For Real: A White Bean Salad to Truly Love With All Your Heart
Delicious cold out of the fridge but even better at room temperature, this delicious and easy white bean salad recipe is your new go-to! It’s a super star of summer parties in particular—did we mention it’s good at room temp? Plus, it just gets more spectacularly yummy as it sits! The flavors of the vinaigrette—onion, mustard, anchovies, sharp red wine vinegar—meld and melt into the tender white beans. It’s just sooooo good and healthy, too. And it’s got so much going on! Crispy fried capers, crunchy-pickle-y onions, bursting sweet cherry tomatoes and creamy white beans all swimming beautifully together in a big bowl of YUM. It’s here to dress up your grilled steak supper or add even more fancy to your next Mediterranean feast!
Everything You’ll Need to Make the Best White Bean Salad Recipe, Ever!
The influence in this salad is probably pretty obvious! We’re working with the classic flavors of the Mediterranean coast—capers, olive oil, tomatoes, anchovies, garlic—to dress up another classic Mediterranean ingredient: white beans! Now, you can use whatever white bean you love for this salad, but if you can track down canned Italian butter beans, you’ll be so glad you did! They’re bigger than Navy or cannellini beans, creamy on the inside and tender to bite into. They’re just heaven, and they’ll add a little extra fancy-schmancy to this otherwise simple white bean salad. Or, if you don’t mind cooking from dried beans, you could always spring for these Royal Corona beans! The cool heirloom bean suppliers at Rancho Gordo describe them as “Giant, fat, white runner beans that are creamier and more luxurious than Greek and Spanish gigandes and a little denser than traditional Italian coronas” and….we’re sold! Anyway! Other than white beans, though, you’ll just need:
Olive oil
Red wine vinegar
Garlic
Stone ground mustard
Anchovies
Salt
Black pepper
Red onion
Capers
Cherry tomatoes
Italian parsley
The Best White Bean Salad Dressing
Anchovies got a bad reputation somewhere along the way and we really would like to change that! They are easily one of our top three favorite pantry staples—as in, if we have fewer than 5 cans or jars of anchovies at any given time, we basically freak out and rush to the store whatever the hour! They make puttanesca sing, they make any pizza about a million times better (yeah, we’re those people) and they are here to make this white bean salad dressing deeply pungent and umami-laden. Salty and yes, a bit fishy, they’re a punch-packing ingredient that any food lover must love! Here’s everything you’ll need (in addition to our beloved anchovies) to make this savory, tart dressing!
About Those Fried Capers!
You don’t have to fry the capers, but you should! A quick frizzle in some hot oil and those tart, brined buds become positively transcendent. Trust us on this one! The only thing to know is that if you’re going to make this white bean salad recipe ahead of time, leave the capers out until right before you are going to serve it so that they stay lovely and crisp—a delightful and welcome contrast to the creaminess of the white beans.
We Love This White Bean Salad Recipe Because….
You can make it ahead of time! We love things that benefit from some fridge time, and this salad really does. The flavors marry over time and the beans hold up well. If you can make it a few hours before you plan to serve it, do!
It’s a little bit fancy! That means it pairs easily with simple meals. Grilling in the summertime is great fun, and a lot of times the best grilled meals are the simplest. Grilled fish, steak or even chicken can be whipped up in no time with almost no prep and if you’ve got this salad sitting in the fridge, you’re ready to serve dinner as soon as the meat comes off the BBQ.
But not too fancy! It’s also super approachable. It tastes like you put in some effort—and you did!—but it’s fundamentally built from familiar flavors. Briny capers, creamy beans, sweet-juicy tomatoes—everything everyone loves.
Do You Love This White Bean Salad? Tell Us All About It!
We’d love to know how crazy you are about this summery salad! Possibly as into it as we are? Hard to say! Anyway, when you make it, snap a photo and send it our way! Tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper so that we can see your stuff! Happy eating!
