White Bean Tomato Cucumber Salad
A fresh, flavorful salad made with creamy white beans, juicy tomato, crisp cucumber, tender baby spinach, and a super easy homemade dressing. This takes just a few minutes and works as a healthy, filling side or a light meal.
We’ve always loved the simplicity of cucumber tomato salad. It goes with everything, is quick and easy to make, and can be a nice change of pace from lettuce and greens.
Recently, though, I was planning our Sunday night dinner and wanted something with just a little more oomph. We pretty much always have white beans in the pantry, and I knew their creamy texture and mild flavor would be perfect to make this salad more filling without stealing the show.
You’ll love this easy white bean tomato cucumber salad because it’s a simple, interesting variation on a classic. And it’s crazy quick and easy to make!
Related: Simple Tomato Cucumber Salad
Ingredients, tips, and notes
- Cannellini beans – the most common type of white kidney beans, these have a fantastic creamy texture that makes them a great and versatile pantry staple. (We love them in dip and soup.) Quality substitutes include great northern or navy beans.
- Cucumber – use a long, thin English cucumber or the smaller Persian variety. These have relatively few seeds and are not too watery, which makes for a more crisp texture in the salad.
- Tomatoes – any kind. Remove the seeds if you like a less watery texture. Using a small grapefruit spoon to scoop them out makes it quick and painless.
- Red onion – adds a layer of crunch and tang.
- Baby spinach – love this for some extra nutrition and texture.
- Fresh herbs – this little touch adds so much! I highly recommend dill if you have it, and a sprinkling of fresh basil, parsley, or oregano is lovely.
- For the dressing – olive oil, red wine vinegar, dried oregano, salt, and pepper.
Once you’ve assembled your ingredients, making this couldn’t be simpler. It’s literally a chop and toss situation.
Shake or whisk the dressing together in a small jar or liquid measuring cup. This is a really light but flavorful vinaigrette. It adds the perfect punch without weighing down the salad at all.
Optional add-ins
This white bean tomato cucumber salad is delicious as-is, but if you want to add even more flavor — or clean out the fridge — there are a lot of tasty options.
Consider mixing in a bit of feta or mozzarella cheese, olives, chopped bell pepper or pepperoncinis, cubed avocado, or cubed stale bread to make it like a simple panzanella. Mix in some canned tuna for added protein, or serve alongside grilled chicken for a wonderfully easy and healthy meal.
More quick and easy salads
- Marinated Mozzarella Balls with Tomato and Avocado
- Pearl Couscous Salad with Tomato and Cucumber
- Chopped Greek Chickpea Salad
- Everyday Italian Salad
- Cashew Coconut Slaw with Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette
- Apple Cabbage Slaw with Brown Sugar Cider Vinaigrette
- Corn Avocado Tomato Salad
All of these are perfect for rounding out a dinner menu, bringing to a potluck, or whipping up for a quick and easy lunch.
Can’t get enough white beans? We love them, too! Try these delicious braised white beans or a light and tasty lemon orzo white bean soup next.
Do you love cucumber tomato salad? If you try this easy white bean version, let me know in the comments below!
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White Bean Tomato Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans drained and rinsed
- 1 English cucumber sliced and halved
- 1-2 cups small tomatoes quartered
- 1/4 red onion chopped or thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- about 15 cranks fresh-ground black pepper
- 2-3 handfuls fresh baby spinach coarsely chopped
- 1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs parsley, basil, oregano, dill, etc.
Instructions
- Combine beans, cucumber, tomato, and onion in a large bowl. Toss to combine.
- In a small bowl or jar, combine olive oil, vinegar, oregano, salt, and pepper. Whisk or shake well to combine, then drizzle about half the dressing over bean mixture and toss.
- Gently stir in baby spinach and fresh herbs, add more dressing to taste, and serve.
Notes
- Yield: this serves six as a light side dish. I’d say it serves about 3 for a light meal — depending on whether you add anything and how hungry your crowd is, of course.
- Variations: try adding in feta, mozzarella, olives, chopped bell pepper, pepperoncinis, cubed avocado, or cubed stale bread (to make this like a panzanella). Add tuna or grilled chicken for more protein.
So delicious! Very flavorful and summery! Highly recommend and will be making over and over again!
Made this for lunch today and its fantastic. Topped with vegan feta.
Delicious salad, I did not have red wine vinegar so I substituted champagne vinegar. It was fantastic…five stars!
This is just the sort of dinner that i love in the summer. So many great flavours all together!
This looks delish! I love white beans so satisfying and somehow still lighter in flavor and feel than most other beans. Perfect summer salad!
I’m going camping and will be making this salad for sure! I don’t want to bring lettuce but still want to eat something healthy. Thanks for the recipe!
Love this salad! You can never good wrong with the classic greek dressing it makes all salad taste good.
This is such a delicious bowl of healthy goodness. I made it for lunch and it was filling and flavorful!
One of my favorite simple meals ever – you made it looks SO good!