Pretty much anything you want it to be, a dense bean salad is simply a bean salad that’s high in protein and fibre and has more ingredients added to it. In this case, those extras are cucumber, avocado, and a bunch of fresh herbs. This type of bean salad is popular on social media thanks to Violet Witchel coining this new name for it.
Recipe Rundown: Dense Bean Salad
- Flavour: fresh, lemony, and herbal. It depends partly on the type of herbs you choose – I love dill so use a lot of it, and I think it pairs best with the cucumber and avocado here.
- Texture: creamy and crunchy in every bite with crisp cucumber, creamy beans and avocado.
- Ease: this really comes together in minutes, and all you need to do is chop some vegetables and herbs and mix up a quick vinaigrette. Since it keeps for several days you can double or triple the amount and have extra for later.
- Serving: you can serve bean salad as a side or a main, depending on the time of day and what your goals are for the meal. We like it as an on-the-go option to bring hiking or on a picnic, and it’s a great dish to make ahead and keep refrigerated for a few days for speedy lunches.
Ingredients
- Beans: a mix of any beans you like. I use a 4 bean mix of kidney, garbanzo (chickpea), giant white, and small white beans. You could use all chickpeas, for example, if preferred, but a mix of beans adds textural interest and flavour variation.
- Herbs: any soft herb, like dill, parsley, basil, and coriander (cilantro) are good. Use your favourites.
- Add-ins: you can add extras like (vegan) feta or another soft cheese, other vegetables like sweet pepper and cherry tomatoes, or anything you think you’d like in this salad.
Love a good bean salad? Try my easy summer pasta with white beans, Greek chickpea salad, and white bean salad with herb dressing.
Step by Step Photos
Step 1: whisk the vinaigrette together in the bowl, then add all of the salad ingredients.
Step 2: mix very well and serve immediately or refrigerate first.
How to Store
Dense bean salad keeps well in the refrigerator for several days, and tastes even better after resting for a day before serving. Transfer to a sealed container (or individual containers for easy lunches) and store for 3-4 days, or up to a week if you add the avocado the day you plan to eat it.
Expert Tips
- Mix well: make sure the salad really well mixed if you plan on storing it, or the avocado can start to brown. The lemon juice prevents this so don’t omit it.
- Season to taste: adjust the amount of salt added to suit your preference – this is important because beans will be more or less salty depending on type and whether they’re canned or home-cooked. Adjust the lemon juice as needed too.
- Let it rest: the salad is at its best after resting at room temperature for an hour or so, or in the refrigerator for about four hours. It’s good immediately but even better when it’s had some time to marinate.
More Summer Salads
Early Summer Potato Salad
Cucumber Melon Salad
Lentil Tabbouleh
Strawberry Salad
If you make this Vegan Dense Bean Salad or any other vegetarian sides on Occasionally Eggs, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email.
Green Dense Bean Salad
Description
Ingredients
- Zest of a lemon
- Juice of a lemon ~ 3 tablespoons
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar optional, if you like extra acidity
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup or honey
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 500 grams (3 ½ cups) mixed beans 2 cans, drained and rinsed
- 1 large cucumber diced
- 1 large ripe avocado diced
- Large handful dill stems removed, chopped
- Large handful parsley stems removed, chopped
Instructions
- Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, oil, vinegar (if using), maple syrup, mustard, salt, and pepper to a large bowl. Whisk together to combine, making sure the vinaigrette is smooth.Zest of a lemon, Juice of a lemon, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar, 2 teaspoons maple syrup or honey, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, ½ teaspoon sea salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Add the beans, cucumber, avocado, and herbs. Mix well to coat the beans and vegetables in the vinaigrette.500 grams (3 ½ cups) mixed beans, 1 large cucumber, 1 large ripe avocado, Large handful dill, Large handful parsley
- Serve immediately, or if you have time, it's best to let the salad rest, covered, at room temperature for an hour before serving. Alternatively, refrigerate for 3-4 hours. This salad keeps well for several days in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Servings: while this says it serves 4, it depends on how large the serving is and how you serve it – my partner and I usually polish it off for a meal between the two of us.
- Beans: pictured is a mix of chickpeas, large and small white beans, and kidney beans.
- Mix well: make sure the salad really well mixed if you plan on storing it, or the avocado can start to brown. The lemon juice prevents this so don’t omit it.
- Season to taste: adjust the amount of salt added to suit your preference – this is important because beans will be more or less salty depending on type and whether they’re canned or home-cooked. Adjust the lemon juice as needed too.
- Let it rest: the salad is at its best after resting at room temperature for an hour or so, or in the refrigerator for about four hours. It’s good immediately but even better when it’s had some time to marinate.
- Storage: dense bean salad keeps well in the refrigerator for several days, and tastes even better after resting for a day before serving. Transfer to a sealed container (or individual containers for easy lunches) and store for 3-4 days, or up to a week if you add the avocado the day you plan to eat it. If you plan on storing it for a couple of days, a little finely chopped red onion is a nice addition.
Nutrition
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.