It’s hard to believe summer is almost here! Some days have already been hot and humid–too warm to cook or bake. So that’s when I start thinking of recipes to make like Three Bean Salad. It doesn’t require any cooking at all and is super-easy to make. It’s a great summer side dish for lunch or dinner and perfect for picnics. I decided to try sweetening my version with honey instead of white sugar and that worked out well. You need to make this salad at least 4 hours before you serve it, to give the salad time to marinate…and this is one of those recipes that tastes better the longer it marinates. So making it the night before you serve it works out great, too.
THREE BEAN SALAD by NancyC Makes about 8 servings
- 1 (15-ounce) can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15-ounce) can green beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans (also called chickpeas), drained and rinsed
- 4 green onions, finely chopped (chop both the green stems and the white onion tip)–or you can substitute 1 medium chopped red onion
- 1 medium red or green bell pepper, chopped
- Optional: 1 to 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 to 4 Tablespoons honey, depending on how sweet you want it (or substitute 1/2 cup white sugar)
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
In large bowl, add drained and rinsed beans, then add the chopped green onions and bell pepper; toss all ingredients together with a large spoon. In another bowl or a jar with a tight-fitting lid, add the vinegar, oil, honey, mustard powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper; whisk together or, if using a jar with lid, shake ingredients together well. Pour this dressing mixture over the bean salad mixture, tossing gently to coat everything well. Chill in your refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight before serving (the taste gets better the longer it marinates). Stir and toss mixture several times as it is marinating. Toss mixture once more right before serving.
Salads like this are great for summer! I really like making no-bake recipes when it’s warm outside. What easy warm-weather recipes do you like to make? Linked to Fiesta Friday, Inspire Me Monday.
NancyC 
Crazy enough, I just finished my summer! Okay, not totally true, but grad school starts this week and I had the last month off, so I called it summer. I’ve been confused because everyone else’s summer breaks start this week!
I love salads that marinate. It does so much of the work for you, and yet ends up so flavorful. This salad is no exception, it looks delicious! Thank you for sharing, happy FF, and have a marvelous weekend! 🙂
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Sounds like you will have a busy summer with grad school! Glad you like the salad and enjoy your weekend!
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This sounds really good!
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You’ll have to let me know if you try it, Mary!
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I love this salad but have never put bell peppers into it. Yum I love that idea.
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Looks brilliant Nancy….
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Hi Nancy, love recipes like this especially in the summertime. Your dressing sounds amazing. Have a great week-end!
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Thanks, Cheri–I hope you have a nice weekend, too! 🙂
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I love this recipe and I believe it’s pretty healthy except for the sweetener – and a lot of that isn’t eaten, either! One of my favorite summer salads! Thanks for bringing this to Fiesta Friday!
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A gorgeous, filling salad! Lovely!
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We’ve had such sunny days then crazy wet ones I can never keep track but I love eating outdoors so hope more sun will come. Having a salad you can pre prepare is rare so this is fab x
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We’ve been having lots of crazy wet days recently! 🙂
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our weather is always crazy x
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I think this would be perfect as a side for dinner tomorrow. Thanks for the idea as I think I will made the salad tonight to give it a chance to marry its flavors.
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Yes, it would be a great side dish–hope you like it! 🙂
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I love this colorful salad – full of flavor and perfect for a picnic/barbecue 🙂
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This brings back such good memories of my aunt. She used to make this all the time. It is delicious, and you are right, so perfect for summer. I don’t have her recipe, so I am very happy to get this. Thank you, Nancy!
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You’re welcome, Shari! 🙂
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A favorite salad from my past, thank you for reminding me that I need to make this again.
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Thank you dear Nancy, indeed this post is awesome, most especially when you have to be reminded of all those good and old memories, i never knew i would again see this salad and its recipes ever since i left my aunt, but here it is. Thanks Nancy.
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The salad looks delicious, love how easy and quick it will be to make it!
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Yes, it’s so simple to make–great for summer!
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Needed to find a recipe for a Crossfit potluck. This one seemed healthy enough for those guys and it was delicious, too!!
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Glad everyone liked it, Rick, even without marinating it for 4 hours! 🙂
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