing this recipe now. You might already know this but, they say goat cheese is tolerated by people who are lactose intolerant. I know a few who can eat goat cheese
I just ran across your site and am so impressed.
So great to find someone who really gets it! A lot of people don’t understand the “construction” of recipes….you understand food and spices and what goes with what!! I’ve read a number of your recipes and can’t wait to try them all. Thanks so much for sharing!
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