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This Greek Dense Bean Salad recipe is loaded with chickpeas, cannellini beans and an assortment of fresh colorful vegetables all tossed in a tasty dressing.

Greek Dense Bean Salad in a clear glass bowl with serving spoons.

Our family loves everything about this salad. It has a great combination of ingredients and flavors, it’s loaded with protein and fiber, and it’s quick and easy to make. We’ve made it so many times over the years, we have the recipe committed to memory.

Why You Will Love This Recipe

  • Flavor. There’s a lot of flavor going on in this salad, and it’s all good! The dressing that we use for this salad has an amazing combination of flavors. 
  • Meal Prep. This is a great meal prep salad. Its easy to make and keeps very well. For a convenient lunch or afternoon snack, store the salad into individual serving containers in the fridge.
  • Share Worthy.  This salad travels well, so it’s a really great salad for potlucks, cookouts, and special occasions. If you need to take a salad to a potluck, this is a good one to take. It’s always popular!
  • Special Diets. It’s loaded with plant protein and fiber. And it’s vegetarian. Make it vegan if you want by omitting the cheese.

Greek Dense Bean Salad Recipe

Clear glass bowls filled with chickpeas, cannellini beans, cherry tomatoes, onion, cucumber and bell pepper for a Greek Dense Bean Salad Recipe.

  • Beans. We use canned garbanzo beans and cannellini beans. We like to use low-sodium or no sodium beans the best. You can also make our home cooked chickpeas to use. They taste far superior to canned chickpeas. 
  • Tomatoes. We like to use cherry tomatoes for this salad.
  • Onion. We use dice red onions. 
  • Peppers. We add both red and orange bell peppers to the mix.
  • Cucumber. Use either English or Persian cucumbers for this salad. The peels are thin and there’s few seeds. There’s no need to peel either of them. If you use garden cucumbers, you’ll want to peel them and scrape the seeds out with a spoon because they both can be bitter tasting. 
  • Kalamata Olives.  We like to use kalamata olives for this salad. 
  • Cheese. We use Feta cheese. Buy the block and crumble it into peaces. 
  • Beans. We use canned garbanzo beans and cannellini beans. We like to use low-sodium or no sodium beans the best. You can also make our home cooked chickpeas. They are SO good!
  • Fresh Herbs. Toss is finely chopped fresh Italian parsley and fresh mint. It adds so much flavor.

Find printable recipe with the measurements below.                                                                                                                     

Variations

Dense Bean Greek Salad ingredients in a clear glass bowl.

Dense Bean Greek Salad Dressing

For the salad dressing we use a mix of white wine vinegar, lemon juice AND lemon zest, Dijon mustard, dried oregano, salt and black pepper, extra-virgin olive oil and a little Parmesan cheese, which adds a lot of flavor to the dressing. We like to prepare the dressing first so it can chill in the fridge while we prep the salad ingredients. This gives the dressing a little time for the flavors to meld together. If the dressing separates, give it a good whisking before you drizzle it over the salad. 

Dense Bean Greek Salad in four glass container bowls.

How To Make Dense Bean Greek Salad

  • Blend Dressing. Measure the ingredients into a blender or NutriBullet and blend the ingredients. When you emulsify a dressing, it keeps it from separating so quickly. We like to blend the ingredients for this dressing rather than just whisking it.
  • Prep Ingredients. Drain and rinse the canned chickpeas and cannellini beans in a fine mesh colander. Slice the tomatoes in half, and dice the cucumbers, onion, bell peppers, kalamata olives and fresh herbs.
  • Toss Salad. Put all of the salad ingredients in a large bowl. Drizzle the dressing over the ingredients and toss. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
  • Store Salad. Store salad in individual servings in airtight containers in the refrigerator for convenient grab and go lunch or afternoon snack. If the salad is properly stored, it should last up to 5 days.

Tips For Making The Best Dense Bean Greek Salad

  1. Chop Ingredients.  Chop the ingredients into similar sizes. This is a salad that you can really eat with a spoon rather than a fork.
  2. Use A Large Bowl For Tossing. Use a large bowl that has room for tossing. You can use the same bowl to mix and serve with, unless you’re distributing the salad into individual serving containers for a convenient grab-and-go lunch or snack.  A pair of serving spoons is always a nice touch and will help you to gently toss the salad without smashing the ingredients. 
  3. Dressing Salad. Drizzle dressing over the salad and toss to make sure the ingredients are lightly coated with the dressing. Add more dressing if you like the beans to be more marinated in dressing.
  4. Taste-Test. Taste test and adjust the seasoning by adding more herbs, cheese, or salt and black pepper if you like. 

Dense Bean Greek Salad in three glass storage container bowls.

Serving Suggestions

Enjoy this dense bean Greek salad as a light vegetarian main or serve it over a plate of simple greens, or as a side with grilled chicken, fish, kebabs, or sandwiches.

Greek Dense Bean Salad in a bowl with serving spoons.

More Bean Salad Recipes

Greek Dense Bean Salad in three glass storage containers.
No Ratings
Yield: 6 Servings

Greek Dense Bean Salad

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

This Greek Dense Bean Salad recipe is loaded with chickpeas, cannellini beans and an assortment of fresh colorful vegetables all tossed in an amazing dressing.

Ingredients

  • 1 15-ounce can Garbanzo Beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 15-ounce can Cannellini Beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 medium English cucumber, diced (or 4-5 Persian cucumbers)
  • 1 red bell pepper, cored and diced
  • 1 orange bell pepper, cored and diced
  • 2 cups cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
  • 3/4 cup kalamata olives, chopped
  • 1/3 cup red onion, diced
  • 1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley, minced
  • 1/4 cup fresh mint, minced

For the Dressing

  • 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • zest of 1/2 lemon
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1-2 tablespoons water
  • 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, finely grated
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

  1. For the dressing, measure the ingredients into a blender or NutriBullet and blend for 5-10 seconds or longer to break the parmesan cheese down.
  2. Drain and rinse the canned chickpeas and cannellini beans in a fine mesh colander. Slice the tomatoes in half, and dice the cucumbers, onion, bell peppers, kalamata olives and fresh herbs. Put all of the salad ingredients in a large bowl. Drizzle the dressing over the ingredients and toss. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
  3. Store salad in an airtight containers (or in several individual serving containers) in the refrigerator. If the salad is properly stored, it should last up to 5 days.

Notes

Variations

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 515Total Fat: 42gSaturated Fat: 7gUnsaturated Fat: 35gCholesterol: 6mgSodium: 608mgCarbohydrates: 30gFiber: 9gSugar: 7gProtein: 10g

theharvestkitchen.com attempts to provide accurate information, however, this nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. The nutritional information provided comes from online sources and calculations. See full disclaimer on About page.

© Deborah Duncan
Cuisine: Mediterranean / Category: Salads