Three bean salad
- Yield
- 4 servings
Crisp green beans, creamy kidney beans and nutty chickpeas in a sweet-sour dressing that gets better as it sits. It teaches blanching and shocking, and why canned beans need real time in a dressing.
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Ingredients
Batches and reset
4 servings · US measures · 1 batch
Batching
Blanch one base batch of green beans in each 4- to 5-quart pot and mix it in one serving bowl; for a larger yield, use a second pot and bowl or work in a second batch. Blanching and marinating follow the same cues; times do not multiply with ingredient quantities.
Original recipe: 4 servings.
The salt, sugar and vinegar added to taste are left out of the nutrition estimate. Nutrition is incomplete: the salad is lifted out with a slotted spoon, so the share of dressing eaten is not established, nor is the salt the green beans absorb from the blanching water.
Before you start
- Read through the recipe first; the salad needs several hours in the refrigerator. Gather the pot, ice-water bowl, slotted spoon, colander, serving bowl, whisk and towel. If your kosher salt is the dense, fine-grained kind, use about half as much.
Directions
Read through and gather
For the whole recipe
Read through the recipe, then gather the equipment and use the ingredient lines to prepare and measure everything. Rinse the canned beans under cold water until the foam stops and shake them dry, because starchy canning liquid clouds the dressing. Everything is prepared and measured before the pot goes on the heat.
Whisk the dressing in the serving bowl
For each bowl
Whisk 1/3 cup cider vinegar, 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp flaky kosher salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper and the garlic in the serving bowl until no grains of sugar or salt remain. Whisk in 1/4 cup canola oil, then stir in 1/2 cup red onion. The dressing is smooth, with no grains left.
Blanch and shock the green beans
For each bowl
Blanch the green beans: bring a 4- to 5-quart pot with a lid, about two-thirds full of water and covered, to a full rolling boil over high heat and add 1 tbsp flaky kosher salt. Add 8 oz fresh green beans and boil until bright green and tender-crisp, so a bean bends and bites with a little snap, about 3 to 4 minutes. Move them with the slotted spoon into the ice water and stir until cold through, then drain them and pat them dry in the towel.
Toss the beans and let them marinate
For each bowl
Toss 1 1/2 cups canned red kidney beans, 1 1/2 cups canned chickpeas, the celery and the green beans with the dressing; for the brightest green, keep the green beans covered on the side instead and fold them in during the final hour. Cover and refrigerate, tossing once or twice, until the beans taste seasoned through, about 4 hours; overnight is fine too.
Toss and taste a spoonful
For each bowl
Toss the salad and taste a spoonful with each kind of bean. Aim for sour first, then sweet, seasoned through, with garlic in the background. If it tastes flat, add flaky kosher salt to taste; if it is too sharp, add sugar to taste; if it is too sweet or oily, add cider vinegar to taste, up to 1 tsp more. The salad tastes sweet-sour and seasoned through.
Stir in the parsley and serve
For the whole recipe
Stir in 2 tbsp fresh parsley. Divide the salad among plates with the slotted spoon to make 4 servings, letting most of the dressing drain back into the bowl. Keep it cold at the table, and refrigerate leftovers in their dressing, covered, within two hours, or one hour when the air is above 90°F (32°C). The salad is served cold.
About this recipe
Research preview: these details come from our sourced research and haven't been reviewed by our chef yet.
Why it works
Blanching the green beans in salted water and shocking them in ice keeps them bright and tender-crisp. Rinsing the canned beans washes off the starchy canning liquid so the dressing can reach them, the sugar and salt dissolve in the vinegar before the oil goes in, and hours in the dressing season the beans through.
Associated with
American
Cooked beans in a sweet-sour vinaigrette are known in the US as three-bean salad, a longtime potluck and picnic side; bean salads have been carried to parks and outings since at least the 19th century. Related bean salads include Middle Eastern balela.
Taste
- Sweet
- Sour
- Salty
- Bitter
- Savory
- Heat
Sour first, then sweet., Seasoned through, with garlic in the background. · crisp green beans, creamy kidney beans, firm chickpeas · cold
Skill level
Easy
One quick blanch and a whisked dressing; the rest is time in the refrigerator.
Allergens
Allergens: see each line below. Sulfites depend on the vinegar.
Check the vinegar for sulfites. If your neutral oil is soybean oil, highly refined soybean oil is exempt from US allergen labeling.
Diets
Vegetarian: Fits as listed Vegan: Depends on what you buy Pescatarian: Fits as listed Dairy: See the allergen lines Egg: See the allergen lines Gluten: See the allergen lines
Occasions
Potlucks and picnics
A make-ahead salad that improves as it sits and travels well; keep it cold.
Lenten Fridays
No meat is listed.
Orthodox Great Lent
Beans and vegetables are allowed throughout Great Lent; the oil is the only question.
Serving and keeping
Best served: After about 4 hours in the refrigerator, or the next day With a slotted spoon, letting most of the dressing drain back
Make ahead: For the brightest green, hold back the green beans and fold them in during the last hour.
Storage: Refrigerate leftovers in their dressing, covered, at 40 °F (4 °C) or below. Freezing is not covered by the sources we checked.
Leftovers: Return it to the refrigerator within 2 hours of setting it out, or 1 hour above 90 °F (32 °C).
Food safety
- Canned kidney beans are already cooked. If you use dried kidney beans instead, soak them, pour away the soaking water, and boil them hard in fresh water for at least 30 minutes, until soft all the way through; never use them only soaked or slow-cooked.
- Keep the salad cold. Set it out for no more than 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90 °F (32 °C), then refrigerate it in its dressing.
We make no statement about cross-contact in your kitchen or in packaged ingredients. Check the vinegar and canned bean labels.
Nutrition notes
The beans bring fiber and plant protein.
Rinsing the canned beans, as the recipe does, washes off some of the salt in the canning liquid.
Swap notes
canned red kidney beans
Use: Pinto, black or cannellini beans, or the same amount of fully cooked home-cooked kidney beans
What changes: Black beans tint the dressing, so rinse them well.
Not a swap: Dried kidney beans that were soaked but not boiled until soft all the way through; red kidney beans must be fully cooked.
sugar · vegan
Use: Beet sugar or a certified vegan cane sugar
What changes: No change in flavor.
Not a swap: —
canned red kidney beans · keto
Not a swap: Beans are the body of the dish; there is no low-carbohydrate version.
These notes don't change the amounts, allergens or nutrition shown for this recipe.
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- Recipe url
- https://isthebestrecipe.com/salads/three-bean-salad
- Name
- Three bean salad
- Servings
- 4
- Recipe yield
- 4 servings
- Recipe ingredient
- 1/3 cup cider vinegar, 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp flaky kosher salt for the dressing, 1/4 tsp black pepper freshly ground, 1 clove garlic small, finely grated, 1/4 cup canola oil, 1/2 cup red onion thinly sliced, 1 tbsp flaky kosher salt for the blanching water, 8 oz fresh green beans trimmed, weighed after trimming, and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces, 1 1/2 cups canned red kidney beans drained and rinsed, 1 1/2 cups canned chickpeas drained and rinsed, 1 stalk celery thinly sliced, 2 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
- Copy action wording
- Copy recipe and estimated nutrition
Sources
- Food Allergies (major food allergens under FALCPA and the FASTER Act) (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2026-03-11)
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II: Substances or products causing allergies or intolerances (legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives), retained text of the EU regulation, 2011-10-25)
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II: substances or products causing allergies or intolerances (text as adopted) (European Parliament and Council; text read from legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives) copy of the adopted EU text, 2011-10-25)
- Bean salad (Wikipedia (English), 2026-09-07)
- Four Steps to Food Safety (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2025-11-24)
- Kidney beans and slow cookers (Lisa Peterson) (University of Illinois Extension, 2024-02-29)
- FoodData Central: Oil, canola (FDC ID 172336) (USDA Agricultural Research Service, FoodData Central, 2019-04-01)
- FoodData Central: Celery, raw (FDC ID 169988) (USDA Agricultural Research Service, FoodData Central, 2019-04-01)
- FoodData Central: Chickpeas (garbanzo beans, bengal gram), mature seeds, canned, drained, rinsed in tap water (FDC ID 173801) (USDA Agricultural Research Service, FoodData Central, 2019-04-01)
- FoodData Central: Vinegar, cider (FDC ID 173469) (USDA Agricultural Research Service, FoodData Central, 2019-04-01)
- FoodData Central: Garlic, raw (FDC ID 169230) (USDA Agricultural Research Service, FoodData Central, 2019-04-01)
- FoodData Central: Beans, snap, green, raw (FDC ID 169961) (USDA Agricultural Research Service, FoodData Central, 2019-04-01)
- FoodData Central: Beans, kidney, red, mature seeds, canned, drained solids, rinsed in tap water (FDC ID 175243) (USDA Agricultural Research Service, FoodData Central, 2019-04-01)
- FoodData Central: Parsley, fresh (FDC ID 170416) (USDA Agricultural Research Service, FoodData Central, 2019-04-01)
- FoodData Central: Onions, red, raw (FDC ID 790577) (USDA Agricultural Research Service, FoodData Central, 2020-04-01)
- FoodData Central: Sugars, granulated (FDC ID 169655) (USDA Agricultural Research Service, FoodData Central, 2019-04-01)
- Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2024-03-05)
- 21 CFR 101.54 Nutrient content claims for 'good source,' 'high,' 'more' (Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (reproducing the eCFR))
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Nutrition Values
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