Easy Kidney Bean Salad Recipe (In Less than 15 min)

This easy to make Kidney Bean Salad recipe with a creamy dressing is a delicious potluck favorite that can be ready to serve in under 15 minutes. Boiled eggs and crunchy celery add extra texture and flavor that really help make a super healthy. nutritious side dish everyone will love.

During warm summer months, cold simple salad recipes, like this Kidney Bean salad recipe, Greek Quinoa Salad and this Green Bean Salad are great options to keep on hand for those times when you want a light but hearty dish without having to do a lot of prep work or cooking.

What We Love About Red Kidney Bean Salad

• This Kidney Bean Salad recipe requires no cooking and very little prep time, perfect for a quick and easy side salad
• This is such tasty salad, and it only uses a handful of ingredients you already have on hand
• Between the protein in the eggs and the beans, this is a great salad to act as complete meal! Perfect for a light lunch or dinner.

What’s Needed to Make this Kidney Bean Salad Recipe

• Dark Red Kidney Beans, drained (2 cans)
• Boiled Eggs, chopped
• Diced Red Onion
• Diced Celery
• Mayonnaise
• Sweet Pickle Relish
• Salt & black pepper, to taste

How to Make Easy Kidney Bean Salad

1. Rinse the kidney beans well and set aside. Don’t skip this step because there is a starchy liquid that is canned with the bean that you want to remove.
2. Chop all the over ingredients and add to a large mixing bowl.
3. Combine beans with dry other salad ingredients.
4. In a small bowl, mix mayo and relish together and toss over salad.
5. Serve immediately or place in an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Because this recipe has mayo in it, don’t leave it sitting out too long at room temperature.

Can I Freeze Leftover Kidney Bean Salad?

Freezing this salad is not recommended. The eggs and mayonnaise change texture when frozen and just isn’t as good when thawed.

The good news is you can store this salad in a big bowl that is sealed in the fridge up to several days! But trust me, this is such a delicious salad, you probably won’t have any leftovers.

Can I Use Dry Beans in this Kidney Beans Salad?

This recipe calls from canned beans, but if you have the extra time, you can certainly soak them in cold water until rehydrated then cook them until slightly fork tender. You will need to let them chill in the fridge before adding them to the salad.

Are Kidney Beans Healthy?

Not only are kidney beans a great source of protein, but they are also rich in healthy fiber as well as being good source of several other vitamins and minerals, such as molybdenum, folate, iron, copper, manganese, potassium, and vitamins K1.

For more nutritional information about kidney beans, check out this article on Healthline.

Add-ins and Recipe Variations for Kidney Bean Salad:

Beans: If you want to make this salad more like a 3-bean salad you can choose from a combination of garbanzo beans, chick peas, cannellini beans or black beans for your own take on this salad. If you are adding a larger amount of beans, you will need to adjust the other ingredients as well.

Dressing Ingredients: If you want a creamy dressing but aren’t a fan of mayo you can use plain Greek yogurt. If you’d like a lighter dressing, you could use extra virgin olive oil with a little lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar. You could even use a little Italian dressing instead of the mayo.

Fresh Herbs: Change up the flavors by adding your favorite herbs. Fresh parsley, dill, basil and thyme are all great choices.

Relish: Even though this recipe calls for sweet relish, you can use dill relish or no relish at all. Instead, you can use finely chopped sweet pickles or dill pickles.

Other Veggies: Add more color and nutrients to this salad with any of your favorite raw vegetables. Bell peppers, green onions, diced jalapeño pepper or carrots are all great options.

Want More Great Recipes for Summer?

• Easy Fruit Dip
• Watermelon Mint Lemonade
• Mexican Street Corn
• Frozen Bananas Ice Cream with Cherries and Pecans
• Spicy Peach and Mango Salsa