Next, make the dressing. In a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar, garlic, mustard, honey, and salt. Transfer them to the ice water, then drain and transfer to a kitchen towel to dry. Drop the beans into the boiling water, and cook for 2 minutes, or until they’re crisp-tender and bright green. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and set a bowl of ice water nearby. This three bean salad recipe is super simple to put together! Here’s how it goes:įirst, blanch the green beans. This speedy cooking technique makes the fresh beans more tender and highlights their natural sweetness. And sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!įind the complete recipe with measurements below.

Parsley – It gives the salad a nice fresh finish.Red onion and celery – They add savory flavor, color, and crunch.I prefer the flavor of a natural sweetener like honey (or maple syrup, if you’re vegan), and I scale it wayyyy back to give the salad a tangy, pickle-y pop. In a traditional three bean salad recipe, it would be much sweeter, with almost equal parts vinegar and sugar. Extra-virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, garlic, Dijon mustard, and honey – You’ll whisk together these ingredients to make the dressing.And if you have fresh wax beans on hand in addition to green ones, by all means, toss them in! Pinto beans and cannellini beans would both be good substitutes for the kidney beans and chickpeas. Three beans, of course! I use fresh green beans, kidney beans, and garbanzos, though you could certainly experiment with using other types of beans if you’d like.Here’s what you’ll need to make this easy three bean salad recipe: It’s bold and refreshing, and like any good picnic salad, it only tastes better if you make it ahead. Instead, I add blanched fresh ones, along with thinly sliced celery and red onion for crunch. But those canned green beans? You won’t find them here. It features dark red kidney beans and hearty garbanzos, and it’s tossed in a punchy (though considerably less sweet) dressing. In many ways, it’s just like the one I ate as a kid. So, to kick off picnic salad season this year, I’ve got a new three bean salad recipe to share with you. I remember liking the sweet and tangy dressing, but the mushy canned green beans? Not so much. It was something I ate at potlucks, picnics, and even the occasional school lunch. Like macaroni salad and potato salad, three bean salad takes me right back to my childhood.

Bean salad