This cabbage kidney bean salad is a super quick, healthy, and delicious salad! It is perfect for summertime and one of my favorites to make for a quick and delicious side dish or a small meal.
This Mediterranean cabbage kidney bean salad is packed with nutritious and flavorful ingredients. The recipe is perfect for making a side salad that is refreshing and wholesome.
The salad dressing is made from extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, red chili flakes, and parsley. So if this combination sounds like something you’d enjoy, definitely make sure to try this recipe!
Cabbage Kidney Bean Salad Ingredients
To make this cabbage kidney bean salad, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- Vegetables: For this salad, you’ll need red/purple cabbage, carrots, and red bell pepper. The perfect combination for making a slaw-like salad with kidney beans!
- Kidney beans: Use regular canned kidney beans to make this salad.
- Parsley: Parsley is one of the most delicious herbs to add to your salads! It goes really well with the other ingredients in this salad and is important to add, so please don’t skip it.
- Lemon dressing: For the lemon dressing, you’ll need extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, red chili flakes, salt, and pepper.
How to make this cabbage kidney bean salad
This cabbage kidney bean is so easy to make, you probably don’t even need instructions. Nevertheless, here they are:
- Prepare all ingredients: First, chop the vegetables, drain and rinse the kidney beans, and juice the lemon.
- Combine: Then add all ingredients to a large bowl and toss until combined. Add more salt, pepper, red chili flakes, or lemon juice as needed. Enjoy!
Tips & Notes
Keep the following things in mind when you make this cabbage kidney bean salad for the first time.
- Cut the cabbage and carrots into very thin slices. As these vegetables tend to be very hard, you want to shred them into very thin slices. You can do this by either using a mandolin or a sharp knife. Or just buy a bag of shredded purple cabbage and shredded carrots.
- Adjust the amount of lemon juice. This salad is quite tangy, so feel free to use less lemon juice if you want. It really is a matter of personal preferences, so if you’re unsure start with less and add more lemon juice as needed.
- Balance the lemon dressing with a sweetener of choice. Some honey or maple syrup makes the lemon juice taste less pungent. I really love lemons so I don’t mind the acidity of lemon juice. But feel free to add a small amount of liquid sweetener to balance things out!
Bonus Ingredients
There are many ingredients that you can add to make this red cabbage kidney bean salad extra special. Here are some ideas for you:
- Feta cheese: Feta cheese is a delicious addition to this cabbage kidney bean salad! So if you love feta, feel free to add some to this salad.
- Seeds: Sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds are great for adding some texture and extra nutrients! So use your seeds of choice if you want to upgrade this salad.
- Nuts: Nuts are another great addition. My personal favorites are walnuts and almonds.
- Red onion: Red onions are another great addition to this salad! So feel free to add some if you want.
- Garlic: If you love garlic, you can totally add a minced garlic clove to the salad! It really adds a lot of flavor.
Frequently Asked Questions
I absolutely love green cabbage (especially in delicious stir-fries like dakgalbi or spicy noodles), but for this recipe, I’d recommend using purple cabbage. I think it goes better with the other ingredients. But if you want to try using green cabbage, you definitely can! I’m just not sure if it is going to taste as good.
I love to bake chicken breasts and roast some potatoes in the oven whenever I make this salad. This adds some extra protein and carbs (plus it’s super hands-off). But there are plenty of other ways to turn this salad into a full meal by adding more carbs and protein (like pasta, bread, fish, cheese, and many others!).
You can store leftovers in an airtight container in your refrigerator for up to 3 days. The great thing about this salad is that it doesn’t become soggy. But if you want to meal prep a few servings, make sure to add the dressing ingredients shortly before serving.
More colorful and delicious salad recipes
If you need more ideas to make delicious salads, feel free to check out the following recipes.
- Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
- Black Bean and Corn Salad
- Balsamic Lentil Salad
- Turkish Bulgur Salad
- Curried Chickpea Salad
Cabbage Kidney Bean Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups shredded red cabbage
- 2 carrots shredded/julienned/cut into matchsticks
- 1 red bell pepper cut into dices
- ¾ cup chopped parsley
- 1 15-ounce can kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 1 ½ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lemon juiced
- 1 ½ teaspoon red chili flakes
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Chop the vegetables and herbs, drain and rinse the kidney beans, and juice the lemon.
- Add all ingredients to a large bowl. Then toss until everything is combined. Add more salt, pepper, and red chili flakes as needed. Enjoy!
Notes
- If the salad tastes too sour for your taste, add some honey or maple syrup to balance out the lemon juice!
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