This post contains affiliate links for which I may earn a commission (at no extra cost to you) should you make a purchase. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please see my disclaimer for more information.
This 5 bean salad is so simple to make and makes a great side dish. It is vegan and has a tasty oil-free dressing.
Beans are tasty, nutritious, and therefore a great food to incorporate into your diet. Especially if you are plant-based! I eat beans every single day because they can be used in various types of recipes and they have many essential nutrients.
This 5 bean salad is a great side to add to your lunch or dinner. The beans used in this recipe are:
- Dark red kidney beans
- Black beans
- Pinto beans
- Garbanzo beans (also called chickpeas)
- Green beans
Are beans healthy?
As mentioned, beans do have many health benefits!
According to an article about beans on NutritionFacts.org, beans are high in protein, iron, and zinc, making them a great meat substitute. Even better, they also contain nutrients found in vegetables, such as fibre, folate, and potassium.
This article also mentions that, according to an analysis of diet and cancer published by the American Institute for Cancer Research, legumes (which include beans) should be eaten with every meal. That’s three times per day! Researchers are by no means saying that beans can cure cancer, but they have found that they are very health-promoting and essential to a healthy diet.
This 5 bean salad will make it easy for you to get at least one serving of beans in your day!
You can also try this healthy vegan chickpea salad to get more beans into your diet.
How to make this 5 bean salad
Making this 5 bean salad is ridiculously easy. I use canned beans for all the beans except for the green beans. I find the canned green beens to be too mushy for my liking, so I buy the frozen cut green beans and just thaw them out. So none of the beans need to be cooked! Just throw them together in a large bowl.
Then, chop your celery, onion, and red pepper and add them to the bowl.
Next, you just need to mix all the dressing ingredients together in a small dish and pour it over the salad.
Mix everything thouroghly and enjoy your vegan bean salad!
This 5 bean salad keeps for about 5 days in the fridge, and possibly a bit longer. I’ve never kept it any longer than that because everytime I see it, I want to eat it!
Substitutions
- If you don’t like one of the beans in this salad, you can switch it out with any other type of bean, or double up on one that you really like.
- For the onion, you can use yellow onion, red onion, or scallions. Your preference!
More vegan sides
- Healthy Vegan Quinoa Salad
- Healthy Vegan Potato Salad
- Black Bean and Corn Salad
- Hummus Pasta Salad
- Vegan Broccoli Salad
Recipe
5 Bean Salad (Vegan)
Ingredients
Salad
- 14 oz. can dark red kidney beans
- 14 oz. can black beans
- 14 oz. can pinto beans
- 14 oz. can garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
- 1.5 cups frozen cut green beans (thawed)
- 1 cup chopped celery
- ½ cup onion (yellow, red, or scallions)
- 1 cup chopped red pepper
Dressing
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Measure out 1 ½ cups of frozen cut green beans. Allow them to thaw before continuing. You could rinse them with warm water to soften them up quickly. Then add them to a large bowl.
- Open and drain the canned beans. Rinse them off, then add them to the bowl.
- Chop and measure the celery, onion, and red pepper. Add it all to the bowl and mix everything together.
- Add all dressing ingredients to a separate, small bowl and mix together. You may have some difficulty mixing the tahini. If that is the case, you can microwave the dressing in 30 second increments to soften up the tahini (or use the stovetop). I find that whisking it and mashing the tahini with a fork works fine, no heating required.
- When the dressing is smooth and evenly mixed, pour it onto the bean salad and mix.
Notes
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutrition information is an estimate generated from a nutrition calculator. There may be errors here or variations based on ingredients you use.
Margaret
I really like this recipe. I actually just used 1 can of 6 bean medley rinsed with the other veggies as mentioned and I left out the tahini because I ran out of it and am not crazy about tahini. It still tastes great and it doesn’t make too large a recipe for me to use up. Thanks. I’ll make this often, it’s quick and easy. 👍
Sue
Great recipe. Makes a lot and gives me flexibility. I serve it on greens, sometimes adding some quinoa for a Buddha bowl. I also love it for a side dish, even for a quick snack. Thank you!
Connie
A good recipe. We loved it will add to menu again.
Bree Sheree
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed it.
Wendy
Delicious dressing and all ingredients except beans. I made recipes with 3 cups (measured post soaking) of 15 bean dried soup mix- soaked overnight, then cooked with water to cover for 1.5 hours with 1 Teaspoon no chicken broth in cooking water. Once tender drained. Otherwise followed recipe. Thank you. Great healthy recipe. (Also helped me use up the other half of a bag of dried beans so I didn’t have soup coming out my ears.)