Italian Cannellini Bean Salad With Tomatoes And Olives

This Italian Cannellini Bean Salad is healthy, flavorful, and satisfying. Made with white beans, juicy roasted bell peppers, olives, marinated red onions, and dollops of vegan cashew cheese, it's the perfect cold side dish or easy lunch. A good option for picnics, potluck, or work lunches too.

This simple Italian white bean salad contains all the traditional Mediterranean flavors, including the salty-spicy notes of the olives and the smoothness of the olive oil.

In fact, this salad may be one the best vegan Cannellini Beans recipes. You'll see why.

It also features plump, tender cannellini beans, also called white kidney beans. They are a kind of beans that have a neutral taste and can be mixed with any ingredients and dressings.

When paired with juicy bell peppers and cherry tomatoes, this recipe makes for a filling, protein-loaded Italian salad that is full of flavor.

The bell peppers are roasted in the oven, making them extra juicy and flavorful. The red onion is marinated in lemon juice, which helps take away some of the bitter tartness in the onion.

Here's Why This Italian Cannellini Bean Salad Works

• easy. Despite having many ingredients, this Italian Cannellini Bean Salad is really easy to make. In fact, it's ready in just 30 minutes. Canned beans only need a good rinse and while bell peppers are being roasted, you can quickly chop the tomatoes as well as marinate the onions. In fact, you can make this vegan Italian white bean salad even faster if you use canned roasted bell peppers.
• nutrients in every bite. Cannellini beans are a wonderful and healthy addition to any diet. Just 1 cup of cooked white beans provides 17 grams of protein and 11 grams of dietary Fiber which is might help with digestion. In addition, white beans are packed with many micronutrients like Folate, Magnesium and Vitamin B. Let's not forget about other veggies too...bell peppers, tomatoes and red onion all make for a very nutritious salad.
• very customizable. Italian Cannellini Bean Salad can be customized in a variety of ways. In fact, it's a great salad for cleaning-out-the fridge and using the ingredients that you even forgot you had. Yes, we've all been there:)

Ingredients

Here's an overview of the specific ingredients for this recipe. For the exact ingredients and measurements, please scroll to the recipe card below.

Ingredient Notes

• bell peppers – two of any color. Green bell peppers are the least ripe and can be slightly bitter, while red are the ripest and sweetest. Using several different colors will give you different flavors and more visual interest.
• Italian herbs - you can replace with dried oregano or thyme.
• lemon juice - make sure to use freshly squeezed lemon juice. Alternatively, you can use red wine vinegar.
• cannellini beans. I used canned beans, that's why the Italian White Bean Salad recipe comes together fast and easy. You can of course make it with dried beans, but you'll have to soak them the night before and then cook. Also, if you don't have Cannellini Beans, you can use Great Northern beans or Navy beans.
• Kalamata olives – look for pitted olives, it will save you some time. I love buying a big jar of olives from Costco.
• cashew cheese – in this Italian white bean salad with tomatoes and olives I loved using Treeline Soft French-Style Cashew Cheese, which almost tastes like a goat cheese cheese. It's really delicious in this Italian bean salad. This Cashew cheese is sold in most grocery stores in the vegan aisle. If you are vegetarian, you can use regular goat cheese, Feta cheese or any other soft cheese.

🔪  Instructions

1. Roast the peppers for the Italian Cannellini Bean Salad.

Preheat the oven to 450 F. Place the bell peppers on a parchment lined baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, then place the peppers in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave for 5 minutes.

Then, peel the skin off the peppers and cut them in half. Remove the seeds and slice each half into ½ inch strips. Add the strips to a large bowl.

2. Marinate the red onion

In a small bowl, combine sliced red onion, lemon juice, Italian herbs and salt. Leave for 5 minutes.

3. Assemble the Italian white beans salad

To the bowl with roasted bell pepper, add the red onion, drained and rinsed Cannellini beans, halved Kalamata olives, halved grape tomatoes, dollops of cheese, garlic pushed through garlic press and chopped cilantro. Drizzle with the olive oil and gently mix to combine. Adjust the salt and serve.

Frequently Asked Questions

♨️ Storing and Meal Prep Tips

I recommend consuming this Italian Cannellini Bean Salad on the same day.

However if you're doing a meal prep, I suggest layering the ingredients in jars in the following way:

• olive oil goes on the bottom of the jar, followed by white beans, roasted bell peppers, onion, olives, cheese and tomatoes.
• I also recommend not to slice the tomatoes for the meal prep, because they tend to release lots of liquid.

Also, if you don't do the meal prep, but have the leftovers of the White Bean Salad, store them in the airtight containers in a refrigerator for about 2-3 days.

Making Ahead Of Time

Making this Italian Cannellini Bean Salad for a potluck or picnic? Here're some tips on how to prepare a part of this simple salad ahead of time:

1. roast the red bell peppers, cut them and then store in a fridge.
2. marinate the onion and store it also in a fridge.

Then, whenever it's time to serve the salad, combine the already prepped peppers and onion, add the rest of the ingredients plus oil, mix and serve. Fast and easy.

Mediterranean White Bean Salad Variations

Here're some ways you can take this white bean salad with tomatoes and olives to another level.

• fresh herbs. Spruce up the salad with the addition of fresh parsley, mint, basil or chives, green onions. You can garnish the Cannellini beans salad with these herbs in addition or as a substitute to cilantro;
• vegetables. Want to add more texture to this Cannellini bean salad? Add chopped cucumbers, dried apricots, arugula or sautéed mushrooms. Check out your fridge to see if there are any ingredients that will taste good in this salad;
• condiments. You can also whisk in a teaspoon of Dijon mustard. It has a strong and a bit spicy flavor and it tastes really delicious in cold white bean salads.

🥗 Similar Recipes

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Recipe

Italian Cannellini Bean Salad With Tomatoes And Olives

This Italian Cannellini Bean Salad is healthy, flavorful and satisfying. Made with white beans, juicy roasted bell peppers, olives, marinated red onions, and dollops of vegan cashew cheese, it's the perfect cold side dish or easy lunch.

5 from 2 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine: Italian, Mediterranean

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 382kcal

Author: Iryna

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 bell peppers any color
• ▢ ½ c red onion thinly sliced
• ▢ 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Italian herbs
• ▢ 1 (15-ounce can) cannellini beans drained and rinsed. Great Northern beans or Navy beans would also work
• ▢ ¼ c Kalamata olives pitted and halved
• ▢ 15 grape tomatoes halved
• ▢ 3 tablespoon vegan Cashew Cheese I used Treeline Soft French Cashew Cheese
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic
• ▢ 2 tablespoon cilantro chopped
• ▢ 2 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

Roast the peppers for the Italian Cannellini Bean Salad

• Preheat the oven to 450 F. Place bell peppers on a parchment lined baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, place peppers in a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave for 5 minutes.
• Peel the skin off the peppers. Cut them in half, remove the seeds and slice each half into ½ inch strips. Place peppers in a large mixing bowl.

Marinate the red onion

• In a small bowl combine red onion, lemon juice, Italian herbs and salt. Leave for 5 minutes.

Assemble the white salad

• To the bowl with roasted bell pepper, add the red onion, drained and rinsed Cannellini beans, halved Kalamata olives, halved grape tomatoes, dollops of cheese, garlic pushed through garlic press and chopped cilantro. Drizzle with the olive oil and gently mix to combine. Adjust the salt and serve.

Notes

Cashew cheese. I love using Treeline Soft French-Style Cashew Cheese, which almost tastes like a goat cheese cheese. It's really delicious in this salad. This Cashew cheese is sold in most grocery stores in the vegan aisle. If you are vegetarian, you can use regular goat cheese, Feta cheese or any other soft cheese.

Using dried beans. You will have to use ½ c of dried Cannellini beans. Soak them overnight in plenty of cold water. The next day rinse the beans and cook in 4-5 cups of water for about an hour or until beans are tender.

Storing and Meal Prep. I recommend consuming this Italian Cannellini Bean Salad on the same day.

However if you're doing a meal prep, I suggest layering the ingredients in jars in the following way:

• olive oil goes on the bottom of the jar, followed by white beans, roasted bell peppers, onion, olives, cheese and tomatoes.
• I also recommend not to slice the tomatoes for the meal prep, because they tend to release lots of liquid.

Also, if you don't do the meal prep, but have the leftovers of the White Bean Salad, store them in the airtight containers in a refrigerator for about 2-3 days.

Making ahead of time. Making this Italian Cannellini Bean Salad for a potluck or picnic? Here're some tips on how to prepare a part of this simple salad ahead of time:

1. roast the red bell peppers, cut them and then store in a fridge.
2. marinate the onion and store it also in a fridge.

Then, whenever it's time to serve the Italian white bean salad, combine the already prepped peppers and onion, add the rest of the ingredients plus oil, mix and serve. Fast and easy.

Nutrition

Calories: 382kcal | Carbohydrates: 40.4g | Protein: 10.9g | Fat: 23.2g | Saturated Fat: 3.4g | Sodium: 834mg | Potassium: 1197mg | Fiber: 9.6g | Sugar: 16.8g | Calcium: 94mg | Iron: 4mg

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