Jump on the Dense Bean Salad bandwagon with this delicious protein-packed recipe! Loaded with a mix of beans and fresh veggies that are then tossed in a homemade olive oil-based dressing, this dense bean salad has taken TikTok by storm for good reason!
Recipe by Elaine Gordon on September 19, 2024
Prep time: PT10M
Total time: PT10M
Rating
4.8 stars ( reviews)
Keywords
dense bean salad
Ingredients
1 can garbanzo beans, drained, rinsed and dried
1 can navy beans, drained, rinsed and dried
1 small red onion, diced (about 3/4 cup when diced)
2 small bell peppers, diced (red, orange or yellow)
1/2 English cucumber, diced
1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
6 ounces vegan feta cheese, crumpled (I like Violife brand and use about 3/4 of the block)
Fresh parsley, stems removed, finely diced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Juice of one lemon (about 3 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
3 large cloves garlic, pressed through a garlic press
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Categories
Salad
Steps
Chop the red onion, bell peppers and cucumber into bite-sized pieces. I use this vegetable chopper to ensure that everything is evenly sized. It saves loads of time too! Slice the pitted Kalamata olives.
Drain, rinse and dry the chickpeas and navy beans.
Whisk or shake the dressing ingredients together and pour overtop the salad. Toss well to combine.
Enjoy immediately or divide into mason jars to save for later.
Nutitrion
Calories: 441 calories
Carbohydrates: 43.6 g
Protein: 11.9 g
Fat: 25.1 g
Saturated Fat: 10.8 g
Trans Fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 1064.1 mg
Sugar: 9.1 g
Reviews
Angela on 2024-12-26 (5 stars): This bean salad is one of the best. I didn’t change a thing. My mom and husband loved it. Will def make again. Thanks for sharing this recipe Elaine.
Danielle G. on 2025-01-05 (5 stars): I meal prepped this for a weeks worth of lunches! I let my coworkers try it, and ALL of them went home and made it themselves! It was like gold! This dense bean salad is delicious, nutritious, and full of all of my favorite things. I personally find chopping meditative, so I loved the amount of chopping needed for this recipe. And the maple syrup is a surprisingly tasty touch. Love love love!!
Isela on 2025-01-14 (5 stars): I saved the recipe in my notes to make later. I made this last night so it marinated all night and day. I had it served over brown rice with ground beef & veggies. IT WAS SOOOOOOOO GOOD I CANT EVEN EXPLAIN THE CRUNCH THE FRESHNESS THE SLIGHT SALTY KICK OMG! I don’t like to eat garbanzo beans just like that. I had a couple of garbanzo beans cans and most of the ingredients. I just had to buy the vegan feta. Listen yall MAKE THIS! So so good. Perfect meal prep. Refreshing, SO HEALTHY, and fulfilling. I will be making again and again. I’m going to be eating either steak and more ground beef. I promised myself to eat more balanced diet and I’m sticking to it. Thank you!!!
Marlene LaRhette on 2025-02-25 (5 stars): On it! This recipe is a keeper, I haven’t made it yet, but I love that combination. Even better is the mason jar trick to keep fresh, I use them for berries too, they last so long. Thanks for the idea, I have everything in the house now 😉
Ruby Pap on 2025-07-15 (4 stars): I substituted regular goat cheese for this and it came out well, though no chunks of cheese. We do t really have access to many vegan cheese options here in Hawaii unless you want to pay a lot. What would be a good pairing with this salad main course wise?
Ria on 2025-07-26 (5 stars): I just made this salad. It was excellent - even before I added the feta. I used garlic stuffed olives instead of kalamata because I feel like Kalamata olives dominate the flavor too much. I also added some hearts of palm I had in the fridge. That worked really well with this salad.
