Butter Bean Salad

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Butter Bean Salad is fresh and filling! With the buttery flavor of these big beans, fresh vegetables, and a super easy vinaigrette, this recipe is a great side dish with any meal. Take it with you on your next picnic.

Hey Internet, have you tried some creamy butter beans yet? They're so good! Unlike many beans out there, butter beans a really big. Like one of these large white beans is at least 3 or 4 times the size of a cannellini bean (although it seems to depend on the brand!). Because of their chonkiness, they're really filling.

We've made a lot of great recipes out of butter beans. One of our favorites is this Butter Bean Stew which is so flavorful and easy to make. Another easy recipe is our Crispy Butter Beans. All you have to do is throw them in an air fryer and they're done in 15 minutes. 

This Butter Bean Hummus is also so good as a snack with some cucumbers, bell peppers or crusty bread to dip into. We also love our oldie but goodie Butter Bean Ragu. And Liz has a Butter Bean Scramble that's delicious at any meal. We'll probably make even more butter bean recipes, because they're so good!

Today, we're bringing you an even easier recipe and we've been making it every few days over the last week or two. This butter bean salad recipe barely counts as cooking. All you need to do is cut up your veggies, drain your canned butter beans, and then make a quick vinaigrette and combine everything. It can come together in about 5 to 10 minutes, depending on how fast you can chop!

We've also made this delicious balsamic lemon vinaigrette to go with our butterbean salad. With minced garlic, white balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, and fresh lemon juice, it provides the perfect balance to the creamy butter beans. And all you need is a jar with a resealable top and you can shake everything together.

We've been using this recipe as a meal prep for our lunches for a few days now and it's held up great in our refrigerator. We've been using it as a side with our lunches, but we've also topped it with a protein such as our crispy tofu to have it on its own. It's really good that way!

So whether you're adding a new side to a family dinner or taking it to work or a picnic, you'll get a lot out of this new recipe!

Why You'll Love This Butter Bean Salad

• Super Easy To Make: Just chop up your vegetables and mix up the salad dressing and you'll have everything made. You should only have a few things to clean once your done!
• Cool and Refreshing: This recipe is great for hot summer days when you don't want to heat up the house to make food. 
• Great as Meal Prep: Put the leftover butter bean salad in an air tight container and refrigerate and you're good to go. 

Ingredients

Pick up these simple ingredients for this bean salad the next time you're at a grocery store. See the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full ingredients, instructions, and accurate nutrition information (to the best of my ability; please consult your physician, registered dietitian, or healthcare professional if you have specific dietary needs or need to meet a certain daily value of any nutrient). I give substitutions for the ingredients in the section below this one, so most people can still make this recipe!

Salad Ingredients

• 1 15 oz (425 g) Can of Butter Beans: One of our key ingredients! Butter beans can be found in the canned beans section of most grocery stores.
• 1 Medium Seedless Cucumber, Diced
• ½ Medium Red, Orange, and Yellow Bell Peppers: You could have them all as red bell pepper or other same color, but where's the fun in that? If you can, you should vary the colors for both fun and nutrition!
• 10-14 Cherry Tomatoes, Sliced in Half
• ½ Small White Onion, Diced: Red onions are fine too, or you can go mild with some chopped scallions (AKA green onions or spring onions).
• Other Ingredients: Feel free to add whatever you want to this simple salad recipe, such as fresh herbs like parsley or dill, vegan feta cheese, lightly steamed chopped green beans or asparagus, sliced kalamata olives or black olives, or some interesting topping options like raw pumpkin seeds, raw sunflower seeds, or some oil-free croutons.

Vinaigrette

• 3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Tablespoon White Wine or Apple Cider Vinegar
• 0.5 Tablespoon Agave: For a bit of sweetness, but you don't have to add this if you don't want to.
• 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice: If you're using fresh lemons, you could also add a pinch of lemon zest as well!
• 1-2 Garlic Cloves, Minced
• 2 Teaspoons Dijon Mustard
• 0.5 Teaspoon Salt, to taste
• 0.25 Teaspoon Fresh Cracked Black Pepper, to taste

Substitutions and Additions

• Butter Beans: While it wouldn't be a butter bean salad anymore, this healthy recipe would work with a different kinds of beans. Cannellini beans, navy beans, great northern beans, and garbanzo beans can work! Even black beans or kidney beans would be good too!
• Agave: Maple syrup (which has natural sugars) is a substitute for the agave. You could also make a simple syrup as well.
• More Toppings: Fresh basil and parsley are a great to this bean salad. Some spring onion might be nice too. If you want this dish to be a bit more spicy, try adding some red pepper flakes. You could also add a protein, like this Crispy Tofu, to make for a more filling main salad. You could also serve this over some salad greens.

How to Make This Butter Bean Salad

1. Chop: Prepare your veggies with a knife on a cutting board.
2. Strain: Open your can of butter beans and drain the contents into a fine mesh strainer. Lightly rinse the beans with cold water. (I recommend rinsing the beans until the water no longer seems to bubble on the surface, as this helps with digestion.)
3. Make the Vinaigrette: Add the oil, vinegar, agave, lemon juice, garlic, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper to a resealable jar. Close the jar and shake vigorously for about 10 to 20 seconds.
4. Mix: Add everything into a large bowl and gently mix with a large spatula until combined (I recommend a silicone spatula so that the butter beans do not get smashed). Serve or store!

Storage Instructions

Place all your remaining bean salad into an airtight container. Add to a refrigerator for up to 5 days.

More Vegan Salad Recipes

• Vegan Italian Salad with Creamy Vegan Italian Dressing
• Vegan Taco Salad
• Melon Salad
• Vegan Watermelon Feta Salad
• Vegan Waldorf Salad
• Creamy Vegan Avocado Salad
• Vegan Kale Caesar Salad with Pickled Red Onions and Crispy Chickpeas
• Vegan Goat Cheese Salad with Strawberries and Pecans and a Strawberry Tahini Dressing

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