This Tuscan bean salad is my favorite vegan recipe for cannellini beans! Its requires no cooking and has so many flavors and textures. The perfect summertime meal prep recipe.
Quick and easy lunches are essential. Midday is often the busiest part of my day. So, having a few quick and simple recipes in your arsenal is key for lunchtime efficiency. My personal favorite way to lunch is prepping one main thing that can be used in a few different ways. And lately, this recipe for Vegan Tuscan Bean Salad has been it.
This salad is is SO tasty! Its filled with flavorful and nourishing ingredients, and its packed with plant based protein. Its delicious in a variety of ways and can be customize to suit your preferences.
How to Eat Tuscan Bean Salad
This Tuscan Bean Salad is incredibly versatile. Throughout the week I used it to top hummus toast, fill a lavash wrap, and to top a green salad. I also ate it as it is as a side. And its delicious in so many way. Having this salad in my fridge really made putting meals together so much quicker.
Ingredient Breakdown
How to Work with Fennel
I love fennel. It has a subtle sweetness and slight licorice flavor that pairs really nicely with the italian flavors in this Vegan Tuscan Bean Salad.
Its delicious roasted like in my Warm Farro Salad with Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette, and its delicious raw! To trim fennel, first, cut the tops off. Then quarter the bulb and remove the core. You may need to peel the outermost layer off of the bulb as it can be tough.
Untrimmed fennel bulb 
After the bulb has been trimmed, quartered and cored.
In this salad, we use the fennel raw. When eating fennel raw, its importany to cut across the grain. Fennel has lines like celery and can be stringy in the same way that celeryt can be. To avoid this cut across the lines and cut the fennel into thin slices.
Cannellini Beans for Plant Protein
Cannellini beans are big white beans. They are about the size of a kidney bean. And this is my favorite vegan recipe for cannellini beans. The size of the cannellini beans makes this this Tuscan Bean Salad feel extra hearty. But any white bean will do. Navy and Northern Beans would make perfect swaps.
Sun-Dried Tomatoes to Add Umami
Sun-dried tomatoes are a polarizing ingredient. I love them. They add umami and depth of flavor to this Tuscan Bean Salad. I used the dry kind that come in a small baggie. But the sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil would also be great here! And if you don't like them, feel free to leave them out.
This Tuscan Bean Salad makes a HUGE batch so you can use it to build lunches throughout the week or simply eat it as a side. Enjoy!
Tuscan Bean Salad
Ingredients
- 2 15oz Cans of Cannellini Beans, drained and rinsed
- ½ Large Fennel Bulb, trimmed, quartered, cored and thinly sliced
- ½ Small Red Onion, thinly sliced
- 1 Cup Grape or Cherry Tomatoes, halved
- ¼ Cup Chopped Sun-Dried Tomatoes
- 1 Cup Lightly Packed Italian Parsley, chopped
- 2 tablespoon White Wine Vinegar
- 2 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Salt and Freshly Cracked Black Pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine cannellini beans, sliced fennel, sliced onion, halved grape tomatoes, chopped sundried tomatoes and chopped parsley. Toss to combine.
- Add vinegar and olive oil to the bowl with a pinch of salt and pepper and toss well to coat.
- Serve immediately or transfer to an airtight container and place in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Let me know if you like this recipe and if there is anything you'd like to see me make next!
Julia York
I love the sound of this salad. It'd make a great make-ahead lunch. I think I'm going to make it with roasted fennel... love roasted fennel so sweet and delicious, it would be lovely with the other flavours. Well, I least I know what I'm going to try for lunch today.
Gabriela
I love the addition of fennel here. This salad will be perfect for meal prep tomorrow.
Kalin
Bean salad is so filling and I love it for lunch! This looks so good!
Giangi
I am in heaven with this recipe. LOVE it! Refreshing and super easy to make. Thank you for sharing it. Will be on my menu this weekend.
Gregory Halpen
This dish looks so bright and fresh. A no cook plant-based meal sounds delicious! For sure making this one.
Cindy Mom the Lunch Lady
Oh wow this recipe looks great! I also love that most of these ingredients are 0pts on WW!
Cynthia Kinder
I made it this morning. Simple to make and delicious! I will definitely be making it again.
Megan Calipari
So happy you enjoyed it! 😊