A warm easy bean salad with yellow pepper, eggplant, tomatoes, garlic and delicious fresh herbs. This makes a perfect Summer dinner or lunch alongside some char grilled crusty bread.
Make this easy bean salad from scratch in less than 20 minutes and with minimal effort. It's packed full of delicious summer flavours with lemon zest, parsley, basil, and oregano. This would be great with your summer barbecues or as a meal on its own for lunch or dinner.
Cannellini beans have got to be my favourite bean...that sounds so weird to say I have a favourite bean but I do. They are SO delicious in salads, crushed with garlic on crostini or even mashed with garlic and herbs as a substitute to mashed potatoes (these are especially good with steak)  and I eat them so often throughout the Summer time.
This easy bean salad is a traditional Italian dish that I've adapted slightly with extra herbs, red onion, and garlic which I think just adds an extra punch of flavour.
How to make easy bean salad from scratch
You need one eggplant/aubergine, red onion and one yellow pepper, finely chopped. Add them to a large pan with a tablespoon of olive oil and stir occasionally for 5-10 minutes until it starts to cook down.
Meanwhile finely chop garlic and tomatoes (seeds removed), add them to the pan with some oregano. Continue to cook the mixture for another 5 minutes before adding the canned cannellini beans. Remove the pan from the heat and add finely chopped parsley, basil, lemon zest and a little salt and pepper.
It's easy as that. You can change it up with different vegetables such as zucchini, red pepper, cucumber, olives there are so many variations to this salad the list is endless.
You might also like my cannellini bean and tuna salad it's another super simple salad, perfect for Summer.
If you've tried this or any other recipe on the blog please let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I'm getting up to.
Summer Easy Bean Salad
Ingredients
- 1.6 lb (760g) canned cannellini beans , drained*
- 1 eggplant/aubergine
- 1 yellow pepper
- 1 small red onion
- 2 tomatoes
- 2 cloves of garlic , finely chopped
- 1 small bunch basil , finely chopped
- 1 small bunch parsley , finely chopped
- ½ tablespoon dried oregano
- zest of half a lemon
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Remove the seeds and white from the pepper and finely chop that and the onion and eggplant. Add to a large frying pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and cook down, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, remove the seeds from the tomatoes and finely chop. Add to the pan with the finely chopped garlic and oregano, stir. Fry for another 5 minutes.
- Add the cannellini beans and remove from the heat. Add the lemon zest, parsley, basil and a good pinch of salt and pepper, Stir to combine. Serve with some char-grilled crusty bread.
To make char-grilled bread (optional)
- Cut slices of ciabatta bread and drizzle with a little olive oil. Place on a hot griddle pan until toasted and slightly charred on each side, sprinkle with salt.Tip: This is especially good with goats cheese spread on top with this salad.
Notes
Nutrition
- I always use extra virgin olive oil in all of my recipes unless stated otherwise
- When I use canned or jarred tomatoes of any kind I always use Cirio or Mutti brands for the best results and flavour.
- All vegetables are medium sized unless stated otherwise
- All recipes are tested and developed using a fan (convection) oven
- Find out more about how nutrition is calculated.
- Check out our must have Italian Pantry Staples.
- You can also find all our Essential Kitchen Tools for Italian Cooking.
Helen @ Fuss Free Flavours
Cannellini beans are really delicious, and great for salads. Your recipe is a lovely combination of lovely ingredients, and perfect for a summer meal.
Inside the rustic kitchen
Thanks so much Helen.
Michelle | The Last Food Blog
This is perfect for hot summer days! I don't think it's weird at all to have a favourite bean, cannellini beans are a definite favourite of mine 🙂
Inside the rustic kitchen
Thanks so much Michelle, yay for cannellini beans!
Kate | Veggie Desserts
IT's really hot out today, so this bean salad sounds perfect!
Emma @ Supper in the Suburbs
I LOVE beans in salads! They are a fab way of bulking them out, adding some much needed protein (I eat a predominantly veggie diet), plus they taste GREAT! Not made one with cannellini beans so will give this a try 🙂
Inside the rustic kitchen
They are so delicious in salads, definitely give it a go. Thanks for stopping by Emma.
Julie Carlyle
I love cannellini beans too, and I also love eggplant!! This salad would be perfect for me. Pity it's Winter in Australia. I will bookmark this recipe.
Thanks so much for sharing
Julie
Inside the rustic kitchen
Thanks so much Julie, I hope you enjoy!
Erin Clarkson
This looks so amazing! It's so hot here so I like to prepare dinner in the morning if possible so it's all ready to go in the evening - this would be perfect for this!
Inside the rustic kitchen
That's a great idea, it's so hot here too I don't know what to do with myself sometimes lol!
jacquee | i sugar coat it
This is indeed perfect for the warm summer months - easy, fuss-free and yummy!
Inside the rustic kitchen
Thanks so much Jacquee.
maria
This looks like the perfect salad for the summer... healthy, colorful and refreshing. Thanks for sharing♥
Inside the rustic kitchen
No problem, thanks so much for stopping by.
Natalie
Super easy and super delicious. This is perfect summer salad. I love the addition of oregano and basil. Can't wait to try this!
Inside the rustic kitchen
Thank you Natalie, I hope you enjoy!
Jovita @ Yummy Addiction
Love all the colors. YUM!
Inside the rustic kitchen
Thank you 🙂
valentina
I love cannellini beans! This is such a pretty, colorful salad. It's making me hungry! 🙂
Inside the rustic kitchen
Thank you Valentina, so glad you like it!