Three-Bean Salad
Kidney beans, chickpeas, and green beans in sweet-sharp vinaigrette — the potluck perennial.
Ingredients
- 1 tin Kidney beans
- 1 tin Chickpeas
- 200 g Green beans
- 4 tbsp Red wine vinegar
- 1½ tbsp Sugar
- 4 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp Salt
- ½ Red onion (optional)
Method
- Bring a medium pot of well-salted water to a rolling boil over high heat.
- Trim the stem ends off the green beans while the water heats.
- Blanch the green beans in the boiling water until bright green and just tender, 3 minutes.
- Plunge the blanched beans into a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking, then drain and cut them into thirds.
- Drain and rinse the kidney beans and chickpeas in a colander.
- Sliver the red onion into thin half-moons.
- In a large bowl, whisk the vinegar, sugar, and olive oil until the sugar dissolves.
- Toss all the beans and the onion through the dressing until everything is coated.
- Chill the salad for at least 20 minutes — it genuinely improves as it sits.
- Give the salad a final toss and serve it cold.
Tap “Start cooking” for live timers that flag what to get ahead on while something simmers.
About Three-Bean Salad
Three-bean salad is an American potluck fixture, the tangy, make-ahead bowl that turns up at cookouts and church suppers, and this version pairs kidney beans and chickpeas with fresh green beans in a sweet-sharp vinaigrette. What sets it apart from just tossing canned beans together is the treatment of the green beans, which are blanched until bright and just tender, then shocked in cold water to lock in their colour and snap. That crisp fresh bean against the soft canned ones is the textural contrast the salad is built on, with slivered red onion adding bite.
The dressing is the other half of the story: red wine vinegar, sugar, and olive oil whisked until the sugar dissolves into a bracing sweet-and-sour vinaigrette that the beans marinate in and only improve with time. That makes it a genuinely useful dish to prepare ahead, since it sits happily in the fridge and tastes better an hour or a day later. Serve it cold as a side for grilled meats, alongside sandwiches, or as a light lunch on its own; it's high in fiber, entirely vegan, and holds up in a way most salads don't.
Three-Bean Salad: frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Three-Bean Salad?
A serving has about 226 calories — 7.7g protein, 26.5g carbs, 10.5g fat, 6.7g fiber. Figures are estimated from the ingredient amounts and will shift with your portions and brands.
Is Three-Bean Salad gluten-free?
Based on its ingredients, Three-Bean Salad has no gluten-containing components, so it's naturally gluten-free — as always, check that any packaged ingredients you use are certified gluten-free to be safe.
Do I need every ingredient to make Three-Bean Salad?
The core ingredients are essential, but you can leave out red onion — it's optional and mainly there for extra flavor or finish.
How many servings does Three-Bean Salad make?
This recipe makes 6 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.