Old Fashioned Bean Salad

This Old Fashioned Bean Salad has been a family staple for years. 4 kinds of beans and a hint of white onion all dressed in a sweet tangy vinaigrette dressing.

This is the perfect make ahead side salad for any get together or BBQ!

A Sweet Return

I truly have the most amazing Mother-In-Law, I don’t think I could’ve hand-picked a better one myself. Sometimes when my mother-in-law comes for a big turkey dinner, I send her home with leftovers in containers.  Last week I was so excited to see that she had brought back my containers because when she returned them they sometimes come back full of food too!  Bran muffins (and my kids totally love them too), sometimes her amazing baked beans and one day, this amazing bean salad.

I’d been sneaking spoonfuls out of the fridge all day long when I finally phoned her and asked for the recipe! She originally found this recipe in an old cookbook called “Women in Uniform” and it’s a great version of a classic bean salad.

How to Make Bean Salad

Bean salad couldn’t be easier. This version starts with canned beans for an easy make ahead salad. You want the beans to marinate in the dressing for at least 12 hours, but up to 48 hours is even better!

1. Drain beans and place in a bowl with green pepper and onion.
2. Boil dressing ingredients.
3. Pour dressing over the beans and refrigerate overnight mixing occasionally.

Pick Your Favorite Beans

• BEANS: This uses a mixture of canned green and yellow beans along with lima beans and red kidney beans.  Really, any kind of beans would be great in this recipe so feel free to change them up based on what you have on hand (or whatever kind of beans you like).
  • Great bean options include navy beans, chickpeas/garbanzo beans, cannellini among others.
• ONIONS: When purchasing onion for this recipe, you’ll want to use the white onions with the white papery skin (not the yellow skin) as they’re milder and add great flavor to this recipe!
• DRESSING: If you don’t have celery seed (I use them in  my favorite coleslaw dressing too), it’s worth getting some, it makes a big difference in this recipe (I also use celery seed in my favorite cole slaw recipe).  You can usually buy it in the bulk spices area so you can just buy a little bit at a time.  Note that celery seed is not the same as celery salt.

More Classic Summer Salads

• Famous Dill Pickle Pasta Salad – BEST. EVER.
• Creamy Cucumber Salad – Summer classic!
• The Best Potato Salad Recipe – Easy make ahead recipe.
• Italian Pasta Salad – Potluck perfect and full of flavor!
• Cucumber Onion Salad– Cool, creamy and refreshing!

5 from 2 votes

Review Recipe

Bean Salad

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 3 minutes

Total Time 8 minutes

Servings 12 servings

Author Holly Nilsson

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

This Old Fashioned Bean Salad has been a family staple for years. 4 kinds of beans and a hint of white onion all dressed in a sweet tangy vinaigrette dressing.

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Ingredients

• 14 oz can green beans
• 14 oz can yellow beans
• 14 oz can red kidney beans
• 14 oz can lima beans
• 1/2 cup green pepper thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup white onion thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup celery chopped

DRESSING

• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon celery seeds

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Instructions

1. Drain all of the beans well. Combine beans, green pepper, celery and onion in a bowl.
2. Heat all dressing ingredients in a small saucepan until sugar is dissolved and mixture is hot.
3. Pour the hot dressing mixture over the beans and toss to coat. Refrigerate overnight.

Recipe Notes

Mix or stir the beans occasionally as they are setting in the fridge to distribute flavors.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 203, Fat: 9g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Sodium: 399mg, Potassium: 340mg, Carbohydrates: 27g, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 14g, Protein: 4g, Vitamin A: 10.2%, Vitamin C: 17.3%, Calcium: 4.9%, Iron: 10.1%

(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.)

Keyword bean salad

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