Food is everywhere in my memories of growing up. Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, fudge frosted cream puffs and so many more dishes have a special place in my heart. This 4 bean salad is no exception.
When Gramma made 4 bean salad, you knew that meant two things. Summer was here and we were going camping. For most of my childhood, we spent the month of July, camping with my grandparents and this salad was always on the menu. We would make it after breakfast and let it chill until dinner. We never even knew that beans were nutritious, we just knew that it was delicious.
This salad is a perfect side dish for camping, picnics, pot lucks or any meal.
This recipe is very easy to adapt. If we had extra green pepper or celery, we would chop it up and throw it in. The recipe calls for green beans, garbanzo beans, black beans, and kidney beans but we would change out the type of beans depending on what was on hand. Wax beans, cannellini beans, and pinto beans can all be used in this 4 bean salad.
One recipe of 4 bean salad was always just enough to feed the six of us, but it uses canned beans and is so easy to double or triple for larger crowds.
For more great vegetarian recipes, click here.
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Passive Time | 3 hours-overnight |
| Servings |
servings
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- 1 15 oz can green beans or 2 cups fresh green beans that have been blanched, see note below
- 1 15 oz can garbanzo beans
- 1 15 oz can black beans
- 1 15 oz can kidney beans
- 1 red onion medium, diced
- 1/2 cup olive oil or other neutral oil
- 1/2 lemon zested and juiced
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- salt and pepper to taste
Ingredients
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- Drain all the beans in a colander and rinse well. Place in a bowl.
- Add diced red onion to beans. Mix to combine.
- In another bowl, mix the oil, vinegar, lemon juice, lemon zest and sugar. Whisk well to combine.
- Pour over beans and onions. Mix to combine.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours to overnight.
To blanch fresh green beans: Bring a large pot of well, salted water to a rapid boil. Fill a large bowl with ice and water. Trim and cut beans. When water comes to a rapid boil, carefully add beans to the water.
Boil for 2-4 minutes depending on size. 2 minutes for small beans, 3 for medium and 4 minutes for large beans.
Carefully remove beans from boiling water and plunge into ice bath. When beans have cooled, place on paper towels to dry and then add to salad.
This 4 bean salad recipe is gluten free, dairy free, vegetarian and vegan.
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