Introducing the one and only high protein salad you will need this summer. This easy make ahead Antipasto Style Italian Bean Salad is packed with cannellini and garbanzo beans, cold cuts, cheese, fresh veggies, pepperoncini’s and topped with a zesty lemon balsamic vinaigrette. No cooking required! If you can chop and open a can, this simple 15-minute salad recipe is for you.
This light yet satisfying Mediterranean salad is the perfect side dish for barbeques, picnics, or potlucks. Try it served as a main dish served over a bed of fresh spinach or lettuce.
Bonus: You can easily prepare a week’s worth of healthy lunches by storing the bean salad and dressing separately until you’re ready to serve. This keeps the salad fresh and vibrant, making it a convenient and nutritious option for your weekday meals.
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Salad Ingredients
The best part of this Italian white bean salad recipe is that the ingredients listed are just a guideline. Feel free to use any antipasto ingredients that are similar to what we used for our charcuterie skewers. The only exclusion is tomatoes because they can break down easily if not eaten straight away.
Canned Beans – any type! We used cannellini and garbanzo (chickpeas) as that is what we had in the pantry. This easy Italian bean salad is also delicious with black, navy, kidney, fava beans and more.
Fresh Veggies of Choice – really anything goes here. We chose seedless English cucumbers and sweet mini bell peppers.
Pickled Vegetables or Antipasti - such as pepperoncini, olives, capers, and more are all good here. If you happened to have a jar of Giardiniera in your pantry, that would be so good!
Aromatics & Herbs - Fresh parsley, onions and garlic make this recipe pop. A dash of Italian seasoning or even some oregano made this hearty Italian bean salad taste like a pizza without all the gluten woes.
Cold Cuts and Cheeses – Your choice for sure! We went with spicy pepperoni and smokey provolone because that was in our inventory. Maybe you would like to try salami, prosciutto, capicola and more. For cheeses, you may even like to try fresh mini mozzarella balls because they cling on to the zesty vinaigrette. Think outside the box and add grilled chicken, pan fried tempeh, baked rainbow trout or even tuna fish, instead of the cold cuts.
Zesty Vinaigrette
This light and zesty Lemon White Balsamic Vinaigrette makes this bean salad unique. It's light, bright, and makes this cold bean salad a crowd pleaser. The natural sweetness from the white balsamic balances the sour lemon and the "real deal" extra virgin olive oil. It makes every morsel of this must try summer salad – the perfect antipasto bite.
Step By Step Salad Guide
- Make the Dressing: Blend together the ingredients for the vinaigrette dressing and add fresh garlic.
- Prep the Antipasto Ingredients: Chop the vegetables, pickled veggies, cold cuts, cheeses, and aromatics.
- Bean Prep: Open the canned beans, drain, and rinse until clear.
- Add to Bowl: Place antipasto ingredients into a large salad bowl.
- Toss with balsamic dressing.
- Enjoy!
Recipe Preparation Tips
- Same Size: Chop all the antipasto ingredients into bite sized pieces or small so it’s easier to eat.
- Rinse those Canned Beans! You don’t want that cloudy juice from the can in your salad. However, save the juice, especially from garbanzo beans, if you want the aquafaba (egg replacement) for another recipe. Rinsing the canned beans, according to several dieticians can reduce the sodium content and reduce the difficult to digest carbohydrates that cause gas. (1) Use a colander. Rinse the beans in cold water until it runs clear and there are no more bubbles.
- Remove the floating skin from the Beans while washing: It’s a texture thing – don’t even get us started! This is an important step to remove the tough bean skins. We also perform this procedure on our roasted garbanzo beans recipe to give them an extra crunchy texture during the baking process.
Make the Salad Uniquely Yours
Feel free to add your own favorite antipasto ingredients to the mix. Swap the pepperoncini peppers for capers, add marinated artichokes, substitute salami for the pepperoni. You get the idea – have fun with it!
Who says that Italian Cannellini Bean Salad even needs to be made with white beans? Substitute kidney, black or even mung beans for the white beans. Use what you have on hand. We are all about that!
Chilling and Storage
- Chilling Time: In the perfect world, if you can let the bean salad marinate for at least 30 minutes, it gives all the ingredients a chance to soak up all those bright and delicious flavors of the dressing.
- Storage: After you add the dressing, it is best enjoyed the same day. The vegetables will start to soften after that.
- Reminder: Store the bean salad and dressing separately until you’re ready to serve, if longer than 24 hours.
What to Serve with an Italian Bean Salad?
Start out with an appetizer of Toasted crostini with a homemade olive tapenade or bruschetta bread with your favorite vino or sparkling water.
Try this antipasto style Italian bean salad as a main dish or lunch. Serve it up over fresh spinach, rocket, or chopped lettuce with a few roasted pepitas for added crunch.
It’s also a fabulous side dish for our green chicken kababs, marinated grilled flank steaks and our Mediterranean red snapper packets.
Don’t forget dessert! If you are grilling out, consider our easy grilled nectarines or a make ahead blueberry tarts with puff pastry for a delicious sweet treat to end your summer meal.
More Salad Recipes
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Antipasto-Style Italian Bean Salad
Equipment
- Jar with lid To shake and mix the lemon balsamic vinaigrette
Ingredients
Salad Dressing
- ¾ cup Lemon White Balsamic Vinaigrette prepared and mixed *see recipe
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 cloves garlic fresh peeled and minced
Italian Bean Salad Ingredients
- 15 ounces garbanzo beans
canned (also known as chickpeas) - rinsed well - 15 ounces Cannellini beans canned (also known as white beans) rinsed well
- 1 and ⅓ cups cucumbers 3 small Persian cucumbers or 1 English cucumber
- 1 large red bell pepper or 6-7 sweet mini peppers chopped (about a cup chopped)
- ¼ cup onions finely chopped
- ½ cup pepperoncini chopped
- 4 ounces provolone cheese diced (about 1 cup)
- 4 ounces pepperoni diced (about 1 cup)
- ⅓ cup parsley fresh chopped - optional
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
Prepare Salad Dressing
- Add the ingredients to make the Lemon white balsamic vinaigrette in a jar with lid. (⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil, ¼ cup white balsamic, 1 teaspoon dried Italian dressing, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, salt and pepper to taste) Then add the minced garlic and 1 teaspoon of dried oregano. Close the lid to seal the jar and shake and mix until well combined. Set aside.
- In a colander, rinse the garbanzo beans and cannellini beans until the water is clear. Shake to remove any excess water. Remove any little bean skins that have been removed from the beans and discard. Place in a large salad bowl.
- Prepare and chop cucumbers, red bell pepper, onion, pepperoncini, provolone cheese, pepperoni, parley and place in the salad bowl along with the beans.
- Give the lemon white balsamic vinaigrette one more vigorous shake and pour over the antipasto style Italian bean salad. Toss the salad. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.
- Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Sources
Manian, Christina. "The One Thing You Should Do Before Eating Canned Beans." Health, December 4, 2024. https://www.health.com/should-you-rinse-canned-beans-8741490.
Judee Gluten Free A-Z Blog says
A no cook meal is perfect during this extreme heat wave we are having . This salad looks amazing and easily adapts to my vegan lifestyle. Thanks for the recipe.
HWC Magazine says
Thank you Judee! This weather has been a scorcher so please take care. To make this antipasto style Italian bean vegan, just substitute the cold cuts and cheese with more delicious pickled vegetables like artichokes, olives, and more fresh veggies and fresh herbs. It is so good that way too. Take Care
Heidi says
I love savory pop of flavor from the pepperoni and the pepperoncini’s... and your lovely lemon balsamic vinaigrette pulls all of the flavors together perfectly.
HWC Magazine says
Thank you Heidi! This Italian bean salad is the kind where you keep taking just a little...just a little more because of those addictive flavors. Stay cool this summer!