Crunchy, refreshing, light, and insanely delicious – that’s this Three Bean Salad for you! Super customisable and featuring the yummiest salad dressing, I bet you’d want to make this salad every other day!
If you think salads are boring, this Three Bean Salad will change your mind. It’s crunchy, it’s creamy, it’s fresh, and has a salad dressing you’d want to eat by the spoonfuls! This is my go-to lunch on a busy day or when I want something light and filling yet delicious after a long work day. It’s the perfect, hearty salad that will win you over even if you’re not really a salad person!
It’s rich in fiber, protein, and good fats. With just a little prep, the whole thing comes together in under 15 minutes. But what’s even more amazing is that the three bean salad tastes better after a few hours, which means you can easily make it ahead. It’s customisable, filling, healthy, hearty, and loved by everyone in the family
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Three Bean Salad Ingredients
Beans: I have used chickpeas, black beans, and green beans. But you could use any type of dried or fresh beans you have available.
Veggies: Roasted red pepper, cucumber, onion, and tomato for lots of crunch. Some other veggies that would work here are green and yellow bell peppers, corn, zucchini, purple cabbage, and broccoli.
Salad dressing: Olive oil, vinegar, honey, mustard sauce, minced garlic, salt, and black pepper powder come together to form the dressing for this three bean salad.
Cheese: Once the salad is mixed and tossed together, we top it up with some crumbled feta cheese for lots and lots of flavor and creaminess.
Frequently Asked Questions
This three bean salad makes for a complete meal in itself. However you can serve it with some garlic bread or this healthy broccoli soup to take the wholesomeness a notch higher.
Absolutely! This recipe works really well no matter what type of beans you choose. I often replace one or more of the beans with either kidney beans, broad beans, kala or green chana, etc. It all depends on what I have at home and what I am in the mood for.
This salad makes for amazing leftovers! You can easily store it in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 4 days. And since this salad tastes so good cold, all you need to do is take it out, transfer to a bowl, and you’re ready to go!
To blanch the green beans for this recipe, cut them into about 1 inch pieces. Add them to boiling water with some salt and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes or until tender. Once done, immediately transfer to a bowl of ice cold water to stop the cooking process. Doing this also helps retain that bright green color.
Richa’s Top Tips
- Add the salad dressing while the beans are still hot. This will allow the beans to absorb more of the dressing, making each bite super flavorful.
- Once this salad is ready, refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving to help the flavors to develop. Note: The salt in the salad will release some water, but it still stays perfectly crunchy and delicious.
- This salad makes for amazing leftovers, and tastes even better the next day. Make sure to store it in an airtight container to preserve freshness.
Serving Ideas
- Serve this three bean salad as a wholesome lunch on its own. It has plenty of protein and fibre from the beans, along with fresh, crunchy vegetables.
- Pair it with roasted chicken, fish, paneer tikka or tofu for a more filling, protein-rich meal.
- Serve it as a side salad with grilled meats, kebabs, sandwiches or wraps. The tangy mustard vinaigrette works particularly well with grilled food.
- Add it to a meal-prep bowl with some cooked quinoa, couscous or brown rice for an easy, balanced meal.
- This also makes a lovely salad to serve at potlucks, barbecues and dinner parties since you can prep most of it ahead of time.
Storage Tips
- Refrigeration: Store the salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Make sure it has cooled completely before storing.
- Make ahead: You can cook and prepare the beans, blanch the French beans and char the bell pepper a day ahead. Store them separately in airtight containers in the fridge.
- Store the dressing separately: The vinaigrette can be made up to 4–5 days ahead and stored in a sealed jar in the refrigerator. Shake it well before using, as the oil and vinegar will naturally separate.
- Keep it crunchy: If you’re making the salad ahead, add the cucumber and cherry tomatoes closer to serving time. This prevents the salad from becoming watery.
- Leftovers: The beans will continue to absorb the dressing as the salad sits, so you may want to add a small splash of olive oil and red wine vinegar before serving leftovers.
Customisation Ideas
- Switch up the beans: You can use kidney beans (rajma), black-eyed peas, cannellini beans or even cooked edamame in place of any of the beans.
- Add more crunch: Finely chopped red onion, spring onions, celery or shredded carrots would work really well in this salad.
- Try different vegetables: Swap the red bell pepper for yellow or orange bell peppers, or add some roasted zucchini, corn or avocado.
- Add fresh herbs: Chopped parsley, coriander or fresh mint can add a lovely freshness to the salad.
- Make it creamier: Add some crumbled feta or cubes of paneer for a creamy, salty element that works beautifully with the tangy vinaigrette.
- Adjust the dressing: If you prefer a sharper dressing, add a little more red wine vinegar. You can also adjust the honey depending on how sweet you like your vinaigrette.
This is the kind of salad that is really hard to resist. And once you realise just how amazing, easy, and wholesome this three bean salad recipe is, I bet you’d want to make it again and again.
If you try this salad recipe, don’t forget to leave me a comment below and send me photos over on my IG @my_foodstory. I love hearing from you and seeing your recreations!
Watch Three Bean Salad Recipe Video
Three Bean Salad
Ingredients
- 10 – 12 french beans blanched for 2 minutes & cut into 1.5inch pieces, check note 1
- 1 cup cooked chick peas kabuli chana
- 1 cup cooked black beans or rajma
- 1 red bell pepper char grilled, de-skinned & sliced long, check note 3
- 1 ½ cucumber cut into cubes
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
For Dressing / Vinaigrette
- 1 tablespoon kasundi mustard paste
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons honey
- 2 cloves garlic grated
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Take all the ingredients for the dressing / vinaigrette in a jar, shake it well till all the ingredients get mixed well. Set it aside.1 tablespoon kasundi, 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 ½ tablespoons honey, 2 cloves garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper
- Take the three beans in a large bowl, add half the quantity (approx. 4 tablespoons) of the vinaigrette, give it a good toss and set aside in the fridge for 20 minutes.10 – 12 french beans, 1 cup cooked chick peas, 1 cup cooked black beans or rajma, 1 red bell pepper, 1 ½ cucumber cut into cubes, 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- Add the rest of the vinaigrette, veggies and to the salad bowl, mix everything well & refrigerate for 15-20 minutes before serving.
Video
Notes
- To blanch french beans, boil water in a pot or sauce pan, add cut beans & a ¼ teaspoon salt and boil it just for 2 minutes. They should be tender, crisp and not over cooked. Drain the beans & add it to ice cold water to stop the cooking. Once the beans are completely cooled, drain well and pat dry.
- Black beans may be replaced with rajma or any other beans.
- Char grilling red bell pepper is essential for the recipe to get the smoky flavour.
- Kasundi is an indian version of mustard paste. If unavailable to you, you may use mustard sauce instead.
Nutrition
This article was researched and written by Urvi Dalal.
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