Who’s got a good basic 3 or 4 bean salad recipe?

[Mosca]

It can’t be anything too spicy, Mrs Mosca loves spicy but can’t have it. I’m looking for something basic and good, but that also might have a fun twist. I’m not against opening a bunch of cans.

[Bad Hat BBQ]

1 can Black Beans (rinsed)
1/2 Can Kernel Corn
1/2 can Diced Tomato or Rotel
dice onion and peppers (sweet and or hot...to taste

1/8 cup balsamic vinegar......serve cold

The big debate in the house is over the need to heat the beans or just rinse out of the can!!

[Mosca]

Thanks!

[Bad Hat BBQ]

You sir, are welcome! super easy and a family favorite

[Donw]

We have used this for years. We originally got it from the NYT food section years ago.

2 small shallots (or 1 large shallot), peeled, then minced
3 tbsps apple cider vinegar, plus more to taste
1tablespoon Dijon mustard
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
½cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to taste
1(15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1(15-ounce) can cannellini or Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
1(15-ounce) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
½cup thinly sliced celery
1cup mixed coarsely chopped fresh parsley and celery leaves.

Kathy likes to add green beans too, but when I make it I don’t.

[Mosca]

This looks good, too! Does she add canned green beans, or does she use fresh and blanch them first? I’d just open a can, myself.

[Donw]

She does both. When the garden green beans are coming in she uses those otherwise out of the can. I prefer the canned green beans myself but she likes the crunch of fresh ones.

[Allon]

Donw, I agree with the Mrs. Nothing like fresh.

My wife likes canned as well.

[realdocBBQ]

Haven't done this one in a couple years, but it's pretty decent.


1 can black beans (frijoles negras) - drained, but not rinsed
1 can white beans (like great northern beans) - drained, but not rinsed
1 can brown beans (or Ranch Style beans, which we like) - drained, but not rinsed
1 chopped onion
1 chopped bell pepper
1 can sweet corn (optional, but I like the crunch/pop of corn kernels in it)
mild/medium/hot Pace picante, 1 med jar - Rotel would work just fine here, as well
~8-12 oz coarsely shredded cheddar, jalapeno jack or fiesta blend cheese


Mix together - eat with tortilla chips, large corn chips or whathaveyou as a dip.


Eating it cold works fine, but if you put a small bowl of it in the microwave, the cheese melts and it gets gooey and awesome, too. I like the onion and bell pepper to be pretty chunky, not finely diced, it just seems to go with the theme of the big beans and such. I also like to use the truly chunky salsa.

There are so many additions you could add - jalapenos, chunks of cheese, or multiple types, different added hot sauces.


My stomach is rumbling...


Also you could do this without chips, just in a bowl kind of like a stew or something. It's good stuff.

[Dadof3Illinois]

We make this pretty basic black bean and mango salsa that goes great as a burger topper!!!

2 cans black beans rinsed (More or less to your liking)
2 ripe mango diced
1 jalapeno (leave out if you can't do spice)
4 ears of sweet corn kernels or 1 large can of corn
1 red onion diced
1/2 each green, red, yellow bell pepper diced fine
2 tomatoes diced
1 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs ACV
1 tsp salt
1 tsp tajin if you have it
1 Healthy hand full of chopped Cilantro or to taste.

[MBMorgan]

Don't have a favorite ... but the folks over at Serious Eats seem to have a few ...

[Mosca]

Holy crap. Overload! I’m sure I can find something there!

[LA Pork Butt]

Can of black beans and a can of corn, both drained. Add a little olive oil to create cling. Then thousand island dressing and if you like add some chopped green onions.

if you are interested I have a sweet three bean salad.

[Mosca]

Yes, to the sweet triple bean, please!

[smokin fool]

Many great recipes here so whether its beans or peas in a salad any variety, skies the limit in what you can build.
Dressing is where it makes or breaks these salads, my two favs are Italian dressing or an envelope of any dry garden or ranch dressing.
The icing on the cake for my bean salads is lime juice.
A third to half cup of lime juice, or to taste, to any bean salad makes it jump in my books.

[Rob Johnston]

Wow, these are great!

[hoovarmin]

How about Cowboy Caviar?

[LA Pork Butt]

Mosca I am guessing no vinegar, onions and spices like you referenced before. This may not be the place to get helpful recipes. Perhaps a Paprika search in Eating Well will yield better results.

[Mosca]

hoovarmin It’s the acid, mostly, but she can get away with vinegar like in salad dressing. But pickles are out. Onions, if fried/sautéed, are tolerable in small amounts. Tomatoes are out, but I can make spaghetti sauce using roasted red peppers (plain red and green peppers are okay). Others things are hot dogs, Chinese food, tea, coffee, any soft drinks, etc. LA Pork Butt These recipes I can work around, though. And sometimes I just divide in two at a certain point while preparing.

[hoovarmin]

God bless her. That's got to be hard.

[Clawbear57]

Mosca thanks for starting thread. I got a lot of good ideas here 😌.

[bbqLuv]

KISS the 3-4 bean salad
1 can yellow wax beans
1 can green beans
1 can red kidney beans
1 can butter beans, recommend but optional
1 medium onion, sliced paper thin

Zesty Italian Dressing to taste.
Drain the beans, then combine all.
Simple and easy.

[Mosca]

That’s actually pretty close to what I wound up with on my first try. Garbanzos instead of wax beans, Olive Garden creamy Italian, some celery for crunch and some roasted red pepper and parsley for color.

[MarkN]

I needed this earlier in the week. We're going to a neighborhood Block Party tomorrow, burgers and dogs provided, everyone else asked to bring a dish to pass. It looked like everyone was bringing salads (pasta, potato or the green leafy kind) or dessert. I volunteered to bring BBQ Beans. I'm going with one I made in the past (cans of three different kinds of beans, Ro-Tel Diced Tomatoes & Chilies [Mild], onions, BBQ sauce, a few miscellaneous herbs/spices and squares of thick cut bacon on top, smoked for a couple hours with Hickory). Nothin' fancy but I'll be looking at some of the suggestions made here. I make it a rule to first try out a recipe on me and my wife rather than trying it out on 20+ friends and neighbors. Good topic!

[Mosca]

Ok, this is really freaking great. No, it isn’t bbq, and it really isn’t even cooking. To that I say, so what?

1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed
1 can green beans, drained and rinsed
about a cup of frozen corn
1 large roasted red pepper, diced about the size of the beans
2 stalks celery, thinly diced
about half a cup of parsley, chopped
1 avocado, diced
juice of half a lime
1 tomato, diced
1 shallot, halved then thinly sliced
Italian dressing to taste (I used Olive Garden creamy Italian)
salt and pepper to taste

You can figure it out. Add the lime juice to the diced avocado before stirring everything up. The creaminess of the avocado and the brightness of the tomato bring it all together.

If you have someone who can’t eat tomatoes or shallots, make the whole thing and then add tomatoes and shallots to just yours.

[Allon]

If I eat that, I might become more healthy given time.

It looks and reads pretty darn spiffy Mosca.

[smokin fool]

Two other neat ingredients in any bean salad are black eyed peas and chick peas which I believe are beans anyway.

[Mosca]

smokin fool I could have gone with black beans, too. I love black eyed peas, but they’re pretty unique. I’d have to try them in this first, before I’d recommend them.