This flavorful cannellini bean salad recipe can be used as a meal or a side salad and easily falls in the line of the Mediterranean diet.
It is perfect for using with other Italian recipes such as chicken dishes, pasta or even pizzas. It uses minimal ingredients and easily be adjusted to suit personal tastes and preferences.
Making Recipe Adjustments
For example, when I make this dish at home for my husband and I, I use more garlic than I normally would if I were taking this to someone’s house or hosting a party.
The recipe below calls for roasted red peppers (buy the ones in the jar), however I have often used marinated artichokes in the jar (only the ones in water).
I don’t always use canned tomatoes or even fresh because I don’t always have that on hand. I’ve gotten so used to just using what I have that I would recommend using this recipe as a sounding board for you to get started.
Adjust as you see fit. Some people like a lot of olive oil, some like less. I prefer more. Very simple, very easy and is always a winner.
Use Canned Cannellini Beans in this Salad
Use canned beans, that’s the quickest and try to get cans that are organic and low in sodium. I always rinse them from the can to get all the other canning juices off as much as possible.
You can order organic low sodium cannellini beans online like these below from Amazon.
If you don’t have these beans but really want to make the recipe, try using white kidney beans, they are close to being the same thing although from I’ve seen kidney beans are smaller. I’m not an expert on beans, all I know is this is one of my favorite recipes that I use quite a bit.
Serve this recipe if you can with some toasted artisan bread which will taste great with the olive oil. Geez, I’m getting hungry already… Let’s get started!
Similar Recipes You May enjoy
Italian chickpea salad – This recipe also is high in protein and uses chickpeas as the staple legume.
Italian cannellini bean soup– If you like cannellini beans, you’ll really enjoy this delicious soup full of them!
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Awesome Recipe for Italian Cannellini Bean Salad
Great healthy Italian salad for parties, a side dish, or as a nice lunch. Tastes great and healthy too!
Ingredients
- 1 can cannellini beans rinse them!
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil Use more or less depending on preferences. I think 1 1/2TBLE is conservative.
- 1/4 cup kalamata olives feel free to use mixed olives too
- 1 cup fresh or canned diced tomatoes fresh is always better when in season!
- 1/2 cup roasted red pepper use the ones from the jar – much faster
- 2-3 cloves chopped garlic don’t use too much for the timid guest
Instructions
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Combine all ingredients in bowl and mix well.
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Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Tip #1: Add or remove any ingredients. For example, artichokes would fit nicely, or even some red onion. Remove the tomatoes if you do not care for tomatoes or the just use the tomatoes if you don’t care for the roasted red peppers. Experiment to find what you like.
Tip #2: This recipe goes great with just about any Italian main dish or can be a meal unto itself.
