Classic Three Bean Salad (2024)

Ingredients in this three bean salad

Our spin on three bean salad is just as easy to make as the 1950’s style classic. The main steps are “dump and stir”: literally open the bean cans and stir everything together! At the same time, we wanted to liven up the classic by cutting back on the sugar and adding some freshness. Here’s what you’ll need for this three bean salad:

• Kidney beans and pinto beans: We like pinto beans in a bean salad, since the common chickpeas can have a tough texture and don’t soak up the marinade as quickly.
• Canned green beans and wax beans: Adding yellow wax beans to this bean salad makes a nice color contrast! They can be harder to find at the grocery, so you can also use only canned green beans.
• White onion and red onion: White onion is standard and has the most classic flavor. Red onion adds brightness with the lovely purple color.
• Curly parsley: The green confetti adds a fresh flavor and visual flair. Use curly parsley if you have it, but Italian also works.
• White vinegar and olive oil: Bean salad works well with white vinegar, just like a classic cucumber salad. It adds just the right astringent punch, balanced by the salt and sugar.
• Dried dill and garlic powder: These seasonings heighten the savory and fresh flavors in this dish.

The back story on bean salad

Bean salad is a classic American salad of canned beans marinated in a vinaigrette. It’s a staple at picnics and potlucks because it doesn’t require refrigeration and can sit out in the heat for hours. This type of bean salad originated in the 1950’s, when recipes using canned beans started appearing in cookbooks (per this source).

Bean salad recipes vary and most cooks have their own regional spin. The most common ingredients are kidney beans, green beans, and garbanzo beans (it’s often called three bean salad). Other ingredients you’ll often see are pinto beans, wax beans, and onions. It’s almost always marinated in a dressing of vinegar, oil, sugar and salt.

Tip for slicing the onions

One area where home cooks can be tripped up: how to cut the onions into slivers! The cut that looks best in this bean salad recipe is different from the standard half-moon shape.

Some people call it French cut: it’s a way of making the onion slivers look attractive instead of long and floppy. Cut slices from the tip to the root—instead of through the middle. It’s easiest to explain by showing you: watch minute 1:40 of thisHow to Cut an Onionvideo!

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Ingredients

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• 15-ounce can kidney beans
• 15-ounce can white beans or pinto beans
• 15-ounce can green beans
• 15-ounce can wax beans (or another 15-ounce can green beans)
• 1/2 medium white onion
• 1/4 medium red onion (optional)
• 2 tablespoons chopped curly parsley (or Italian parsley)
• ½ cup white vinegar*
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• ¼ teaspoon each dried dill and garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• Fresh ground black pepper

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1. Drain and rinse the beans.
2. Thinly slice the onions into slivers (go to minute 1:40 of this How to Cut an Onion video to see how!). Finely chop the parsley.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the white vinegar, olive oil, sugar, dill, garlic, powder, and kosher salt. Add the beans, onions and parsley and stir until coated. You can eat immediately, but for best results refrigerate for 1 hour to allow the salad to marinate. Store leftovers refrigerated for up to 5 days.